[murandmom]

My kids love our wonderful puppy, who is a fantastic pup, and becoming very well trained--I believe he will be more trained than my 2 lovely children (haha!). My question is related to the kids "feeding him"--each day at lunch and dinner, my almost 4 year old and 2 year old sit with him at his dish and feed him pieces of his dry dog food--he really doesn't seem to mind, and actually sits and eats from them. Am I started a bad thing? He'll eat with or without them, but I just wanted some thoughts on if this is okay or not. He's never made a aggressive move toward them in any sense (not food aggressive at all), and wanted to feel other people out. Thanks!

[DoggieWonders]

I think its a good thing. If anything it will help the dog take food straight from your hand, say if you needed to give him a pill or something, you wont have to worry about whether or not he will eat it.

I always sit with my puppy when he eats... the only problem there is if I leave so does he, so the only way to keep him eating is for me to sit next to him and just wait till he is done. Ha!

I think you will be fine. It may also help to show the kids as more dominant than the dog, so this way the dog will know its "under" the kids in a pack sense, but I'm not an expert so this is only a guess.

[Shalva]

in my opinion it is a bad idea..... having your children feed him the food and just put the bowl on the ground is fine and does teach your dog that your children are over him in pack order, but to have them feed him pieces of kibble I dont see as a good idea..... not only does your dog not get the opportunity to eat in peace as we all deserve to be able to do.... but a puppy is different than a big dog.... not to mention that your children are probably putting their hands in their mouths so not the most sanitary.....

personally I think its a bad idea.....
s

[tirluc]

i think it's a good idea in that it will help make the pup realize that the kids' hands near his food is not a bad thing and that good things come from children as well....just be sure that they only feed him the things they are allowed to so that he's not getting something that will upset his tummy....

also, as you go along, he will need to be taught that he can't take food from them if it is not offered (such as a cookie or such that they might be carrying around).....

[BabySophieCorgiEyes]

I think it is absolutely wonderful, because this means your kids are close with your puppy! Since he shows no agression towords them it seems he is very fond of them.

[cshellenberger]

Your dog should be allowed to eat in peace. This might actually cause him to start resource gaurding and result in a severe bite.

Now, having your kids drop a goodie into his Bowl once in a while(NOT all the time) would teach him that good things come from the kids.

[murandmom]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the thoughts and will definitely put them to use! I love this site--what a great reference! Have a great weekend!

[RonE]

I read the topic title and thought, "Oh, man, what AREN'T they putting in dog foods these days?

It's interesting that opinions are pretty evenly divided here and thought nobody felt the need to insult anyone else's opinion.

I wonder what the Dog Whisperer would say about this?

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

Originally Posted by RonE

I read the topic title and thought, "Oh, man, what AREN'T they putting in dog foods these days?

That's funny, I thought the same thing. I was thinking 'What? KIDS in dog food? That must be a joke or something, right?"

[cshellenberger]

LOL,
I figured the kids were EATING the dogs food. Mine did when the were year old.

[murandmom]

That's so funny! I hadn't even thought about that! That would be the day, huh? Have a great weekend!