2 corgis and feeding

I have a 17 month old Corgi (Tiki) who was never motivated by food...sometimes she eats all of her food when fed to her...other times she lets it sit and picks on it throughout the day. Even during training we had a tough time as after a few treats she just was not interested in food. We just got a new puppy last weekend (Cruise...he is 12 weeks old) and he is mad for food...he finishes his meal in as fast a time as possible. Right now when we are not home, Cruise is kept in an exercise pen and crate in the kitchen...while Tiki has run of the Kitchen and tiled portion of the basement. When we are home and Cruise is out of the pen we need to keep Tiki's food off the floor. Once Cruise is older, he and Tiki will share the same space when we are not home, but I am concerned he will end up eating her food. Any Suggestions?

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Permalink Reply by Charlie on March 31, 2008 at 10:22am

They're such cuties! : - )

I would put TIki on a schedule and she will learn to eat when you give her food. Put her food down for no more than 30 minutes (15-20 should be plenty), then pick it up. If she doesn't eat, wait until the next scheduled meal time to put it back down. If her food is down all day, then she doesn't feel any need to hurry up and eat. Within 2-3 days, she should start eating what you give her within the time schedule.

A lot of people with more than one dog feed them in their kennels, or otherwise separated, to keep the "chow hound" from eating everything and avoid food fights.

Charlie was a picky puppy; now he's a typical Corgi vaccuum cleaner. Whatever is put in his bowl is gone in less than 5 minutes. : - )

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Mochi The Corgi on March 31, 2008 at 11:53am

I would agree with charlie, I had the same problem with Mochi, we are still working on it though. She's not a food motivated eater when it comes to normal kibble, but for treats she will do anything. So we knew that she was just holding out for something better.

If you know she's all healthy and nothing medical is bothering her I would do as instructed above. Time yourself and don't feel bad when she doesn't eat her food in 30 min. You have to tell yourself you are doing it for the dog's own benifit. You are "training" them to eat when you put the food down. And it give you more respect from your dog because you are the food giver.

WE still have problems, but if Mochi doesn't eat the food in 30 min then i take it up. But i make sure she see's me take the food up. Sometimes i will try to coax her to eat the food that lasted for about 3 days, Now when i put the food down it takes about 15 minutes before she actually eats it.

There will be occasions when she won't eat it, but those are the days when she's done less activity. So she doesn't need the food.

Bottom Line dogs won't starve them selves to death when the food is available.

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Permalink Reply by Susan on March 31, 2008 at 12:28pm

Free feeding is a bad idea with two dogs - food fights and over eating are two possible results.
Feed at a designated time then pick up the bowls.
It is best to feed them from seperate bowls and in seperate places so you don't set them up to compete or fight. Corgis can be fierce resource guarders.

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Permalink Reply by Ju Lo on March 31, 2008 at 2:13pm

It would probably be a good idea to keep both dogs on a food schedule, as others already said. One thing you could try, if you have crates, is feeding both dogs in their crate. Just put them in with their food bowls for 5-10 minutes. That way the one who doesn't like to eat on schedule knows it's food time, and the one that likes to steal food can only eat his own.