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Old February 10th, 2011, 03:06 PM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Boulder, Colorado
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We agree that the animals do not need to share bowls, but have to disagree with the remaining statement (providing I understood the intent).

When we bring fanged animals into our homes who are capable of doing very serious damage to the other members of our family it is VITAL that we take on the responsibility of training that animal to have good manners in all situations.

What if a chid unwittingly approached a dog at his bowl? That dog better be willing to step aside.

Your dog should never consider you reaching for their food bowl as a threat, because they trust you and you have taken the time to teach them them good manners.

Think about real life - if your dog got into a bag of dog food and you need to approach to take the food away the dog better not get possessive or snarky.

Our dogs are expected to eat out of their own bowls and not to try to steal from each other, nor should they feel the right to go after another dog who is trying to steal from him. A little bit of polite 'this is my food not yours' attitude is every dogs right, but not to the level of becoming aggressive towards another animal and absolutely never with the human.

Ultimately the food belongs to the human and the dog is permitted to have it because they have good manners. I would never permit a dog to claim his food and back me off. This is a recipe for disaster on all levels. Good food manners is essential to our relationship.
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