Dal & Mad's Mom Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 My guys have never known a hungry day in their life but, genie was a walking bag of bones under the puppies. In 2 weeks with a good diet she is looking much better but, a bad habit on her side has emerged. Everyone gets say left over pasta in different parts of the room. Genie will gobble hers then cause a commotion with Maddie run over eat as much as she can of Maddie's before I can chase her. Genie growls but, rarely follows up with anything the arguements sound awful and are quickly over. There is no food agression with me. This morning she wanted to see Dal and Maddie's bowls so she backed them up to the door and stared at them. I pulled her away and stuck her at her bowl again. Is this going to be a consistancy thing that will get better (there will always be food) or do I have to break her of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Sheryl, I would definitley break her of this! Skip started showing signs of this with the foster girls, and I can assure you he never has known a hungry hour, much less day! What I did when handing out left overs, is when he would get snarky or anything else along those lines is immediately get him to me in a sit/stay. Then the others got the food and he got the very last bite. He soon learned that it was not advantageous to get snarky. They all know to leave the others stuff alone until the dog has left, then they can scrounge for crumbs. Good luck with her. And you can break her, but it may take time, with her being used to not eating or perhaps having to fight for something to eat! (not knowing her previous situation) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurie etc Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 My guys have never known a hungry day in their life but, genie was a walking bag of bones under the puppies. In 2 weeks with a good diet she is looking much better but, a bad habit on her side has emerged. ... Is this going to be a consistancy thing that will get better (there will always be food) or do I have to break her of this? Nursing bitches have a great need for calories, even if they've been well fed their whole lives. They can eat 3-4 times their normal amount. In Genie's situation, she probably has had to fight and scrounge for food. For now, I'd be feeding her seperately from the other dogs, and giving her just about all she wants. She will settle in time, but two weeks isn't a very long time to expect her to adjust to "the good life". Also, if she's not getting enough to maintain her own and sustain milk production (especially calcium) you could be setting her up for a case of eclampsia, which is life threatening. Check with your vet about whether she needs a calcium supplement, or even yoghurt/cottage cheese added to her diet while nursing. I once fostered an abandoned/abused Golden bitch that whelped a litter of 10 in a shelter the day after she was picked up (found tied out in a back yard in the winter with no food or water). She lost three of the puppies by the time I got her, and we almost lost her due to starvation, dehydration, and the strain of having to nurse the remaining pups. My vet put her on Pet Tabs with calcium, and we gave her and the pups sub-Q fluids. They all made it, but she was fairly critical for days. Laurie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dal & Mad's Mom Posted February 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I've been giving her goats milk, Puppy food and tums per the vet. I've also been giving her a dog vitamin and free choice canidae dry food Plus meat once a day. I guess the issue with the pushing people around for their food is more of a bad guest type behavior. My guys are reasonably submissive to her and she is taking advantage of it. I swear when she gets mad it's like she grows to the size of a black bear.lol Outside she seems to have nice pack behavior with them they all sit together and watch the neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurie etc Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I've been giving her goats milk, Puppy food and tums per the vet. I've also been giving her a dog vitamin and free choice canidae dry food Plus meat once a day. I guess the issue with the pushing people around for their food is more of a bad guest type behavior. My guys are reasonably submissive to her and she is taking advantage of it. I swear when she gets mad it's like she grows to the size of a black bear.lol Outside she seems to have nice pack behavior with them they all sit together and watch the neighborhood. Sounds like she is getting plenty to eat, but I would wager that she is also "maternally-hormonally protective" - normal for a bitch to be food and resource protective when she has a litter to raise. Your other guys probably intuitively recognize this, and are behaving appropriately. When I've had a litter, my bitches do not go out to "socialize" with my other dogs, especially the first couple weeks. I'd let her be with the litter and you, and not push the doggy socialization issue until the puppies' eyes are open and they are running around - at about 4 weeks she'll be much happier to have to adult dog company and get a break from the pyhrannas. JMO. Laurie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc friend Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 For fosters that inhale their food and then try to take the other dogs' food, I feed the foster in his/her crate and leave him/her there until the other dogs have finished eating. I don't feel that it is fair to my dogs to have to protect their food (esp. since my old girl "savors" her food, i.e., eats slowly). Most of the fosters stop the behavior w/in a few weeks, but I've had some that I always fed in their crates. For Genie, there may also be a component of "knowing" she has to have lots of food to nourish her pups. At least until she weans her pups, I would feed her separately - and treat/feed the other dogs in another room from her. Poor thing - she probably doesn't trust her luck to continue to have a good warm home for herself and pups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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