Re feeding 3 dogs , 2 old , 1 young, without drama - any advice gratefully received

[BasiliskStare]

Here is the situation. We have 3 border terriers Ddog 1 is 14 , Ddog 2 is 13 , Ddog 3 is 9 months. For ease I shall call them 1 2 and 3.

Whilst we had 1 & 2 we could put their bowls down in the kitchen - no fuss - they would when they had had a good go at their own bowls swap over , but all worked

Now we have no. 3 , who is very motivated by food , we had found that it leads to arguments if 3 finished his food earlier. He would try to steal the others food.

Current workaround is that we put all the food out on the kitchen counter and then 1 & 2 go in to the garden ( tiny patio ) with theirs & back door shut . Then 3 gets his in the kitchen and once all finished bowls collected - All gone . This works brilliantly when there is DH and me But 2 has become protective of his food & if I am on my own doing it once or twice 3 has slipped out before I can shut the back door & then there is a bit of a ruckus 2 & 3 Today I went to collect the empty bowls and 3 ran out and 2 didn't like it.

This method works when the weather is fine but we are going to have to find a way of meal time being easier for them. I am sure as 3 gets older it will help but has anyone had anything similar or have any suggestions - currently I can't see them eating nicely together as 3 will scoff his & then aim for the bowl of the slowest eater.

BTW 2 and 3 get on brilliantly if there is no food involved. They do play tug of war with a sock or 3 will try to get 2 to play with him but 2 will let 3 sleep with his head on him or curled up next to each other they are pretty much nice together - they do fundamentally get on - it is just the meal times. 2 & 3 do more playing , 1 is the elder statesman & generally ignores 3.

Any advice gratefully received.

We’ve got 2 dogs but been through similar. The puppy was unbelievably greedy and would hassle the older dog off his bowl - sometimes aggressively. He’s now 18 months and largely grown out of it. All depends how your space works but we had a spare dog gate so brought that into play for meal times and strictly separated them. This might be more complicated in your case but I also found it useful to give the older dog his bowl first, making a big deal of saying their names and feeding in the same place every time. The younger one gradually got the idea that his turn is coming and he needs to go and wait in his place - just through the doorway into the next room so he can see it coming.

We had the same issue when we got our rescue. She was very protective over food and used to quickly finish hers and then try to eat our other dog's food. Now, we simply put her food down first in the hallway and shut the door behind her then put the other bowl down in the kitchen for our other dog. Works well for us.

@Alonglongway Thank you - we have a v small house and the sitting room can't be shut off them the kitchen very easily ( hence the outside the back door idea ) We have kept 3's crate so maybe I need to put him in there before dinner ( he could see dinner being dished up. ) The trouble is 2 has become v protective of his food & I am not sure he would not try to get 3's food. But reassuring to hear it may get better with age. I have tried and tried to make 3 sit and stay before dinner goes down and last week I thought I was getting somewhere but this week ( maybe because just me and not 2 of us doing it where one can take 3's attention away ) it's all gone bit wrong. I think I need to concentrate more on making sure 3 knows his turn will come. You would think to look at his behaviour we had not fed him in 7 months - it is far from the case

But I very much appreciate your comment. 3 gets his bowl in exactly the same place every time and has done since 9 weeks old.

Thank you , Basilisk

What's the layout of your house? I would separate the two groups with either a door or a gate. If you can't do this without one of the dogs sneaking through the door with you, feed the two groups one after the other (i.e. shut dog 3 in the living room while dogs 1 and 2 eat and then swop).

In the longer term, teach all the dogs (or at least #3 if 1 and 2 are too old to learn new tricks) to sit and wait when their food goes down so they don't start eating until you release them.

4 ddogs. 1 greedy. Dh stands near her and gives The Look...

@howdidigettobe50something Thank you for that , it seems there is some advice here which you and Along have both implemented in different ways. I suppose I have a problem in that it is hard to see where we can shut a door , put a stair gate , so I suppose 1 & 2 being fed outside is the nearest we can get but it sounds like I am doing what you have done within the constraints of our house. ( Without using the crate. )

Thank you appreciate your comment - Basilisk.

@ChampionPlayer - You have the crux of it - the layout of our house is such that it is v hard to separate them without them being banished to a bedroom - no door between sitting room & kitchen no easy place to fix a gate & no proper hallway - which is why 1 & 2 are outside the back door at the moment ( which works whilst the weather is fine) We are trying and trying to get 3 to wait - I thought I was making progress but this week it has all gone a bit left field again. I suspect training + age and patience will eventually win through.

@Littlebirdyouaresosweet Send Youtube tutorial of The Look through at your earliest convenience

Thank you all

I have multiple dogs

Bloody interface deleted the rest of my post - gist was, I always separate them strictly because then there’s no fighting, you know who’s eaten what, and everyone can eat at their own pace. Highly recommend it!

@moredogsthansense Ha ha - before your post I was going to say "as do I hence my post " Love that though it made me laugh

It seems the answer is strict separation , not terribly easy in our house but we could manage it by hook or by crook & trying to train little dog to know his will be there and patience and training. ( or @Littlebirdyouaresosweet ) Dh's Death Stare ( which I am willing to try if given instructions

Thank you all - it makes it better knowing others have been through similar and we seem to be generally along the right lines but some good suggestions.

3 dogs at the moment seem more than 50% harder than two ( if that makes sense. )

Thank you though

3 dogs are at least twice as hard as two. I have three.

Shut number 3 in a bedroom, or the bathroom, or a crate, with his food, and don't let him out til the others have done eating.

Imo the thing about separation is the risk of one getting through.. When we had ddog 1 the others quick knew to Stand Well Clear.... A door accidentally opened could have resulted in carnage... Better trained imo. No issues here..all 4 can sit in a row and share a lolly for example and not try to steal before it's their turn for a lick..

@Motorina Thank you - I agree 2 dogs similar age nowhere near twice as hard as the 2 and then young one - gone up exponentially

@Littlebirdyouaresosweet - I think patience and training seems to be way with some separation whilst that happens. My 3 will sit nicely for a treat because they know they will all get one. It's the dinner. But you seem to have got to Nirvana - will tell DH he needs to practise the stare - although given my username perhaps that should be my job.

I'm just jealous your dogs love their food and eat from a bowl! Mine is so fussy and thinks bowls of food are not for her 😩

Can you feed number 3 in the crate in the same room as 1&2 at same time, that way he is safely contained until everyone if finished, then you can pick up 1&2 empty bowls before letting him out?

I have 4 dags... all eat together! (Smug I know)

Basically teach all dogs impulse control, a firm leave with treats. Then "wait" & "get it" Move the command to the food bowl "leave" & " get it". This will take some time to master.
Always feed each dog in the same spot, say their name: 1 - wait ... 2, wait... 3, wait... when they all look at you " get it".
The second they have finished, pick the bowl up ... don't let them go to each others food / bowl.

Mine have different bowls - shapes and textures- and each goes in a particular place on the kitchen floor. Never deviate! Dpuppy gets anxious if the dry bag doesn't get put away after shopping day and stands guard over it! Quite comical...

Some impulse games might be beneficial for DDog 3? We have two dogs, one 12yrs and the other has just turned 1. So we had similar issues. When our pup came home I couldn't believe how greedy he was and he had no self control over food. The impulse games helped massively and now the old girl is fed first and then the puppy but only when he plants his butt and is released with an 'okay' command.

I can't remember exactly which games we started with. But things like, treat under the plant pot. When the pup backs off you take the pot off and they can have the treat. Or more simple, treat in your fist and when the pup disengages from trying to lick/chew your hand (lol) you give them the treat. You can also do treat under your foot when you are standing. I like this one as it is more of an life-like situation. Allow pup to see the treat under your foot. But if they approach you put your foot down over the treat. When they back up you can take your foot off the treat and hopefully they will still stay away (if they don't then your foot goes back over the treat) repeat until they get the idea. Once they are suitably respectful of the treat you can say 'okay' and they get the food. You can scale this up to dropping treats on the floor near you and the pup shouldn't go near them until you say okay.
Best of luck

Feed your dogs in seperate areas.