How Long Before Dinner Does Your Grey Start Bugging You?

[Guest saltwaterron]

riley definitely knows how to tell time. about 30-45 minutes before supper, she makes her presence known. if she is outside, she shows up on the steps. if inside and i'm at the computer and get up for anything, she's right there behind me. after breakfast, she usually gets in her crate for a nap. i go to the "Y" every morning around 9. when 9 rolls around she comes out of her crate sphinxes on the floor and looks at me like "i know you are leaving". sunday morning the same thing. when i'm getting ready to go to church, she follows me everywhere. i have a cousin who has 4 greys and she told me that eventually riley could tell time and read my mind. i didn't believe that but do now.

[JaneW]

Greta doesn't ask, though she may be restless if our pre-meal activities are not our usual routine.

[Guest Dillymom]

My dd does the evening feeding and they'll start following her around at 630 to remind her that they need to eat. Lucy will even goose her if dd gets up and walks away from the kitchen. But dinner time is 630 so they want to make sure it's not late

[KF_in_Georgia]

My work day can run 7 am to 3:30 pm, 12:30 pm to 9 pm, and anything in between. I get up somewhere between 6 and 11 am. I seldom work the same schedule two days running, and my days off (seldom sequential) vary from week to week.

 

Understandably, there's no actual "schedule" around here. "Breakfast" is what happens after I get up, get dressed, and take the dogs for a quick walk to the corner and back. "Supper" is what happens sometime after I get home, change clothes, and take the dogs for a quick walk to the corner and back. "Snack" is the last quarter-cup of kibble they get just before bedtime, which might be as early as 11, but often is not until 2...or later. ("Snack" is what enables me to sleep late in the morning.)

 

On my days off, both dogs are quick to jump if they think I might be heading toward the kitchen.

 

But the rule around here is that barking is a request to go out. Even if I'm absolutely sure Sam is demanding dinner--and it's really dinnertime--his barking only earns him a trip outside, with dinner coming a few minutes after we come back in.

 

Sometimes I'm so tired after work that I change clothes, then lie down for a bit. The dogs quietly and patiently lie down with me...except that every time I move, the dogs tense up, ready to charge down the stairs to the kitchen.

[Guest LindsaySF]

The Greyhounds act excited and surprised when it is food time. They don't seem to know when it is coming. Cody and Aidan act hungry all the time but they don't harass us at a certain time. Clancy knows when it is lunch time, he starts acting weird 30-60 minutes before.

 

[Guest kydie]

my pack has it down to within 15 min, no matter what time i feed them in the a.m. 8hrs. later they want fed

[Guest FatCatSkinnyDog]

Rajah is the good kid. He won't come asking... instead he waits for Morgana to start screaming at the top of her lungs which happens anywhere from 6-7. Dinner is at 7:30. Once Morgana screams for her dinner, the patient canine will wander in to see if I will give in to shut the cat up. Cookies are a different story... if we come inside after a walk and I forget to give him his cookie, he will hover looking sad. After he gets his last cookie he will go straight to bed.

[Guest BillNY914]

Benny doesn't bug me much... he either hangs his head over the arm of the sofa and stares longingly at me, or pokes his head in at the entrance to the kitchen from time to time when I'm preparing dinner. Sometimes I'll give him a chopped veggie (he loves bell peppers and carrots). He even waits while I'm getting his food prepared.

[Guest WarmheartedPups]

Dinner time is 5:00 p.m.

On the weekends, I might be laying on the couch watching TV and I get so mad at myself if I forget and get up from the couch between 3:30 and 5:00....cause its all over...barking....stretching....annoying....chattering....velcro...

 

Thats my Roo!!

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Bang never bugs us for dinner. She has delegated that to the cat.

~D~

[Guest Energy11]

In the mornings, mine can start as early at 3 a.m.... UGH! They get fed at 4 a.m. ... don't ask! They get fed at 4:30 in the afternoon, too. It is now 3:47 p.m., and I am being bugged constantly! They are renlentless, and yes, they do get low-fat treats during the day! OY!

[Wonder]

2 seconds after breakfast Diamond is bugging me for his dinner

[racindog]

As soon as I get home from work all 4 go out and be good dogs and then all 4 will tag team me demanding supper NOW! Immediately! I can never prepare it fast enough to suit them.

[Guest savvyprchick]

Mine don't bother me at all. I could totally skip a meal and they wouldn't bother me. Now our Pyr, Skah, will sometimes come and just stand in front of me and stare me in the eyes. But that doesn't always happen and when it does, dinner is already late. He does that if he wants outside, too... or if he wants me to play with him.

 

Actually, the big fuzzy head staring you in the eye without wavering is kinda freaky

[Guest eaglflyt]

We've always tried to feed on an every 12 hr. schedule. That worked great in Spring & Summer ... and even into the beginning of Fall. But now, not so much. I didn't realize that Ady Bea had eating in the evening timed with it getting dark. Well, now since it gets dark at 5:30 PM, it's very early for the evening meal. Getting dark means getting the sad eyes and whining for food! She also wants to do her evening potty not too long after eating. She then wants EVERYONE to go directly to bed and turn out the lights! Our girl's schedule is based on daylight. Come on Spring!

[Guest nanzi]

The time change really messes my guys up. They both, GH & JRT will start staring at me now 2 1/2 hours before I normally feed in the evening. From then on, it's 'Later, Lie Down'. Khan will playbow and so does Pookie, then finally they start barking at me.

In the summer we never have a problem holding them off til 6 when we eat. But winters, Oi Vey, they are a pain. DH feeds in the mornings and they don't bug him, cuz he yells at them if they do.

I was going to post on this subject, but kept forgetting. Glad I'm not the only one getting bugged early.

[Guest FatCatSkinnyDog]

The time change messed with us too. I said 1-2 hours, but in all honesty, it's Morgana who starts to pester me an hour early. When Rajah hears her meowing in the kitchen, he comes running in and stands by his food dish. He takes most cues from her since she's naturally annoying! I guess he figures that he will reap the rewards of her persistence (which NEVER pays off!!)

[Patclara]

Anna & Stella Pomodoro want to eat at least one hour before their regular time.

The time changes twice a year complicate this even more.

[Guest tbrodzel]

Brynna ALWAYS wants to eat. She wakes me up to eat over an hour before breakfast. All through the day she goes over to her empty bowl and licks it and looks at me. Heaven forbid I eat anything, she then expects to be eating also. When she first came to us she was fed only twice a day (or 3 times) and only got about 3 cups of food total. The vet said she needed to gain weight so we upped her intake to 4 cups and she gets a meal 4 times a day. Yet, she still licks the empty bowl very frequently. It is kind of funny.

[Guest onlygreys4me]

Talley will stand or lie in the kitchen doorway. mostly its me that forgets.

 

Edited December 28, 2009 by onlygreys4me

[Guest littermates]

Yes, the time change does throw them. And yes they are relentless within the hour of their meal!!!!!

[Guest jcsnyder95]

99% of the time, I have to call Mia for her dinner. On very rare occasions, she will come over to me and whine when she's hungry. I don't respond to the whining, because I don't want her to associate whining with me doing something.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I feed my dogs in much the same routine and manner of dogs at the track. They simply have routine, and IMO that combined with the fact I have a pack of them is why the eat with such gusto and are so well adjusted.

[Guest widowcali]

My babies know when it's time. One time, when I was working late at work and was about an hour late getting home, my mother told me that the girls started pacing at exactly the time I usually start making their dinner. They kept going to all the windows and the door and looking out for me.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I randomize the feeding schedule so there's no begging and nobody building up bile acid in their tummy in anticipation of feeding time.