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two dog household question

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I have new housemates and they have a dog which is mostly great but we have one small issue. My dog is Moby, a Sheltie. Their dog is a Basset Hound mix... I'll call him the Hound. Moby prefers to graze at his food, eating a few kibbles here and there throughout the day. My housemates told me before they moved in that the Hound was the same way but it seems the competition of having another dog around has turned him into a gulper and he now gobbles up his own food and then moves on to Moby's. Moby is the dominant dog in the house but food is No Big Deal so he just sits back and watches the Hound eat. Last night after watching the Hound eat his own dinner and then two of Moby's I decided to start feeding Moby in my bedroom which is in the basement. Of course the Hound with his good hound nose promptly found Moby's dish down there. So, what do we do? I can't shut my bedroom because there is actually no door, just a curtain. Anyway it's Moby's house and I don't want him shut in. The two dogs are comparably sized (Moby is a little taller, the Hound is a little heavier) so I can't figure out how to use size to keep the Hound away from Moby's dish. We joked that we needed to rig his dish so that it only releases food when the dog does some sort of math problem or something because the main difference between the two is in the intelligence department. :lol: I know lots of people here are more dog savvy than I am. Any ideas?

Heidi Wed, 04/15/2009 - 16:05

Can Moby jump higher than Hound?

I was going to suggest a box/crate with an opening only Moby could fit through, but if they are comparably sized that won't work.
Dumb suggestion ~ (due to possible high cost) Could you use a microchip reading pet-door that reads a code or chip or something from the pet's collar/tag and only allows that pet through the pet flap?

The only other solution is scheduled and seperated feeding times/areas that can (have to be) controlled by someone taking the time to do so.

*I prefer free-feeding, but that may not be possible with a "competition" eater.

Sara Wed, 04/15/2009 - 16:11

Ooh, I'm looking now at those microchip dog doors. Great idea.

I had thought about the jumping thing, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to make Moby perform an agility feat every time he wants to eat. I think it would have to be pretty high to make sure the Hound can't jump it too.

Heather Wed, 04/15/2009 - 16:56

Free feeding encourages obesity and like horses if you feed them and they dont eat you know you might need to keep an eye on something might be up... there are more reasons , but Meals are healthier for dogs.

Sara Wed, 04/15/2009 - 17:08

Oh, it's not truly free feeding if you mean the bowl would be full all the time. He gets two meals a day, it just takes him a while to eat them. In the meantime the Hound can eat his own meal [b]and[/b] Moby's in a couple minutes flat so Moby gets nothing.

The Hound is now getting so much to eat that he is having poo accidents in the house and walks around farting all the time. :P

Daylene Alford Wed, 04/15/2009 - 17:25

You may have to get used to the gas....hounds are as bad as bull dogs :laugh1

Hope you get something figured out in the feed department. I don't have any suggestions there but can def see where it would be very frustrating.

Sara Wed, 04/15/2009 - 17:37

I'm sure we'll figure something out. The dog is as sweet as can be, great with the cats and very cuddly. He's pretty good as far as dogs go -- I'm all spoiled with my Sheltie and end up not liking most other people's dogs because they're too, well, doggy. :lol:

Monsterpony Wed, 04/15/2009 - 18:31

Often times, in this type of situation, the dog that is a slow eater learns that if they don't eat fast, then they don't eat at all. It sounds mean, but you could try taking away Moby's food dish once Hound starts going for it and then not offering Moby more food until the next meal time. A couple of skipped meals and he'll likely dive for the next one.

Sara Wed, 04/15/2009 - 18:47

I can try that, but I really don't want to encourage the sort of inhaling the Hound does. Seriously, he hoovers his food up so fast it can't be good for him. If you tell him to "leave it" he just eats faster. :shock:

NZ Appaloosas Wed, 04/15/2009 - 18:53

[quote="Heather"]Free feeding encourages obesity and like horses if you feed them and they dont eat you know you might need to keep an eye on something might be up... there are more reasons , but Meals are healthier for dogs.[/quote]

A lot depends on what sort of condition/environment the dogs are kept in...in Fla. I had a basset and a kelpie, that were free-fed, and the basset was so defined in his muscles, body builders were impressed But then, they were outside for a major portion of the day, and the kelpie kept the basset in good shape...tag was one of their favourite games, and I actually had a 'track' (well, two, since the basset always cut the corners) along the fenceline from them racing each other. I also had the only squirrel-free property in Fla., I think... :laugh1

Given the level of exercise at which they kept themselves, there's no way I could really have worked out a "normal" feeding schedule with the appropriate energy-providing levels.

Diane

Sara Wed, 04/15/2009 - 21:09

Diane, that sounds a bit like my dog. He's outside with me much of the day and exercises himself quite a lot. My vet says he is one of the fittest Sheltie she sees in her practice. Many of them tend toward obesity if they aren't given proper exercise.

vneerland Wed, 04/15/2009 - 22:08

I am in Heather and MP's camp. Free feeding is not what I would recommend. Any dog can learn to eat when dinner is served, or not eat at all. And it is not bad for them at all (to the contrary) For me, if one walks away, it does not have to worry about another dog scarfing it up. I will be the one picking it up right away. That in its turn, teaches the other dogs that there is no need to inhale their food, because you never score at somebody else's bowl anyway. Scheduled feedings do not make a dog a fast eater. Just a good eater. The speed with which they chow their chow is in part temperament related and in part caused by environment (competition or a chance to steal another dogs food) Naturally, it is smart to 'stand guard' when meals are served. But with everyone going to task on their dishes, that should not take long at all. The notion that a dog won't get enough to eat with a scheduled meal(s) is as erroneous as allowing ourselves to snack all day, because we could not keep weight on otherwise. I certainly would [i]like[/i] for that to be true, but unfortunately.......... :mrgreen:

Monsterpony Wed, 04/15/2009 - 22:15

Since Moby is out with you at the barn in the morning, could you feed him down there? You could offer him the food when you start am/pm feeding and then pick it up at the end of feeding time. That way he has a good length of time to eat the food so he doesn't have to hoover it, but at the same to Hound doesn't have a shot at getting the food first.

Sara Wed, 04/15/2009 - 22:42

MP I could try, but Moby tends not to eat anywhere but in his own house. He won't even take a treat if we're out somewhere. The barn might be close enough to the house for it to work.

Vneerland, I actually do snack and graze all day. Maybe that's why I have a terrible time thinking of restricting Moby to two mealtimes. On the occasions that I do sit down and have a big meal I feel terrible. Once a week I have dinner at my parents' house and am hopelessly lethargic the rest of the day. My brain and muscles just shut down. OMG I think I'm a horse.

NZ Appaloosas Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:46

[quote="vneerland"]The notion that a dog won't get enough to eat with a scheduled meal(s) is as erroneous as allowing ourselves to snack all day, because we could not keep weight on otherwise. [/quote]

That's not what I said...I said that given the amount of self-exercise these two dogs gave themselves, I would have been hard put to try and figure out the amount of food necessary for them to have the proper energy intake. Face it, a cattle herding dog and a basset are NOT commonly found together. And kelpies are based off border collies, so that should give an indication of the energy level.

Diane

NZ Appaloosas Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:49

[quote="Sara"]Vneerland, I actually do snack and graze all day. Maybe that's why I have a terrible time thinking of restricting Moby to two mealtimes. On the occasions that I do sit down and have a big meal I feel terrible. Once a week I have dinner at my parents' house and am hopelessly lethargic the rest of the day. My brain and muscles just shut down. OMG I think I'm a horse.[/quote]

Small and frequent meals are now thought to be the better choice--like eating 5 or 6 times a day, but in small portions, so that we never get that "I'm starving" feeling...so we don't overeat. The problem is most people have a decent breakfast, a good sized lunch and then a big dinner, and of course the post-prandial snacking consisting of eating a whole bag of popcorn, chips, big candy bar or some such...

Diane

vneerland Thu, 04/16/2009 - 22:36

[quote="NZ Appaloosas"]That's not what I said...I said that given the amount of self-exercise these two dogs gave themselves, I would have been hard put to try and figure out the amount of food necessary for them to have the proper energy intake. Face it, a cattle herding dog and a basset are NOT commonly found together. And kelpies are based off border collies, so that should give an indication of the energy level. [/quote]

:lol: I am not doubting the level of activity. But even very high energery dogs can do well on a meal or two a day. Just feed premium food with higher fat and protein levels. (like 30/20) ;)

[quote="NZ Appaloosas"]Small and frequent meals are now thought to be the better choice--like eating 5 or 6 times a day, but in small portions, so that we never get that "I'm starving" feeling...so we don't overeat. The problem is most people have a decent breakfast, a good sized lunch and then a big dinner, and of course the post-prandial snacking consisting of eating a whole bag of popcorn, chips, big candy bar or some such...[/quote]

With jobs to do, all day grazing can be inconvenient for some people. But trust me: most dogs that I have know that got free choice food, were overweight. That could be fixed by offering 5 meals a day, but I simply don't have time for that. :o
;)

Monsterpony Thu, 04/16/2009 - 22:43

If you look at it from a physical view, humans are in between dogs and horses in eating behavior. A dog is designed with a very expandable stomach so that they can gorge themselves on their prey and then not eat again for a day. Horses have a very small stomach that is not very flexible because they are designed to take in a small amount of feed pretty much continuously for 20-22 hours a day. The human stomach is moderately expandable, designed to eat multiple smallish meals throughout the day. Our teeth are also designed to eat a huge variety of foods so that we can munch a little on this veggie, then hunt ourselves a nice juicy prey animal, then find a handy fruit tree and fill up.

Sara Thu, 04/16/2009 - 22:46

Since I am a vegetarian that probably moved me closer to the grazer type of eating habit. Very few things that I eat will fill me like an animal protein. I did just have eggs for dinner but I'll be hungry again in a few hours. :)

all that sass Sat, 04/18/2009 - 03:22

ok, so my dog sometimes prefers to give her food a chance to "air" properly before eating it, but my cats LOVE the dog food, so, if i leave it, the cats will start eating it and then the dog comes along and starts eating the cats for eating her food ...so what i do is i give her a few minutes to start eating by putting the cats away (or outside, in the case of the fat barn cats) and if she doesn't eat then i pick up her food and let her wait till dinner time. It's pretty rare that she misses a meal anymore.

:lol:

Morgan Sat, 04/18/2009 - 09:09

you might try raw feeding your dog. I'm pretty sure there are few dogs who would let a piece of fresh meat sit around unattended.

Tianateke Fri, 01/01/2010 - 16:31

I could freed feed Cooper. He had a hopper feeder screwed to the side of the house where he could reach it from his 100ft zip line when he was on duty. He was never fat, but the food he ate was made up of four ingredients...whole alaskan salmon, locally grown barley, locally grow potatoes, and kelp. (my husband just reminded/corrected me in that he was [b]11![/b] not 9 when he died, not bad for a part boxer)

But I know that the mushers dogs get "snacked" while they are on the trail, and then get one large recharge meal a day. VERY high calorie.

edit. I second the e-collar door, maybe installed on a crate?

Danni Thu, 03/04/2010 - 19:11

I just read this, did you ever get it sorted?

I know what you mean as my dogs used to free feed (border collies). They 'graze', I think it's very healthy as food becomes not a big deal and they never get fat. I even had food left out all the time and usually they'd just give themself a bit of a meal 3 or 4 times a day. But yeh I got a flat mate with 'gulpers' and had to start giving them small meals and watch them eat. Bit sad as now I do have to watch the bitches weight as she did get a bit gulpy with her feed trying to eat before flatmates dog turned up.
Cheers

Danni

slaneyrose Tue, 04/13/2010 - 22:04

[quote]Free feeding encourages obesity [/quote]

That depends on the dog, it might with say, a labrador, but Sara already stated that Moby is not that interested in food in fact, even tho he is dominant he allows the hound to eat his food!!! Sara, I think fitting a crate with a microchip dog door is the solution here, and dont worry about him "grazing" it keeps the blood sugar level which is a good thing and will keep him happy.