Eating rituals?

[jrhodo]

Do any of your BC's do this, and what could it mean?

 

When I feed Reb, she lays down beside her bowl for a while. Then she pushes the food with her nose. Sometimes she spills the bowl, sometimes she just pushes the food down. Then she goes to the bag of food and pushes it with her nose. This ritual last about 5 minutes and she may or maynot eat right away.

[geonni banner]

Do any of your BC's do this, and what could it mean?

 

When I feed Reb, she lays down beside her bowl for a while. Then she pushes the food with her nose. Sometimes she spills the bowl, sometimes she just pushes the food down. Then she goes to the bag of food and pushes it with her nose. This ritual last about 5 minutes and she may or maynot eat right away.

 

I had a Lurcher that would push her food around with her nose in the bowl if she was unimpressed with it or if she was feeling queasy. She seemed to be saying, "I know you want me to eat this, but it's just too disgusting!" Sometimes she would go back for it, sometimes not. If I thought she was just being picky I would point to the bowl and say, "Eat your supper." If she had upset tummy she would lie down next to the bowl and look miserable - if she was just being picky she would give me a dirty look and then eat. This all stopped, however, when I started feeding her raw meat. All her reluctance vanished and she attacked her food with gusto!

 

Being a Lurcher, she was only half BC. But when it comes to food I think a dog's a dog...

[lyndzbrown]

All three of our BC's are quite weird about eating, they eat.. then they leave then they come back and eat a lil more. If one of the people in the house is going to do something they are right there and would rather be with you than eat. We also tell them to "eat their dinner" then they reluctantly eat while making sure you aren't going anywhere without them.

[ejano]

Funny, you mention this...I'm just sitting here, waiting for the critters to finish eating...

 

I feed the dogs in their crates. If I put something yuumy (like turkey gravey) in with the kibble, its gone in no time flat. Otherwise, they eat a bit then spend a good deal of time covering their dishes up with something. Robin has a rubber hot dog he puts in his dish, which is kinda cute. Brodie goes to even further lengths - he turns his dish upside down and then pushes all of the food under it. We used to leave the food in their crates so they would eat whenever, but now that they are nearly 10 months old and eat only twice a day, I take it out, mainly because Brodie is clanking and banging that dish around all night long, trying to get every last piece of kibble under it.

 

Ladybug only eats when we eat and expects a little in her dish and breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Liz

[ejano]

All three of our BC's are quite weird about eating, they eat.. then they leave then they come back and eat a lil more. If one of the people in the house is going to do something they are right there and would rather be with you than eat. We also tell them to "eat their dinner" then they reluctantly eat while making sure you aren't going anywhere without them.

 

 

It's a great deal like raising children, isn't it?

[lyndzbrown]

Haha well I'm 20... so maybe it'll be good preparation for having children in the future!

[Alchemist]

Hah. Duncan has a new "trick", of which we do not approve. He takes a bit of kibble and carries it onto the carpet to eat it. As said kibble is mixed with canned pumpkin, it ends up baptising the beige carpet with a nice orange hue. We now need to monitor his meals to discourage this behavior.

 

We remove any food he hasn't eaten within ~ 20 minutes and pitch it. Often he doesn't eat right away, but will get to it before it's too late.

 

Like raising children? I guess it's not unlike older son, who eats his lunch in the study, in his bedroom, wherever he's doing his homework - then leaves the dishes there. No problem with his eating in unapproved places per se as much as his leaving the dishes festooning the house.

[JohnLloydJones]

Rhys bach is my Mr. Garbage Disposal and his "ritual" is nose down and eat and then lick the bowl clean a second time, lick Senneca's bowl clean and then, just to be absolutely certain, lick his bowl clean again.

 

Senneca is Miss Picky Eater and needs to be told "eat your food" and may want to get a little love and attention before she gets down to eat. Adding some yummy topping does help. She will eat raw only with reluctance -- basically when she finds out that's all that's on the menu today.

 

After dinner, they both expect their after dinner treats and will gather around my chair and wait. Once that is over, Rhys goes back and checks both bowls again to make really, really sure that they are absolutely clean.

[lyndzbrown]

Oh i forgot to add .. Paige brings her empty bowls into the living room and licks them if she is hungry or if the water bowl is empty.. she is not necessarily thirsty.. she just thinks her bowls should be full at all times.

[WyoBC]

Mine are picky too. Black Jack waits until just before he gets fed again to eat the meal that's already in his bowl. So he's always a meal behind. Then if he's eating and you walk out he quits eating and has to come with you. I have noticed that Black Jack has been trying to eat on the carpet too. His dishes are in the kitchen but he's always taking a few pieces of food to the living room to eat it on the carpet, even if no one is in there. I can't figure out why. Teebo just loves to have food and gobbles it down.

[silhouettestable]

Mine have no rituals except to inhale it all as fast as possible, with or without any extras added

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

Mine have no rituals except to inhale it all as fast as possible, with or without any extras added

 

 

All my life I've had a carpet eater. Currently it's Dal who fills his mouth walks into the dining room and eats.

[mbc1963]

I've had several dogs who would only take treats on the carpet. If you put them on the linoleum, they'd carry them to the carpet. I think it might have something to do with having to bang their noses against the hard floor when they eat there?

 

My sister's old dog used to push her food dish up next to her water dish, then nose the kibble until it fell into the water, then eat it. I'm not sure why my sister didn't just water down the kibble.

[sixx]

All three of our BC's are quite weird about eating, they eat.. then they leave then they come back and eat a lil more. If one of the people in the house is going to do something they are right there and would rather be with you than eat. We also tell them to "eat their dinner" then they reluctantly eat while making sure you aren't going anywhere without them.

 

 

Sheesh, Seek does this too. I have to command her to eat, or she won't. Then I have to stay in the room. If I go away, she goes with me. Although sometimes she will eat in the middle of the night while I'm asleep, like she's sneaking it or something. So weird Sometimes I wonder if it's because she hates her food. I give her the food that she chose at the pet store. Right now she eats Merrick Before Grain. I think she's allergic to corn. Before she ate Royal Canin and loved it! Whenever we go to my moms house, she sneaks Henleys (moms dog) food.

 

Oh, Seek also has this weird habit of eating "hansel and gretel" style. She gets a mouth full of food, walks away from her dish, drops the pieces in a row until they are all out of her mouth, then slowly walks back picking up the pieces one by one.

[lyndzbrown]

Sheesh, Seek does this too. I have to command her to eat, or she won't. Then I have to stay in the room. If I go away, she goes with me. Although sometimes she will eat in the middle of the night while I'm asleep, like she's sneaking it or something. So weird Sometimes I wonder if it's because she hates her food. I give her the food that she chose at the pet store. Right now she eats Merrick Before Grain. I think she's allergic to corn. Before she ate Royal Canin and loved it! Whenever we go to my moms house, she sneaks Henleys (moms dog) food.

 

Oh, Seek also has this weird habit of eating "hansel and gretel" style. She gets a mouth full of food, walks away from her dish, drops the pieces in a row until they are all out of her mouth, then slowly walks back picking up the pieces one by one.

 

 

haha Oh the night eating... Paige does that as well.. comes downstairs in the dark and you hear munching.. I'm not sure why that is a good time to eat when she could have eaten hours before. However if another one of the dogs is around in the kitchen Paige goes to her bowl and eats all her food like they are going to steal it.

[BustopherJones]

Annie eats in her "den" (crate), and most of the time is fine. But every once in a while she decides she doesn't want to eat right away in the morning, and lies down next to the dish. Sometimes, a few strokes and a little gentle cajoling will entice her to eat. Sometimes, she just needs to be left alone with her food after I leave for work. And on rare occasion, she just doesn't want to eat; in those cases, DW simply picks up the food when she gets up in the morning (usually 1-1/2 to 2 hours after I leave for work). We only have this issue in the morning; in the evening, Annie devours whatever is put in front of her...

[sixx]

However if another one of the dogs is around in the kitchen Paige goes to her bowl and eats all her food like they are going to steal it.

 

 

Seek does that as well. In fact, my old roommates bc wouldn't eat much, so we would get our 2 dogs around each other, then they would magically be starving and eat all their food.

 

Also, I can get her bowl of food, pick a piece out and give it to her, she'll take the food, then after a few pieces she gives in and eats her food. So weird

[luv2napp]

Lacee is the most delicate eater I've ever seen. She takes a couple of pieces of kibble, walks to the throw rug, drops them, and then eats them one at a time. Repeat process. Needless to say, it takes her quite a while to eat. And if you hand her food, she ever so gently takes it from you.

[geonni banner]

I got a roomate once who had a Siberian Husky that would never eat her food. She would go two or three days at a time without eating - and she started to get very thin. So then it became my Collie's job every evening to go stand with his head over Tundra's bowl, which would cause Tundra to come charging over. As long as Treve was there, hovering over her bowl, Tundra would eat her food. Then Treve would get a cookie.

[lyndzbrown]

Seek does that as well. In fact, my old roommates bc wouldn't eat much, so we would get our 2 dogs around each other, then they would magically be starving and eat all their food.

 

Also, I can get her bowl of food, pick a piece out and give it to her, she'll take the food, then after a few pieces she gives in and eats her food. So weird

 

 

Kai the puppy loves to have his food fed to him, or he likes you to put individual pieces on the carpet so he can eat them. At this point he thinks they are treats too, so it works well for practicing commands. (although his favorite treat is carrots) He almost always eats lying down or sitting as well.. unless he's in a hurry (in which he takes a bite and runs off to play some more)

[Rayeann]

Silky takes a few pieces of kibble to bed, then back for a few more, then finally will stand and eat. She is a border collie afterall and needs a job to do, even if it is relocating her food.

[Mariji]

I don't have a problem with bad eating habits my dogs have a race as to who can eat the fastest without choking to death and god forbid if there is something extra yummy in their bowl apart from standard dry food.

 

I do have a dog that presently lives with my mum that would eat maybe every couple of days and never all in one go. For this all i would suggest is put the food bowl down and if the dog doesn't eat then and there however slow it may be, remove the bowl. I wouldn't allow them to walk away and come back constantly, they are to eat it there or not at all. Try giving it to them a little while later doing the same removing when they stop eating. If they do eat it all in one go give them a little something extra yummy.

[geonni banner]

I don't have a problem with bad eating habits my dogs have a race as to who can eat the fastest without choking to death and god forbid if there is something extra yummy in their bowl apart from standard dry food.

 

I do have a dog that presently lives with my mum that would eat maybe every couple of days and never all in one go. For this all i would suggest is put the food bowl down and if the dog doesn't eat then and there however slow it may be, remove the bowl. I wouldn't allow them to walk away and come back constantly, they are to eat it there or not at all. Try giving it to them a little while later doing the same removing when they stop eating. If they do eat it all in one go give them a little something extra yummy.

 

Dunno if this'd work for dogs, but for horses that eat too fast we used to put big stones (too big to swallow) in the feed tub. They couldn't just "turn on the sump-pump" and suck it all up, they'd have to root for it and maybe chew a little while rooting.

[Shetlander]

Mine have no rituals except to inhale it all as fast as possible, with or without any extras added `

 

Same here. The last fussy eater I had was five dogs ago. Thank goodness.

 

Quinn does do his version of a Snoopy happy dance after he eats -- rolling around, romping through the house, giving the occasional happy howl, generally being a pest with how delightful he finds life. He started this two years ago when I moved him to a home prepared diet. It's nice to have your cooking appreciated.

[Mariji]

Dunno if this'd work for dogs, but for horses that eat too fast we used to put big stones (too big to swallow) in the feed tub. They couldn't just "turn on the sump-pump" and suck it all up, they'd have to root for it and maybe chew a little while rooting.

 

I've done it with many different dogs (not my own) and it has worked for me yet. It takes a couple of go's but then the dogs realises it won't get fed unless it eats the first time round. It doesn't have to be fast at all as long as they stay at the bowl and just eat instead of wandering between mouthfuls.

 

The rocks with horses is classic if i tried that with my dogs I'm pretty sure the first couple of times they'd try to eat the rocks. Anything that dares be in their food bowl at dinner time is fair game.