Woo-wooing at the food dish???

[YourFriendDeb]

Legend never ceases to baffle me at times, and I'm hoping my boxer buddies can help me out with this one too..

First of all, we feed Legend in stainless steel bowls. He's still a smidge too short to use the elevated feeder the bowls fit in, so for right now he still eats off the floor.

For the past couple of weeks, whenever we feed him, he'll bark and/or woo-woo at his food bowl, paw at it, sometimes turning it over....and when he finally does start eating, he'll take a mouthful of food away, drop it somewhere else...and eat it. :confused: :confused: The really strange thing is...he only does it with his food bowl....he's fine with the water (thank goodness) and he only does it at his morning meal. We feed him dry kibble in the morning, and in the evening we mix it with cottage cheese (his favorite) or plain yogurt or something....

Sometimes, he'll turn his bowl over completely, then gobble the food up off the floor. Why is he doing this??:rolleyes:

 

[Julie Davis]

I've had a couple of dogs who did that....took their food else where. One dog did it because she was scared the other dog would eat it. When we'd give her dry food, she'd put quite a bit in her mouth, and walk 15-20 feet away to eat it. When she had canned food (on a piece of aluminum foil), what she didn't eat, she'd get her paws and teeth and somehow manage to wrap the aluminum foil over the food, either to let the other dog know it was off limits, or to keep it "fresh" We're not quite sure. Boomer sometimes puts a little bit of food in his mouth, then walks into another room to eat it...there's no other dog here to take his food, so I'm not quite sure where that behavior comes from.

 

[Nedra's_momma]

Nedra does this, we had put a clear plastic mat underneath her food dishes. Also, we have noticed that the wider the bowl was, the less she felt she needed to carry it elsewhere. Maybe his bowls are too small? No clue on the turning-over-the bowl business, about all I can offer for you is to try to discourage it by telling him with a No! when he looks like he is going to do it.

On elevating the dishes. We had to do this because Nedra was throwing up in her puppy stages. We did this along with moistening her food and luckily she has grown out of it now, but when she did it before, we went out and bought one of the tupperware storage containers (the ones with the pull out drawers) and put her bowls on top of that. They work great because it is also a place to stash the rest of her dog food (it nicely fits an entire bag of dry kibble in the drawer) so all we have to do is just open the drawer, scoop it out and into her bowl at feeding time.

Hope this helps!

 

[Bumblebee]

Tobee does not take his food else where, but he always spills the food onto the floor. I have no problem with it, but don't know why he does it. I have been thinking about getting an elevated dish, but for the mean time, if Tobee likes to eat off the floor (Jake also), it does not bother me.

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Taking food elsewhere is a pretty common dog thing. Most dogs do it. Don't know why, but they do. I just learn to live with it.

As for the woo wooing at breakfast, perhaps Legend is trying to tell you that breakfast deserves some add-in goodies as well. Try adding some of the things you add to other meals at breakfast and see if Legend stops singing for his breakfast :D

 

[Carla]

Cassius doesn't bring his food elsewhere or tip it over but he used to woo woo and bark at it when he was a puppy all the time he is 3 now and only does it once in a while!!! Maybe their just happy to be getting fed!!!!


~Carla~

 

[Moonshadow]

Rigo is eleven weeks old. He doesn't take food out of the bowl, he pushes the bowl around the room with his nose and makes strange noises at it. He also won't finish eating if we leave the room. I think maybe he is trying to move the bowl to the center of attention!

Our rescue girl, Meta, takes any leftovers, bones, or treats we give her and buries them in the back yard. I think that comes from living on the streets. (Doesn't know where the next meal will come from.)

Our Nala is the Alpha who controls all bowls!!!!

Karen -- best friend to:

Lady Nala - beautiful brindle boxer girl, four years old
Meta - special white rescue boxer girl, three years old
Rigo - our newest addition - beautiful flashy fawn boxer baby boy
2 Cats (Kahlua & Amaretto), 2 visiting cats, 3 his kids, 3 hers kids

Moose(at the bridge) & Sumo (stolen) - handsome brindle males

 

[erindan311]

Tyson also barks, paws and turns over his water dish?? Except he only does this when I put it outside while he's playing!! Not sure why...but I do know that he has one hell of a good time doing it! However, I have noticed that (the bowls are ceramic) he doesn't care anything about the bowl until he takes a drink out of it. I am beginning to wonder if he can see himself in the bottom of the bowl in the outside light...or if the sun reflecting off of the bottom of the bowl makes him think it is a new toy?? Either way...the lighting inside doesn't produce the same effect and therefore he doesn't play with it inside. That's my take on the playing with the bowl behavior. Hope it helps some!! He does take food away from his bowl, but almost every dog i've ever had has done that...no biggie. And as far as the woo-wooing...i think he's probably just trying to tell you that he wants the same for breakfast as he gets for dinner:o)!

 

[Cola Champagnes mommy]

i have no answer to why legend is doing that, cola will sometimes, well all the time spills food when she eats because she is scarfing (sp?) she is such a messy eater! anyway i wish she would woo-woo....she has never done that???:confused:

 

[Raynas mom]

Im not sure why....but Rayna will take a mouth full of food and then come in the living room and eat it in front of us.....of course it falls out of her mouth......im not sure if she just wants to see us while she eats of what?????