Dog burying all his food - getting ridiculous!

RobinHood

RobinHood

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I've got a 7 month old lurcher that's been fed a BARF diet since he was 8wks old. Up until now he's lived with my 3 other dogs and has always eaten his food straight away. For the last 2 weeks he's been at uni with just my best friend's dog (who happens to be his brother). He started by just 'burying' chicken wings, drumsticks etc by leaving them in the middle of the floor and pushing imaginary dirt on them. Now it's progressed to bringing bones, sausages, raw fish etc inside the house and burying them absolutely everywhere, even in my duvet
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. If it's too small to take out of the bowl like minced beef then he just 'burys' the whole bowl, which is annoying because the other dog just eats it.

I just wondered if anyone had any ideas? I realise it's quite normal behaviour it's just that it seems to have turned into an obsession. It doesn't help that he's always a bit on the lean side so needs as much food as I can get down him. I'd rather not get into bed at night to find chicken wings on my pillow
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PMSL at the thought of raw fish in your bed.

No help really but my boxer does a bizarre burial dance round his bowl everyday and then eats his food eventually. I just shut him in a room with his bowl. Occasionally he will decide he doesn't want it and will get the doormat and bury his bowl under it.
 
Try removing his bowl if he doesn't eat it after a certain amount of time. My female is being a bit picky at the mo, if it isn't gone after 10-15 minutes then it goes again and has more added later to make up her evening feed.

What is his routine as regards feeding, and does he get fed at the same time or in the same room as the other dog?

Oh sorry, remove bowl and whatever bits you can find
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Do you actually stand and watch him doing this or are you away when it happens? If you are actually in the house when it is happening, don't stand right over him, but I would keep an eye on him or ask someone else to, and make sure he doesn't do it by correcting him vocally when he starts to 'bury' it or looks as if he is off to hide it.

If he isn't being corrected, he won't know to stop doing it.
 
Thanks everyone, will reply as a whole instead of indiviually.

I do take it away after a while it's just difficult because I need him to eat as much as possible. When he was tiny he refused to eat dog food so I used to take it away after 10mins, after 3 days I had to call it a day because he hadn't eaten a thing.

I think part of the problem is that my other dogs at home have dry dog food so his food is much more attractive in comparison. Also my other dogs will stand and wait to see if he's left anything in the bowl so he eats every scrap.

His routine with feeding is
Breakfast first thing - usually minced beef/lamb/chicken/rabbit/turkey
10/11ish - chicken wings/drumsticks
lunchtime - pilchards/tuna/minced meat
4ish - chicken wings/drumsticks
dinner - minced meat/sausages/veggies
dessert - yoghurt/carrots/pigs ear/egg

Sounds like a lot but he's still such a skinny rake. His worming is bang up to date he just runs his weight off.

I don't really mind if he continues to do it in the garden, but I'd rather he didn't do it in the house. I'm pretty sure it'll stop when we go back home for christmas so for the time being I'll shut him outside and take away what he doesn't eat.

Just because I can't help myself, one photo of him aged 4 months
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Hundreds more can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=110576
 
Aw, bless, he is gorgeous!

My dogs are fed dry and they get their food seperately so the situation is a little differently, perhaps KarynK could assist as she knows more about raw feeding, or perhaps Katie Houston.
As you say I think it is normal enough with this sort of diet, but when he is doing it inside, it must be a pain!

TBH I wouldn't stress out over his weight too much at this age, I am not sure how fast lurchers mature, but my male GSD was a git to keep weight onas a youngster, he was like a rake, but has filled out nicely at two, and that can just be the way with certain breeds.
 
Sounds like he is a bit overfaced by it all, sometimes dogs like him have small stomachs and less of an appetite than greedy pigs like my two who would eat until they couldnt move! Dogs in the wild can go days between meals so they are not designed for four square meals a day, they would gorge then lay around for a day or so before getting hungry again, raw diet does fill them up quite a bit as bone is their fibre.

Burying is typical of "there is too much here so ill shove it somewhere until I am hungry" I would try to feed less volume at meals and more muscle meat if you are worried re body condition, I would go to chicken legs rather than wings and 1 leg or 2 drumsticks in a meal would be plenty. Lurchers are generally an active type that are not prone to weight gain especially when young and providing he is getting a good variety he will be ok for the nutrients he needs to grow. He lookd in very good condition in the photos.

If you can separate him somewhere for his feed and give him a reasonable time before taking it away and trying again later and maybe cut out some of the snack meals so is is hungry when fed, like after exercise. Perhaps two meals a day would help.

Lamb ribs are good also if you can get them from a butcher, there is plenty of meat on them and you can chop them into small sections for him.

I do know of some mals that like their food gamey and wont eat fresh meat until it stinks!!! Hopefully that is not what he wants!
 
You could as you cut down the meals give him raw eggs with some cold pressed oil and a little liquidised veg. Eggs are a doggie super snack and with the oil and veg have a lot of vits and mins but are a much less daunting and filling meal as you phase out the in between meals.
 
So far so good, I didn't feed him after 5 yesterday and then at 10 this morning he ate some diced chicken and about 2pm he had 2 sausages. He did think about burying the bowl both times but changed his mind when the other dog stood and watched him. It just worries me that he's not eating enough as i've only just got his weight sorted. I'll try to stop being such a paranoid mother!
 
He'll be fine he is already on more than my sisters GSD who is about the same age!!! He's just burning it up growing and running around lots. He's a real looker too !!!

This is Nick at 5mts she is now on a 2 meals a day and they are both about the size of 2 chicken carcasses per day.

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One of our dogs is much the same. He tries to bury stuff all over the house, luckily we have a greedy one too so he doesn't get away with it much. He generally does it when he's not hungry so we try not to feed too much. He also seems to prefer bones after theyve been buried in the garden for a while!

Weight wise we found tripe pilled the pounds on him and now we are having to watch his weight as he's gone the other way! Greedy one eats and eats and stays the same weight!
 
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