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My 6 month old puppy barks, whines and digs in front of his food dish. He'll take a few bites and then the crazy starts. Sometimes he'll repeat this pattern until all the food is gone and others he'll just bark and dig until I take the food away. He eats 2X per day and gets 1/2 cup of food. I leave the food out for 30 minutes at each feeding. He's a smaller dog and should be about 16 pounds when full grown.
It's not the food dish. I've tried pottery, aluminum and even a flat plate. He isn't a chow hound and will never be a member of the clean bowl club, but will eat all his food when he's really hungry. I don't think it's a case of needing to change his diet. I've asked the vet about him not finishing his meals and she says he's gaining weight at a good rate and that he's just "self monitoring" his intake.
So, is he crazy or is he trying to "bury" his kibble for future use? He does bury bones in the couch cushions (and under my pillow). He doesn't bark when burying bones, but does dig.
It is definately an annoying habit and one I want to put a stop to. I just can't figure out if I should IMMEDIATELY take the food away when he starts digging or igonore him.
Sounds like he's lonely for a playmate - he's using the feeding time as an imaginary challenge.
He's not getting one anytime soon! Training one puppy is enough for me right now. We do LOTS of socialization. He has a bunch of "puppy pals" we have playdates with and he's a dog park regular. On days we don't do either of those, he gets 2 long walks. Even when he's exhausted, he still barks and digs!
I have 4 dogs and they all did different weird stuff as puppies that they don't now, one close to what you are talking about - a min pin. Sounds to me like he's just entertaining himself as puppies will often do.
Also, animals have an innate sense to stalk their prey for food so a part of that may be a reason he's digging at and barking at his food. He wants to chase it. One of my foster dogs used to take a bone and throw it in the air and catch it and throw it and catch it all by himself. Another from the same litter actually did head rolled summer saults off of a cushion on the floor and get back up and keep doing it. They all had thier 'thing.'
I have 12 year old brother and sister Corgi/mix puppers. The female, Brownie, who just had her tumor surgery in July, has this thing with her food that she has always done... she sticks her nose in the food bowl and flips the food out of the dish onto the floor. Years ago now, I added a commercial sized roasting pan (2' x 3'!) under their food dishes to catch the food. She tosses it out of the bowl and then eats it off the tray and or floor. Nothing I've done has ever gotten her to stop this weird behavior. Her brother doesn't do it at all! lol He's just a chow hound. Sticks his nose in the bowl and doesn't take it out til he's had his fill!
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