Whether you're currently a multi-pet family, preparing to have a family member's pet visit for the holidays, or are entertaining the idea of expanding the fur-mily via foster or adoption, mealtime can be stressful for owners and pets. To help make this Holiday season a tad more manageable, our friends at the American Kennel Club have some tips to get your pups to chow down without throwing down.
Create Routines
The first step is to have specific times when you feed them, instead of "free feeding" or having food constantly available.
Separate Spaces
Just as you shouldn’t allow children to interfere with your dog while they’re eating, it’s important to prevent other pets in the home from interfering with your dog during meals. Don’t allow your dogs to approach one another while they are eating. If one dog doesn’t finish a meal, pick up their bowl and don’t let another dog finish the other dog’s food.
Use Boundaries
In addition to having designated and consistent spaces where pets go to eat, don’t be afraid to create physical boundaries between them during meals. An easy way to do this is to feed pets in different rooms of your home and close doors while they’re eating.
Seek Support
Creating structured mealtimes and physical distance between your pets will usually prevent or alleviate mealtime challenges in multi-pet homes.
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