Dog hiding food?

jalapeno

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Hello, I have lurked a bit and now have a question that you can hopefully help me with. :)

I have an 8 month old doberman puppy bitch. She is absolutely fab in most ways, she has always been in a crate but now due to space etc she only has a crate upstairs for over night. She used to be fed in her crate but then I took it out and put it in a corner for her - Wasnt a problem at first but now she has taken to removing bits of food and hiding them round the house and garden! I can only think it is because she no longer feels her food is safe with no crate? (she has never been a pig and never eaten a meal in one go so crate was always open for her to come and go) .. very strange behaviour though, are there any solutions apart from bringing another crate in ?
 

CorvusCorax

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She's maybe being overfaced and is hiding bits of food for later. Make sure you aren't standing over her watching her eat as she may be feeling pressure at mealtimes.
 

CAYLA

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I would feed her less per meal, Ime..... it is dogs that are over fed (cannot eat a whole meal) but like to go back to add lib at smaller portions but still do not want to leave the food unguarded (survival instinct) and a very natural one, so instead they will hide food, then if they want it is there for later or more to the point SAFE from other scavangers......I see it mostly in rather clever dogs. I have even seen dogs rub skin off their nose by using vet bed/bedding to hide the food with their nose hence skinning their nose.
I would start and feed her less in a meal and only when the bowl is clear within 10 mins offer up the rest otherwise cut down on her food if her weight is good.
 

The Original Kao

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I would feed her less per meal, Ime..... it is dogs that are over fed (cannot eat a whole meal) but like to go back to add lib at smaller portions but still do not want to leave the food unguarded (survival instinct) and a very natural one, so instead they will hide food, then if they want it is there for later or more to the point SAFE from other scavangers......I see it mostly in rather clever dogs. I have even seen dogs rub skin off their nose by using vet bed/bedding to hide the food with their nose hence skinning their nose.
I would start and feed her less in a meal and only when the bowl is clear within 10 mins offer up the rest otherwise cut down on her food if her weight is good.

my pup does that with the odd rawhide chew that she gets. she'll usually pop it on the corner of the sofa seat and bury it with her nose and imaginary dirt when she's had enough of chewing it :)
 
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