Itโs dinnertime, and youโve put your dogโs filled food bowl on the floor in its normal place. A couple of minutes later, you walk into your bedroom and hear a crunch underfoot, only to discover pieces of kibble scattered everywhere, and your pup happily devouring it, piece by piece.
No, itโs not because your dog is suddenly terrified of his food bowl, or that heโd rather have a blue bowl than a red one, or that he just likes to make a mess. However, even researchers and dog behaviorists canโt say with absolutely certainty why some dogs exhibit this carrying-food-to-another-place behavior. The best these experts can offer are theories about why some dogs prefer to eat their food somewhere other than their food bowl.
As with so many dog peculiarities like digging, or licking, or circling before lying down, thereโs general agreement that part of the answer lies in the domestic dogโs wolf ancestry. When the pack made a kill, the parents would feed first, after which the juveniles would have to compete for the best pieces, then drag them away to avoid having to fight the rest of the pack for them. โFighting is obviously very risky,โ explains Dr. Julie Albright-Keck with the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, โso most animals, especially subordinate ones, will go to great lengths to avoid an altercation.โ
A slightly different take comes from some experts who think that dogs who feel chronically vulnerable or who exhibit a lower social status could be more motivated to carry their food to a different place so no other dog can get to itโeven if theyโre the only dog in the home. Again, this could be related to the tendency among the dogโs wild ancestors for young or more passive members of the pack to grab their share of the kill, then take it somewhere else to guard it from competitors. โEven though a domestic dog may not be in danger when eating, it may be that instincts override everything else,โ explains veterinary health expert Dr. Gary Richter.
This food-moving behavior doesnโt appear to be associated with specific breeds. While some studies show that smaller dogs do this more than larger dogsโmany going so far as to carry their entire food bowl elsewhereโother experts have found that more wolf-like dogs such as Siberian Huskies, Malamutes, and Great Pyrenees also tend to take their food to other places to eat it.
Another theory is that some dogs may take their food to another place to eat it because of the desire for companionship. We know that wolves hunt and eat in a pack, and thereโs a chance that your dog wants its โhuman packโ with him while he eats. โBy nature, dogs are social creatures and the company can motivate them to eat,โ says canine behavior expert and trainer Shelby Semel.
Dr. Liz Stelow of the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine echoes this sentiment, explaining that the reason some dogs want companionship at mealtime may be because they receive an emotional reward for eating. โSome owners create a relationship with the dog around food,โ she says, โespecially if he has a history of being a picky eater.โ Over time, the dog has come to expectโand enjoyโhis caretakerโs verbal encouragement, possible hand-feeding, and general attention. This can lead to the dog feeling more rewarded by eating in the caretakerโs presence than alone.
Another possible reason your dog might be taking food from his bowl is the bowl itself. “If you’re feeding your dog from a metal bowl,โ explains Dr. Holly Ahlgrim, Urgent Care veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center of Seattle, โit’s possible that the clinking sound created by food being pushed around, or a dangling collar tag, may be irritating or upsetting your dog. They may be chewing their food away from the bowl to avoid the sound.โ
A related issue is the dog who, contrary to taking his food somewhere else to eat it, wonโt let anyone near it. Itโs a perfectly normal canine behavior to protect a food source, since in the wild, food protection behavior evolved to keep other dogs away from a meal. Even though in most cases the modern family dog doesnโt really need to protect his food from a scavenger, this behavior is innate, harkening back to the dogโs past as a wild animal. This is related to a behavior called caching, where an animal hides or buries a food resource to save it for the future.
But even in wolves, food guarding is less often actual aggression than it is a threat display. This can include growling, baring of teeth, or snapping and while this kind of behavior can be disturbing to us, it seldom results in a bite. In a study of 3,226 dogs, 41 percent of the dogs showed vocal behaviors towards humans during resource guarding, but only 15 percent escalated to biting, and of those, less than 10 percent caused an injury. Regardless, any time a dog exhibits this type of threat display, you need to be extremely careful in your approach to avoid being bitten. If you are at all uncertain of how to address this issue, consult with a qualified behaviorist.
One other strange behavior some dogs exhibit around food is covering the food bowl. Veterinary researcher Dr. Myrna Milani explains that most of the time, the dog that tries to hide their foodโwhether with a blanket, a pair of socks, or anything else they can findโis uncomfortable with something in their immediate environment that makes them not want to eat at that specific time or in that specific place. โIf an animal doesnโt feel secure in its space it wonโt eat, no matter how tempting the food you offer it,โ she says. ย Any number of things can spark that insecurity, including an unfamiliar human or other animal nearby, unusual activity in the home, or even a change in where the dog is being fed. If this behavior happens often, itโs worth doing some detective work to figure out whatโs bugging your pup.
In the end, if your dog decides to transport his kibble to the living room to eat it, the worst case scenario is that you step on an errant pellet and have to clean it up. But other than that, thereโs nothing to worry about: itโs perfectly normal, if a little exasperating, dog behavior!
