# Messy eating and drinking



## Robh (Jul 28, 2010)

We adopted a 7/8 month puppy who settling in very well however she goes crazy at feeding time, jumping up in the air and spinning around. Once the food is down she hoovers it up in no time and then looks to see what our other Vizsla has left.

Ideally I want to her to sit and wait (like my other dog) before allowing her to eat but there is no chance of that happening at the moment. 

I appreciate it’s early days yet, we’ve only had her a week, and we don’t really know her full background which might be coursing her to act the way she is however I would appreciate any tips which might help calm her down. I'm hoping she start to relax once she know she's going to get enough food.

She’s also a very messy drinker.....


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Don't put the food down until she relaxes & sits. It's as simple as that. It will take a lot of patience the first few times, but she will learn.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Where are the pictures of your new addition.

Your pup sounds just like mine at meal times. You are doing the right thing by making him sit and wait until you give him the release command. As a very young puppy mine enhaled his food, so I bought one of these bowls with lumps and bumps in it and that has certainly worked wonders. See the link

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product....=61406&co=fr&gclid=COHK1MuGmrMCFanItAodzG0A9Q


Another thing that occurs to me is that if we feed our Gt Dane and Vizsla in the same room, the greedy Vizsla goes back to eating his food as fast as he can so he can rush over and try and steal the Gt Dane's food. The Dane is so polite he stands back and lets him, so now one of us stands in the middle. We only feed in the same food on the odd occasions - so try and feed your dogs in seperate rooms if you are not already doing so.


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## lilyloo (Jun 20, 2012)

Ruby is almost 6 months old and makes a fuss at meal times as well. However, from day 1 we have made her sit (well, as soon as she learned to sit around 9 weeks old) and she DOES sit..she just barks and yips and wriggles a lot. You would think we never fed her! If she happens to jump up on me while I am holding the bowl, I say no, turn my back and make her sit again. I don't put it down until she's sitting and quiet, even if it's for a split second. 

Good luck! Be persistant and it'll pay off.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Yes my Penny (now 6 mos) use to jump at me and the bowl. Eventually I just stopped putting down when she was moving. If I started to lower and she left the ground, I stood back up. Eventually she would just lay down and wait patiently. Now she'll go lay by her bowl when she's hungry. But she somehow learned to slap the bowl and bark when she's lays there for awhile without me feeding here. SO in these instances I'll get it ready but not put it down until she settles. So we've trained each other a bit.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

Great suggestion on the slow eating bowl by hotmischief. 

To sort out the messy drinking I would suggest a road refresher bowl. My Mac uses one and now more sloppy spots on the floor when he drinks. They reduce slobber by 90%!!!! They were designed for road trips in mind but we use ours in the house.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&...vpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_2zg5ce5wqc_b


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Before pending money on a slow eating bowl though I'd try tossing in some chew toys to work around for food. That's what I did and it worked great. As long as your dog doesn't figure out he can simply remove them this should work.


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## AlmaPup (Sep 18, 2012)

We also practise SIT and WAIT while giving Alma food, and it works quite well.
Sometimes I'm just standing with her bowl and she is already sitting down without me telling her 

She eats like she's a vacuum-cleaner, which scares me sometimes, and still leaves water everywhere after drinking, hope that changes at one point


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

All good suggestions already. 

One thing to add, if your new addition is a bit of a food pig, try not to get into the habit of feeding them separately or intervening. Once you start, you will always have to. It's much nicer to be able to set the food down, give the OK command and let them eat.

Zsa Zsa was a food pig when I adopted her when she was 12 months old, but instead of intervening, we made Ozkar and her work it out. Ozkar soon worked out that he either ate it then and there, or he missed out. they settled into a pattern and both ate well together after only a few days. Sure, Ozkar missed out on a few meals here and there, but he soon worked it all out.

When Astro came along, it was Zsa Zsa again who was after his food. Once again, within a few days he worked out if he didn't eat it then and there, that she would steal it. They eat fine together now.


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Sounds like my little baby Pacsirta - she used to spin in the air jumping when it was meal time...and she still drinks like a little piglet - you can hear it thru the floors and walls of our house!
We didn't hurry too much with teaching her to sit. Just a "wait" or "stay" in whatever position she wanted (at whatever distance) was good enough initially. Then as the weeks went on, we increased the distance from the bowl she had to be in "stay" before she could eat. I mean she'd stay then hop in the air as she saw me put the food in the bowl. That's when I stopped and put the bowl away, and she had to calm down and be in a stay again before I continued. Such torture for a puppy!  
Now Pacsirta is 10 months old and does exactly what our oldest V. Sophie does - sits in the "place" and does not move while we're preparing the food and waits for the "GO" once the bowls are on the floor. We too have the slow-feed bowls for both of them. At first, Pacsirta would inhale her food but now she actually likes to chew on it. However, when the little one first joined our family, Sophie had to learn how to eat really quick or Pacsi would come and "help" her finish her food. They sorted it out - Sophie is really fast now  

As for drinking, I really don't think it will improve. Pacsirta basically "chews" on water while her muzzle is fully submerged in it! Then she drags it all out... I just clean it up, not a big probelm for me really  

Good luck and remember - baby steps!


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## Kay92 (Oct 19, 2012)

Riley is so bad about doing the whole jumping thing as well. He'll start even as I'm putting the food in the bowl, when he starts I put it down and walk away. He eventually gets the idea.


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