Feeding order question - does it matter who goes first?

I feed my two dogs together at the same time. They are about 6 ft apart. There really are no feeding issues - just one thing that annoys me. I put Indy's bowl down first, b/c I figure he is supposed to be the alpha, but little miss Maggie runs to his bowl and takes a few bites of it and then goes to her bowl. Indy doesn't care, it just irritates me. Now, I make her sit and stay for her bowl, which she does (even whilst Indy is eating his). It has just turned into her routine.

Would it make a difference with them if I put her bowl down first? I don't think Indy would care - he doesn't have to have the first bite immediately like Maggie does - as long as he gets his. But I don't want to upset the balance of power or anything unknowingly? if that makes sense.

 

I feed Duke and Freckles together almost side by side. I just make them both sit before I put the bowls down. If your dogs haven't shown any food aggression then try setting the bowls down at the same time.

 

I was going to say to set them down at the same time as well. Either that or teach Maggie that she is NOT to go grab food. She should sit until you release her with a special release word. I use "Okay" but other people like something that is not spoken so often in other contexts. I also toyed with using a different release word for each dog, but I was too lazy to do that.

If you want to do this, train her first to sit until she hears the release word with less distracting things going on. Then when it's time to try it with the food, when you start to set Indy's bowl down you should be ready for her to break the sit. Be ready for her and don't put the bowl down! Standing between them will also help you use your body to block her from getting to the food. Put her back in the sit and don't put the food down until she stays. Poor Indy will be confused, but hopefully it won't take long for Maggie to understand. Try to put hers down very quickly after Indy's when Maggie stays, and then gradually you can increase the delay between them and she should wait for it.

Probably you could also feed her first without any problems, but I get stubborn and try to not let my dogs push me around too much.

 

Unless there is food guarding issues I don't think it matters at all.
I feed both dogs at the same time, they happily eat together...even out of each others bowls which is suprising considering Sebastian's exteme resource guarding issues. I used to stand guard to ensure that Natalie did'nt hog all the food but I don't bother anymore.

 

Hi:

Not to change the subject, but what did you name your baby?
You spent so much time deciding, I bet it is the perfect name!

Back to the topic!

If the dogs do not have any problem feeding together than you should be all set.
I used to self feed my dogs for many years, then last year, I adopted Daisy May~ a dog that had severe food aggression,(I did not know she had food aggression) I was told by the shelter staff she did not. I found out she had food aggression the hard way, one day a fight broke out, From that day on, I decided to feed my dogs seperate. It's too risky for me to self-feed anymore.


_With dog pack behavior and ranking order, Its easy to see which dog is boss and how the rest of the dogs fit within the ranking order. Watch your dogs interact - which one takes the best toy, goes out the door first, gets to eat first and takes the best sleeping place? This is the "alpha" dog, the leader of the pack. The alpha dog achieves their rank by being smarter, stronger or even more dictatorial than the other pack members.

Some dogs are leaders, others fall into the alpha role because no other dog wants the position. Most dogs don't mind holding a subordinate position and seldom challenge the alpha dog's authority. This is something the dogs have to determine for themselves. Human’s do not make up the dog pack order.

Alpha dogs enforce their authority by the use of stern eye contact, growling, dominant body postures and if that fails, biting and fighting. If you watch your dogs closely, you'll see examples of this in their daily activities.

Your dog's "pack" includes his human family as well as the other dogs in the household. You are alpha in this pack.

You should recognize the highest ranking dog in the pack and favor that dog with attention. This is the dog you should pet first, feed first and let out the door first. Giving alpha dog privileges to a lower ranking dog, even if it might be your personal favorite, confuses the others and can eventually lead to fighting.

All the dogs will be more secure and comfortable with each other when they're clear on where they stand within the pack.

The alpha dog should always be first.

Sue

 

PS OK I re-read, the post ! I love the name Maggie what a nice name!