Wondering why my dog has this weird habit?

[junipham]

So, I adopted my baby in March from a shelter.

As w/ any shelter dog, you don't know much about their past, but I was told she was willingly surrendered, along w/ another dog, by her previous owners bc they weren't supposed to have pets and the landlord found out.

Anyway, she's a year old shepherd/chow mix and she has this strange habit when she goes to eat, of picking up a small amount of her food in her mouth, bringing it to a different area (about 6ft away), dropping it, and then eating it. She does this 2-3 times and then she'll eat from the bowl regularly.

I just think it's odd, it really bothers my S.O.

But, I have a theory that she may have gotten used to doing this w/ another dog around? Maybe they ate out of the same bowl? She can be pretty submissive so, that's why I have my theory of her picking up this habit due to the other dog.

Anyone have any ideas as to what it could be?

 

[trutheran]

@junipham She might feel safer in the other spot.

Does she always go to the same place?

What does she do if you out her bowl there?

 

[dexter234]

@junipham One of my dogs does this - though he brings his food to wherever we are to do so. We joke that he likes to share his food with us.

 

[karolina7y8]

@dexter234 Our dog does this with her treats. We give it to her in the mudroom, but she insists on bringing it over to eat beside us. I'd rather that than resource guarding, so we're ok with it. She also knows mat, so if she's trying to do it around guests, we tell her to go to her mat. Obviously not everyone is going to want a dog snacking down beside them, or over top their legs like she does with us.

Maybe teach her bowl and tell her to go to her bowl?

 

[missjovita]

@junipham My dog does something similar. Sometimes she just takes a few bits of kibble a foot or so from her bowl, places them in the floor, eats them, then returns to eat the rest out of the bowl. Sometimes she goes a little further, even bringing it into an adjoining room. Sometimes it’s not that, but she’ll nudge her bowl around from side to side for a while before eating. Dogs are just weird. I never think anything of it.

 

[vask61]

@junipham This is not at all unusual behavior, especially if she's used to sharing a bowl. This behavior, like many dog behaviors, has primal roots. Whenever a wolf pack finds a carcass or manages to kill something, most wolves grab a piece and drag it to a spot where they can eat it without having to fight another pack member over it. So, as long as your girl is eating a good amount, there's nothing to worry about. I actually look at it as a positive, since her eating process is slowed down naturally. It's the dogs who wolf down all the bowl's contents in 3 sec who are prone to poor digestion.

 

[truthfullyspeaking]

@junipham Mine will bring one nugget of food on the couch, go back to take another nugget and bring it on the couch, then go eat the rest of her (commoner) nuggets in her bowl, and finally come back to eat her precious chosen nuggets on the couch. Quirky, but totally harmless (except for the couch, which is covered in crumbs...) and in her case unrelated to food competition: the behavior appeared only when we changed her kibbles from small bites to big ones, and she is my only dog.

 

[joan_the_warrior]

@junipham My dog does this too. I read that it's a pack behavior. They take a bit of the kill away from the pack to eat.

 

[kingsmen]

@junipham My dog used to do this. I'd why. Some dogs just like to move food away from the bowl I guess.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@junipham I once has a dog would take his food, drop it, roll on it, and then eat it. We had to stop giving him wet food or messy treats because he'd end up wearing it.