Dog is eating the quail food?

[_Jay_Bird_]

Sorry if I've put this in the wrong forum.
So since we've been having problems with rats, we've only been letting the quails outside during the day, and only in the front yard (rats are out back) until we move to a bigger problem. We keep the front door open to keep an eye on them and put their food and water out there with them. But our little dog Daisy won’t stop eating their food? Is this normal? It's just ordinary game bird maintenance and its not like we're feeding Daisy bad quality stuff dog food. Has anyone else had this issue? It's pretty annoying because we want her to be able to hang around with the quails in case a cat or crow comes along, just as some peace of mind, but it’s not gonna work if she keeps eating all their food.

 

[RoosterML]

Yeah mine will grab some chicken or quail food at times.

 

[EverythingDucks]

Teach her to leave it. Start by putting a treat on the ground. Keep your foot next to it to keep her from eating it. Say 'Leave it!" then reward her with a different treat. After a while she'll catch on. Then try it with quail feed. First with just a few pieces like how you do it with a treat, then do it where she normally eats it from. Be sure to reward her with treats and lots of praise. Never use leave it on something you intent for her to touch (some people use it for toys or food while they put it down).
Hope this helps!

 

[Mellowmalt]

my dog will eat everything... He regularly goes and cleans out the hedgehog bowl. Kinda what dogs do

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Be careful letting your dogs eat bird seed/chicken feed/quail feed. They can't digest it and it will build up in their intestines and cause an obstruction.

 

[NatJ]

Be careful letting your dogs eat bird seed/chicken feed/quail feed. They can't digest it and it will build up in their intestines and cause an obstruction.

Whole seeds, maybe.

But the kind of feed that is complete pellets made of ground ingredients is fine for dogs.

The ingredients are pretty much the same as what most dog food has (usually lots of grains and soy, and small amounts of other things). Of course a dog can get fat by eating too much of anything, and the nutrients are not going to be balanced properly for a dog, but a bit here and there won't hurt them. Even a big bellyful on occasion won't do any real harm to a dog. Edit: but read Geena's posts below about medicated feed--some medications CAN harm dogs.

For the original question, I agree that training the dog not to eat the quail food would be best. EverythingDucks gave a pretty good description of how.

Edit to add: or can you make a feeder that quails can reach into but the dog cannot? Maybe a wire mesh their heads can reach through, or even a cage of large-size wire mesh that quails can walk through and the dog cannot.

 

[Geena]

Sorry if I've put this in the wrong forum.
So since we've been having problems with rats, we've only been letting the quails outside during the day, and only in the front yard (rats are out back) until we move to a bigger problem. We keep the front door open to keep an eye on them and put their food and water out there with them. But our little dog Daisy won’t stop eating their food? Is this normal? It's just ordinary game bird maintenance and its not like we're feeding Daisy bad quality stuff dog food. Has anyone else had this issue? It's pretty annoying because we want her to be able to hang around with the quails in case a cat or crow comes along, just as some peace of mind, but it’s not gonna work if she keeps eating all their food.

Just FYI some medicated game bird feed is toxic to dogs.

 

[NatJ]

Just FYI some medicated game bird feed is toxic to dogs.

Eep. Which medication is that?
This is the first I've heard of it, but I definitely want to know how to recognize it in future!

 

[MissE]

Sorry if I've put this in the wrong forum.
So since we've been having problems with rats, we've only been letting the quails outside during the day, and only in the front yard (rats are out back) until we move to a bigger problem. We keep the front door open to keep an eye on them and put their food and water out there with them. But our little dog Daisy won’t stop eating their food? Is this normal? It's just ordinary game bird maintenance and its not like we're feeding Daisy bad quality stuff dog food. Has anyone else had this issue? It's pretty annoying because we want her to be able to hang around with the quails in case a cat or crow comes along, just as some peace of mind, but it’s not gonna work if she keeps eating all their food.

My dogs will eat anything that isn't nailed down. They both have crazy high food and prey drive.

I had a feed bag spring a tiny hole when I was unloading it last week and MAYBE 1/2 cup got dumped in the snow. Those crazy buggers kept scratching at the ground trying to get every last piece. And it was chick starter crumbles, so there were lots of pieces.

I keep them away from anything I don't want them to eat, including, but not limited to, my chickens. My male GSD even tried to eat my wheat berry sprouts, and let's not talk about road killed toads. My female GSD thinks deer poop is a gift sent down from the heavens. They aren't allowed in the garden. They are not allowed around feed for other animals. Leave it only works when I'm right there to see it and say something, so they are seldom loose and out of my sight at the same time.

Before anyone asks, they get fed an appropriate diet, including some raw. They also get any broken egg that can be saved long enough to get it into their dish. They are not fed from the table, and begging is not allowed. At this moment, I am 2 minutes late with dinner, and I am being reminded of my lack of time awareness.

 

[Geena]

Eep. Which medication is that?
This is the first I've heard of it, but I definitely want to know how to recognize it in future!

It's lasalocid, can be toxic to dogs and horses.