Frustrating Problem

[Guest Arielle]

Hello all! I am a bit frustrated with my grey, Ari. We recently added a new dog to the house, a husky mix that Ari gets along with splendidly. However, this brings to light a new problem. Ari has always been a slow eater, but when she was the only dog I would just leave her food out and she would eventually eat it. Since the new dog arrived, I have been putting her in my bedroom to eat since she has some food aggression. But sometimes she still hasn't eaten by the time I need to leave for school. I don't want to leave her locked in my room with her food all day, but I don't want to leave the food out with the door open and risk a fight between her and the new dog while I am not home. Should I just take the food away if she hasn't eaten by the time I need to leave, and she will have to go hungry until dinner time? Thanks!

 

[OwnedBySummer]

I never free feed -- no matter what it is, I'm positive I can smell it (even when I know I can't) and it makes me freaky -- plus I'm afraid of attracting bugs. My dogs have always had about 15 minutes to finish a meal and then they lose it. They soon learn "you snooze, you lose". Since you have been free feeding, I'd give longer at first, maybe 30 minutes. But then away it goes.

[greytpups]

We have two pups and Brooke is a chow hound while Ben prefers to take his time. Brooke has been taught that she cannot touch Ben's dish until he walks away from it.

 

However, there are times when he doesn't want to eat his food, so he has only a couple of minutes to start eating it. If hfe has not touched it by the time Brooke is finished, it gets picked up. He is given another opportunity at lunch and if he doesn't want it then, he waits until dinner (btw fresh food). It's rare that he will actually wait until dinner, but he has. He will eat when he's hungry.

 

Dogs will not starve themselves and she will quickly learn that free feeding is over.

[a_daerr]

Went through the exact same problem. Agree with everything Lisa said.

Take the bowl up within 20 minutes. Even my pokey eater, Henry, quickly learned that you snooze, you lose.

[greysmom]

As Jan said, she won't starve if she misses a meal or two. Give her a reasonable amount of time and then pick it up. She'll begin to eat faster though it might take a week or two for new habits to kick in. Just keep at it.

[SPDoggie]

We had the same issue when we got #2.

You just have to pick it up and #1 will learn to eat when it's offered.

[Guest Arielle]

Thank you for the replies! I feel slightly guilty taking the food away since I typically don't get home from school until around four and so that's a long time for her to go without eating. I will start giving her a time limit though so hopefully she will learn. Thanks again!

[GeorgeofNE]

Short answer is yes.

 

I'm having the same problem with two cats! One is OBESE and eats like a pig, the other is skinny and just picks. The fat one has started stealing the skinny guy's food, so I have to take it away. I'm noticing skinny guy is eating faster, and more at a time now! Finally!

[3greytjoys]

One of our hounds has refused breakfast frequently for nearly 6 years. (I still offer her kibble, but if it's wet and she shows no interest, it's placed back in the refrigerator within a few minutes.) Her appetite is much better at night.

[Guest karilynn]

My boy used to be a slow eater, seriously slow, would pick at his food alllllllllll daaaaaaaaaaaaay. That is until I added a cup of water to his food. He loves his watery food so much now that he gobbles it up in a minute. It turned his boring dry food into a delicious stew and all I had to do was add water. You could try that!

[3greytjoys]

Ari may simply be a slow eater, but here are a few more thoughts...

 

If her teeth and gums haven't been checked recently, I would encourage it. A painful mouth is a common reason for dogs to be hesitant or take longer to eat kibble.

 

Many hounds need to do their potty business just before eating a meal.

 

You are very smart to separate the dogs during meals. It might help to allow Ari to eat in her usual place, and separate the newcomer to another area. Greys can be very sensitive to being relocated to a different room, especially if closed away from their human.

 

Ari may be feeling sensitive knowing you'll be leaving soon. She may feel more comfortable/relaxed at night knowing that you'll be home for a longer while.

[kickchick2000]

My grey Milky Way is food aggressive and a resource guarder so we run a rotation at our house. One dog goes out to potty/ outside time while the other one eats then we switch. Both go out together to potty again 20- 30 minutes after food. Both dogs know the routine by heart as we've been using it for years.When I type it out it sounds like a lot of work but really we are so used to it I don't notice. As everyone has said they will learn to eat their food otherwise pick it up. A potential fight is not worth it.

[silverfish]

Dogs will not starve themselves and she will quickly learn that free feeding is over.

 

Unfortunately, this is not true for every dog. Jeffie will literally starve himself and the weight drops off him frighteningly fast - he's always been on the skinny side, but he becomes quite horrifically thin, very quickly indeed. It only takes three days for him to become a 'cruelty case' and I routinely expect to be reported to the RSPCA when he's been sick or refused food for some reason!

 

However, while he might go out and pee and then come back to his dinner, he won't go back to it later, so I am able to pick it up after mealtimes. He is definitely unusual though.

 

 

Ari may simply be a slow eater, but here are a few more thoughts...

 

If her teeth and gums haven't been checked recently, I would encourage it. A painful mouth is a common reason for dogs to be hesitant or take longer to eat kibble.

 

I second this! It would be worth it to check teeth and gums and see if there's a problem.