Poor Oscar needs to eat!

[LittleLoves]

Hello folks!

Well, our little Oscar came home to us last Tuesday and he is such a sweet little thing! He's so vocal, and he loves to chew on any part of us, or Lady he can sink his little razors into. Last night, he stuck his head into Lady's food bowl while she was eating...before I could get to him (I heard Lady growling and just knew what was coming!) Lady had him pinned to the floor with her teeth around his neck! She let him go when I screamed, but I may never get that image out of my mind. So...seperate feeding times are in order. Lady eats her meal, and then she'll eat Oscar's so I have to keep Lady confined until Oscar is finished.

I have to say that other than this incident, Lady really has shown an interest in Oscar this week by sniffing and playing (a bit too rough) with him. I am supervising at all times of course! Do they ever get over protecting their food?

[goldenblaze]

I have Blaze Golden Retriever, Jordie Shih Tzu we don't have seperate feeding times. Both boys are feed at the same time about 5 feet apart, Blaze always is done his supper first and waits to check Jordie's dish for any leftovers. I first started with feeding them and standing between them while telling Blaze to wait, he understands this word and will never touch Jordie's dish until Jordie walks away from it. I can leave the room with no worries.

Because your Shih Tzu is young I would start now feeding them in the same room but stand between them, don't allow the pup to bother Lady while she eats but get them use to being in the same room while eating. I believe is a good thing. They will learn not to touch each others dish, Blaze is very good at sharing everything even bones but I don't make him share his supper.
BTW Lady didn't want to hurt the pup, she was just telling him it was her food and to stay away... it happen when Jordie was small, my other older shih tzu didn't want Jordie near his dish and he did the same.

[coppperbelle]

I would start feeding them again at the same time but making sure you are there to intervene although I seriously doubt the puppy will try that again. It is important to put the older dogs food down first and then the puppies to avoid any jealousy issues they may have.

[LittleLoves]

Thanks for the responses. I will start feeding them side by side. Up until now, they've been in seperate rooms to feed, but will try them together tonight.

Question: Lady is fast and has a five minute time limit on meals. How long should Oscar get? He's 8 weeks old and slow as death!

[goldenblaze]

Because Oscar is so young he should be feed more times each day aswell. After Lady is done eating train her to sit and wait for Oscar to finish, Blaze will wait and not touch Jordie's food until Jordie walks away.

[LittleLoves]

Right now I feed Oscar at 6 am, 10 am, 2 pm, 6 pm. So 4 meals a day. Is that about right? He takes forever to eat though.

[kandy]

Our newf pup (9 weeks) eats slowly too. She also likes to take a break - she'll eat part of her food and then go back and finish it after about 15 minutes or so. Your time table looks fine to me, although Hazel would want more food between the 6 pm feeding and bedtime! She is such a chunk!