Well, we had an interesting evening in our house tonight. I fed the dogs like I normally do, with about 6' of separation and a counter island between them. Lulu has a history of pushing dogs away from their dishes and helping herself to their food, but she's gotten better about it so we both turned our backs because we were busy doing other stuff. Bad idea. Lulu saw her opportunity to steal Ghost's dinner, and Ghost finally stood up for herself. By the time we got there Lulu was screaming (yet still in attack mode) and Ghost was trying to defend her dinner, which by then was scattered everywhere. Lulu appears to be no worse for the wear, but Ghost ate her dinner so fast and was so upset that she was gagging constantly for about 30 minutes after the incident. She seems ok now, but Lulu knows I'm PISSED at her. Too bad that didn't stop her from begging for our dinner when we ate, but that's a daily occurrence. I need to find a way to make this one work, but I'll be damned if that dog tries to steal food from anyone or any animal ever again. I just hope Ghost doesn't start developing guarding behavior after this. She never has, but we usually monitor things so they don't get out of hand. I guess we're back to monitored feedings...

Have you tried not letting Lulu get near Ghost when she's still eating? When Lulu makes her way toward Ghost when Ghost is still eating, try body blocking her. If Lulu is quick, then you'll need to find a way so Lulu understands she is not allowed near Ghost while Ghost is still eating. You'll also need to monitor Ghost too so that she doesn't escalate her being defensive.

Feeding time in our house goes like this: G&S cannot pass their imaginary line into the kitchen when I making up their food. Then when I'm ready with their food, before I even put their bowls down, they have to sit. And they have to remain sitting, away from their food until I say, 'take it'. Ginger will be sitting behind me before I turn around from putting her food down, and she will stay while I put Storm's food down. She will also have her full attention on me during that whole time - not on her food. As soon as I put Ginger's food down, Storm will take his place and sit while I make my way over to his place to put his food down. He'll also have his attention on me, and not on his food, until I say 'take it'. It took some time, but it's discipline and they're 'working' for their food.

Even when you think Lulu is starting to get better, you'll still need to monitor feeding time. It'll take time and consistency, but until you can fully trust Lulu that she will not go near Ghost while she's eating, you'll have to monitor them at feeding.

When Lulu begs at dinner (while you're eating), try making her sit, or lay down and then ignore her. If Lulu still begs, and you have a crate for her, try making her go in her crate for a treat and make her stay. If she stays, she gets a small treat. Hopefully, she'll learn that being in her crate when it's your dinner time she'll get a treat later.

Time, consistency and patience....

Quote: Time, consistency and patience....

...........and a foot in the arse of Lulu if needed.

Another time of seeing a young Husky defending what is their's. Good for them. I doubt Ghost will become a resource guarder but she did teach Lulu a lesson she better have learned.

can you not feed Lulu in a crate? so that she can't get at ghost? if that still doesn't get the message across, maybe crate Lulu and feed Ghost before you feed Lulu and not until she is calm.

That really sucks Meredith! I know what you mean about the gagging. When Mya and Kody got into a fight over a piece of bread on the street while on a walk (about a month ago) Kody was gagging non stop for like 10min. Wouldn't even walk. I thought he was choking

I feed Kody in his crate and Mya in the living room. Kody has just always eaten in his crate so he goes straight in there when I'm prepping their food. If he comes back to the kitchen I tell him 'back up' and he goes back to his crate. He'll woo and bark at me from his crate as in saying "hurry hurry hurry". It's funny. Mya is learning ' back up' also and has to go sit and wait in her feeding spot while I prep the food. This takes several attempts of me making her go back to her spot, but eventually she gives in and stays there.

Food is our most powerful weapon

Here4thePics wrote:

...........and a foot in the arse of Lulu if needed.

God I wish I could get away with that some days...

We usually supervise meal times and start with a warning if Lulu gets too close and then moving on to the body block if she ignores the warning. We tell her "not your food" and "no", and she usually backs off a foot or so and just stares.

Oh, and she did not learn her lesson last night at all. I fed them their breakfast with much more separation, and poor Ghost kept giving Lulu sidelong glances from across the room. Of course, Lulu inhales her breakfast first, and makes a beeline to Ghost's dish. She got a pretty stern scolding from me, but still stayed in the vicinity.

*%&#ing dog...

You may want to body block her sightline too. I do that with the Chillster. I also stare him down to remind him...

we feed in the crates but with doors open, always have. sierra will check jacks bowl but only after he is done and has left his crate, in fact he goes and checks her bowl some times as well.
same as Claudia they need to be in their crates and sitting while i get the food ready and remain there till i bring the food over. they only get their food if they are sitting still.
removing Lulu will help ghost but not fix the issue of her going after the food, every one has given good suggestions on working on that issue.

Never have food issues because all are fed in different locations. For me engineering the environment is just easier than having to deal with possible issues. One eats in her crate, one in the kitchen and one in my bedroom. All food is picked up after 30 minutes. No problems whatsoever. This is the lazy owners way of feeding, but I know how much each one eats and there aren't opportunities for anyone to be a-holes. Also no one has to gulp food in fear of another getting what isn't theirs. They do drink out of each others water bowls but no problems there.

We always make them sit and wait for their food, and they can't eat until we release them. That being said, I think we may explore the crate options, at least for Lulu. It's hard to describe it to get the point across, but that dog is seriously the most food driven dog I've ever known.

Thanks a lot for all of the suggestions, everyone. We are going to reevaluate how we conduct food times and enforce the rules better. We are also on our way out to get a harness for Lulu so we can walk them together on a harness.

Oh the feeding time was a pain in the butt today!!! We were trying out Grandmas Lucy's for the first time today and boyyyyyy could they smell the "new" scent! Took me 10min to get them to stay were they're supposed to!! Well, actually, I locked Kody in the crate after 10min and Mya actually stayed (with LOTS OF COMPLAINING though). Sigh!