What does this mean?

Can't explain it but we identify with it.... my pack is fed in crates and should one seem to be less enthusiastic I make sure the bowls are in close corners ie left forward on the first and the right forward on the second) creating the urge to finish it off before the other can make off with a morsel. as my darlin Jasmine gets older I have found some days she is more relcutant to eat so I will allow another dog to feed outside and free with her, she will make herself eat to prevent the theft of her food.

Mine rarely growl. They simply hoover it all up and lick the pan.

Bonita of Bwana

Is she dosnt eat it after 20 minutes pick it up and put it away. That'll teach her, lol! Rory got so mad and confused the first time I did that, lol!

Oh, it goes away if not eaten in 20 min.but I was just wondering what this means.

It sounds to me as though Tootsie's food only has value to her if it has value to someone else. In other words, it sounds like it could be some sort of resource guarding. She doesn't do this with toys or anything else? Just her food?

What brand of food is it? Does she get treats throughout the day?

She is definately guarding her food.  I'm surprised she doesn't guard her toys or other valuables.  Its a good thing that you pick up the food after 20 minutes.  She should learn eventually that if she doesn't eat her food when offerred, she won't get another chance until next feeding (assuming she doesn't get leftovers, etc in between feedings). 

Do you supervise feeding time? 

In my house, feeding time is an event...in other words, they are called for meal, they are put into a sit (NILF), and they are released to eat.  After they are done, bowls come up, we have a short love session, and they go on with the rest of the day.

My 15 month old GSD will sometimes be a little slower to start eating and that's ok.  Buddy, the Lab eats immediately with no problems (big boy eats anything anytime).  Then, he starts to wander over to her bowl.  That gets her moving.  LOL.  Of course, she doesn't want him to get her food, so she digs right in.  There have been instances where she won't eat a meal (for whatever reason).  No biggie, bowl gets put in the frig and offerred again next mealtime.  Never fails, she eats next time.  Don't worry about one missed meal...it won't hurt her, you know that.

Good luck!

She gets EP Holistic Fish and Oatmeal 2x a day, with a pump of salmon oil and vit. e once a day. She never gets table scraps, treats, but  not on a daily basis, a marrow bone once a week and maybe some beets at night time. She does not do this with toys or even the marrow bone.  Go figure. Feeding time is always supervised, she has a habit of leaving her food to see where I am, so I just stay in the room.

Yummy.

Well, if this is an undesireable behavior, and I gather it is...perhaps you crate or kennel her at feeding time so that she doesn't have the opportunity to guard against others.  That will be a shift in the feeding ritual, but if you are looking for ways to alleviate the guarding, it may be the option.

Good luck!

my border collie does the same thing - my other two dogs just inhale the food.  but Akyra the BC will guard hers, if she doesn't eat it - then it's taken away.  I have no idea why they do it.  she doesn't really guard anything else & is really picky about treats. Regular dog biscuits she could care less for.  Lately she's been good about eating right away.

I also feed my dogs all in one room & they're supervised - they're pretty good about not trying to steal each others food these days. 

 Problem solved. i switched food and she eats with gusto now.

That's funny because I was about to say she probably doesn't like it. If Penny doesn't like something, she'll leave it, but if someone else looks like they want it, she'll chase them off and eat it. I have got her to eat all sorts of silly things by threatening to feed it to someone else. If she likes it, no one will get a chance to look at it sideways. 

Tootsie is exactly like this. " I really don't want it, but no one else is going to have it, so I"ll eat it." Tootsie and Penny are a lot alike. 

sounds like my kids LOL. My son is notorious for taking HANDFULS of something just to hoard it from his sister when seconds are offered. He will rush thru food if he think she'll get seconds before him or the last bit will be gone LOL.