Guarding food from new LITTLE sister
However, when dinner time comes, Callie gets really protective of her food sometimes. Sometimes they are fine eating together, but other times Callie growls at the little one and doesn't want her to come near the bowl. We have been scolding Callie for this and holding her while we encourage the little one to go get a bite. But after reading some of the other threads on here, I'm not sure if that is the right thing to do. I am tempted to let them figure it out themselves, but I have 2 concerns: First, that Callie will eat too much just to prevent the other one from getting any (she's never had an overeating problem until we got the new puppy). And Secondly, the little one sometimes ignores the warning growls. Callie has always been nice to her (and everyone), but the growls are a warning and she is an animal, so I guess you never know what she might do. Any thoughts and/or suggestions would be appreciated. |
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| THIS IS VERY, VERY TYPICAL BEHVAIOR FOR A DOG. CALLIE IS TELLING THE PUPPY- I AM A SENIOR PACK MEMBER. YOU MAY NOT EAT MY FOOD, NOR SHOULD YOU BE EATING BEFORE I DO.
Remember, dogs are essentially wolves in domestic clothing- they think in very similar ways. It should help you to A) Keep the puppy otherwise occupied while Callie eats B) Feed the puppy in a different part of the room from Callie Eventually this should sort itself out, as the puppy grows up, and establishes her role in the pack order. Till then, assist Callie, and make her life a little easier by keeping the puppy away from her while she eats for the first few weeks. Obviously, if this were a human child, you would want to take additional steps to assert the child's dominance over the dog... but as long as she is not growling at you or any other human family member during meal times, just let them figure it out for themselves  |
Congrats on your new puppy 
We feed 2 times a day and supervise the feedings. They are taught to leave each other's bowls alone with a "leave it" command. They do not approach another dog while they are eating. We feed 4 in the kitchen and each has a designated feeding area; Meesha is in the dining room with the door open; Kaytee is in another room with a closed Dutch door. Panda came to us with a bit of food aggression... no big fights but she will nip if one of the girls tries to get a piece of food she thinks should be hers. And she's gained weight (she's also got hip dysplasia so that's a big no-no) because of the prescription food for struvite crystals so we have cut her back making the issue appear again. This is just my opinion but I'm not a big fan on letting them figure out the food thing on their own especially with a new pup and an adult dog. One missed call could end in disaster but then I've always been over protective and erred on the side of caution. 
Personally, I would start teaching your pup the "leave it" command when she heads for Callie's bowl. I know she's real young but I've taught the sit and down command in just a couple of days with pups this age so they can learn. Good luck! |
| For us, feeding separately is a must. Clyde is our problem guy and he feels like all food is his. Bear and Lucy can eat together without any problems so they share a feeder. Clyde has his own feeder in the living room, out of sight of the others. Keeping them separated takes out a lot of the tension. Sometimes removing the tension is a lot easier than trying to force something to work.
If we do have any issues of one trying to take another's (which is really only between Bear and Clyde) I step in and block the behavior. I stand in front of the bowl until they both calm down and walk the offender into the other room. I agree with Jaclin that with a puppy and an adult dog, you have to be more careful. Clyde and Bear were the same size when Bear joined our family so we let a few scraps happen in hopes that it would work itself out, which for the most part, it did. However, I couldn't have let that happen if Bear was a little guy because he would've gotten hurt. |
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