serious dog question

[bigdsooner]

i have 2 girl labs, the oldest one (boomer) is 3 and the youngest (reecie) is 1. the problem is my youngest is real skinny...not freakishly skinny, but definitely under weight for a 1yr old lab because boomer wont let her eat, they never fight but boomer is real controlling of her food. she doesnt bite her, but when boomer gets ****ed off, she will jump on her and by the sounds of boomer growling and snarling and reecie crying you would think she is killing her...but she has never bitten her...just vicious intimidation i guess. this has been goin on for about the last 5-6 months, last week we started bringing reecies food into our room and having her eat alone. so far thats not going well, she will eat maybe 1/2 the bowl and then go stand by the door like she's scared to eat it all, i put the bowl in front of her and she wont eat, usually after about 10-15 minutes she will eat a few more bites and then be done. its not the food cause weve tried different kinds. she's an awesome dog, crazy as hell but very sweet. i just want her to get some meat on her. any help at all would be great.

[jk the sooner fan]

how far apart were their bowls when they were eating in the same area?

in the wild, the alpha dog eats first....you might try letting reecie eat first while controlling boomer -

[Howzit]

Chances are Reecie is always going to think of Boomer as the alpha. Maybe you could let Boomer eat first with Reecie out there, then bring Boomer inside and let Reecie eat alone outside?

[bigdsooner]

how far apart were their bowls when they were eating in the same area?

in the wild, the alpha dog eats first....you might try letting reecie eat first while controlling boomer -

the water bowl was between their food bowls. we used to leave their food out during the day til we started noticing this, now we feed them while we are here.
i was thinking of flipping it around and letting boomer in our room so reecie could eat where she is supposed too. its not that reecie tries to eat and boomer wont let, she wont even go near the food bowl unless boomer is nowhere to be found

[jk the sooner fan]

jake and chelsea eat at the same time, however their bowls are about 5-6 feet apart

and howzit is right, reecie will think of boomer as the alpha unless you take steps to change that

one way is for you and your family to eat before the dogs do.....it wont be a quick process though

and i never leave the food down, i put it down for 15 minutes.....while i'm there, if they dont finish, then i pick it up till the next feeding

they learn pretty quick that the food isnt there all day and eat when they can

[King Crimson]

Serious Dogs (by Steve Martin):

I had always thought dogs to be playful and spirited; to me they were animals who loved to chase sticks and romp around and lick you. That is, I used to think that, until that day I met the serious dogs. When I first saw the serious dogs, they were sitting on a small hill out to the side of my house watching the sunset. One dog was standing on his hind legs, leaning his elbow on a tree, lost in melancholy thought. They all watched this particularly glorious sunset, then each sighed in turn and strolled in a pack over the hill. Were these the dogs I had thrown bones to for the last several months? These day-dreamers?

Several days later I saw the serious dogs lunching under the willow. They were not gulping their food down like Spritzie does; they seemed almost refined. After dining they buried their trash, cleaned themselves up, and disappeared over the horizon. I waited half an hour and then took my shovel over to that willow and dug up what they had buried there: several wrappers of cheese, some half-eaten doggie biscuits, and Good Lord! . . . two empty bottles of fairly expensive Bordeaux! I turned, confused, and saw a small pamphlet lying on the ground. I picked it up and read the title, "Federal Migratory Waterfowl Stamps." "Well," I thought, "some poor stamp collectgor left his book here. . ." Just then, one of the serious dogs appeared and gently took the volume from my hands and padded off.

I stopped. This was something more than just some dogs who didn't like to play fetch. I decided to secretly follow this dog. I laid about a hundred yards back and watched him. I was impressed with his courtesy to other animals and his compulsion to leave his pathway neat. If a branch had fallen over he would right it; if leaves had blown over this trail, he would brush them back onto less traveled ground.

Then I saw him crawl through an opening in some thick brush. As I approached, I could hear the sounds of other dogs moving lightly. I moved toward the opening and cautiously peered through. I could see a few dogs staring intently at something, as though studying it. I could not make out exactly what it was so I moved in closer. I was sure not to make my presence known. As I parted some branches in the brush, I saw a most incredibly sight. A fully-constructed skeleton of a cow! The construction was crude to be sure, but, missing only the head and feet, it wsa well-formed and highly commendable. I remembered throwing them bones now and then, and I could recall several of the dogs seemingly analyze it before accepting it, I looked along the ground and saw several of the books I had thrown out months before. They were well kept and stored upright. Most were reference, but I recognized several of the better novels. Then I noticed some dogs all facing something and sniffing judicously like connoisseurs whould sniff wine. I could not make out what they were looking at as a bush blocked my line of sight. I moved ever so slowly through the underbrush, with such caution that it took me a full ten minutes to travel five feet. Then, with some trepidation, I lifted my eyes at the object of the dogs' curiousity and saw. . . My God! . . . THE LOST MONET!

http://chris.ericbosken.net/pages/cruel.html

[bigdsooner]

Chances are Reecie is always going to think of Boomer as the alpha. Maybe you could let Boomer eat first with Reecie out there, then bring Boomer inside and let Reecie eat alone outside?

very true about the alpha, i forgot to tell yous peoples that reecie is a p***y :D. she wont even go outside unless someone goes with her (usually boomer, occasionally me)

[bigdsooner]

jake and chelsea eat at the same time, however their bowls are about 5-6 feet apart

and howzit is right, reecie will think of boomer as the alpha unless you take steps to change that

one way is for you and your family to eat before the dogs do.....it wont be a quick process though

and i never leave the food down, i put it down for 15 minutes.....while i'm there, if they dont finish, then i pick it up till the next feeding

they learn pretty quick that the food isnt there all day and eat when they can

that sound like a great idea. thanks jk

[Okla-homey]

I would'nt worry too much about it. The female will not starve herself. If she gets hungry enough...she'll rare back on the boy.

If she continues to drop weight though you might oughtta get her checked out. It could be parasites.

[bigdsooner]

I would'nt worry too much about it. The female will not starve herself. If she gets hungry enough...she'll rare back on the boy.

If she continues to drop weight though you might oughtta get her checked out. It could be parasites.

both of em are girls. shes a healthy dog, just skinny due to fata$$ boomer intimidating her :D

[BajaOklahoma]

You can't make Reecie into the Alpha dog. In trying to make one dog the leader, the true leader will come back later and let the pretneder have it. (per my vet)

Are they outside dogs? Parasites are a consideration.
Is Reecie still getting puppy food? Large breed dogs need it until 18 months or so. Also, lean (not skinny) is better at this age to prevent hip problems later.

Our alpha dog is Bailey, the second oldest & a female. She fights with the younger dog, never drawing blood, but to establish dominance (she has the fastest takedown for a dog). Our three dogs eat in separate rooms, to discourage food swapping (they eat have separate foods). Funny thing, when Bailey doesn't eat her food, neither does Riley (Ben always eats). No idea why.

[bigdsooner]

they are both inside dogs. i was just trying to get some different ideas as to how to get her to eat without being scared to death of the older one. jk had a pretty cool idea...with the time slot for eating that im gonna try. im prolly just gonna have to do it in seperate rooms though. they have both been eating purina beneful for a long time.