Eating In Private

I've changed Mishka's diet from canned and dried food to see if this helps out with a tummy problem she has. This morning I gave her a lamb neck rosette as her morning feed on the enclosed front porch because giving it to her outside, she tends to bury her food. It was such a lovely day that I sat out there with her reading. She refused to eat her breakfast and was desperate to go outside with it. I eventually relented and let her out. She promptly went to the woodshed where she did eat it. It became obvious she wanted to eat in private. Have you ever noticed this type of behaviour, wanting to eat without someone looking on?

 

Yes, my dog always runs away with his treats, he never eats it when he has company. He runs quickly to his room (yes, my dog has a little room just for himself ). Although when I give him his food, company doesn't matter, he just eats it quickly from his bowl.

 

Naw, my digs dint care who may be around when eating. They are used to eating when we are eating. Even when they eat and we aren't, they have no problem showing down with a audience.

 

My dog will only eat her dinner when I am in the same room. It can be there all day waiting for her and she won't touch it until I come along and stay in the same room as her. It's strange and I don't know where dogs get these habits, but if it works for her, it's alright by me.

 

One time I walked up on my dog while she was eating and accidentally startled her, and she barked out a mouth full of food. Our terrier used to take her biscuits and try to "bury" them in the couch pad. She would start trying to dig away the pads until she could get one of them up, drop the biscuit down in the couch, then stomp the pad down.

 

I have not noticed any need for privacy when it comes to food. Though, my Lab used to have her own ritual when she would get a special bone or treat.

It was really funny to watch because she had a ritual of hiding it first. She'd search the house for a special place for her bone--usually hidden in plain sight! But, if you did so much as look in the direction she would hide it somewhere else. It was important to her that no one know where the bone was until she was ready to eat it.

I think her hiding game might be similar to what your dog was doing. Maybe what you gave her was so good that she didn't want to share with anyone.