Dog Community

Does your dog sniff around all the time?

Posted : 8/28/2006 10:14:24 AM

My dog, Sam walks around literally, all day, in search for food! He sniffs the ground, licks it, and has his head down most times looking at the ground in hopes of there being some food there. That's the way it seems anyway. We feed him once in the morning and once in the evening, but he still seems like he's hungry. He eats his food REALLY fast and I don't know if he has a history of food being withheld (we rescued him from a shelter 3-4 months ago), but he sure wasn't malnourished when we got him. We give him treats on and off during the day (for good behavior, and heck... just for being adorable! [

]) and he always has a full stomach, so maybe he's just greedy? [8D]

I was wondering if other dogs did this or was it just Sammy. Thanks![

]

brookcove

Posted : 8/28/2006 10:19:17 AM

Ground sniffing/licking can be a sign of nervousness, particularly if he's doing it when you are asking him to do something or even just talking to him.

If he really is just looking for food, he could just be bored. You can try giving his kibble in a treat dispensing device (if you feed kibble), offering him a kong with healthy food frozen in it, plus of course distracting him with structured activities on a regular schedule.

Good luck!

janobonano

Posted : 8/28/2006 10:42:32 AM

Maybe it's not just food that he's smelling. You could try to see if there are any tracking classes offered in your area. Sounds like he would be good at it.
If you're concerned he's eating too fast/gobbling, you could put a rock in his food dish so he has to eat around it, or put his food in a treat ball so a little comes out at a time.

tashakota

Posted : 8/28/2006 11:08:51 AM

Our dog Pepper is this way. We also rescued her from a shelter and she was a little overweight then. She scrounges food whenever she can and our joke around the house is if you drop something, we tell Pepper not to eat it. Doesnt' matter what the item is, food, mineral, etc. [

] She used to eat super fast and we slowed her down a bit by shoving toys in her food dish. She is still always the first to finish her food and then wait for the others to finish so she can lick their bowls clean too. She's not overweight and gets two meals a day, but she acts like we starve her.