How can I teach my puppy not to eat out of our adult dog's bowl?
I have a 6 month old female puppy (on puppy food) and a nine year old adult male dog on senior food. How can I teach her to leave his food alone (aside from only allowing one to eat at a time)?
10 Responses
Lisa T
14 Mar 2010
ruhly1
14 Mar 2010
I take all my Labrador pups off puppy food at 4 months old they will still grow but not as fast. that gives their bone structure a chance to get solid
chetco
14 Mar 2010
If you are consistent ( that’s the key word) you can teach her to leave the adult food alone. first of all, put something smelly but good in her dish, on top of the food..such as quality canned puppy food, or even a bit of sardines.
Then supervise feeding time. Physically remove her back to her own dish each time she ventures to the wrong dish..with a gentle reprimand, such as a forceful Shh–Shh…every time..She will soon realize that her food smells better, and she doesn’t get to eat if she wanders away from her dish.
Praise her when she is doing it correctly..and be consistent. It shouldn’t take but a week or so..
Tim
14 Mar 2010
Feed them in separate areas.
Jillian B
14 Mar 2010
Pick up your adult dogs dish. When you feed your dogs feed them at the same time, with their own bowls, and when they are done eating pick up the bowls! Do this every feeding time.
sun_and_moon_197
14 Mar 2010
You will have to seperate them during feeding times by crating the pup or keeping the pup busy while the older dog eats. I have 3 adult dogs and a puppy so I know what you are dealing with and I have to crate my pup while they eat and remove any uneaten food from the adults when they are done.
Charley
14 Mar 2010
Sharing is caring, at least they get along. Sounds like you will have to feed them in two seprate areas. Good Luck
daisyduke_205
14 Mar 2010
I had the same problem a few years back, but if you feed them at the same time and seperate them (one on one side of the room and the other on the other side) it tends to work, stay there with the puppy, like toddlers you have to stay on them, tell him/her no and put her back to her food.
DCgirl30
14 Mar 2010
put their food bowls in seperate areas or you may have to feed them at different times. make sure their food bowls are far away from each other. that should help.
Andrea O
14 Mar 2010
Put some of the senior food in the pup’s bowl. She thinks he’s getting something different – and she’s right, he is. So if you mix a bit of his food in with hers, she should show less interest. Does your other dog not "protect" his food? I had a situation a few months back where both my dogs didn’t know whether to eat or growl and ended up spraying their food all over the place. I moved their bowls about 3 or 4 feet apart, mixed the food, and the problem was solved.
I had the same problem, and I asked my vet. He told me to just put them both on adult food, and now no problems. The senior is not too much different and since my puppy was growing quite fast, the vet said they would be fine. Worked for me. Good Luck!