# How to baby proof dog food and water?



## tbone_kneegrabber (Oct 16, 2007)

I want my dog to be able to have food and water when ever she would like to, but I don't want ds to eat dog food (anymore dog food!) or splash around in her water constantly. Any ideas? So far the dog's water and food are in the kitchen and I want ds to be able to hang out and play in the kitchen when we are in the kitchen without always having to put dog food and water on the counter, because the dog likes to eat and drink when we are all together, ya know?

TIA!!!


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## amrijane128 (Jan 6, 2007)

The best suggestion I have is to move the dogs food outside. That's how it went over here, and the cat eats on the counter. Man kids love pet food.


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## queenjane (May 17, 2004)

You could only feed at scheduled times (rather than free feed) and keep the child out of the kitchen at that time (by gates or whatever else),and keep water in a room less frequented by your child (bathroom, bedroom, laundry room...not sure what you have available in your house.)

Keeping food outside...hmm......wouldnt bugs/flies get into it?!

Katherine


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## eggsandpancakes (Oct 16, 2007)

At my house food goes outside, dog goes outside in the morning. Dog comes in for midday, back out until after bath, water comes down off counter at bedtime.


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

We had our dog food outside for a while and the ants LOVED it. We ended up moving it in to the garage, where the bugs haven't found it.


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## tbone_kneegrabber (Oct 16, 2007)

Yeah, outside is not an option. Right now we are picking it up when ds is in the kitchen, the problem is we always forget to put it back down when we leave the room.


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## jennifercp8 (Nov 10, 2005)

Our dog is fed on a schedule - breakfast, lunch, and dinner with us. So my DS is usually in his highchair when the dog is being fed. If Macie doesn't eat it, the food is picked up (we don't believe in free feeding). The water dish is always out, and it took a few times, but we just redirected him away from it. He doesn't touch it now.


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## Ironica (Sep 11, 2005)

How big are your dogs?

If they're pretty small, you may be able to set up a corner that's gated off and has a doggie-door that's too small for the child to go through. If the gate is opaque, too, then it's out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

If they're large, you can get food/water stands, or a table of an appropriate height, that gets the food out of line-of-sight of the kid.

If they're medium-sized... Uh, I dunno. ;-)


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## Herausgeber (Apr 29, 2006)

I haven't been able to stop DD from messing with the food, but I have harnessed her interest for my own desires: It's her job to feed the dog in the morning.


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## zoebugsmom (Jan 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *queenjane* 
You could only feed at scheduled times (rather than free feed) and keep the child out of the kitchen at that time (by gates or whatever else),and keep water in a room less frequented by your child (bathroom, bedroom, laundry room...not sure what you have available in your house.)

Keeping food outside...hmm......wouldnt bugs/flies get into it?!

Katherine

This is what we do. The water bowl is in the bathroom where the children spend very little time. The dog gets fed at a scheduled time so food being down is never an issue.


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## Paeta16 (Jul 24, 2007)

Ditto the PP who said she had her daughter help her.

We have taught my daughter that if she touches the dog food that she has to put it back in the bowl. Often she'll toddle along behind me as I am filling the bowl and pick up the pieces that spill and put them back in the bowl. She hates the feel of the dog's food on her hands so washing right afterwards is not a problem.

The problem with the water is bigger for us though...she still splashes around in it about 2-3 times a week. The last time she did this with her fingers she walked right over and showed me and said "wet!" LOL She is 16 months old so it has taken/is taking a long time!


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## PatchChild (Sep 1, 2006)

We keep out cats food and water in an alcove with a baby gate in front of it. There was just no way to keep DS out of it otherwise. He has discovered that tossing cat food to the cats is a good way to get them to hang around though so he now tosses them stray pieces.


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## anywaybecause (Jul 9, 2008)

Honestly, this is one of those issues where I think my kids must be freaks . . . . because they never once actually tried the dog's food. Never.







: I was braced for it, but it never came. They each tried a bite of a dog biscuit, but even that was when they were 4 and they even asked me first!

Maybe reverse psychology? Let her try it and since it's no longer "forbidden" she will lose interest?


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## sunnymw (Feb 28, 2007)

If you have a larger/medium breed dog you can put it on one of those stands outside so the bugs/ants have a harder time getting to it









Our problem was filling the bowl and then not emptying it or bringing it in when it would rain... ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

we have a large closet under the stairs that we keep the kennels in, We feed them in their and could move their water in when we have kids. I've also thought about putting a doggie door in so we could keep the door closed. maybe you could have something like this? a bathroom or other small room?


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## HarperRose (Feb 22, 2007)

We put our cats' food & water in the bathroom w/ their litter box and then gated that bathroom. The big kids can get over the gate or undo it, but the baby can't.


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## jillmamma (Apr 11, 2005)

You mean you want to avoid this and this?









Our dining room has tile floor, so we kept it gated and open most of the time, but closed the gate if she was being really determined about going in there (or shut the dog in there if our dog just needed to eat in peace). I remember from about the time she was 10ish months till close to 18 months I had to be vigilant or I would hear splash splash splash in the dog's water dish! The good news is they do outgrow that phase!







We feed our dog morning and night too, and she has to finish it fairly quick or we take it away.


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## pcasylum (May 29, 2006)

I'd love to be able to leave my dog food down unattended. We free-feed our dogs, and I have no interest in putting them on a schedule, lol! However, my youngest likes to eat dog food, so I've had to adapt. We can't put it outside because we live in a rural area and it would attract other animals, as well as bugs. So basically the food is on the counter and comes down at naptime and bedtime. (Or the really rare occasion when ds actually sleeps in in the morning) If ds skips his nap I'll move the food to my bedroom - which is gated off - and let the dogs go in there and eat. I have to remember to move it back out before bedtime, because ds sleeps in there with us though. Good luck!


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