I feed my dog a food called Muenster Natural, but I don't know how widely it is distributed. When I started the pitbull on it she wouldn't eat it all at once and then the ants would get into it so she didn't want it at all. The consistency of the food was that of small pieces, about half the size of a dime. When they came out with the "Big Chunk" in the same variety I tried that and it made a huge difference. These are more along the size of a quarter, and she picks them up easily and would inhale them, nothing left to tempt ants.

We feed the dogs once a day, in the morning, after they've gone for a walk. I started the walk because Poppy the Catahoula was barking to be fed, and I needed to condition her to expect something other than food as soon as she saw movement in the house. She loves a walk, but doesn't bark to go for one, so this has worked very well. Then this spring I caught the new season of Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer and one of the dogs he worked with was a picky eater. He insists that exercise before they eat is a very natural approach to feeding, making them "work for their food." I got there through a different avenue, but I got there, and it works great.

When I feed the dogs we've returned from the walk, they're back in their Invisible Fence collars, and they sit on the porch outside the open door while I measure food into their bowls (they get different amounts). They have different shaped bowls and each know their own. I walk out the door and they sit and wait for me to put it down. Once food is on the ground I kneel there and take a handful of food from each dish and I give little muzzle or ear scratches on occasion in a sort of modified hand-feeding. The food is gone in about 90 seconds, then each dog sits and knows the drill--we do a few tricks for the remaining food. This means they're paying attention to me, not the other dog's bowl if one is slower that day. I reinforce the few commands we're working on (mostly "sit" and "stay" and "down" and for Cinnamon "catch" as I toss them into her mouth). After they eat and do their tricks they wag and wiggle and lick and congratulate each other that another day has started and they've had a walk and a good meal.

SRS