Feeding 2 dogs.

[SubMariner]

First & foremost, this is a question about how to go about feeding two dogs from someone who's never had two. So if a Mod thinks this thread would be better elsewhere, please feel free to move it. To wit:

As you may or may not have read elsewhere, when we picked Zio up we arranged to get 1st choice of males from the Trainer's current litter (now 3 weeks old). Due to travel plans already in place, we won't be picking him up until approx the 1st week of August. Which means he'll effectively be ~3 months old at that time.

My question: how do you feed two dogs without there being a problem?

I've never had 2 dogs before let alone one who will be 4 y-o next weekend & one that will be 3 months old when we get him. I plan on transitioning the pup from the Trainer's food (which will probably be Native of some sort) to the same EVO Turkey/Chicken that Zio eats, except to the "smaller bites". Unless I should be giving him EXACTLY the same food? (As in will he able to handle the "large bites @ 3 months old?)

FYI, Pearce is no help because he doesn't seem to recall anything relevant from when he had 2 setters back in the age of the dinosaurs.

Thanks for any constructive input!

P.S.: we will be doing the actual "puppy picking the weekend of June 18th.

[RawFedDogs]

I've never had a problem. Back when I fed kibble, each dog would eat from a seperate bowl. The bowls were placed a few feet apart. If one dog walked away from his bowl, the other would usually empty it for him. :) Feeding two or more dogs is rarely a problem. They soon learn which it "their" bowl and will go to it.

Now that I feed raw, most meals are just animal parts handed out. I stand and the kitchen sink and hand out parts to dogs. It isn't a problem. The few meals that are fed in bowls, each dog eats out of his own bowl placed on each side of the kitchen then will go lick the bowl of the other just to make sure no flavor is left.

[magicre]

i'm not a trainer, but here's how i did it when malia was ten and bubba was two.

i put their bowls on either side of me (i was feeding kibble at the time).

i sat in the middle and each dog ate.

i did this until each dog knew not to growl or try to steal food.

when we switched to raw they were trained the same way. i put the towel down, sat in the middle and each dog was served on either side. i gave us using bowls after the first month, unless i'm feeding eggs.

i don't have to do this anymore. they eat on the same towel and have pretty good manners.

if, however, malia or bubba walks away, the other one will steal the food and my belief is all's fair in love and food. :)

[DaneMama]

I would do as Re stated above but instead of sitting between the bowls I would stand off to the side and turn on the "eyes in the back of your head" sense. If one dog goes towards the others bowl, body block that dog with your legs (I do not mean kick the dog lol), pick up their bowl whether it's full or not, and take them out of the room without saying a word, getting upset. Just remove the dog in a calm manner.

If the bowl you picked up from the wandering dog is still full, don't give it back to the dog until the next feeding time. This will translate to the dog that if they don't finish what's in THEIR bowl when it's offered then they don't finish their meal. If it's the new puppy that walks away from their bowl to check out Zio's, just wait four hours before giving him the food left in the bowl.

I have no doubt they will learn quickly.

With all this being said, I think it's very important to make dogs work for their food. Use their meals for obedience training sessions one on one with you. Work on sit, down, stay, stand, leave it, it's your choice, touch, etc, etc to earn his dinner. That's a guaranteed way to make sure feeding times go well

[magicre]

my dogs are small, nat, and i was tired LOL

plus we weren't using bowls...so it was just easier to sit between them...even during the kibble days when we did use bowls....

[eternalstudent]

Cant add anything to this as I don't get my second pup until the end of this year.

However, I wanted to say thanks for asking the question, I shall sit back and read the replys

:-)

Good luck with your two

[SpooOwner]

I haven't had to do this often, only when watching a friend's dog, but it has always worked out fine. I give them each their meals, and they stand about 15 feet apart while gobbling down their meals, occasionally glancing quickly at the other. Knowing the dogs helps - my friend's dog will shove her way to the front of the food line, so I give her meal first, then very quickly slip my dog her meal so that she doesn't steal it from the other dog. It's more complicated to write than to do. And it's the only time my dog eats quickly.

[SubMariner]

First of all, thanks for a the great info!

I guess my concern in all this is the fact that Zio's food is put out after his morning run & just left there as he is very good at self regulating. Will this pose a problem when the puppy gets on the scene?

[magicre]

First of all, thanks for a the great info!

I guess my concern in all this is the fact that Zio's food is put out after his morning run & just left there as he is very good at self regulating. Will this pose a problem when the puppy gets on the scene?

that would depend on the puppy's personality...

although, i've never had a puppy who self regulated during puppy hood. i have one puppy who is going on twelve and tho she is a careful eater, certainly, during that stage, she'd eat zio's food, slowly and thoughtfully, but she'd eat it just the same. :)

[monkeys23]

They are either in their crates with doors closed or on their tie outs. I can feed them several feet apart with me between them, but I prefer to play it safe and just let them be in their own personal space.