Help with feeding a multiple dog household!

Don't get me wrong. I love my dogs. I have 5 of them, all indoor dogs.

Toy American eskimo (male)
Miniature Schnauzer (female)
Miniature Poodle (male)
Very small Beagle (female)
And a beagle/basset mix (female)

But they are driving me crazy when it comes to feeding time. I have all of them on Science Diet. The eskie and the little beagle get the small bites, the beagle/basset and poodle get the regular adult. And the schnauzer is on Prescription C/D because of a previous bout with bladder stones.

Anyway, other than the schnauzer, they all want each others food and not their own!! Even if it is the same, they want the others. I do not free feed. One, I think it would be too expensive, plus, I have seen dogs that have been free fed and they are very much over weight. Not saying everyone who does this has over weight dogs, just the ones I have encountered.

So, what should I do? If I just feed one at a time, the one who is getting the food, doesn't want to eat unless the others are eating. And I wouldn't mind if they ate each others, except I'm afraid one will not get the proper amount or the other would get too much.

What do some of you out there do when it comes to feeding with multiple dogs. Do you have any that are on different foods?

 

I had 4 dogs (sometimes with a 5th) my Rott was diabetic and was on a special diet and I had to be strict with the amount she ate, the Rott, the whippet and the chi mix all ate in the living room in their own corners, wasnt actually corners but the chi near the tv, the whippet at the side of the couch and the rott near the fireplace (which I never used), then there was BJ, she was agressive, especially around feeding time so she went in the kitchen to eat by herself. If Joey the Pit mix was there he had his food at the other end of the couch.

Oh....and I stayed in the living room until they had all finished.

 

When my two dogs were getting different foods, I would also feed them in separate places. I fed one inside and the other outside. If they don't want to eat, just take the food away and they will get it pretty quick that they are just going to have to eat alone or not eat at all. Five though - that might be a little complicated. :shock: Maybe you could just separate the ones who get a special diet from the ones who get the same stuff.

 

Thanks for the input. Those are excellent ideas. I never thought about feeding them in different places. I think I'll try that and see what happens. Anything is better than the way it is now.

Perhaps the poodle and the basset/beagle together and then the beagle and eskie. The beagle is the worst about wanting everybody but her own.

I'm gonna give it a try.

 

Yep. Feed them in different places, or each in their own crate. I always separate my dogs when feeding them. It's just easier that way.