Dog Community

Question about food nudging

Posted : 4/29/2006 1:34:50 PM

My dog is not a big eater. We let her free choice feed because we know she won't overeat and doesn't like to eat a lot at one time. However, sometimes when we fill up her food, instead of eating it, she either nudges her nose in it or just pushes the bowl around (sometimes spilling food everywhere). I read somewhere that sometimes free-choice dogs may do this because they aren't hungry but want to "bury" their food and save it for later. This behavior is seen in wild dogs I guess. Have any of you ever heard of this or had similar behavior in your dogs?

Cheryl R

Posted : 4/29/2006 3:04:03 PM

Sure. I had a beagle when I was a kid that would actually go through the motions of pushing dirt onto her food with her nose. Back and forth, back and forth from the kitchen floor to the food. Then she would leave the food and come back at night to finish it.

Cheryl

starsenchis

Posted : 4/29/2006 10:25:00 PM

My chihuahua hides his bully stick in my husband's pile of dirty laundry. He nudges the clothes with his nose until that bone is completely hidden from view

Pam

Posted : 5/1/2006 3:56:45 PM

I had to coax my dog to eat his food. It was high qualtily Innova and rice and cooked meat. But after picking the meat out, he left the kibble. I had to push the kibble on the sides to the center and beg him to finish it.

After I switched to premade raw, he INHALES the raw in 1 second and looks at me for more. No leftovers ever now.

I would say your dog doesn't really enjoy his food.