By: Bart LeToad
In the animal kingdom, animals usually have to wait before they
eat. Often times there are other animals higher up in the
hierarchy or maybe they had an unsuccessful hunt. In the
domestic world, you should make your dog wait before they eat
as well. A domestic animal doesn't have to kill its prey to
eat, but it should still have to do some sort of exercise or
work before you feed them. This is imperative for normal pack
psyche.
A typical rule of thumb, if you have multiple animals, is to
feed the ones with calm tendencies first. Do not feed
aggressive or otherwise bad behaving animals until they calm
down. This corresponds directly to the animal kingdom where a
mother or a pack leader would not feed an aggressive animal
until they show they are subordinates.
You want to make your dog work for food. By work, I mean
taking them on a walk or asking them to perform several
obedience routines. Working is a form of waiting, and this
will not only exercise your animal, mentally and physically,
but will help create a healthy and well balanced dog.
A typical routine would be to take your dog for a walk or other
exercise routine and then when you get home, you may prepare
their food. Ask your dog to sit or lay down while you make
their food bowl. If they sit quietly and don’t display
aggressive or other negative behaviors then you may give them
their food. If your dog acts aggressive or will not sit or
stay while you prepare their food, then you should wait until
they do before feeding them. Remember this is how nature
intended it to be.
It is important not to reinforce negative behaviors when
feeding. Feeding a dog when its aggressive, tense or nervous
is not natural. The pack leader would never let a dog eat that
had these tendencies and will require the dog to be very calm
and submissive before receiving any food. Be sure your dog is
calm and submissive before you give them food and this will
help in many areas of their life. In fact, if you feed them
while they are aggressive or while they are nervous, tense or
excited than I can guarantee you that the next time you feed
them they will act the same manner. Remember dogs learn by
association. Associate negative behaviors with food and you
will get negative behaviors in return.
Remember that feeding your dog is a critical part of training
your animal. If you are able to have the discipline to only
feed your pet when they submit the correct behaviors than your
dog will live a happy well-balanced life.
