Growling And Now Has Snapped At Other Dogs Head While Eating

[Guest NSGREY]

Ok I'm not sure how to handle this scenario or what it means.

 

We took down the crates for each of the dogs in the fall because we were planning to sell our house and it was what the agent recommended.

 

In the past when the dogs would eat Adora would get growly at what I am assuming her persception that Higgins is looking at her food to eat. He's not as he won't even look in her direction. I watch to see if I catch him posing a threat to her food. They were always fed in a crate each side by side.

 

She has a tendency of not eating her food or eating very little at mealtime but it's like the old saying " I don't want it but I don't want you to have it either"

 

So...I'm now at the stage where while watching Adora and Higgins eat she got up and rushed over to him while he has laying down happily licking his bowl clean and lunges at his head snapping and growling. It seems like she gets irritated at him because he happily eats everything and she tries to pull this diva act that the food is not good enough for her today....

 

This has to stop and now before I have a fight on my hands...but I need to know what causes this? does this mean that I just have a food agressive dog?? I will be feeding them in separate areas I guess We just don't have a lot of area in which to separate them in.

 

Forgive me if I seem dense but I'm trying to understand this in doggie language.

[GeorgeofNE]

If your house is no longer for sale (you said "were planning on selling"), I'd suggest you put one crate back up and put the snarly one in it during meal times.

[Guest NSGREY]

Yeah....sale never happened and we thought we would just not set the crates up as they both do really well without EXCEPT during these times.

 

I guess I will ask Dh when he gets home from work to go get one of the crates and we will set her back up.

 

Is there something that I am missing though? some signal that Adora must have set off that I missed? I always put the food down in front of her first as she was here first.

[racindog]

IMO its just what dogs do. I have had as many as 8 dogs counting fosters and everyone eats in their own seperate crate, x-pen, area whatever. There is no doubt in my mind there would have been fights had they been allowed free access to each other while eating. Although many don't seem to care at all about another dogs food and won't even "defend" their own, you just never know when the "dog" will manifest and then there is an altercation. So I don't allow for the possibility and therefore everybody eats in peace with no incidents. Even horses have a pecking order and I have seen them knock another horse plumb off its feet kicking it to remind it of its "place". I personally believe its just nature but thats just me.

[Guest BrianRke]

I dont feed mine in a crate but I do seperate them. Lucky for me, Frank and Daytona always finish at the same time so I stand guard beside Diamond while she finishes her food so the other two cant get close to her. She's serious about her food!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Seems that there may be side glances that you are not picking up on. I dont really have an idea as to "why" your female has decided to leave her bowl and harass your male. One thing I will say is that you need to step up and stop it. You should watch your female and as soon as she looks over at your boy and begins to make a move towards him, you simply stop her in her tracks. Thats your job as leader. Notice I didnt use the term "alpha". You should be able to stop her with a word. If not, then you and her need to establish just who is in charge.

[Wonder]

Feed them in separate rooms.

[jetcitywoman]

I agree with that last post. When we first got Ajax, he was skittish around the food bowl. He would run away if anybody approached him. So I put his food "station" in the corner of the room and Capri's in the opposite corner, facing different directions. Since she gets half as much food as he does, she always finishes first, and back then she would try to bully him out of his meal. I would stand in between them, facing her so that he didn't feel intimidated by me, and if she moved so much as to look at him, I'd gently correct her. That only lasted a few months, then I didn't have to defend his "turf" for him anymore.

 

One of our house rules is that meals are sacred and not to be fought over. He's also no longer skittish, and I can replace his water bowl while he's eating and it doesn't bother him at all.

[gracegirl]

Simple. Separate for meal times. Its what we do to keep everyone safe. If someone decides their food is not good enough that day, they get 10 minutes to eat before its put away.

 

Routine. Habit. All dogs are safe this way.

[Guest jbbuzby]

Some dogs are just more snarky than others. My foster pup would snarl if any dog (not human) walked by while he ate, regardless of whether the other dog actually acknowledged them or not, and he'd do that even in his crate. To this day, I never trust my two not-snarky hounds with feeding time and always put one in the expen just to be safe. If you know the one pup really doesn't like to be bothered or is more snarky, I'd never allow the other dogs to approach him...it is just asking for a bite. Some dogs are more tolerant than others, and you can gradually increase this tolerance with gradual training I suppose if they are just being ridiculous (like my foster, who was overly snarky), but I could never expect a "food sensitive" dog to not snark at someone also intent on their food. In this situation, I'd say a good many dogs would and will bite/tell off the offender. It's nature's way of making sure everyone eats.

[Guest NSGREY]

Ok so I hear everyone loud and clear that I need to be feeding them separate from this moment on.

 

I definitely do not want anything to happen to either of my dogs so I will do whatever I need to to make this stop.

 

For the record, I just wanted to know what causes this behaviour and if it can be prevented or if I missed sonmething.

 

Now I know it's just Adora being her herself and nothing that I missed. That's ok.

[Guest verthib]

Yeah....sale never happened and we thought we would just not set the crates up as they both do really well without EXCEPT during these times.

 

I guess I will ask Dh when he gets home from work to go get one of the crates and we will set her back up.

 

Is there something that I am missing though? some signal that Adora must have set off that I missed? I always put the food down in front of her first as she was here first.

 

I always feed my two in their crates as Angus can get a little grumpy. I just feel better about avoiding any issues and they seem to eat calmer knowing they are separated.

[Guest mirthlesstroll]

That's what I do, too. Everyone has their own separate area to eat in. Trent is skittish, and will abandon his bowl over nothing - at least nothing that I can see. Maisie will gladly "help" everyone else finish their bowls, and @ 92 lbs, she doesnt need any extra!! Puppy Demon needs to eat his puppy kibble, but he wants what the big kids have. Jett is just a pig, and will hassle the others because he can.... So Trent gets a private spot in my bathroom, everyone else gets the crate!

[Guest NSGREY]

Just a quick update to this

 

I have been feeding them separately, but poor Higgins is confused whenever I bring out the food bowls. He knows that he is typically fed on his bed so he refuses to leave the bed until I coax him with the bowl to the entryway where he now eats. Goofy boy!

 

Adora now has been eating everything in her bowl and I don't let either one of them back together in the livingroom until the bowls are empty. It seems to be going well so far.

 

Thanks again for the advice.

[Fruitycake]

Glad the change has worked out for everyone - even with the slight confusion on your boy's part.