Stellasmom

Cool! But expensive! I have made the top entry version as recommended and it works. Keeps the dogs out and the cat litter in. Thanks again!

D'Elle, thanks for your advice. I was a little worried that she grabbed a tomato, knowing they are toxic, and maybe this (or the cat litter) gave her a tummy upset. I followed your first advice about giving her just a quarter portion, etc., and that worked like a charm. Now, exactly as desired, I feed the dogs in adjacent bowls and they both eat all and only their own food. Hooray! Since she was a stray, found in a bad neighbourhood in the city, she might be used to eating anything she could find. Hopefully she will learn to be more discriminating. But I will be rigging a top entry litter box fortress and an even more secure cat food fortress at least for now. She is ridiculously obedient, once she learns something, and she learns really fast. I am trying hard to get her in to an agility class, but so far no luck finding a spring class that's not already full.

It's the oddest thing. I expected my dog to protect his food and try to eat the new one's food. Instead he wouldn't eat until he verified that she was fed. He would follow us to her dish in the other room, and then go back to his dish to eat. When she didn't eat, he wouldn't either. What a pair these two dogs are. They loved each other instantly. He is ordinarily food-obsessed. Before, When he got a bone or something special, he would protect it from the cats or other dogs. Not this time. They take turns gnawing on a bone. Anyway, it appears to have been a tummy upset. She is eating fine now.

Thank you! What a great idea!!! I have three cats, and keeping dogs out of their food and litter has always been a challenge, and the cats also scatter litter and have poor aim from time to time. I have tried all kinds of covered litter boxes, and one cat doesn't like that type, but I never thought of a top-entry one! I am going to buy a large tote on the way home and put their open litter box down in it. Why didn't I think of that? That's why I love these boards. Of course I am getting the best cat advice on a dog board....

This looks so much like my dog, MaryP, and yes, the humane society said she is a mix of border collie and lab.

Thank you much for the advice! They do have bowls of the same material. I thought I was on to something because she did eat her full portion when I switched bowls, but then the next day she wouldn't touch it again. Maybe if she was stray for a time she was used to eating just once every few days, not twice a day. She may be finding things to eat when she's outside. We live in the country. She did eat this kibble before, but then stopped just the past couple of days. I don't think it's the food. Yesterday she was eating grass and vomiting, so perhaps it is a physical upset. She eats my other dog's poo and snacks from the cat litter box. Maybe she has ingested cat litter that upset her stomach. Maybe she's allergic to tomatoes - she grabbed one that fell on the floor. I can't close her in. She flips out. Any time she is closed in anywhere, she gets frantic, barks, whines, scratches, poops and pees, within minutes. She has something about doors. Luckily my other dog is good about not eating her food, and he lets her eat his food from his bowl if she wants to. I am not sure if he could resist eating her food if she got something different., though, which is one reason why I want her to get used to eating the same food as he does. Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. I will try them. Every new dog teaches me new things. D'Elle your dogs are gorgeous!

I just adopted a BC mix, about a year old, just spayed. She was found stray and believed to have recently had puppies (very swollen/flabby vulva and mammaries). She needed encouragement to eat her food at the beginning, meaning I would hand feed her a few kibbles and put a few on the floor before she would eat from her bowl. Now that isn't working. She will eat treats. She goes to my other dog's bowl (he gets the same food) and licks it. She looks hungry. I want her to eat the same food as the other dog. It is an oral-health kibble. I don't want my other dog to get fat(ter) by eating his own food and then hers, so I will need to take up her dish after meal time. The things I may have done wrong include scolding her for eating out of the other dog's dish and trying to close her in with her bowl, which I did once at the very beginning to keep the dogs separated at mealtime. As it turns out, neither dog is food-guarding. They share bones and toys like a fairy tale. So I now have her bowl in the same room as the other dog's, but that hasn't helped. She won't eat no matter where I put the dish. I will be taking her for a new-patient check-in with our vet, but she likes to recommend special food, which I don't do. I would appreciate your advice.