Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My darling Shilo is now 14 months old and has been with us for a little over 6 months now,since we adopted him from a shelter...and he is starting....STARTING..to become a well behaved young man...most of the time! He seems to have picked up a new habit that has me wondering WHAT THE HECK IS HE DOING THAT FOR??? His latest "trick" is to tip over his bowl of food and leave the food on the rug. He carries his bowl around for a few minutes, deposits it wherever, and leaves his food on the rug until he decides it is time to eat. This USUALLY happens at dinner time when we are at the table. Should I put his bowl on the table and let him eat with us? (KIDDING!!) Should I feed him later, when we are done? Just wondering if anyone has run in to this behavior....I've had Shepherds before and have never ever seen this! It doesn't hurt a thing, but I'm curious...thanks!

Just a couple of thoughts here.... is the bowl large enough for Shilo to eat out of comfortably? Does he normally eat the food that is put out for him or is he a little finicky about his food? Are his eating times scheduled or is he free fed throughout the day? You could try scheduling his feeding times around yours but then he may up begging at the table which is a whole new problem.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Yes, it's a nice big bowl....and YES he is finicky! He eats Science Diet, that's what he was on when we got him...and I think he hates it....but he also seems to have a tender tummy and reacts to new food in a very "loose" way......so I've kept him on the same food. Not sure how to change him to something else without regretting it when I get up in the dark in the morning. He usually FINALLY goes and eats around 8pm. Maybe I should just start putting the food out at nite? I have always had food out for him to just eat when ever he wanted, and he never abused the privilege...it takes him over 6 weeks to eat thru a 40 lb bag....no apparent weight gain or loss...Still seems happy and healthy, just full of silly doggie tricks.

I just noticed, it sounds like you are feeding once a day. Feed twice a day, at least. This is important for multiple reasons, including avoiding gastric torsion. Vets used to recommend feeding once a day, but now most of them recommend twice a day.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

My dogs eat after the family eats. Also, if my dog were doing this, I'd just pick up every piece of food and have him not get it until his next scheduled meal time. He's trying to control his enviornment too much. Kind of a cute way to do it, but it could get quite frustrating over time.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

Thanks for the response! I have tried picking up the food and not putting it back till later....and he still dumps it! Then around 8pm or so every nite he finally goes to the rug and eats. I'll keep trying tho! I've told him that I AM ALPHA...maybe he just doesn't want to accept it. This behavior is fairly recent, maybe within the last 2-3 weeks....don't understand it. As I said it doesn't hurt anything but I am not fond of it!

Maybe put him in a certain place to eat, with a floor space that is easy to pick up. We like commercial entryway rubber-backed rugs we buy at Sam's Club, to put around on the kitchen floor and avoid slippery spots. After years of having dogs have periodic problems walking on that bare floor, we finally came to that happy conclusion. It's safer for us, too.

So I wouldn't put him on a bare, slick floor to eat, but perhaps some rubber-backed rugs. Some dogs do like to remove their food from the dish to eat it. It seems to be instinctive. I would not make an alpha issue out of it.

I had one dog who seemed to have a need to carry her food off and "hide" it to eat later. For quite awhile, I gave her BilJac frozen dog food, thawed in the refrigerator and then formed into a ball--just handed it to her! She would take it someplace and hide it. I didn't want the bigger dog to find it, so I'd ask her to show me where it was, and she learned to do that. Then she would go ahead and eat it.

This was a brilliant dog, by the way. She was also highly trained, and working with her on her feeding contributed to my ability to work with her on everything. Your dog's eating is an opportunity.

I asked my vet about our young Standard Poodle Worthy's eating, whether I should be concerned that he doesn't eat quickly. We had multiple dogs for so many years, and now have just the one, my assistance dog for mobility disabilities. The vet said it is normal for an only dog to eat more slowly. And sure enough, we have to watch his weight to keep it from getting too high!

I do take up the food if he doesn't eat in a reasonable length of time. I recommend you do that, too. Food sitting out too long causes various problems. If you start taking it up after awhile, he will start eating more promptly.

Do watch his weight. German Shepherds can have a problem with being underweight, especially when young. And the bowel problems are not unusual, either. If you want to change foods, the intestines need time to develop the correct friendly bacteria to digest the new food. I'd suggest you take 2 weeks to make the full change. Start with 25% new food, 75% old food for a few days. Then go to 50%/50% for a few days. Then go to 75%new/25% old for a few days, and finally go to 100% of the new food.

Another thing to try is probiotics. We give multidophilus that we buy at the health food store. It needs to be refrigerated there and also at your house. These are the friendly bacteria that help avoid diarrhea from a food change. They are also very, very important whenever a dog goes on antibiotics, which will clean out the friendly bacteria on my dogs every time. So I always give probiotics too.

I have heard of German Shepherds having their puppies in a den dug out of a hillside! I think their instincts are strong. That is not a problem. You may well find that the dog's way of eating will contribute to training, and GSDs absolutely need lots of training.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Thanks so much for the input. I do have his food and water on a mat....and he still dumps the food. He doesn't touch the water dish except to drink and they are the exact same bowls! I did start mixing a new food as you suggested, and I was amazed to see that he ate from his dish....picked around, found the new, and dumped the Science Diet all over the mat! So you're right, he IS smart! As for twice daily feeding, I would do that if he would eat!! I have been putting the food down in the morning and it's still there (or on the mat) at 8pm when he finally picks thru it. I will continue to try to find out what he's up to. He has a vet appt in a week, will check his weight at that time tho he has not apparently lost any. Thank you again, I'm sure I'll have more questions!