How to Stop Dog From Eating Other Dog’s Food – Guide
As a dog lover, if you have more than one dog, you may be suffering from a problem of one dog eating another’s dog food. It happened due to many reasons, so it is very significant to know that how to stop dog from eating other dog’s food. It usually occurs when one dog gets too much food and the other dog does not get enough food.
The easy and effective method to get rid of this problem is to provide food to the dogs within 8-10 feet or in different rooms. You can also introduce them to eating together and teach them after providing rewards and some challenges.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the reason for this problem and how to teach dogs not to eat other dogs’ food.
Why Do Dogs Eat Other Dogs Food?
Three main reasons cause to this problem that mentioned below:
- When one dog gets too much food compared to others, the dogs eat other puppy food.
- Secondly, when the first dog has less appetite or the dog eats the food at a slow pace, the other dog presses their advantage. Therefore, when the dog sees the other dog’s bowl of food, they will start eating their food.
- It may also occur when one dog tries to show dominance over the other dogs and eats their food. It is also known as an alpha role, and the first dog considers himself a leader or boss to the other dog.
How to Stop Dog From Eating Other Dog’s Food – 3 Methods
There are three effective methods that you can follow to quickly get rid of this problem and train your dog not to eat other dogs’ food. Here you get a detailed and step-by-step guide on how to stop puppies from eating other dogs’ food.
Use Control Method
The control methods are very effective and useful, and most professionals and dog trainers use this method. So, if you want to get rid of this problem, you need to follow the step-by-step guide mentioned below.
Step 1.
First of all, the most important thing is providing food to your dog under your regulation. Now you need to fill the food bowls, but you need to temporarily remove the dog from the room that gets his food stolen.
Step 2.
Now it’s time to place your body between the dog and the other dog’s food bowl. Therefore, when the dog wants to approach the other dog’s food, you need to push him away by firmly using the “leave it” or “off” commands.
Step 3.
The most important thing you can do during this process is to treat the dog with attention when they back off after providing commands. After this now you need to remove this dog from the room and allow the other dog to eat the food from their bowl.
Note: You need to repeat the process for several days or weeks to get better results.
Step 4.
You can’t teach your dominant dog for a long time, so telling them to eat the food together is imperative. For this purpose, you can allow both dogs to eat together, so if the one dog pushes the other dog, you need to put yourself between them and use the ‘leave it’ or ‘off’ command.
Here you get the most important thing that you need to keep in mind:
Use Leave It Method
The method is known as leave it and it is very beneficial to keep the dog away from eating other dogs’ food. Here you get to see some steps that you can follow to stop dogs from eating other dog’s food
Step 1.
First of all, you need to hold the special treat in your closed fist and present it in front of your dog. After sometimes, when your dog tries to sniff your hand so you can say, “leave it.”
Step 2.
After following the first step now, you need to wait until your dog trying to reach the treat and stop to investigate your hand. After sometimes when the dog retreats from your hand, now it’s time to say “yes” and open the hand to offer the treat.
Step 3.
When you follow this step, it creates a significant impact to stop dogs from eating other dogs’ foods. In this step, all you have to do is provide low-value treats on the ground, such as dry food, and use the “leave it” command. After this, when your dog obeys and starts eating it, you need to provide high-value tasty treats such as a piece of the entire meal or cheese.
Step 4.
When you follow this step, all of your worries about how to stop the dog from eating other dogs’ food will go. Inside this step, you can move the game to a new location and provide the treat with a chosen spot. So, now command your dog to “leave it”, and after that, once the dog finds the treat from specific areas, you need to reward him.
Step 5.
Once you have followed all these house training commands to the dog for a couple of weeks now, it’s time to apply the “leave it” when your dog approaches the other dog’s food.
Use Take Turns Method
It is one of the best and least-working methods you can use to stop a puppy from eating other dogs’ food successfully. Let’s take a closer look at all the steps mentioned below:
Step 1.
Your dog can’t eat simultaneously, so you can train your dog after setting up the schedule. Then, all you have to do is find the specific and designated area to provide food dishes, and water to your dog to the particular time range. It is all about keeping the dogs separate from each other by using the door or baby gate.
Step 2.
When you create a separate space and manage the time, now it’s time to train your dog. The most important thing you keep in mind is starting with a more dominant dog that overeats. Next, you need to provide the appropriate area after keeping the other dogs away from the spot.
Step 3.
You need to make them punctual in the designated area after providing the appropriate amount of food for some minutes. Then, after some minutes, you need to bring the next dog after removing him and provide limited or adequate time to finish the dog.
Step 4.
Once you repeat this process for some days, your dog will learn to eat the little food in a specific amount of time. Also, if you want to stop the dog from devouring another dog’s food, you can also perform a “sit-stand” and “down-stay” activity.
Our Recommendation
According to our recommendation, you don’t need to worry about it if you don’t want to follow the steps mentioned above. The effective method to get rid of dogs eating other dogs’ food problems is to provide food to both dogs 8 to 10 feet apart. You can also provide balanced dog food for both the dogs in different rooms or use a door to separate them.
Why Do We consider It as a Problem?
- One of the biggest problems is that one dog will overeat the food, and the other dog will not eat enough. Therefore, it will cause many problems in the future, such as the first dog will gain more weight and the second one becoming underweight over time.
- When the dog starts eating another dog’s food, they eat too quickly, which will cause them to become physically sick in the future.
- Along with stealing the dog’s food so they will also start stealing human food after some time. When you don’t find a solution as soon as possible, they may start jumping on the food table or pushing the limits.
- Therefore, you need to be avoided it at all costs because dogs can get sick quickly when they start eating food from humans.
When your dog eats other dogs’ foods, it will cause many problems, as mentioned above. So, you can quickly get rid of these problems by following the methods discussed above within some days or weeks.
Conclusion
In the end, we hope that you are well aware of how to stop dog from eating other dogs’ food by following the methods mentioned above. You can start this process after providing the food within 8 to 10 feet distance. If you set the timing and eating routine of the dog so you can quickly get rid of this problem.
In the end, these are the practical and best methods that you can follow to get rid of dogs eating other dogs’ food will go.