Do you feed your dog before or after yourself?

Let's see. Morning, the monstresses eat, I don't. Mid-afternoon, they get a snack, I don't. Evening, they eat and I eat at least an hour later. By that token they must think they rule the world, lol. They don't give a fiddle in what order we eat as long as food is coming on the clock. 

 Tootsie, during the week is on a strict feeding schedule: 7:30 am (always) and 5:00 pm (always). The weekends, not so much in the am, but she ALWAYS eats her pm meal at 5:00. I work, so I eat breakfast at work and dinner is usually when I feel like it. If she were on my eating schedule, how would I keep her on a potty schedule?

I tried eating my dinner at the same time as them one night and they gulped their food down hoping to get some of mine, but that was a rare occasion and won't happen again. Layla is a scarfer anyway, which I don't like. They do the same thing if I try to give them a treat to divert them while I enjoy a treat, so we don't really do that anymore either.

I honestly don't think it matters who eats first in terms of dominance and agree it's "hogwash!"

 Ari eats when we feed her lol - which is roughly at the same time of day (weekends it may vary a bit). It really depends.  I like to stick to a schedule for her, so we know when she should be pooping or not.  If she's had a solid workout in the afternoon after I get off of work, she simply has to wait quite awhile before it safe for her to eat (read she doesn't puke it all up). I'm NOT waiting for her to calm down before I prepare my dinner! If my dinner is ready before she's OK to eat, we eat first. If it isn't, she eats first. Frankly, Ari could care less, so longs as we don't forget about her altogether.

The dominance thing is hogwash. I'm not sharing my food with the dog. She has her own separate food. We DO however make her wait until we say OK before she's allowed to her dish. This is for her to focus on us, as well as when she was younger she would try to rush her dish and knock into us lol. 

Willow gets fed at her set times and I eat at completely different times. 

 The dogs eat at 7:30 am and 7:30 pm. They do get a couple of snacks during the day (a couple of kibbles, for going into their kennels, or doing a trick, or whatever) and a bed time snack.

I eat randomly, or not at all. Sometimes, it's before them. Sometimes, it's after them. Sometimes, I share, and sometimes, I don't. They don't seem to care, much, unless I have salsa

We have no set pattern as to who eats first.  I put a certain amount of food in Max's bowl in the a.m. and he eats when he's hungry.  He's always more interested in what I'm eating anyway, so it really wouldn't make much difference.

Joyce

I'm so busy in the morning multi-tasking that my dog is fed first.  Same for the evening.

Kirby's feedings have never been effected by when I eat.  He also eats on a rather fixed schedule where as I eat erratically throughout the day with no set times.  Personally, I think I display more than enough dominance with the fact I get to eat whatever I want whenever I want while he is entirely at my mercy for his meals.  Its not like you are going to see him rummaging through the fridge of scooping out his own food.

willowchow

Willow gets fed at her set times and I eat at completely different times. 

Same...and he knows what his meal times are!

 I must be doing EVERYTHING wrong then! Sometimes I even *gasp* eat at the same time as my dog!

Casey eats dinner anywhere between 8-12 pm. No real schedule. No breakfast (he's also a... late riser). Depends on where I am at, and what I'm doing. He doesn't care. As long as he gets his food before bed. He always poops in the morning.

jettababy

 The other day we had company over for dinner, and just before we ate I gave Jetta her dinner. One guest said: "Oh you feed your dog first? Thats bad because she'll think she's in control over you!".

I think that is completely bogus! I have always fed Jetta before myself because I don't think its fair to eat in front of a hungry dog--that just encourages begging IMO. Also, I am her caretaker and "momma", so I always want to provide for her first just like a person would feed a child first. I'm not saying dogs are children, but thats just the way I see it. I eat right after setting her bowl down, so we end up eating at pretty much the same time--she just gets hers a little bit faster. 

 I don't think my dog feels dominate over me just because I set her bowl down right before I sit down at the table myself. And its not like she gets a free meal--I always make her sit pretty for a few seconds before letting her eat, so she does do some form of work.

What do you guys think?

I think it's silly!  There isn't a fixed mealtime in our house, so it depends.  Sometimes they "look hungry" while I am preparing dinner, so I do it then and then they don't beg for food when we are eating.  But sometimes, they just chill out while we are cooking and eating, and then I feed them after, with scraps on top.

If they get fed BEFORE dinner, I sometimes save the scraps till the next day.  They either have them for breakfast the next day, or if DH doesn't realise they are there, they have them the next day while I am cooking, and then some kibble later on.  In which case they get fed before AND after we do!

I have never heard of a single case where behaviour problems started or persisted because the dog was fed first.

Even Jan Fennell (The Dog Listener, quite big on "pack theory" and thinks eating first sends a powerful message) thinks that "gesture eating" is only necessary for the first couple of weeks, and even then you only need to eat a cracker or a biscuit, not make the dog wait while you eat a whole meal.

It's possible that "eating first" sends a message to the dog, and I used to think that the message could be a powerful one, but now I think it's more likely to be neglible, if it even sinks in at all.  Dogs are immediate creatures.  Any message of subtlety would surely be lost next to the larger and more immediate one of "I'm HUNGRY - when do we get to EAT?!"

They always eat before me in the morning because feeding them is the FIRST thing I do and they know it.   As soon as my feet hit the ground they are ready to eat.   In the evening they eat around 5-6ish sometimes it before we eat and other time after - either way I think that myth is hogwash!