Eating Before Your Dog

[lovebugs2003]

Me Again, my goodness the questions are now flowing out of me. Forgive me.

I am just reading a book called "Leader of the Pack" and the first chapter is about "Leaders eat first"

So, do you eat before your dog. I know it is important for that to happen. We haven't been doing that, only because we eat so late, and we have set it up where he eats at 6:30 am and 5:30pm. Is it imperative that we change this, could this really be bad for us down the road?

[ejs]

We don't abide by that suggestion in our house. On weekdays, the dogs get fed breakfast at 8:30 and on weekends, they're fed when we get up. DH and I don't eat breakfast, so the dogs would be waiting a long time if they had to eat after us. They get their dinner around 6:30. DH and I eat much later than that.

We do make them do something (sit, lie down, shake, etc) before they can start eating. And they can't start until we tell them "ok."

[SingleWhiteFemale]

We free feed kibble. He'll graze during the day, usually feasting on "dinner" around 7:30pm or so after his walk.

However, we do follow that theory somewhat. Say I have a hamburger. I'll eat 90% of that, and during that time the dog had better be laying down in the kitchen. If he's good (laying down and not bothering me while I eat), he'll get the rest of my burger when I'm finished. He only gets leftovers/human food when we're done, and only if he's been good. It keeps him happy, and us happy because he isn't in my face when I'm trying to eat! Sometimes he'll get something like beef stroganoff (or another liquidy dinner food) in his bowl over his dry kibble, but I'll make him sit and stay until I can tell him he's allowed to eat.

It does make for a much easier meal time!

[Hello Kitty]

Our dog is free fed throughout the day, and we had a horrible time getting her to eat as a pup, so we don't really play games with her food. That said, we eat dinner at the table, and she lays down where she's supposed to. She's not allowed to get up until we both say we're done.

If we had a dog that was normal and had any sort of food drive (or food interest!) we would definitely mix behavior training in with it.

[ManteoChik]

Our dog is also "free fed" throughout the day. She gets a new scoop in the morning and one in the evening. She usually never eats anything until dinner time (but we change it because she slobbers in it and gets it soggy).

Our dog is pretty spoiled and so throughout the day if one of us gets say some pretzels for a snack she usually gets a couple too. During dinner time we eat first and she lays next to the table and waits for us to finish. We usually give her a little bit of leftovers mixed in with her dog food.

[jajacobsen]

We follow the same routine as ejs. Our dogs eat at 6am and 6.30pm, with a pigs ear as a treat mid morning on the days of the week I am home (I work 3 days a week). We eat our breakfast and supper later than those times.

But the dogs understand our dominance because they know we get better food, they show interest in the smell of our food, but are never allowed to beg or hover while we are eating. They must go lay down quietly.

We almost never feed them table scraps, or people food, as we don't want to reward or encourage their begging. If I have a lot of meat scraps, I refrigerate them until their next meal, and they get them in an appropriate ratio with their kibble, as I don't want to give them too much rich meat and upset their stomachs.

On a rare occassion, if we have to make a fast food stop at meal times we would feel too guilty eating and leaving them hungry in the car, so they will get chicken nuggets or fingers as snack to hold them until we get home for a proper meal, or get a doggie serving of ice cream from Brusters. Just like children, they love this!

But rest assured, they well know who is the leader of the pack (DH) and who is next in line (me). Well, when it comes to dog stuff, in reality DH and I are pretty much co-leaders of our life.

[katmg]

I have suggested that book quite a bit, but we don't actually follow that particular rule. :o We do make him sit before he eats, and he has to wait until we say, "okay." We very rarely give him table scraps, but if we do we try to feed it to him in his bowl - not from our plates.

I really used that book to understand my dog better and why certain behaviors shouldn't be tolerated if you have a dominant dog. Our dog certainly likes to test his boundaries sometimes, but we've always been able to reassert ourselves as the Alpha. There are other chapters about letting the dog on furniture (I think that's in there, it's been awhile since I read it) - we let our dog on the sofa sometimes, but I see a difference in letting him on the sofa and him trying to stand over me or put his paws on top of my hands and him getting up and snuggling next to me and DH for a snooze. In the first instance, he's trying to assert himself over me in the second he just wants to be part of the pack. It may be splitting hairs, but it has worked for us so far.

[jajacobsen]

I think making them sit before they eat and remain in sit until you give a release command is really important. Basically it's saying, the food is there but you can't eat it until I say you can.

[lovebugs2003]

Thanks everyone, i hadn't been doing the sit before eating, i will definitely start doing that now.

I do realize i have to take that book, or any book for that matter, with a grain of salt.

My reasoning for buying it was, i went to get Diego a treat yesterday at the pet mart, and a girl there was giving me advice on how to treat my dog, i was using the down command when he jumped off, and she said " you shouldn't be saying that, it should be off" she got mad at me for using a retractable leash, we had just gone for a walk, the only way i can get him to walk in the woods is on a retractable. I just felt like such a bad mommy.

[jajacobsen]

Yopu are not a bad puppy mommy! Hadn't you just taken your dog for a walk? Also, I don't think what word you use to control the dog is as important as actually controlling it.

As far as retractable leashes, there are people who love'emand people who hate'm. Use what works for you.

[lovebugs2003]

Thanks jajacobsen,

I guess its like when my friends tell me about someone telling them to raise their kids a certain way. You get your back up. But i look at my puppy and he is wonderful. Operative word Puppy, can't expect too much right now anyways.

[mommydearest]

We make our dog sit until we release her to eat. But, she often gets breakfast before me because mine is toasting or something during the week. On the weekends, she eats after us sometimes. It is mostly whenever we remember. Usually for dinner, she eats several hours after us--about 9:00.

[NotDesperate]

Our dog was also free fed but now that we have a puppy, he eats on a schedule with the puppy. And no, we don't follow that rule. I usually give them food while I am making dinner or just before we sit down. I don't think it matters that much. If anything, just make your dog work for his food, like sit or whatever you want.

[Teresita]

We don't make our dogs wait, but they tend to wait of their own accord. They are freed fed (i.e., there is always food available) and neither of them overeat. The alpha dog usually waits until we have eaten (or at least until we get home) before he will eat. Then our other dog waits til he is done and then she will eat.

[JamBray]

Our dog typically eats at 6:30am and 4-5pm during the week, and a little later on the weekends. It's just my routine to fill her and the cats bowls right when I get up before I do anything for myself, or right when I get home to get it out of the way. She does sometimes try to beg while we're eating, but we just tell her no and have her lie down next to us.