Feeding all the time

[Ken]

We have one girl, just turned 4. We have always left food out all the time. We will be getting a new puppy when we get moved in to the new house. Will we have problems with feeding? Also, should we get another girl or boy? Thanks Ken

[Cheryl]

Hello & welcome to the board!

A new puppy shouldnt be difficult to socialize with your existing doxie. But if your girl has been an only child for a while, you may see some dominance/territorial issues. For this reason, regarding your question on feedings, you may want to separate them during mealtimes. Also, it may help to acknowledge your older one first to alleviate any jealousy, and watch them constantly until they both know the rules of the house (ie: no fighting, snapping, etc.) On gender, Ive heard that mixed pairs are easier, but as I have 2 girls, I cant really confirm it. As I understand it, female pairs are supposedly more prone to dominance issues, and while that is true on occasion with my 2, for the most part they generally get along very well. Im sure other members can also offer opinions on this.

Oh boy, 2 doxies in a brand new house with brand new carpet!! :circle:

[juliette]

When we just had Otto, we left his food down all the time and he grazed whenever he felt like it. As soon as we got Hijinx however, suddenly Otto had different behaviours about food and territory. For example, there was the obvious trying to steal each other's food, but also Otto became quite aggressive and territorial as long as his food dish was on the floor. He reacted by barking and growling and guarding his food dish at anyone who came into the kitchen

We discovered that it is best to feed them 1 - 2 times a day at set times. The breakfast goes down on the floor for 15 minutes, if they don't finish it, then the food comes up until the afternoon. It's solved all aggression and food dominance issues - of course, I now have two dogs that can eat a 1/2 cup of food in 2 minutes flat!

Good luck!

[blazeman]

Again... I am just basically echoing what juliette has said. When I have a foster in the house I put the gate up to seperate them while eating. My last foster was the first one I had when i had my boy home. I didn't let anything even start as far as food is concerned. They never had the chace to eat eachothers food.

Like Otto and Jinxie... they ate prety fast... to make sure the other couldn't get any food.

As far as shared water... they had NO PROBLEMS sharing the water bowl... it just got filled 3 times as much as when it was just jake ;)


On the lines of two of the same sex... is your current girl spayed? More of the problems I have heard with same sex dachsies weren't spayed... That was part of the reason I had to take in my last foster.

Make sure to tell us more about the fur-kids :)

[Owen's Mom]

I would suggest getting a male, not a female. While I know that there are some here who do fine with two or more females in their homes, most trainers and behaviorists will warn agaist having two females in a home. Females are much more dominate than males and scuffles are well known to occur for pack position.

As for feeding, I never really suggest free feeding, but once you put a pack together, I really suggest you feed at specific times so you know how much food your dogs are actually getting :D

[Caleb_Pearson]

Originally posted by Ken
We have one girl, just turned 4. We have always left food out all the time. We will be getting a new puppy when we get moved in to the new house. Will we have problems with feeding? Also, should we get another girl or boy? Thanks Ken

I too am getting a new house. But we decided to put wood floors in instead of getting carpet... we had to get a slightly smaller house because of this, but we figured it would be better than letting charlie pee all over the place... hehe I too am getting a new doxie when we get the new place. thanks for all the advice.

[Meemoo]

as it tends to add weight quickly for one thing and that's the LAST thing a dachshund needs is extra weight. It also can create an environment for bacteria and germs not to mention an enticement for bugs etc to come and get it! It can also lead to a picky dog. It's best if you feed once or twice a day leaving the food day for a maximum of 15 minutes. If the dog doesn't eat...pick it up until the next meal and try again.

[Ken]

We have free fed Ruby from day one. We are gone alot during the day and are not always home to feed her. I am sure we will be told we are doing wrong also because we do have her trained to wait on us to come home, we keep paper down for her to "go" on. Thanks for all the input.