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Post by xyamomo on Mar 15, 2015 0:58:15 GMT
Okay, so my rottie x lab mix (Xya) keeps bullying my beagle (Molly) by bullying I mean she steals all her food and treats sometimes right out of her mouth! Both females, Molly is neutered/spayed. I got Xya when she was 9 weeks old from the dog pound, she is now 2 and Molly is a 3yo rescue that we got 1 year ago. Xya will get very protective over her bowls of food, her toys and me. It is only her food bowl she is protective over not the water, she will even let the cats come up and drink from the same bowl. Is there anything I can do to fix this?
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Post by zahada on Mar 15, 2015 10:44:38 GMT
Stop Xya from bullying your other dog. Feed them separately. Take Xya to training classes, long walks, bike with her, anything to get rid of her physical energy. Do some training at home, on your walks, just something simple, but reliable sit stay.
You could put Xya's food in food dispensing toys -depending on what you feed her. There are many types, just google them and choose the most appropriate ones.
Good luck. Keep us posted with your progress
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Post by smilesbetter on Mar 15, 2015 13:32:08 GMT
I agree with zahada , you should be feeding the dogs separately and also possibly seeking the help of a behaviourist/trainer. Also, with my family dog Sasha I trained her not to be food possessive by firstly training her to sit and wait before eating, then training her "off" to stop eating, and giving her some food from my hand and letting her go back to her meal. After a while, I would start to put my other hand in her bowl while she ate the food from my hand, then using her "off" command and taking some of the food myself, and when she sat and waited patiently, I'd give her some of the food from my hand. We did this loads, as she was a rescue dog and had some aggression problems (with other dogs, but she could be a bit possessive too). Over time she got really good and is so unpossessive over food now that we have often seen the cat come along and eat out of her bowl while Sasha is waiting to be told "go get it", and Sasha doesn't even whine or anything at the fact the cat is stealing her food. Also you might wanna consider feeding Molly before feeding Xya, so that Xya learns that there is enough for everyone and that even though Molly is eating first, she WILL also get fed (rather than having to barge in and get all the treats or food incase she misses out). When doing this though keep Xya on a lead or have them in separate feeding pens at least to prevent her from trying to steal the food and starting a fight. In any case though, if I had a dog that was food possesive, I wouldn't feed them loose where they have the opportunity to practice that behaviour and be rewarded for it. There are people on here I believe who feed their dogs in pens or in different rooms for this reason. It's quite normal for dogs to be possessive over food after all, they just have to learn our rules in these cases and some dogs will still try to sneakily steal the others food, so it is safer to feed separately.
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