do you eat before your dog

Ive been told that we should eat before our dogs. This is something to do with us being the pack leaders and in the wild the pack leader always eats first. How many of you do this?

I always try to eat before Diesel, i also find she doesn't mooch quite as much lol

Beryl is always last to be served, and eats separately to us, but its just easier to dish up her dinner at the same time as ours so is usually eating around the same time

Moo always eats first, she eats earlier than me!

I read that it makes no difference, I don't know but we don't feed Dex after us necessarily. He has his two meals at roughly the same times because he eats after his walks (he doesn't eat as heartily without his exercise first we found).
Someone who knows a bit more should be able to tell you if theres any truth in the theory they should eat after you, but imo it shouldn't matter too much.

janey wrote:

Moo always eats first, she eats earlier than me!

Rocky eats before us then just goes off for a snooze, we get ours in peace then.

nope i eat when i want and i feed the boys (once a day) when i feel like it, i don't believe in any of the pack leader shizzle

Forget the pack leader thing.

Dempsey eats whenever it's convenient. Sometimes before us, sometimes after. Makes no difference.

I don't believe in any of that , we have the most disoprganised regimes in our house anyway

The dogs eat twice around 6-7 am and around 5-6pm , I eat whenever I want and so does the other 2 (OH and daughter) , personally think its a load of rubbish , but see value in dog eating before you like Kathy so you can get some peace

I think it's a relief that they unfounded the pack leader theory. Makes things more straight forward and far easier to get on with enjoying your dog, albeit with boundaries obviously but at least you aren't second guessing yourself and over complicating the day to day stuff!

what a relief Miley generally eats before us anyway. Its just that a mate at work was talking about it today.

life is always a bit hectic in our house,sash generally eats first but can work out either way really

Nah, that's that pack leader/being the alpha kind of thing. Whether I eat before or after Loki makes no difference to his behaviour, his respect for me doesn't shoot up if I eat before him. I don't eat in front of him anyway though, so it wouldn't make a difference to us.

Ledger gets a walk as soon as I get up and his breakfast straight after that (usually between 8 & 10am) and his evening meal is 5pm so he always eats before me

We usually eat at the same time

I usually feed Troy after..but sometimes feed him first if it is more convenient.

in my mind, humans are not dogs therefore can and will never be a pack leader lol

lexi eats when its conveniant

same as most feed when convenient

I feed Maggie after her morning walk, but that can range anywhere between 7:30am to 10:30am depends what I'm working then she gets fed between 5pm to 6pm before her evening walk. Both times are before we eat and to be fair it doesn't matter either way because as soon as she realises we're eating she comes into the other room and will watch us in case there is anything she can have

Steffi always eats before me while my son eats.. That way it's peaceful and less chance of her mooching from the softie kid that would give her most of his dinner

Solly eats at around 8.30am and around 8pm, always after his walks. Exercising after meals can cause twisted gut.
OH and me eat at varying hours during day.

The only time Duke eats with us is tea time his last feed , its funny how sometimes we will sit down at the table to eat and forget to feed Duke , he starts to throw his dish around

Pixee eats before us, after both walks. Generally when I am cooking she will just lie on her mat watching me. Then when I serve up, she goes to sleep, knowing there is always some scraps for her. So makes no odds really, its whatever suits you and your dog really.

My two eat at 630 when I'm working or kids are at school (if not about 8am) then their evening meal is about 5pm which is way before we all eat at 830

If their evening meal is forgotten Skye will keep opening the door to the util until someone gets the bowls it's funny the other morning my son got up and went to school forgetting to feed the dogs I was unwell so didn't wake up till after 1 pm and the dogs were quite happy lazing under the covers with me in bed lol. It wasn't till 4 pm when my son came home that we realised they hadn't had their breakfast so they got an extra special dinner

Dave wrote:The dogs eat twice around 6-7 am and around 5-6pm , I eat whenever I want

Same here.

Caryll wrote:Forget the pack leader thing.

Dempsey eats whenever it's convenient. Sometimes before us, sometimes after. Makes no difference.

Agree with the pack leader thing completely. Our house is the same. However, my experience is only with Staffies and I have often felt they don't follow the same rules as other dogs as they are generally so people orientated.

Friends of ours have a Collie and it would appear you have to be more strict with him. So Caryll I know you have had experience of GSD's and was wondering if you have found different approaches for different breeds. I accept that it's down to different dog personalities but I'm wondering if there is a breed bias there as well.

Steveb wrote:

Caryll wrote:Forget the pack leader thing.

Dempsey eats whenever it's convenient. Sometimes before us, sometimes after. Makes no difference.

Agree with the pack leader thing completely. Our house is the same. However, my experience is only with Staffies and I have often felt they don't follow the same rules as other dogs as they are generally so people orientated.

Friends of ours have a Collie and it would appear you have to be more strict with him. So Caryll I know you have had experience of GSD's and was wondering if you have found different approaches for different breeds. I accept that it's down to different dog personalities but I'm wondering if there is a breed bias there as well.

Before my two I used to have gsds and they were treated no different to how I act with mine now however my gsds were not so into being with us as they would have a cuddle then go and lay on their beds staffs just want cuddles

Gazagem - Thanks for that. I had always wondered if the different drives within dog breeds had an effect on the training needed or areas focused on.

Mine eat before me too. Rule i have for mealtimes is they have do do somethig for the food. Only simple stuff like site stay and leave for a while though

Steveb wrote:Friends of ours have a Collie and it would appear you have to be more strict with him. So Caryll I know you have had experience of GSD's and was wondering if you have found different approaches for different breeds. I accept that it's down to different dog personalities but I'm wondering if there is a breed bias there as well.

Strangely enough, I treat them all the same. Firm but fair if you see what I mean.

I'm a stickler for manners where food is concerned - dogs shouldn't barge through when I put their food down, they mustn't get possessive over food & I have to be able to take anything away from them. That's all I want, tbh - when they're fed, before or after me, has never come into the equation.