Where do you feed your LGD?

[Hutch]

Our pyrenees is living in a pasture with two horned goats and a miniature cow. We feed them all at the same time. She gets defensive about her food bowl and barks and snarls at the other animals. They ask for it. They all butt each other and act like general nuisances. She doesn't appreciate their pushiness.

 

[goatgurl]

i have tried all kinds of different times and places to feed the dogs, in the general population but like you but also had problems with the dogs being food aggressive, in a pen with a small entrance so the goats can't get in, and in the barn when i am in there. now I'm feeding down at the house after i finish milking and taking care of all the animals. the dogs get their food and any extra milk and don't have to fight for their supper. after they are done they go right back to the goat pen. so far that is working well. oh yes, and i have to feed after dark so the chickens and the ducks are in bed. they are just as greedy as any goat ever thought about being and i won't allow the dogs to snap at them, we've been thru that stage already and i don't want them to get any bright ideas about a turducken snack

 

[Hutch]

Thanks for the reply.

She was in a yard with chickens and guineas and they could eat out of her bowl while she was lying with her nose to the bowl and she would just look at them quizzically.

She is ok with the rabbits in cages but a rabbit on the ground is fair game.

The two goats and the cow are keeping a 2+ acre pasture neatly trimmed. The fence lines were overgrown intially and look good now, a couple months later.

 

[Melanie]

Well until yesterday I free fed my Great Pyrenees in the goat house. I went out to feed the goats and my new lamancha Eva was eating away at the food. I immediately pulled the food out and now I plan to feed him when I feed the goats, in a separate area from Eva. I have been feeding this way for almost a year now and my pygmy/Nigerian goats have never had any interest in his food at all. I hate having to change my feeding routine. My Great Pyrenees has never shown signs of food aggression

 

[Hutch]

I have seen other posts about goats eating dog food. Our goats have never shown any interest in the dog food but we buy food that has meat products as the main ingredients. I suspect that the goats like dog food that has grain products as the main ingredients. Most dog food does. I think I saw the cow eat a few bites of the dog food just recently. Not sure if I like that. Isn't that how Mad Cow Disease spreads?

 

[Southern by choice]

Our one team is put in a pen am/pm and fed as the chickens, geese, goats will push the dogs out of the way.
This team yields to poultry, waterfowl, goats.... anything they have charge over. Very frustrating actually. The geese especially are abusive. Whats worse is all the other animals have feed 24/7 but nope they have to have the dogs feed. Not much of a problem in the colder months as we feed more raw then.... they won't eat raw anything in the summer.
The other team.... Grrrr ... the toli is guardy over food.... more of "it's mine" not really aggressive. The pyr male will let the goats push him out of the way. They are more remote so we stand there while they eat now.

Pups are raised NOT to be food aggressive so they have to be fed in a pen so the chickens etc won't get their food they also do not wolf down feed so it is more difficult.

 

[HoneyDreameMomma]

Hutch, we were having similar problems up until a few months ago. What Southern said has proven true for us as well. Also, during these warmer months, we've found we can open the gate and let the goats go out to graze while we feed the dogs, or when it's raining, we feed the dogs in the barn outside of the goat yard. Basically we have to separate them with some kind of fence or enclosure.

We feed a high quality, meat as the main ingredient dog food, but it doesn't matter - the goats, chickens and cats all go after it. When we feed raw, the goats and chickens are better at staying away (lol, the cats worse). Good luck!