Dog's eating habit!

[B00]

My dog does this really weird thing with his food. He'll grab a mouthfull, run into another room with it, spit it out on the floor then delicately eat it bit by bit.

I always presumed that with dogs being scavengers they gobbled up food as fast as they can, where they can.

Any ideas why he does it? and more importantly how to stop him, he's ruining my carpets!

[shaneystar]

My dog does this too! Luckily he takes it out into the conservatory where we have a carpet we don't worry about too much,plus we feed him dry food which isn't so messy.I often ponder on this behaviour and wonder if it is because he is worried the food is going to be taken away from him.We rescued him at 18 months old and he is now ten and has been doing this for years!!Perhaps it's something to do with how he was treated before we got him.I would love to know.

[B00]

I dont think this this is the case with my dog, we've had him since he was a pup, hubby says it's coz he's a lunatic, the dog i mean not the hubby!

[Artful]

My dog does something similar - but with him we have sussed it's a game. He only does it with dry food.He'll go to his bowl, collect a 'croquette', come back and drop it in front of whoever he has decided to 'play' with. He'll then sit down beside it and wait. This can last a long, long time. When whoever gets up to do sthg he'll start growling protectively moving the croquette to one side. He eventually eats it and then the whole rigmarole starts all over again...

[kazzee69]

My boyfriends dogs do this. He got them from the RSPA so I think it must be something to do with the way they were treated and that they think their food will be pinched.

[Artful]

I've had Beethoven since a pup and there's no worry about having his food pinched, in fact when he's eating his meat and I go to refill his bowl there is no problem for me to take his bowl even if there is still sthg in it. No, it's a game which he enjoys.

[PurplePixie]

It might be that he doesn't like the bowl he's being fed from. I'd try feeding him from a more shallow tray like dish...it's worth a try. Also look at where you are feeding him, try a different position, perhaps he feels a bit vulnerable where you've put the bowl at the moment..try a slightly more tucked away place. This can especially happen where the dog feels very low in the pack & takes it's food to a safe place to eat it (it's very normal behaviour tho)

[dmsjps]

My dog does this when he has something like bones or raw meat and I let him - but only if he takes it in the garden. If he doesn't, he has to eat it from his dish in the kitchen where there is no carpet to mess up. Let him eat in the way he's comfortable to do it, but don't let him mess up your house in the meantime; he has to live by your rules, not you live by his.

[Trillipse]

PEG-tube him

[happy_face]

I have a staff which does exactly the same thing. He grabs a mouthful, runs out into the hallway drops everything and then eats it one by one. Although if I'm in the kitchen whilst he's eating then he will happily stay there and eat. so I thought maybe it had something to do with company. he's also got a strange other habit. He won't eat when we're not home and when we get home he get's really excited and runs around greeting us. Whilst doing that he runs to the bowl of food and grabs a mouthful which he almost chokes on because he's still jumping up and down saying Hello to  us. So we've had to close the door to the kitchen until he's calmed down.

[Clanad]

When we raised dogs, they were outside in the barn rather than house dogs. I noticed this behavior in litters that had an unusually dominant puppy.  Some of the other puppies would grab their food (once beginning to eat dog food) and make off with it to eat it.  This appeared to be a way to get around the dominance of the Alpha pup, rather than confront it (sometimes it was a dominant female they avoided)...

[judypark]

Clanad's answer sounds very logical to me, but why not shut him in the kitchen until he eats his food, then he's got nowhere to run with it, if he does not eat it within a reasonable time, simply remove it. I know this could be tricky if you have an open plan house though. No dog will voluntarally starve itself, you wouldn't allow this behaviour in a child. Good luck  Judy

[cascath]

Our puppy does this too, she doesn't eat anything while we are out. If we give her some biscuits to get in her bed then go out, when we get back she dives into her bed roots out the then hidden biscuits and takes them out to eat.  Funny animals.  I love their antics.

[cittiecat00]

i think this is normal in dogs. my dog does it too, and infact all of my friends dogs do the same. it also doesnt matter where you put the food bowl or what kind of bowl it is in because i just recently put a small cereal bowl in my bedroom for my dog so she doesnt get me up at all hours of the morning to go eat (she sleeps on my bed, can't jump onto the bed, goes to the bathroom on the floor if i dont let her out so i dont leave bedroom door open so she can scratch to go out). and she still takes a mouthful out of the bowl and into a corner of my room and eats it slowly. and i dont think there is any effective way to stop your dog, you will just have to keep an eye on your carpet and clean that spot more often.