Thieving Pup

[clueless]

Well we have two beagles, 7mo Lucy and 8mo old Bella. Lucy we raised from 9weeks and the Bella we got 4 weeks or so ago.

Bella eats like there's no tomorrow and Lucy eats like a lady. I usually give food to Lucy first as she eats very slow and give her a head start.

Now when Bella finished her meal and I'm not there to supervise, she will try and steal Lucy's food. so I always wait until they are both finish.

How do I train Bella not to steal Lucy food? Bella is very protective of her food and growls at Lucy if she comes close to it. But Lucy on the other hand does not do this.

[Scarlet]

I think you just have to supervise.

My border collie who I have had since a pup is quite protective of her food - not with humans, just other dogs.

My new dog who is a foster failure would let Maddy take his food all the time if I didn't supervise.

Maddy is the dominant dog so I have no intention of training her out of this and I'm not sure I could. So as the overall leader I decide who eats and when by supervising all meals even bones.

They don't take long to eat so I don't find it much of a problem.

[Animal House]

Feed them separately, or closely supervise them, with the stealer on a lead, so she cant go to the other pups bowl.

A growl and a firm "No" when she tries to steal it. And then reward her with a treat for staying away from the food.

[The Spotted Devil]

I have 2 cats that used to do this

Different species I know but the slow eater always was given her food first and her daughter, the guts, was given her biscuits in a different room AND in a treat ball. It worked for me and saved a lot of grumpy kitties :rolleyes:

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I have to feed my dogs separately. 1 is very old with only 3 teeth and takes about 20 mins to eat dinner - she'd never get anything if I tried to feed her with the others.

[Pug Hugger]

We always had this problem wit our two border collies as I was growing up. We simply fed the gentleman first then the guts second. We also taught the guts ti drop and wait before he ate.

[Miranda]

Definitely feed them separately, all dogs should be able to eat their food in peace without being hassled by another dog.

[CrazyCat]

When I was younger we had two beagles. Both would eat their dinner in a matter of seconds but the younger dog was slightly faster (10 seconds compared to 15? ) and once finished would try and steal the older dog's food. We ended up feeding one outside and one inside with no problem. After they had both finished we let the younger dog back inside and it was funny to see her run at the speed of light around the corner to where the other dog had been eating to see if there were any scraps left. Being beagles, of course, there were never any leftovers, but she did it every night for YEARS and never gave up hope!

[percyk]

Hi Lucys mummy!

I saw a doco where they showed foxes supervising their cubs ( they didnt call them cubs actually; i dont remember what term they used)

The vixen would give the kill to the pups and allow the dominant one to feast but then would toss the carcass to her other cub. The narrator commented that it wasn't entirely clear why she stepped in but it may have been to teach the submissive cub how to hunt or it just may have been her way of ensuring that he survives).

I step in when my dogs are feeding. If one is stealing from another I will remove him and allow the other to eat. I know there is a hierarchy but then Im also assuming that I, as alpha, can be in charge of food distribution.

I feed many meals by hand sitting on the back porch, I will feed them their dry food by hand or give them their chicken necks. They have to sit - all of them - as I hand out the tucker. This way I can be sure who is eating what and how much they're consuming.

I tolerate no violence and practise taking away the food ( the smallest used to growl when his bone was taken but he doesnt do this anymore, even when the other dogs are around him - he really seems to have accepted that the kids and I can take his food and of course we dont tease him).

Good luck with it. It's hard to know what to do sometimes -that's for sure!

[clueless]

I'm so relieved that I'm not the only one with this issue.

I've been or my hubby has been supervising their feed and letting the slow eater eat first. They are also not given the "ok" command to eat until they are calm and sitting.

I must say I'm not sure why Bella (the thieving one ) gorges her food when her previous family actually fed her too much and too often and she came to us way too overweight. Reduced number of feed sand exercise running around in the backyard with Lucy put her in great shape.