Breeder methods of feeding the litter (bite, breeders, skin, training)

[Seguinite]

I saw a video on FB (more than one) of a litter of pups going crazy around the giant food trough. And not pups eating their first food... pups nearly ready to go to new homes. I know it makes for a cute video... but are these breeders doing new pup parents a disservice?

We've had two pups from breeders who let the puppies compete like this, and both of them were extreme foodies that hoovered their entire lives.

Conversely, we've had two from breeders that feed the pups separately, and both of these are very polite eaters, even with other dogs around.

I'm curious as to what other have experienced if you know how yours was fed as a puppy. Even when alone, both of our foodies gobbled things down like they might never eat again. I can't help but think this is 'learned' behavior. I'm sure some of it's instinctual, but can it be tempered by feeding them alone when they're young?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

It's been a long time since I had puppies, but my pups always had plenty of trough space, no shoving and lots of food. I also fed several times a day so pups didn't have time to get too hungry. I like to see enthusiastic eaters, but do not think it is funny when dogs are frantic to eat.

I suspect that most knowledgeable breeders feed that way. Although I don't think I've ever known anyone who feeds each pup separately. Pups also need to learn pack manners and part of that involves the social rules of eating together.

Every pup also got hand fed at least once a day as part of their training about bite inhibition, so my pups left home already taught to be careful about food offered in a hand.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Adding, if there are three different dishes full of food, the whole litter, all of them, will try to eat out of the same dish. That is just a part of dog nature.

[gouligann]

I used to work at our local Humane Society. Many times I saw people bringing in litters of large breed puppies that were skinny with big bellies (full of worms of course- some like spaghetti coming out- so gross!)

When the kennel worker put out the food and water bowls in the cages, they climbed on top of each other trying to eat and drink.

It always made me wonder if the owner's thought that the mother dog's milk was enough? Very sad, but not shocking... that some people are so stupid!! Well, they didn't spay their female dogs, so that speaks for them already.

[Regina14]

It's been over 20 years since I raised my only litter to 8-10 weeks, but I remember that we started the eight pups out on some kind of mush with hamburger as a main ingredient, sometime around their fifth week (I think) with two large donut-shaped bowls. The pups were messy eaters. We would monitor their feeding time, make sure that they all ate well; if one were being crowded out, we'd pick him/her up and move the pup back in. Also, we weighed the pups regularly, so we would have caught any slowdown in weight gain. We moved them on from hamburger mush to some kind of moistened puppy kibble. They still wanted to drink from the maternal milk bar whenever they saw their mom and she'd let them; so we did our best to not allow them to nurse (also, we wanted the mom to eventually regain her figure, including her topline, she had a championship to finish - which she did, about six months later, her first weekend back in the ring). Most of the pups lived long lives, reaching their 13th birthdays (I kept in touch with all of the puppy buyers but one), two of them made it to 14, and they were loved. (their mother passed away at the age of 14.5 years).

I was very careful to take notes on the puppies' daily progress in terms of physical and emotional development - which also helped me choose which pup would be right for which potential puppy buyer/family.