Dog overly protective of food w/smaller dog

[Tab]

Out of our three dogs in question (we have a fourth, but she's a pampered old lady), the middle dog is a problem. He's a hound/boxer mix. He is a problem in so many ways, but the one I'm writing about is how he's overly protective of food.

He adheres to the pecking order. He is submissive and not protective with me (recognizing my alpha position) and he's submissive and not protective with the slightly larger and more intimidating shepherd/Rottweiller mix. He defers to us both. But he tries to dominate our sweet little Shih-Tzu.

Specifically he growls menacingly and it will escalate into a near-fight if the Shih-Tzu approaches whatever food bowl the hound is protecting (we keep three in separate corners of the kitchen to try to minimize the problem). Sometimes if the Shih-Tzu is eating, and the hound has finished his bowl he'll go over and try to take the Shih-Tzu's bowl. At other times he may actually follow the Shih-Tzu from bowl to bowl solely to prevent him from eating any, a behavior which really pisses me off. The two will sit there growling at each other and it escalates into near-snapping. We usually clear the problem by calling the Shih-Tzu away and calling his attention to an alternate feeding bowl, but we're not always there to monitor.

Feeding them all individually isn't really an option in this situation. Any other ideas that might help mitigate this?

Thanks

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Do you feed them on a schedule or do you free feed? Do you give treats to them?

I am no expert, but one of the things I won't tolerate in our dogs is food competition. Knock wood, we have none. The big dogs were always free fed from multiple bowls so they always had confidence that food would be there when they wanted it.

We reinforced this with the way we gave them treats. We make them sit. The one who seems most anxious gets her treat last.

When the Shih-tzu got here, we found she had eating issues - she never stops! She's really a pudge and we have to watch her food intake. As a result, the big dogs' food has to come up, too. Remarkably they never got bothered by the absence of food all day long. When they get hungry, they just ask for it. No fuss . . . and still no competition.

Dog psychologists did an experiment some time ago. They gave treats only to the top dogs and never to the dogs lowest on the pecking order. Dogs, being pack animals, respect the pack even more than they worry about themselves. In the experiment, the dogs took the treats for a while but when they realized the pack runt wasn't getting anything, they all refused the treats. The experiment was repeated with different populations and almost always the same result. I used to have a link to a story about this, but can't seem to find it. In any case, I think this is a key for you.

Now, to be sure, some dogs have other issues that result in aggression. I wonder if, in your case, the issue might be some aggression based on something other than food. Not knowing your dogs, I can only suggest this might be worth looking into.

By the way, I'm not sure dog size has anything to do with this. Where your Shih-tzu is being pushed around, ours is the opposite. She defers to the Border Collie (far and away an alpha) but runs the German Sheperd in circles!

Good luck! I hope you find a solution.

[Tab]

2. No treats

And they're free fed, usually bowls have food. The Shepherd/Rottweiler mix will ask me for food if his bowl is empty. The other two don't (not in ways I recognize, at least). We have the most success when all bowls are full and have food, although occasionally the hound will, as I said, run around trying to protect them all. The trouble is more often when one of the bowls goes empty.

We don't give treats (or, if so, on the very rarest occasion). Certainly not daily. Last time we really handed out treats, it was rawhide, and that erupted in a fight that popped one of the Shih-Tzu's eyes out, resulting in a trip to the emergency vet, and blindness in that eye for the dog. So, we gave up on treats for the most part.

I do understand size doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it. We also have a Tibetan Spaniel, who's the oldest, the smallest, and none of the dogs fuck with her.

Her aside, though, the order is (after me), the Shep/Rott mix, the Hound, the Shih Tzu. The Shih Tzu pecks at food, the hound is the one that is a food hog.

Never heard of that experiment, but if you find the link, send it to me. I'd love to read about it.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. If you cannot resolve this problem any other way,

you may have to stop free-feeding and only feed at specific times. Put food down, let them eat, take the food back up and there is no food at any other times. Since the food will only be out for 10-15 minutes (if that long), if one dog eats his food too fast and tries to take from the others, feed them in separate areas.

I had two cats, and one ate so fast then tried to take all the food from the other, who ate much slower. I had to separate them with a door to make sure both had the right amount of food for them.

[Texasgal]

4. My advice is to have them eat in

complete different locations. My two bostons are nuts when they eat, so one bowl in the kitchen and the other in the living room. We feed once a day, so we call them when their food is ready.

I am so sorry you are having this problem, dog food and protective eating is such a bummer.

Try different areas it worked for us.