A question of curiosity

[Josie]

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I wondered why some dogs will only eat their chew treats when you are with them?

You could go out and they won’t touch them but the minute you return they start to chew them.

Is it a safety thing?

 

[BrianLovesAkitas]

Yes. I think they feel vulnerable while chewing things as if something was to attack it, it'd be mid chew. It sees you as protection and thinks that you would defend it if something was to attack it while it was eating.

 

[Saffy.]

Yes. I think they feel vulnerable while chewing things as if something was to attack it, it'd be mid chew. It sees you as protection and thinks that you would defend it if something was to attack it while it was eating.

I've heard this before, plus a colleague once told me dogs will look at their owner while doing number 2 because they feel vulnerable and want their owner to protect them if they are attacked.

 

[BrianLovesAkitas]

I've heard this before, plus a colleague once told me dogs will look at their owner while doing number 2 because they feel vulnerable and want their owner to protect them if they are attacked.

Yes, the poop thing too, it's basically the same except one is eating and one is pooping

 

[Violet Turner]

In my old career i always recommended to clients that they stay in the same room as there dog when eating. This is because No.1) Its more safe for you as you can see if they are choking. No.2) Most dogs feel extremely vulnerable when they get given a chew because in the wild other animals would be able to smell the bone and could attack the dog for it. No.3) It gives you enjoyment on seeing the dog loving there bone

 

[Josie]

Thanks for your replies!

Dennis literally gives no **** whether I am around or not but little Oscar the sausage went to get his chew when we returned back from his walk and cane to eat it near me.

 

[Violet Turner]

Thanks for your replies!

Dennis literally gives no **** whether I am around or not but little Oscar the sausage went to get his chew when we returned back from his walk and cane to eat it near me.

awe cute!

 

[Saffy.]

Thanks for your replies!

Dennis literally gives no **** whether I am around or not but little Oscar the sausage went to get his chew when we returned back from his walk and cane to eat it near me.

Ahhh that's sweet. Gemma used to hide her toys and retrieve them when we were in the living room, i was forever seeing them stashed behind cushions or furniture

 

[JudyN]

It could also be that when they're left, they feel too stressed to eat. Studies have shown that dogs' cortisol levels (indicative of stress) can be raised when they are left even if they show no visible signs of anxiety.

I'm not saying this is the case with Oscar - it's just another theory.

 

[Caro Perry]

Well Harri has just spent the last 30 minutes trotting around the house with a new pigs ear in his mouth whimpering sadly because he can't decide where to settle down for a good chew. He's jumped up and down off chairs, tried his day bed, tried the out of bounds silk rug but nowhere is quite right.

It's funny to watch but he sounds so pitiful!

 

[Saffy.]

Gemma did the same, i would give her a dental chew and she would walk around whining and trying different places to sit and chew, she mainly ended up sat by the kitchen door with it.

 

[Nanny71]

I have noticed that he looks at me when doing a poo. I just thought it was a Dudley thing

 

[arealhuman]

Some of the replies here really made me smile! Jimmy will eat his stuff wherever he can, with larger treats/sticks and the like, he likes to eat them on a carpet as he has more traction and likes to run around about, flinging his treat about. We don't let him do this too much though as it results in a lot of flobber being chucked around. He just looks around when he has a poo

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

Rox has done the not chewing thing only a couple of times which is odd, feels like they should either do it or not?
I had no idea about looking at you when doing no.2!! I just thought she was giving me evils for watching her

 

[Josie]

Oscar is very much a lap dog and wants to be with people all of the time @JudyN so I think this could be the case with him

 

[Saffy.]

Gemma used to chuck her toys around, she had sausages on a rope and would swing them around then chuck them, it got a bit dangerous so i had to get rid of it. She also liked to nick my fluffy slipper, found it many times all soggy and wet in her bed!

 

[Flobo]

when Jake and my daughter were about a year and a half, I gave Jake a pigs ear and he spent about 15 minutes walking around the flat looking for a prime place to 'bury' it for later and finally stashed it in a pile of baby clothes i had been sorting..he walked away looking quite pleased only for my daughter to go and retrieve it and happily give it back to him, much to his dismay..!