Eating & is my dog insane :)

Hi all, been meaning to post this for a while now just been so busy!

We have a 3.5/4 year old staff male we have only had him 5 months ourselves.

I need to know why he does the following if i can..

If im to leave him ANY type of food if it be a treat or his main meal and leav ethe house he wont go near it and then when i come in the door he runs to it like its a bomb ticking and eats it so fast im not even sure hes chewing it..

This doesnt just apply to his main meal it can be a kong, chewy stick anything that he would normally love he wont eat if i leave it and go out.

my worry aswell is that if he aint eating maybe hes not drinking too... this time if year i guess thats ok-ish however in the hot summer its not going to be so great im sure! today i was out 6 hours and he didnt touch his foot till i came home..yet i know hes a food lover!

Any ideas?

Scott

one thing about rescue dogs is they will eat like it is their last meal. i would try not leaving the meal there when you go out only feed him while your in and at a set time and when you put the food down make him sit next to you and put the bowl down then tell him to get it. if he doesnt eat fine wait about an hour and if he hasnt eaten take it away. he will learn to eat the meal when you tell him and while your there. a dog will not starve himself so he will eat when you tell him eventualy. in between meals offer a treat for good behaviour and just leave the kong or some other biggish chewy treat down while your out.

Hi Julie, im not sure if i didnt explain myself right but we respects to him eating that isnt a problem.. if we are home and we place food it is fine however as i said if we leave food and go out then he wont... be this a treat etc.. so the kong is pointless as the whole reason we brought it was for something to do why we are out.. same again he wont eat it then once we walk in the door hes on it like a shot...

its very odd..

no he has a choice while your out to eat or not he is more relaxed. you walk back in and he thinks you will take it away and he will never get it so he scoffs it. meal times i beleive in having routine and structure i never leave food down for too long lemmy used to be really picky but now he eats at set times. treats he can please hisself if he eats it while your out or in. leave the kong down all the time and he will get the message that its his and you dont want it so he can please himself what to do with it. Lottie was a bit like yours when we first got her and her meals have been treated the same you sit eat when i tell you and she would scoff her own and Lemmy's if we didnt watch her. chews i dont think even touched the sides. she is much more relaxed with things now that she has realised its her chew and i dont want it. meal times she eats more slowly cos she knows now she is in a routine that she will get fed again another time so there is no need to be so greedy.

Agree also since you don't know his history of how many homes he's had and how he was treated he could still be getting comfortable.

It sounds like he had issues with food wherever he was before. I agree with Julie, set a routine & stick to it. Get him to wait while you put the food down & then give him a 'release' word (I use "OK") so that he can eat. Same with treats. If he doesn't feel comfortable eating while you're out, don't leave food down. Take it all up, and he won't then feel he has to bolt the whole lot down as soon as you come in.

I know he's been with you for 5 months, but for a rescue dog that isn't a long time. It can take some rescue dogs a few months to really feel comfortable, especially if they have had several different owners, or if previous owners have ill treated them.

Personally I would not worry too much. When I go out I always leave two doggie biscuits for Tyson along with his wait command (not as a replacement meal). He knows all to well that I am going out. The first thing he does after I come home and the greetings are done with is to scoff his biscuits. He has no such problems with his peanut butter filled cong though. I am sure he will drink if he is thirsty.

Just another take on this as you dont know his history then you cant know how he was fed previously.
In the wild dogs would all feed together as the order of dominance maybe he feels its only right to eat when the family is together its a bit like seperation anxiety and he chooses the most respectful time to eat