Hey, So Jackie is settling down well, unfortunately our other dog is bullying him about food and treats. We feed them separately, but Jackie made the mistake of bringing one of his bones into the same room as Godzilla, who promptly stole it. Jackie gave in as soon as Godzilla grabbed the bone, but he seemed quite miserable. I ended up giving Jackie a new bone and closing the door between them while Jackie ate it. Godzilla has been getting worse since, trying to grab treats during training from Jackie, until I've had to train completely separately or Jackie demures in what I assume is fear that Godzilla will take the treat. This morning he demured a piece of cheese from my dad because Godzilla was looking at him. What can I do?
Hmmmm,we are a one dog family and Dexter is our first dog so I haven't got anything to draw on to help you ....however we have a lot of 'multiple' dog families on the Forum who I'm sure will have some advice for you.Jackie is only little ,too small to deal with this himself so I believe you are right for now in separating them at what could be tricky times ie feeding/ treat times.I think at the moment it would be better anyway to do your training sessions with Jackie alone as Godzilla ( such a great name!) is sure to be too much of a distraction just by being there.....Iet alone being a bit cheeky with it. I feel sorry for little Jackie looking miserable when he had his bone taken away...this must happen a lot though and I'm sure you will get some great siggestions to get everyone living in harmony x
I have two dogs and, during training time, I have trained one to sit on a mat while the other one is "working". At first, this meant the one on the mat was given a treat in place every time the other dog earned one. Over time, I've faded this so the dog on the mat only gets the odd one now and again. It works well and they know to wait their turn now. Our two are litter mates, but we got them at different times. Willow came to us at 8 weeks and Shadow at 14 weeks. Shadow had been with a couple of his other litter mates until that time, so had to compete for food. This meant that he tended to try to push Willow out of the way when he'd finished his meals (he always finished first) and would try to take any bigger things (kongs, meaty bones etc) away from her. So, at meal times, I fed them on separate sides of the end of a wall , with me standing between, blocking Shadow's ability to get to Willow's bowl. Over time, I moved the bowls closer to the end of the wall, so there was less of a barrier, and then I moved farther away. It didn't take long before Shadow learnt his manners - and that he didn't have to compete for food anymore - and they can now be fed next to each other, without any supervision. For those higher value things, like meaty bones, I would pop Willow in her crate, which she loved anyway. Shadow would get his at the opposite end of the room. At first, he'd go and pester her, and she'd growl at him, but they both learned that he wasn't going to get anything other than what I'd given him, so peace reigned. Once I put the crate away, Willow still chose (and still chooses) to take any "prizes" to the corner where it had lived, and Shadow still takes his to the other end of the room. They'll have a sniff and a lick of each other's beds once they've finished, but they don't even think about approaching while the other is eating anymore. It will come with a little bit of management. Just try to make sure Godzilla doesn't get rewarded for stealing from Jackie - which means you being the referee in the short term. Good luck!
When I give Kongs or bones or chews I make sure one dog is in the crate so that they know they can eat them in peace. I do a 'first one to the crate' policy lol I usually train separately. But if I'm training them together I give treats at the same time - the waiting dog gets as many treats as the training dog. When I feed them I lure the one who finishes first (usually Twiglet) away with fish cubes - I use this time to practice checking ears/teeth/paws. She now comes straight to me when her bowl is empty. Otherwise I never give treats outside of training time and no food when I'm eating, ever.
I'm pretty sure that getting my dad to stop slipping the dogs treats is close to an impossible task, as I've been trying since we got our first dog many years ago.
