We often separate our dogs with a baby's gate, and it works great.

As for the recommended amounts to ear, if you go to the website, I think the amounts will be listed. Are you happy with the Min pin taking so much time to eat, or is this something you would like to change?

Two dogs and a toddler? I think you have your hands full. This is a very exciting time in your like, isn't it?

Sammy

Exciting, yes!! I also feel like I'm running a circus sometimes :) I would love for the min pin to just eat, but she is almost 8 years old, and has done this since day 1. Even before the Jack, which was about 10 months alone. I've met several other min pin owners who have the same problem. One womans' male min pin would dig his food out of the bowl, then pick up one by one and eat where he chose. It is very obnoxious, but consistent!!! The baby gate is going to stink, but something has got to be done about this weight issue!! No, she does not get walked enough, since the baby. My DH goes out of town a lot, and it is difficult to walk two dogs while pushing a stroller. To have the baby walk is too slow, not burning enough energy. Dog parks are out of the question with a child. I don't have a support system, we move often (military). But, she does have a big back yard and an abundance of squirrels to chase. I did check the website for amounts, there were none (at least, that I could find). Thanks :) Christy

You know how some people can eat and eat and never get fat, and others just smell food and gain 10 pounds (like me)? Well, dogs are the same way. Each dogs' metabolic rate is different, and will require a different amount of calories.

Even if you could find a recommended amount of food to give him, there is no guarantee that it would be the right amount for HIM. You have to adjust your feeding according to each individual dog. For your JRT to lose weight, start by measuring the amount of food you are currently giving him. Then reduce it by 10%. Your goal is 10% weight loss, or for your JRT 2# per month. If he loses too much weight, re-adjust so that the reduction is 10% of the original amount, not 20%. If he hasn't lost 2# in one month, then cut him back another 10%.

To give you an idea on how wrong label directions can be, my Huskies used to eat Natural Balance duck and potato dry food. At their weights (38 and 45#) they should have been fed 2-3 1/3 cups of food per day. I fed them each 1 cup of food per day to maintain their healthy weights, or less than 1/2 of the label recommendations! You may have to adjust your dog's feeding that much as well.

I have a couple of suggestions. If you feed your dog a premium dog food, they wont poop as much and they wont eat as much, and in the long run they will be much healthier. You should be avoiding dog foods you can purchase at a grocery store, most of them have meat by products and corn in them - corn converts to sugar and that can cause health problems later on in life like diabetes. If you do decide to change dog food do it in small steps to avoid shocking your dos and having them get sick. Next you can teach your chow hound to leave the other dogs food alone. I suggest taking them for a nice long walk before feeding them, keep the dog who is food oriented on a leash, when he goes after the other dogs food, correct him. if you have to go get the phone, the dog goes with you, controlled by the leash. Your JRT should weigh more than your Min Pin, they are solid little dogs. You might want to think about putting him on a harder run or a more brisk walk during the day. JRT's are notorious for getting into trouble when bored or trying to take over things. I suggest you get firm on training, if you are training then maybe some more time on the basics, sit, stay, down and leave it. Good luck with your pups.

Thanks so much for all of your advice. I had never thought about in the sense of different metabolic rates.
I remember her mother was 'big-boned' and never saw the father (he had been hit by a car the week before). I'm not sure exactly how much she was eating before, but now I'm giving her her own bowl consistently every day with the same amount of food. I'll weigh her weekly and monitor weight loss and adjust accordingly. Also, contrary to the breed, she is very lazy :) Most Jack's are bouncing off the balls, but not her. Her siblings were running around like crazy, and she was just laying there. Been like that ever since. She has never had any interest in chasing balls or frisbees. She will chase any animal that moves, though. I will try to walk her as much as I can, it is just difficult with a toddler. I could lose a few myself, would love to walk more!! The tether may be difficult again with the toddler. A dog on leash is just an open invitation for torture with a 2 year old running around! Which type of dog food would you suggest? I've tried many kinds, namely Science Diet, Beneful and Alpo (I realize all of these are available in grocery stores). She gained on Science Diet, Beneful made them poop excessively and the Min Pin got fat for the first time in her life. They've been on Alpo now for about two years, it's cheap and conveniently located at the grocery store :) But I'm more than willing to try a healthier dog food. Would you suggest Pet Smart or Petco? The min pin has maintained around 12 pounds for several years now, and the jack was around 20 pounds (still to heavy) until the baby came along. Now at 22 pounds, I think my goal is to ultimately get her to around 18 pounds. Thanks for all of your advice :) Christy

Buster (female) aka Chunk :)

{{!gwi}}

I have a simmilar problem. Except the toddler goes home at night. And he's only 18 months.

My beagle will eat our pit mixs food in seconds, if hes not paying attention and we aren't. We typically feed them together and then leave him alone when she's done.

As for walking, i take them all to a grassy area. My beagle around my waist. Pit mix leash in hand, and baby in the stroller. As soon as we get to the park, baby goes out to run around, and dogs get put on the long lead, retractable leashes, to get some running in, without being off leash. That way I can stay with the baby and they can do their own thing, too.

It is definately difficult at first, to get a handle on all three of them. But the baby has kind of learned he needs to stick close, and the dogs have learned to be much nicer walkers when a stroller is involved.