Need Help With Food Aggression

[Guest greyers]

As some of you may know from other posts, we recently lost our male greyhound to cancer and our other grey was missing her companion greatly. We just adopted Rego, a 9 1/2 year old male who is an absolute doll and he and Prudence get along great thus far.

 

This morning marked their 4th meal together and low and behold, the new boy exhibited food aggression. He is soooo food driven and he has to be held back away from her dish so that she can eat all of her food. But this morning I saw him bare his teeth and her and start a low growl. I believe in his previous homes he has always been a solo dog. So there probably was never any indication of these issues as he has not eaten meals with competition present.

 

Now there is NO food within reach or treats left out, etc. So my only real concern with this is during feeding time. I would naturally just feed them in separate rooms so that there would be no issue, but my one problem is that Prudence has ALWAYS been a game player when eating. She WANTS the other dog to want her food and she always has purposely waited until the other dog finishes with their food before she even STARTS to eat. I am not sure if separating rooms will effect her eating, though her safety and the safety of them both is above ALL else. So I absolutely am prepared to feed them in separate rooms and just deal with the fallout if she stops eating again. As it is, a baby gate will have to go up in the kitchen when feeding the cats so I do not have to guard the door.

 

Anyway, never encountering this problem before I am curious what types of things any of you who own food aggressive greys use. Curious as to what has worked for you and what has not so that I can look at the whole picture and decide the best course of action to nip this behavior and problem in the bud immediately.

 

Two other things you should know about these dogs personalities...

 

1) Rego WANTS to please. He is very very food focused, and a velcro dog to the extreme, but he is smart and wants to please us. He does get his feelings hurt VERY easily.

 

2) Prudence (despite her game playing as she LOVES games and is a prankster), really is an omega dog. She shuts down immediately and goes submissive if another dog is aggressive. Even Rego trying to initiate play with her the other night shut her down and she went submissive. He was respectful of her and stopped immediately and since then has only played with toys.

 

Sooooo.... room separation during meal time or does anyone else have something else that works for their home?

 

thank you in advance.

Edited October 20, 2011 by greyers

[kamsmom]

With a new dog I usually feed them near tha same room but in a crate for several months until we know the personality better. 4 days isn't enough time to really know body language and personality yet.

[TheFullHouse]

I have two that are food aggressive, always have been and probably always will be. They've been with me over 5 years now and are still that way so they are fed in crates for everyone's safety.

[gazehund]

My hounds eat in separate rooms but not because of food aggression. Cracker gets the most to eat and eats slowly. Dodger inhales his food immediately. Pooter gets the least to eat and also eats slowly. Dodger would go charging around trying to get in all the other bowls if I let him.

Pooter would probably allow it. Cracker would probably take exception to it. We don't find out.

[Guest greyers]

Wonderful info everyone. Thank you so much. I think rather than dragging the crate out of the garage rafters, I will x-pen or babygate the kitchen to start with and feed him in there and her in the dogs room which is adjoining. Maybe I can position the dishes too where she can see him so she is more likely to eat. If this poses issues, i can have hubby drag out the crate. We are just limited on space in this condo!

 

BTW, I just LOVE the name "pooter" for your greyhound!!! :lol That is fabulous!

[gazehund]

:lol Thanks! Her real name is Tru Calling. Pooter just emerged out of that somehow.

I feed the two boys exactly as you described. Cracker in the kitchen, Dodger in the dining room. There is a door between. Pooter eats upstairs. Neither of the boys do stairs but my clever little girl does. The upstairs is her sanctuary from her rowdy brothers.

[Batmom]

I too separate for feeding. My angel Zema was a true speed-eater and while angel Batman warned her away from his dish without drawing blood, I didn't want to rely on that happening too many times..... Of current dogs, Gidget eats faster and has no qualms about approaching Joseph's food. Joseph will warn her off a toy he's playing with but if anydog approaches his bowl, he'll just step away. So, baby gate and some distance between dogs eating. Like your plan, I use adjoining rooms. Good luck!

[Guest greyers]

. Neither of the boys do stairs but my clever little girl does. The upstairs is her sanctuary from her rowdy brothers.

 

how interesting... I would think that the boys would follow her lead out of curiosity at the very least!

[Guest greyers]

I too separate for feeding. My angel Zema was a true speed-eater and while angel Batman warned her away from his dish without drawing blood, I didn't want to rely on that happening too many times..... Of current dogs, Gidget eats faster and has no qualms about approaching Joseph's food. Joseph will warn her off a toy he's playing with but if anydog approaches his bowl, he'll just step away. So, baby gate and some distance between dogs eating. Like your plan, I use adjoining rooms. Good luck!

 

That is what we will do then! The adoption rep had a good suggestion that I up his food a little too. I had been slowly doing that because he is SO skinny! He has a great metabolism apparently, but I am determined to put a few pounds on him!

 

poor boy had not learned what manners he is supposed to have relating to food. He stole prudence's bully stick a little while ago right in front of me and when I calmly (and appropriately) tried to remove it from the room, he made a low growl at me. He responded immediately to my quick 'snap' of the fingers and a steady low "no". He immediately went submissive and was respectful. Like most greyhounds he doesn't need much to get the point. He definitely wants to please, he just doesn't know what the boundaries are yet and he has never had challenge on his food (or if he has he "won").

 

Our last male was snarly with people because of pain and lack of trust in previous homes. Thus he was back at the kennel for 8 months before I took him because he was unpleasant. But like Rego, he was a smart boy and wants to please us so we worked it out just fine. Once he got established in our home and truly trusted us to care for him, he never had that behavior again and became SUCH a huge love with people. Like many of you on here, I am not sure that I will EVER feel comfortable trusting him to eat with another dog next to him, and certainly it is NOT worth the risk of doing so, but I think we can establish some boundaries and better manners with a little time and trust. I don't think his last owners had his best interest in mind and I am certain he knew that. He will learn soon enough that we do.

[kickchick2000]

My two cannot and DO NOT eat together. We have a sun-room with a tile floor where they eat, each dog gets fed separately with the door closed so he or she has plenty of space and there is no stress, they also have access to the backyard from the sun-room to go potty. My old boy Milky Way lacks several teeth so it takes him much longer to eat then our bulldog who inhales her food. Any left over food is either picked up or put up and stored for later. Each dog knows the routine and knows when it's his/her turn to eat. For instance our bulldog knows she's second so in the morning she usually won't even roll out of bed until Milky Way comes back into the house . When we first got our bulldog it was tough on Milky Way because he was used to having food in his bowl and could eat it whenever he wanted but he caught on. Feeding does take longer but you adjust and they adjust to the routine.

 

Water is not an issue for us and never has been so we do have a common water bowl inside the house.

[Guest RaznNik]

I have always had this problem with Nik and at the beginning he would bare his teeth, low rumbles, walk over to Raz, Raz would turn his head the other way and lets Nik take his food. (I had previously had 3 dogs in same home and never had to deal with this, so was quite at a loss) I was glad there were no fights, but sure had a hard time understanding Raz just giving up his food - happens with toys too. No high value toys if I am not around. I sit with them for each meal, and when Nik is finished (always first), I go over and spend some QT with him just to take his mind off Raz's food. Of course Raz eats slowly, looks over his food, smells it all, then he starts, takes a few bites, checks things out again, then starts again.

[Guest greyers]

Thanks guys! Good information and it is nice to know I am not alone.

 

Tonight our first "trial" went REALLY WELL! The cats were brought into the kitchen for their dinner time and an ex-pen used to block the kitchen door so Rego couldn't get in and bug them. Meanwhile I made the dogs dinner while the cats ate in peace. Then when the cats were done, Rego was brought into the kitchen and given his food in there and Prudence given hers on the other side of the ex pen in the dogs room. His back was to her, and she was facing him so that she could watch him eating but not be bugged by him. I put a large kong in his food dish to slow his eating down and the both ate up their dinners and got done within 20 seconds of eachother. I am so pleased at how well this first attempt worked! No aggression at all!

 

thank you all for your advice and support

[Batmom]

Awesome!

[3vagreys]

I have one slow eater and the other two want to stick their heads in her bowl when they are done. I stand beside her while she eats and hold the others back until she is done. Then they get to lick her bowl. The fast eaters eventually learn that they have to wait until she is finished and I only stand there about 5 or 6 minutes. Works great.

[gazehund]

Glad it worked out. Interestingly enough Cracker has to have another dog around to eat. Or really do anything. He doesn't like to go out alone and he won't eat alone. Just needs to know the other dog is there. Doesn't have to see him, but he has to be there.

[Guest greyers]

Glad it worked out. Interestingly enough Cracker has to have another dog around to eat. Or really do anything. He doesn't like to go out alone and he won't eat alone. Just needs to know the other dog is there. Doesn't have to see him, but he has to be there.

 

Yeah I don't know what that is! But same thing.. For Pru, mealtime cannot be alone time. Just how she is hard wired I guess!

[Guest june]

Separating the dogs is a good solution. I have a very small house so this would be difficult for me.

 

I have one girlie who was food aggressive when she came to me. My dogs have been taught to sit while their food is being set down and wait for a release word before eating. When they are done eating they either go outside or into another room without bothering the others.

 

When my food aggressive girl came in I put a leash on her for a couple weeks while she and the others were eating. She has now learned the routine and we have no problems. Also, I NEVER leave them alone in the room together while they are eating, but I haven't had any problems in months now. They do fine with treats and there is no aggression or grabbing.

[Guest greyers]

June that's a great suggestion with the leash for small spaces where selection isn't really an option. Glad to hear your girl has learned the routine!