Yesterday morning our normally ravenous (14 month old) GSD pup seemed very reluctant to eat breakfast completely out of the blue, he eats in the utility which is an open room next to the kitchen where our older two GSDs eat.  My OH grabbed his collar to take him to the utility (thought pup was being nervous of walking past our oldest one who is VERY dominant).  The oldest dog saw this as an opportunity and dived on him although OH stopped any contact being made and pup was fine.  Pup then refused to eat which I am not surprised about.

Last night pup again refused to eat so we shut out the other two dogs and he still wouldn't so I moved the bowl slightly and then we had a visitor, while talking to our friend pup cleaned out his bowl and then made sure the other dogs' were empty too.  This morning he wouldn't eat again until the older two dogs had gone and then proceded to clear his bowl.  Tonight again, he refuses to eat so we have left him alone in the kitchen in the hope that he will eat without an audience!

Anyway, we are well aware that we have compounded whatever problem that pup had in his head yesterday morning but I don't know how to rectify this so that pup will happily eat when the other two dogs are.  If the other two dogs are eating pup just lays down, very shyly, and keeps turning his head if you offer him any of the food.

Hi,

Obviously your pup now feels threatened when it comes to feeding time so needs somewhere where he will feel 'safe' to eat.

I have never fed any of my dogs in the same room as it makes them competitive and feel occasionally threatened by the older ones depending upon their character, resulting in them either resource guarding or 'bolting' down their food only to vomit it back up again seconds later. this isn't a comfortable situation for any dog especially when confronted by a bully/ies. Particularly ones that are prone to Gastric Torsion as in your own breed.

If I were you I would make sure that he eats at different times to the older ones in a separate location. Don't let the older ones even sniff around the door when he is eating as he will feel under threat. I would remove the others completely and then feed the pup, don't make a big deal out of it, just put the bowl down and keep to your usual routine.

This will cause you upheaval for a few weeks but you can gradually get them all to feed at the same time/ maybe in seperate places dependent on how he develops, as he gets older and bolder and gains confidence.

HTH

Poor boy, think I'd be feeling the same in that situation ;)

In your position I'd be doing the same as Hairypooch suggests ;)

I think that would be a good start too, as hairypooch suggested, and maybe add a little extra tasty something in it to encourage the poor lad.It will take a long while to overcome it methinks.

He didn't eat last night in the end so I didn't force the issue and just took the food up and then had a game with him.  This morning we didn't offer him any food but have put his brekkie in a treat ball so he can play around with it while we are at work (he is in a different room to them during the day).  We plan to feed him in the front room for the next few days as there are two rooms seperating him from the other two and hopefully we can get over this.

It's such a shame as we have never had any problems with eating together before.

One of our dogs is just like this and won't eat his dinner if another dog is sniffing at the door. We have to completly separate them when eating and shutting doors and keeping guard. Its tough but at least this way we know they are safe and eating fine.
They does seem to be an underlying issue with the older alpha dog and the pup. I would also look at the behaviour of these 2 when not eating as well to see if something else is occurring.

We know there is an issue with pup and our older male and are managing that.  Pup is a bouncy, happy boy the rest of the time so if we have to feed seperately we will - anything to keep them all happy!

I have two dogs and my eldest will not eat if the younger is around so we feed seperatley. Also the elder eats so slow, caus he is nosey. Jake polishes his off and when we open the door shoots in and finishes off his mates!! they will drink together and treats together its just the main meal.

I feed my 2 dogs seperately (both male), the old dog eats very slow, so if they are fed in the same room, the young dog will scoff his and finish off the old dogs dinner, there's never any growling or 'dominant' behaviour but as they both love thier food I prefer to err on the side of caution and keep them apart while eating. It also means that neither of them feel the need to bolt thier food or worry about it being stolen by the other.
They are fine with treats, the young dog will wait his turn for a treat (sometimes needs reminding not to pinch the old dogs treat) and they will drink from the same bowl at the same time (it's a bit of a squeeze, but they manage!!)

Hi Jayne
You got another pup then? Is it your sable you wanted?

Did the pup always eat away from the other two? If so is that because he was always shy of eating with them? I can't think of any better advice than that already offered. Shepherds do get a fixation on certain things quite easily though don't they. Perhaps you could try breaking the pattern by feeding him at a completely different time of day and away from any distractions? Sometimes breaking the routine can clear the mental block they get, and then perhaps you can gradually build the routine back to what it was when he has his confidence back.

Kat

One of my girls has always been a bit reluctant to eat with the other dogs about so I feed her in a cage now.She is the first to get hers and always the last to finish but she gets to eat at her own pace without being disturbed or threatened.

Hey Kat - long time no hear!!

Yup we have number 3 and he is a sable.  He has always eaten with the other dogs but we just popped his bowls into a side room as it was less crowded then.  I think we may have found another problem (or maybe part of the root cause) as late last week he actually stood on his food bowl just before I picked it up and filled it for his dinner - it made a hell of a racket and he flew out of the room.  We have been feeding his separately for the last few days and he seems very wary of the bowl even so I am wondering if the noise is stuck in his head now too.

Why not see if changing the bowl helps :)

jayne that happened to my gsd when she was a pup, she kicked her bowl nearly jumped out of her skin! it made such noise,she then wouldnt eat from that bowl at all.i just gave her a plastic one for a while then went back to a metal one agian a few months later and she didnt have any issue's with it.:-)