# Noises @ Food Dish



## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

Although Zio is very good at self regulating, sometimes before he'll eat he will stand or lay down about 10' away from his dish & make weird noises/bark @ his dish. 

If we tell him to "stop barking & eat your supper" he'll go over & start chowing down. We have tried ignoring him (as in not paying attention to reward him for inappropriate behaviour) but sometimes it's just too much noise.

Someone suggested spraying him with a water bottle when he starts making those noises. It works for that time, but doesn't seem to keep him from doing it.

What's even weirder is that he doesn't do it all the time, even though we're not varying his routine. And it doesn't appear to coincide with the days he does or does not get extras in his bowl (like tinned salmon).

Would the answer be to pick up his food when he barks & return it when he stops? I'm thinking that may be the next logical step.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

I think picking up the bowl would definitely be the next logical step. Once you pick up the bowl when he is barking wait for at least 5-10 full seconds of quiet before putting the bowl back down. Or else you can create this number: barking - pick up bowl - dog is quiet - put down bowl - barking : and it continues, thus you create a pattern of barking and being quiet.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I would rather pick up bowl and put it out of sight ... maybe on counter or in microwave or something like that. Leave it there about 5 minutes while you go about doing whatever you want to do. Go back later (5 mins) and put it back down.  Repeat as necessary. If you stand there and hold it, he knows you are going to put it back down. I think it would be more effective if he doesn't know this.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Do you make him sit and wait patiently before eating and then give an "okay" command to release him to eat? It's almost like he's "asking" to be released to eat sometimes.....?? Maybe? :noidea:


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

So, this is just another thought, why do you not just tell him to eat his supper every time? Beat him to the punch if all else fails. I know you want to stop the behavior altogether, but if you put "eating" on command then you might just beat him to the barking. 

I think what I said or what RFD said will work. Putting the bowl out of sight is probably a better idea than holding it in your hand and waiting - he might just start barking at you! I don't know if 5 minutes is completely necessary, but definitely make sure you have a good amount of quiet time before putting the bowl back down.

Teaching your dog a hush command wouldn't hurt either.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

CavePaws said:


> So, this is just another thought, why do you not just tell him to eat his supper every time? Beat him to the punch if all else fails. I know you want to stop the behavior altogether, but if you put "eating" on command then you might just beat him to the barking.


This is exactly what I was getting at. When I give Duncan a meal I set his bowl down. He must then sit patiently and wait to eat. Once he gives me direct eye contact (rather then fixating on the food) I will release him with an "okay" and he is then allowed to eat.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

That must be hard for him. O_O Considering he gets raw!! I know my dogs get all big and wide eyed when dinner comes out. Preston even starts drooling!


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

CavePaws said:


> That must be hard for him. O_O Considering he gets raw!! I know my dogs get all big and wide eyed when dinner comes out. Preston even starts drooling!


LOL! Yes it is....he actually gets a modified BARF due to a health condition, but yes, he goes crazy for it! He'd go crazy for anything if he thought it was food! :lol:


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

luvMyBRT said:


> Do you make him sit and wait patiently before eating and then give an "okay" command to release him to eat? It's almost like he's "asking" to be released to eat sometimes.....?? Maybe? :noidea:


We let him know when his food is down saying "Zio, Supper... ok... eat your supper Zio", something to that effect. It's not always a case of him waiting to be fed. More often than not it's down & he ignores it till later in the day, sometimes not until 8 or 9 pm. 

IOW, he's not made to wait to eat because a lot of times he's not interested in food unless he's been in a trial/hunt test. When we get home he's quite hungry because of all the energy he's put out. (Oh, he'll get some light snacks while were out, but no big meals.)


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

if my dog did that i wouldn't worry about it
especially since he doesn't do it all of the time.
when your dog does bark at his bowl you
tell him to eat and he does. i don't know what it
means when your dog barks at his bowl but i think
it's funny.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

So, if you try out what was said about the take away, let us know how it goes if you have time? I'm always interested to see how my advice for this kind of stuff goes because I've never had a question like this asked in class, but someday I'm pretty sure it could come along. :]

But like luvmybrt was saying, I think it might be helpful to just tell him to eat his supper...
What does he eat? Can you put something tantalizing in there every time so he will eat it faster? Maybe he wants more variety so he feels he can take his time to eat because there isn't anything novel? Also, and these are just thoughts, but what about switching to feeding once a day? That way you don't have to leave his bowl out, you could wait until he is good and hungry around 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. and give him his full meal. If he isn't touching it during the day I think he might just be being really picky about what's in the bowl and when he wants to eat it...Does he bark even when he doesn't want to eat the food?


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

CavePaws said:


> So, if you try out what was said about the take away, let us know how it goes if you have time? I'm always interested to see how my advice for this kind of stuff goes because I've never had a question like this asked in class, but someday I'm pretty sure it could come along. :]


I will try to keep everyone apprised of what actions we're taking & what effect(s) are observed. :thumb:




CavePaws said:


> But like luvmybrt was saying, I think it might be helpful to just tell him to eat his supper...
> What does he eat? Can you put something tantalizing in there every time so he will eat it faster? Maybe he wants more variety so he feels he can take his time to eat because there isn't anything novel? Also, and these are just thoughts, but what about switching to feeding once a day? That way you don't have to leave his bowl out, you could wait until he is good and hungry around 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. and give him his full meal. If he isn't touching it during the day I think he might just be being really picky about what's in the bowl and when he wants to eat it...Does he bark even when he doesn't want to eat the food?


I think announcing to him that his supper is down is one step we will take. Quite often one of us will take him out for a run & his food will already be down when that person gets home with him. So perhaps drawing his attention to the fact that his supper is there will alert him to that fact.

Feeding schedule: he is now almost 4 years old & is very much a self regulator. So I don't feel it necessary to mess with that: it works for him (and us). For example, we went for a 2 hr hike a couple of days ago with us getting back home around 1pm. He was definitely hungry then, but he only ate about 1/2 his food because once he was full, he walked away. But around 8pm that night he went back & finished his food. Sometimes he'll leave it & finish the next morning. Or, if there's still food in his bowl when it comes time to replenish it, we'll simply add kibble to that amount to bring it up to his usual allotment for the day.

Food: I don't want to encourage pickiness. EVO turkey/chicken is his base food & he's done really well on it. Once or twice a week we may supplement his kibble with tinned salmon, cooked chicken, or cooked pork, especially if he's been training or running events that week. I have watched him with the barking @ the bowl behaviour & there doesn't seem to be a correlation as to it & what's in his bowl: he'll just as readily make noises with "goodies" in there as plain kibble. :noidea:


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

What an interesting pup! Lol, well I'm sure you'll figure it out. I wonder what's causing it, sometimes I wish they could speak english or we could speak their language well enough to know whats up.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

*Quick Update*

Many thanks to all who participated in this thread. :biggrin1:

Just a bit of an update: the strategy of taking up his food out of sight when he starts to bark seems to be working:

1. Zio barks @ his dish.
2. I walk over, take away his dish, & put it out of sight.
3. Zio gives me a "WTF?" look.
4. ~ 3 min later I bring back the dish remarking "eat your supper!"
5. Zio chows down & doesn't make any more noise.

It looks like he is definitely getting the point because the frequency of his barking @ the dish has gone WAY down. In fact, I think he's only done it twice in the last week. A definite improvement. Hopefully, the trend will continue. 

Thanks again! :thumb:


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

Great news! Sounds like he's a smart dog and catching on quickly! Thanks for updating.


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