3 ms·

You have limited experience. Mine couldn't care less about food if a ball was near it. We also missed her feeding a few times and she never begged or reminded a

You have limited experience. Mine couldn't care less about food if a ball was near it. We also missed her feeding a few times and she never begged or reminded about the food. I usually carry a bag of treats (her favourite) but sometimes she refuses to eat them.

sva_ 2y ago
Wolves naturally don't usually eat everyday either, we just make dogs do it because we do it.
- rkagerer 2y ago
  My dog must have missed the memo. He'll come over at EXACTLY 6 o'clock (to the minute) to remind you about dinner if it hasn't yet been served. He used to do the same in the morning but eventually we reached a truce on the concept of sleeping in from time to time.
  - OtomotO 2y ago
    That's why you never feed them at an exact time. We have a time frame of roughly 3 hours in which we feed the dog. That way we can have a nice dinner too, go to a musical etc. pp. A friend of ours made the same mistake as you. His dog becomes a real diva after 6pm, if she hasn't eaten
    - RoyalHenOil 2y ago
      I tried doing that with my dogs, but it led to them being annoyingly clingy as their general dinner time approached because they knew they could be fed suddenly at any time. So I switched to using a phone alarm that marks when it's time to feed the dogs. I can easily change the time it rings to adjust their meal times, and they remain patient because they know that they won't be fed until they hear that sound.
  - sva_ 2y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning
    - rkagerer 2y ago
      Are you implying he's conditioned me? Out of curiosity we've tried to figure out if there's some external cue he's relying on outside of a very accurate internal 'clock', and haven't found any. He's consistent even in the face of timezone changes and travel across the country (and other mundane tricks that'd eliminate stimulus like daylight cues), different environments / homes (ruling out equipment / building / neighbourhood noises), and different humans (in case his usual companions unwittingly broadcast hints). I'm forced to the conclusion he swallowed a Rolex at some point. My own schedule isn't particularly routine otherwise, so it's actually not an unwelcome anchor. He does understand and give up after a couple attempts if you tell him 'later' or have an obvious reason for the delay. He's intent, but not impolite. We left him with a friend once for a few days who feeds their own dog an hour earlier. The discovery that 5 o'clock dinnertime can be a thing completely rocked his world. He tried to share this revolutionary breakthrough with us but with limited success.
- jzb 2y ago
  Wolves can eat 20lbs of meat in one meal. They’re hunters that eat their fill when food is present because there’s no guarantee they’ll catch prey later. Not really a reasonable comparison to a domesticated animal that’s not designed for feast/famine living.

sva_ 2y ago

Wolves naturally don't usually eat everyday either, we just make dogs do it because we do it.

rkagerer 2y ago
My dog must have missed the memo. He'll come over at EXACTLY 6 o'clock (to the minute) to remind you about dinner if it hasn't yet been served. He used to do the same in the morning but eventually we reached a truce on the concept of sleeping in from time to time.
- OtomotO 2y ago
  That's why you never feed them at an exact time. We have a time frame of roughly 3 hours in which we feed the dog. That way we can have a nice dinner too, go to a musical etc. pp. A friend of ours made the same mistake as you. His dog becomes a real diva after 6pm, if she hasn't eaten
  - RoyalHenOil 2y ago
    I tried doing that with my dogs, but it led to them being annoyingly clingy as their general dinner time approached because they knew they could be fed suddenly at any time. So I switched to using a phone alarm that marks when it's time to feed the dogs. I can easily change the time it rings to adjust their meal times, and they remain patient because they know that they won't be fed until they hear that sound.
- sva_ 2y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning
  - rkagerer 2y ago
    Are you implying he's conditioned me? Out of curiosity we've tried to figure out if there's some external cue he's relying on outside of a very accurate internal 'clock', and haven't found any. He's consistent even in the face of timezone changes and travel across the country (and other mundane tricks that'd eliminate stimulus like daylight cues), different environments / homes (ruling out equipment / building / neighbourhood noises), and different humans (in case his usual companions unwittingly broadcast hints). I'm forced to the conclusion he swallowed a Rolex at some point. My own schedule isn't particularly routine otherwise, so it's actually not an unwelcome anchor. He does understand and give up after a couple attempts if you tell him 'later' or have an obvious reason for the delay. He's intent, but not impolite. We left him with a friend once for a few days who feeds their own dog an hour earlier. The discovery that 5 o'clock dinnertime can be a thing completely rocked his world. He tried to share this revolutionary breakthrough with us but with limited success.
jzb 2y ago
Wolves can eat 20lbs of meat in one meal. They’re hunters that eat their fill when food is present because there’s no guarantee they’ll catch prey later. Not really a reasonable comparison to a domesticated animal that’s not designed for feast/famine living.