# new dog tries to hide/bury food instead of eating it......



## jgoss3 (Dec 29, 2009)

Hello:
We just got our dog from our sister in law-shes just over a year old-pit bull/american bulldog mix. really cute! problem is....I dont notice her her eating, i just notice her trying to hide/bury her food instead of eating it. We also have 2 cats, and she tries to do the same to their food. Shes drinking water, and she will eat her treats when we reward her. What would cause this behavior and how can I fix it?
Thanks!

jenn


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

Can you explain exactly how she's trying to hid a bowl of food? I'd almost like to see a video of this one. Generally that is a hoarding situation. A primitive action to hide food for lean times. Maybe somewhere in her history she had a period of lean feedings (if fed at all) and she has learned to hide some for later. I'd feed her small (no more than 1 cup) of kibble at a time and increase the amount of times you're feeding her a day at this point. If she's not eating a whole cup before she starts hiding it then measure what she left and adjust your math accordingly (if she's only eating a half cup don't give her more than a half cup per feeding). The reasoning for this is that she'll learn food is a resource that isn't going to disappear on her once it's gone (hence the multipul meals) and she's not going to have the opportunity to hide food if she's eating it all at one sitting. Plus leaving a little hungry will make her appreciate the next meal even more. 

Try this for a solid week, then you can start reducing the amounts of times she eats and alot more per feeding. I'd move in quarter cup increments each lasting a week so this whole exercise will likely take close to a month where you're down to 2 feedings a day and her not trying to hide her food. Adding something a little more enticing like a couple tablespoons of cottage cheese could also make her want to complete a meal rather than bury it for later.


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## jgoss3 (Dec 29, 2009)

she doesnt try to hide the bowl, she roots the food out of the bowl, and tries to move the bowl on top of it. At first, we had her food next to the fridge, and she would root it out and push it under the fridge. I moved it today to a corner in the dining room, and shes still doing it, only now it just piles up on the floor.I have seen her eat bites of the cat food, so i tried to put that on top to lure her over....but...the cats didnt like that and went and ate the cat food out of the dog food. 

I will def. try your suggestion about rationing her servings til i really see shes eating, but how long should i let this go on before it gets serious?

Thanks!


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

This should start addressing the issue rather fast. She gets 15 minutes to eat what you ration her per feeding then the food goes away until her next feeding. Hunger will get the better of her sooner or later. It's just a matter of you being stronger willed than her. If she goes a full 2 days with out eating anything or if there are other symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, diareah, pale gums or purple tongue get to a vet right away. I wouldn't let a dog eat cat food. Taurine is not good for dogs at all. Try the cottage cheese. It's an added protein source plus makes food more appealing. What kibble are you feeding her?


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## jgoss3 (Dec 29, 2009)

i think its pedigree...in a yellow bag...i wanted something other than the cheap stuff...but not the eukanuba stuff that i cant afford either. not that i dine on dog food at all....but it looked yummy..if i were a dog.

Shes drinking water, because shes peeing when shes goes out, and shes eating her treats, so shes not going completely without. and today on our walk she pooped, so shes getting something. 

thank you soo much for your help. im so new to dogs, im more of a cat person, the dog is my husbands!


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

All varieties of Pedigree are wheat based. Try switching to the senior variety if you absolutely MUST stay with pedigree. No wheat except for a little way down at the end, whole unprocessed protein because it's a senior food (I liked it a lot better when they calle dit healthy maturity. It didn't have that senior stigma.) and I like the nutritional breakdown a lot better than adult maintenance variety. It has salmon as the 3rd ingredient plus the glucosamine and just about every vitimine you can think of. If her refusal to eat could be a minor food allergy that would explain a lot. She wants to eat but doesn't because it upsts her belly so she tries to hide it for another time and takes the in between snacks and such insted to suppliment her between feedings of stuff she's not so thrilled about.


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## jgoss3 (Dec 29, 2009)

update!! 
She's started eating! I moved her food to a different spot, and it was the sweet spot!!! She has decided to eat, and now shes eating 2-3 bowls of food a day!! Maybe she just didn't like it being close to the cats food! Who knows! Now we need to keep this up and have her put on some more weight!

Thanks for all your help!


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

That's great! So glad tohear. Sometimes cat's food can be real off putting to some dogs because of the taurine smell, others can't resist it... apparently your's didn't like it or didn't feel comfortable in such close proximity to another animal's feeding station. I have noticed with my multitude of dogs they seem to get uncomfortable with eachother in anything closer than 3 feet apart. 

Also I didn't mention if she's eating out of a plastic bowl sometimes they harbor more smells, chemicals, and bacteria than metal bowls so some dogs don't like eating out of plastic. Are you still feeding the pedigree or switching? Bulldogs can be funny sometimes... rough tough exterior, soft *****cat heart on the inside. Sensitive to a fault but be there for you till the last breath.


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## jgoss3 (Dec 29, 2009)

for now, we are still on the pedigree...she started eating it, and she cant get enough...so im assuming she likes it!


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

Awesome that she's eating. Glad it all came together for you. You sound HIGHLY relieved... keep up the good work


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

I'm glad your problem is solved, but I thought I would mention that my dog does sometimes knock over her food bowl, or nose the food out of the bowl and try to push it around. Then she eats it off of the ground. Sometimes she tries to capsize the bowl on top of the food. Her food's available all the time, so I assume she's just bored. When she's doing this I usually try to initiate a game of fetch or a walk, and she forgets all about it.

So I understand the behavior you're describing. If your dog still does this occasionally, he/she might just need a bit more exercise/mental stimulation at that moment. Good luck!


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

She probably does it because she doesn't see food as food but a toy. free feeding isn't really the best method of feeding your dog. You never know exactly how much it eats in a day and loss of appatite is often one of the first signs of illness in dogs. Not to mention controlling a major resource like food puts you in an entirely different light in your dog's eyes.


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

Dog_Shrink said:


> She probably does it because she doesn't see food as food but a toy. free feeding isn't really the best method of feeding your dog. You never know exactly how much it eats in a day and loss of appatite is often one of the first signs of illness in dogs. Not to mention controlling a major resource like food puts you in an entirely different light in your dog's eyes.


I agree in some ways with what you're saying. I would like to have a better idea of how much she's eating, but it's easy to just see what remains at night. When she lived with my parents she would scarf down her food like no tomorrow, and sometimes she would end up puking it back up because she swallowed whole pieces. She was actually eating less than she is now, so it wasn't that she was starved or anything. And she was fed twice a day. 

Now that I free feed she's lost weight (she was a little overweight) and takes her time, because she knows no one's going to take the food away from her if she doesn't eat it all. I suppose "put[ting] you in an entirely different light" means that the dog will respect you more? I don't have any behavior problems with Sydney and I feel that she respects me just fine. She's almost unfailingly obedient and also a somewhat fearful dog. So I try to give her as much freedom as I can, because she never abuses it (unless you call occasionally knocking over a food bowl abusing it). 

Idk, I just think if it isn't broken, it doesn't need to be fixed.


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