Dog carries her food around the house.

[LargeDogBreedz]

My Great Dane has had a problem for quite some time with carrying her food in her mouth to the hallway, then dumping it in one spot, only to finish about half of what she dumped out. She'll eat a few pieces of her food and leave the rest just laying there. Then she'll go back and collect another mouthful and do the same thing, again and again.

After awhile there are pieces of dog food scattered all over the hallway that she didn't feel like eating at the time. Once her bowl is empty though, she'll go back and collect the pieces she didn't finish from earlier. It's quite a strange habit that I've kinda grown accustomed to for awhile now.

Does anyone else have a dog that does this and is there any kind of training to prevent such behavior?

 

[Doberluv]

You could put one mouthful of food in her bowl at a time and wait until she eats that then put in another. Just hang out in the kitchen doing whatever and when she finishes, toss in another handful. Then when she gets sort of use to standing in the same place for a week or so, start doing it with two handfuls. It's a hassle to stand around doing that, but it may get her use to staying in the kitchen. After every couple of handfuls, you might toss in a small piece of something extra yummy, like a piece of fresh meat or cheese. Teach her that by sticking around she gets a high value treat. She'll tend to repeat that which is reinforcing.

If she still carries off her one bite of food, I'd block off the hallway with a chair to prevent her from getting the "payoff" of getting to go in the hallway since that seems to be so fun to her. LOL.

Continue this for about 2-3 weeks and see if it doesn't modify her eating habits. Gradually add more handfuls at a time until her bowl is full. If the behavior persists, try something else. LOL.

 

[LargeDogBreedz]

Thanks for the advice, but she usually doesn't immediately start eating as soon as I put food in her bowl, but if she ever does, I may wait around for a little while until she starts to take it to the hallway and then block her path and guide her back to the bowl. Like you said, I'll try and reinforce with a treat as well. I guess patience and persistance may be the key on this one.