Why Do Dogs Carry Their Food To The Carpet

Some dogs will just go a short distance away from their dishes and others will go far away or even to a hiding spot such as behind the couch or under the table to eat their food.

Why do dogs carry their food to the carpet.

If you can t figure out why your dog is carrying her food from her bowl to the floor and none of the above reasons seem to fit there may be no logical explanation. Why does my dog stuff her little cheeks with her dog food carry it into the living room spit it all out on the rug and eat it there. Both of them do this. When he or she eats on the carpet the food s location is clear.

When they eat food from their bowl they put the food in their mouths and then take the pieces to the carpet in the next room and eat it there. The dog may consider the carpet more like the outdoors than the bowl more natural than on the sterile kitchen floor. Before dogs were domesticated they often ran in packs. When dogs in the wild make a kill the outranked animals drag pieces of food away so they don t have to fight the leader or a more dominant canine for it says dr.

The carpet is your dog s safe spot. Eating off the soft carpet could just be more comfortable for your canine companion. The more subordinate pack members would carry food away to hide it from other members of the pack. For some dogs however the carpet is a good place to eat because it makes the food easier to see.

The problem is with the eating habits of the shih tzu she takes the pieces of her food out of the bowl and distributes them all over the floor even onto the living room carpet area. The biggest reason for this behavior is instinct. The answer to this propensity lies in two words. My son was visiting yesterday and he saw the dogs doing this and commented that his chihuahua also takes his food from the bowl to the carpet to eat.

Except perhaps to the carpet. Possible reasons behind the curious mealtime behavior. If your dog just really likes to eat supper off the carpet and some dogs do a scrap section carpet piece at the feeding station might prevent them from sneaking away. Some dogs particularly those in multi dog households may carry their food away as a way to keep it to themselves.

Julie albright keck dvm ma dacvb an assistant professor of veterinary behavior at the university of.