dogs that hide food at feeding time

[sammiller03]

i have noticed a few dogs that at feeding time grab a mouth full of food and take it back in their box and hide it. seems like all these dogs had an extra level of hunt and seemed to have alot of brains. any one else have or ran across dogs that did this and is it just me or is there something to it?

or maybe they dont know if they are going to get another meal and save some back.

sam

[bopar8454]

ive got a 11 month old female that covered hers up when i fed her by herself now she is in a lot with 2 other dogs and a auto feeder and she will put stuff in the bottom of feeder to hide the food and she is a hard hunter and seem very smart but i dont know if that has any thing to do with it

[Will05]

I just had a conversation about this with a friend of mine. I have a female that will take a bite of food and sit back and chew it and my other dogs will not even take the time to chew they just grab a mouthful and swallow. He said he had 3 females (I think ) that would take the food back into their box then come out to get another piece or 2. Niether of us could figure out what makes them different.

[sammiller03]

I don't know if there is any thing to it either. just something I noticed hopefully others will chime in.

[Rcoff]

Had a wise old vet that I trust tell me that it is natural for a dog to hide food when it has plenty to eat and save it for later. Wild will bury food so others can't find it then go back and get it when they need it.
Thanks,
Bob

[S.R.Patch]

I agree with Bob, you may be feeding to much. Nerves can also make them do this. Sometimes switching from wet feeding to dry feeding will also do this as they'll try to woolf down dry food as they would wet and then it doesn't go down as well and they'll throw it back up hiding it to re-eat or eat later.

[sammiller03]

the dogs that i have seen do this were easy keepers. didnt matter if you fed them a cup or a gallon they wouldnt woof it down and were never fat. seemed to like the food just wouldnt eat moe than they had to. but the first bite would go straight to the back of the dog box. the two that i saw that were beagles would also hide a rabbit. take it over to a tree or log and nose leaves over it. seemed like they wanted to hide stuff but were also good at finding it.. seemed to have a connection with finding game or stuff they hid. who knows maybe they were half squirrel or chipmonk and were just saving it for the winter.

sam

[S.R.Patch]

Eventually, if kept/kenneled with others, they will loose their "stash" and realize it is futile to hide what can't be hidden in kennels or sometimes the stash will cause a dog fight.
Are you trying to solve a problem or denote a certain trait(hoarding) being common or related to jumping/finding ability?
I still think your chipmunks should be fed less... ... I've seen what your saying and it usually started a fight or ended with someone sleeping in the cold overnight as they wouldn't let another hound in the box with the food.
Good luck with your solution.

[sammiller03]

dont have any dogs that do this now. just something i have noticed ..

[steveh]

My old female will do that when she has pups. Other than that she is in a box by herself. My 2 males are always fed in their box and I never noticed them doing it. Now my female at home, well she loves to play with her food. She takes a piece out bats it around the house then eats it and goes and grabs another piece. Funny to watch. My daughter gave her a piece of ice the other day and she batted it under the fridge. My daughter bent down to get it and said it was loaded with dog food under there.