# Why does my dog do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627 "2010-01-27T05:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kkrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Kkrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kkrose)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/1 "2010-01-27T05:18:21Z")
Ever since I first adopted him at 5 months, my dog has done this thing with his food. He takes a mouthful of kibble, carries it across the room, drops it on the floor and then eats it bit by bit. He never eats directly from the bowl. What is his deal? Obligatory link. [Jordie.](http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/caitlinmca/Furry%20Friends/18a317ac.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/2 "2010-01-27T12:55:36Z")
My dog doesn’t do that with food in his bowl, but he does with treats. Sorry, not much help- I don’t know why either. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/3 "2010-01-27T13:54:34Z")
No answers, just a comment: That is one of the most SQUEEEEEEEEE-worthy dogs I’ve ever seen! ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/4 "2010-01-27T14:09:06Z")
Its not un-common for dogs to do this, mine do it frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/5 "2010-01-27T14:17:53Z")
Savoring it? I, too, knew a dog who did that with treats. A dog I took care of in high school would take the treat she’d been given and then take it to a spot in the living room and use her teeth to break it into little pieces. Then she’d eat each piece one by one. It was so cute. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/6 "2010-01-27T14:21:04Z")
Cause everything tastes better with dirt on it! My dogs love to take rawhide type chews out and put them in dirt/mud, then bring them in and commence to the chewing. (Could very easily be on my dogs an attempt to bury it, and then deciding not to after having dug the hole.) Jordie is a cutie! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/7 "2010-01-27T14:21:41Z")
Tilly does this - she doesn’t like standing in the kitchen/on linoleum or hardwood floors. Growing up, our dachshunds would do it as well. I think it might also be because food bowls tend to be in the corner or facing a wall. This way, they can see their surroundings a bit better. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/8 "2010-01-27T14:27:46Z")
We got reports of this from the new owners of two of the huskies we raised. We conjectured that perhapps it was a response to sharing a food bowl when they were little, these puppies wanted to eat in peace, so they shouldered in to get a bite, and then took it away to eat calmly. After that we kept them no more than two to a bowl. We asked in followups and never heard of it happening agin. It’s a miniscule sample, but fwiw. . . Have you tried moving his food bowl to a more quiet/protected location? Can it go int he spot where he’s eating? Then you could just see if he still moves around . . . ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/9 "2010-01-27T14:28:56Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > \I think it might also be because food bowls tend to be in the corner or facing a wall. This way, they can see their surroundings a bit better. I love this explanation. It does make sense. But at least in my dog’s case, it isn’t so. She takes her food out and drops it right next to her bowl. And then eats it from the floor. (Actually, she did this when I first got her, but does it less often now.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/10 "2010-01-27T14:48:02Z")
My old dog did that because he liked to eat on carpet, not on hard floors. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/11 "2010-01-27T15:04:40Z")
Our dog does this because I think she wants to eat with us. She will take a piece of kibble and bring it into the living room to eat “with” us if we’re there. She’ll also get some food from her secondary food bowl and bring it up onto the bed if we’re in bed and she’s peckish. Also, your dog is _cute._ ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/12 "2010-01-27T15:09:38Z")
My dog only does this if she’s freaked out, perhaps because there were terrifying repairmen in the house six hours earlier, or maybe somebody half a mile away has been shooting fireworks. Then she eats by grabbing a bite and retreating to some safer-feeling part of the house to chew it up. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/13 "2010-01-27T15:31:30Z")
I’ve read that they don’t like bowls because it blocks their peripheral vision and dogs are often protective of their food. Also, what kind of bowl? I had a dog that hated his reflection in a stainless steel bowl, presumable because it was another dog messing with his food. Try a plate or shallow bowl and see if you get the same result. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/14 "2010-01-27T20:41:23Z")
My dog also does this occasionally - in fact, she was doing this tonight. She will only eat treats on the sofa, usually after she’s taken a flying leap to get on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/15 "2010-01-27T21:12:57Z")
I have snub-nosed dogs, so they prefer shallow bowls. Alpha dog does not do this. Beta dog stands there and watches while Alpha eats her meal – right at the bowl. When she’s finished, Beta dog darts in, grabs a mouthful of kibble, and runs to another room to eat it. I always thought it was a pack heirarchy thing designed to keep the other dogs from stealing your noms. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/16 "2010-01-27T21:19:59Z")
Our dog has a concept of “outside food” and “inside food”. Some food can not be eaten indoors. This includes bones, pieces of meat bigger than one bite, etc. This self-imposed rule is so rigid that, if he can’t get access to the garden, he will stand there with the food in his mouth, crying because he wants it so badly, but won’t eat it. Sometimes he isn’t sure if a new kind of food is “outside” or “inside” - he takes it out, then brings it back in before deciding where to eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Kkrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Kkrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kkrose)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/17 "2010-01-27T22:33:26Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Tilly does this - she doesn’t like standing in the kitchen/on linoleum or hardwood floors. Growing up, our dachshunds would do it as well. I think it might also be because food bowls tend to be in the corner or facing a wall. This way, they can see their surroundings a bit better. Hmmm. Now this actually makes sense, He does bring it over to the carpeting, and his food bowl is facing a wall. It doesn’t really make sense to move the bowl to the middle of the living room, and it really doesn’t bother me that much, it’s just kind of weird. Oh, and yes, he is entirely squeeeee-worthy. You should see him in person, it is almost unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/18 "2010-01-27T23:06:59Z")
Do his tags hit the dish while he’s eating out of it? Maybe that bugs him. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/19 "2010-01-27T23:32:23Z")
My dog totally does this, and has ever since we got him in 2003. The ideas about facing the wall and wanting to eat on carpet are interesting, but since his bowl has been in different locations in different houses, and sometimes he’ll move the mouthful from his bowl to a hardwood surface, I’m not sure that’s it. But it’s so nice to hear my dog’s not the only weirdo about his food 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627/20 "2010-01-27T23:41:19Z")
My dog does not do this, but if I may I would like to ask a question about how my dog eats [hijack] My dog will lay down on the floor with one paw on either side of his dish and eat that way. When he is all done he will get up and go back to his normal routine. Does anyone else’s dog do this? [/hijack] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-my-dog-do-this/526627.md?page=2)