Dog and the ant army.

r0beph

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
543
Location
Huntsville, Alabama
Ok so I rescued a dog that (black lab) that was apparently living in a forested area for 3 or 4 weeks, she was such a mess, but such a pretty dog, I'll probably keep her till the (non-euthanistic) humane society calls me and has a slot for an adoptive pet, or maybe I'll keep her if I can. Now I've never had to keep a dog here at this house, so I was disturbed when a column of ant scouts preceding an invasion, approached and entered the dogs food bowl. I sprayed bugspary in a circlular patterns around the bowl which seems to work somewhat but no where near entirely, the typical manner of floating the food in a separate bowl of water, well these damn ants don't mind swimming it seems.. I am at a loss for how to keep this food out of ants reach. Any suggestions? how do you keep the horde out of your pet food? :'(

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Werbung:
I only feed my dog one meal a day, and then the occassional scrap here and there.

If you do this, the dog will get enough food, establish a schedule, avoid getting fat as you can moderate how much it eats etc. as well as stopping the ants from eating the food as it will not be lying around for long.

Just an idea, rather than leaving food out all day for it.

However, I have a terrier that would quite happily eat as much food as it could fit if it had the chance, so I can't leave food around all day for it.

Nice looking lab though.
 
A few things...first off, good humanitarian work, a very nice looking dog. Secondly, be glad she didnt come with a face full of porcupine needles as I have seen all to often.
I would have suggested the food bowl standing in a bowl of water, but that isnt seeming to work. I am not sure if you have a fenced area, but feeding her outside might ease the issue. Or setting the bowl raised off the ground or floor by a stool or something that the ants are unlikely to crawl up. Swimming ants though huh...first time for everything. Not much of those up north. But I doubt you have much problem with porcupines.
 
A few things...first off, good humanitarian work, a very nice looking dog. Secondly, be glad she didnt come with a face full of porcupine needles as I have seen all to often.
I would have suggested the food bowl standing in a bowl of water, but that isnt seeming to work. I am not sure if you have a fenced area, but feeding her outside might ease the issue. Or setting the bowl raised off the ground or floor by a stool or something that the ants are unlikely to crawl up. Swimming ants though huh...first time for everything. Not much of those up north. But I doubt you have much problem with porcupines.

No porcupines, but ants ants and more. Between the Black, fire, and black-fire hybrid small ants, and the big black ants (bout 4x the size of small normal ants) we have just way to damn many. And ticks....omg the girl is covered in them I pulled off as many as she'd let me but I think it hurt a bit, I tried some numby spray on the tick area before, but that didn't do to well, not quite as bad when I plucked them out, but she doesn't like it. I am taking her to the vet first thing tomorrow.

As for the food, It's not a problem of food sitting around she scarfs it up right quick (within a minute) however the ants come out of no where it's insane, I watched it happen. One comes out across the concrete porch then walks off, about 30 seconds later here comes a whole horrendous crowd of them it's insane. They swimm through the water, a few die, but not enough to make a difference. I hate ants with a passion. I drew concentric circles around the food dish with some ant killer and it seems to be staving them up, we'll see how long this lasts, they still creep out occasionally and amass on a wayward piece of food that rolled out of the bowl.
 
I would second 9sublime's idea. I have six dogs, and none of them are free fed. They get a measured ration, twice a day which they eat pretty quickly. Generally the bowl is left down for 15 minutes (more then enough time to eat) and then picked up. You sound like you have super ants though...howabout putting icecubes in the water? Wouldn't the cold slow them down and kill them?

She's a cutie by the way :D
 
I would second 9sublime's idea. I have six dogs, and none of them are free fed. They get a measured ration, twice a day which they eat pretty quickly. Generally the bowl is left down for 15 minutes (more then enough time to eat) and then picked up. You sound like you have super ants though...howabout putting icecubes in the water? Wouldn't the cold slow them down and kill them?

She's a cutie by the way :D

Ever been to alabama and seen the ants. They're super evil ants. and so many different ones :'(....I do feed her, twice, same amount, its gone in less than a couple minutes. the ants are all over I mean I kill the few around the bowl but they just criss cross the patio in multitudes, while they don't appear a large number, soon as food is crossed, it's assembly time. Yes they're evil little bastards, and this drought just exponentiates it, The concentric (multiple rings of increasing size) around the bowl with this ant killed I found, I let it dry then place the food bowl in the middle (i marked it with a grease pen) this seems to work =)
 
Ever been to alabama and seen the ants. They're super evil ants. and so many different ones :'(....I do feed her, twice, same amount, its gone in less than a couple minutes. the ants are all over I mean I kill the few around the bowl but they just criss cross the patio in multitudes, while they don't appear a large number, soon as food is crossed, it's assembly time. Yes they're evil little bastards, and this drought just exponentiates it, The concentric (multiple rings of increasing size) around the bowl with this ant killed I found, I let it dry then place the food bowl in the middle (i marked it with a grease pen) this seems to work =)

Wow...I knew there was a reason I liked living in a region where it got cold enough to kill the damn buggers each year:p
 
15 minutes? My Jack Russell eats his food in about 10 seconds flat. German sausage, two gulps and its gone, tomato in one (he gets a balanced diet see). Its pretty disgusting but funny.
 
15 minutes? My Jack Russell eats his food in about 10 seconds flat. German sausage, two gulps and its gone, tomato in one (he gets a balanced diet see). Its pretty disgusting but funny.

haha - I bet! Actually most of mine pretty much inhale their food. One picks - but she's got a funky jaw. It's like a race to the finish - don't get in the way:D
 
Ever been to alabama and seen the ants. They're super evil ants. and so many different ones :'(....I do feed her, twice, same amount, its gone in less than a couple minutes. the ants are all over I mean I kill the few around the bowl but they just criss cross the patio in multitudes, while they don't appear a large number, soon as food is crossed, it's assembly time. Yes they're evil little bastards, and this drought just exponentiates it, The concentric (multiple rings of increasing size) around the bowl with this ant killed I found, I let it dry then place the food bowl in the middle (i marked it with a grease pen) this seems to work =)

Sounds like you've got Atom Ant...

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Poor dog.Some owners dont deserve pets.
Well she's ok now, she's gonna get all nice and cleaned up and get the ticks I couldn't get off her, off. As well as the Distemper/parvo/rabies shots. Gonna cost me a chunk of change, but that's ok, monday she'll prolly hate me.
 
Werbung:
Well she's ok now, she's gonna get all nice and cleaned up and get the ticks I couldn't get off her, off. As well as the Distemper/parvo/rabies shots. Gonna cost me a chunk of change, but that's ok, monday she'll prolly hate me.

Na...she'll love you, that's what's so great about dogs:)
 
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