[Dailydrool] Eating at Warp Speed, Segwaying into Social Eating

[Jennifer Martin]

Alice mentioned that whenever she got a new dog, she tied them up and had
them eat where no one else could intimidate them while they were eating. I
generally think this is a good idea. Our third basset came from a
recommended breeder that turned out to not be so great. She repeated a
breeding where all the puppies became champions, but the mom couldn't
nurse. So, with the Banshee came from she took away the mom after day 2.
She didn't want to bottle feed, so as soon as their eyes opened, she just
dumped milk in the crate 4 times a day. Banshee didn't do well with that
and came to us with serious food issues. She couldn't see any other dog
eating or she would attack them. She finally got where we could feed a
treat from us directly to the dog's mouth in front of her (as long as she
got hers as well). Fast forward to Browyn. I was told she was a great eater
and always ate in her crate. Like an idiot, I didn't ask where the crate
was and if she ate with other dogs in sight. Well, we tried to feed her in
the office with the half door that had worked so well for Banshee. Nope.
Browyn wouldn't eat. I tried hand feeding her. Nope. She sat in my lap and
cried. Suddenly the light bulb went on and I figured out that just because
she ate in a crate so the older dogs didn't steal her food, didn't mean she
ate alone. So we fed her in the living room in an open concept house while
Beauford and Bugsey ate at opposite sides of the kitchen. Total success!
Browyn has to eat with one of the boys "with" her. When they board, the
feed Browyn outside the run with Bugsey in it. Apparently when she is done,
she waits right there to go back in the kennel with her beloved brother.
Bugsey on the other hand runs off to see what other dogs he can visit and
get riled up.

I too put water on the food. I have learned that old dogs with bad
arthritis don't always get up to get a drink as often as they should. So I
started putting water on the food and just never stopped when this
generation was young.

Jennifer with Beauford, Bugsey, and Browyn the Fairy Princess
timandjenmartin at gmail.com
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