My Mother feeds her dogs at 5am every morning.

[Roon]

I slept until 8am this morning, those monsters tore open the bin their food is kept and helped themselves to an "all you can eat" buffet...I went ahead and tried to feed them anyway, of course they weren't hungry.

I am putting them up tonight,they can wait until 8am to eat. Believe me, they aren't going to starve to death!

[LynneSin]

1. My cats know they get fed around 8am every morning

So if I attempt to sleep in on a Saturday or Sunday morning - they are all over me like flies on shit!

[Roon]

8. Daniel will "hook" my eyelid with a claw to wake me up..

but my cats pretty much have food all the time, so it doesn't happen often.

[WillParkinson]

11. To comment or not to comment....

I'm think it's safer to go with 'not'.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. That thread title could be improved by preceding it with

"I saw my Mother's pet alligator."

[grasswire]

3. my dog eats after dinner

According to dog experts, the dogs need to eat AFTER the humans, and have just a bit of what the human ate, for scent so it seems you share food. This is so that they consider the human the pack leader and dominant. In a pack, the boss eats first, and the rest eat what's left. You also need to be able to take the plate away from them in the middle of their meal to demonstrate that you are the alpha in the pack and can control their food.

So -- just as in a dog pack -- my dog sits and waits until the family is finished eating. Then I prepare his dog food, add a bit of our plate scrapings to it, and feed him.

Pack behavior is how dogs see the world and explains much of what they do.

[marzipanni]

7. I do that, too.

My cousin got a cattle dog that was not a puppy, and the older of my cousin's two sons was having trouble with the dog nipping him.
They went with her to the Humane Society for advice and were told to have the older son take part in her training, including feeding her only after she followed his 'sit' and 'stay' commands, because she was trying to establish heirarchy. She knew the adults were alpha, and the younger boy not as much competition, but she had to be shown that the older boy was dominant to her rank in the pack.

I agree with the trainer who says, "Dogs like to know what's expected of them".

[TorchTheWitch]

12. huh? what "experts" are you listening to?

The pack leader owns all the food. It really doesn't matter who eats when as long as the dog understands it's your food and you that lets him eat it... and can take it back if you want it. It really doesn't matter who eats "first" unless both the human meal and the dog meal is prepared and served at the same time, and the dog is allowed to begin eating before you begin eating. To the dog, his meal and your meal are the same meal for all if prepared and served together. To the dog, all food is food... he can't understand there is any difference between your food and his food if prepared and served at the same time.

Eating table scraps is not good for dogs and does nothing to show them who is the pack leader. That's the most bizzare thing I've ever heard of.

All that needs to be done is claim the dog's food as just as much your food as your food is... he only gets to eat it when told he's allowed to. Making them sit quietly while the dog's meal is prepared and served and looking to you for permission to eat it is all that's needed to establish to the dog that the food belongs to you and they only get to eat it with your permission. You should be able to put the bowl of food in front of the dog and the dog not just go ahead and eat but be looking at you for the signal for permission for him to eat what's been put in front of him... because to the dog it's been established that ALL food is yours. And that includes those things the dog considers food that we don't like what's in the garbage or on the counter or is accidently dropped on the floor... or what he might find on the sidewalk.

Dogs have very little concept of the passage of time. They can't establish who is eating "first" if you come home from work, feed the dog, change your clothes or take a shower or whatever for a few minutes and then prepare and serve your own meal to yourself. Even with those few minutes the dog doesn't think he ate "first", he only thinks his meal time and your meal time are at separate times.

[joeybee12]

4. Dogs 1, you 0

They're gonna wake you up early tomorrow...I guarantee it!

[Roon]

9. Probably

Oh well, I am enjoying myself here.

[mnhtnbb]

5. The rescue organization told me to feed our dog twice a day--better for her digestion--

and I imagine it helps her to not be so hungry.

Does your mother feed only at 5 a.m.? Or does she also feed a dinner portion to the dogs?

In my case, it's the damn cat that wants to eat early in the morning. We used to put the cats
out at night, but after Simba's brother died, we felt sorry for him having to spend the night alone
outside. Now he sleeps on our bed. He's ready to eat anytime I stir--and I often am awake
by 5:00 a.m. The dog has no interest in eating then; she doesn't eat until after her walk.

[lillypaddle]

6. I feed my dogs at 5:00 am

And again at about 2:00 pm. And they get a treat for a snack at about 5:30 pm. Only being fed once a day at 5:00 am is a long wait. Poor doggies!

[Roon]

10. they get snacks..carrots...doggie cookies,,,,etc.

I have no idea why these dogs love carrots so much.