Nomadic eating habit

[Porscha]

My pup has a very annoying habit of taking a mouth full of food and wondering around the house chewing. Leaving a trail of kibble all over the house. Even if I get her to stay in one spot while eating, she will turn her head and look at me or something and throw a trail of kibble in her wake. I am constantly sweeping up after her. I tried putting a large trey under her dish, it does catch a lot of food but not enough!

Will she grow out of this?

Does anyone else have the same problem??

[brutus'mother]

Brutus scatters some kibble around his dish but he is considerate enough to clean up when he's done with what's in the bowl. I never allowed him to wander about while he eats.

[harleychik66]

In the morning hubby lets out the dogs and then feeds them. Dude will come upstairs with the last mouthful of kibble and then eat it while I'm getting ready in the bathroom. This is the only feeding or time he does this. I like to think that he can't stand to be away from me:)

[hokisteph5]

Why not feed her in a crate or small, confined room (e.g. laundry room)? That would prevent her from walking all over the house.

[Porscha]

Yah it is cute how she always is aware of what is going on, even with a mouth full of food. But... It is not fun stepping on the food all over the house. Especially the food that falls out of her mouth, its sticky and stays on the bottom of your foot. And to top it off she won't eat her food off the floor, so I can't leave it for her to clean up. Tried that once it wasn't pretty.
As a result I feel like I am throwing 20% of her bag of dog food away just from being on the floor.

HELP!

[Porscha]

I don't have a crate for her, but I will try the laundry room idea. Thanks!

[rubyhunz]

i had this problem sort of--- but i no longer feed Ruby kibble.. you should try raw!!! i swear i coudlnt be as happy as i am right now , and neither would she! i feed her in the back yard.

[harleychik66]

What if you hand fed her her kibble? You would increase the bond with her and also have less mess.

[Nishasmom]

You think thats bad...I have a "nomadic" drinker !! How would you like water all over your house??? I have no idea how to stop that; its like she takes a big gulp of water, then lets it just fall out of her mouth .

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

You think thats bad...I have a "nomadic" drinker !! How would you like water all over your house??? I have no idea how to stop that; its like she takes a big gulp of water, then lets it just fall out of her mouth .

I know how you feel! Shelby isn't TOO bad, but Hudson, man, his jowels really can hold like a gallon of water. As soon as he's done, I follow him around with a mop on our wood floors...I don't want the water to damage my floors!

[poohbearsmom]

LOL... Bug used to do this as a pup, only she'd pick up her food bowl and take it to a comfy spot to dine. She grew out of this habit, as the food is gone now before she has a chance to hire a moving truck.

Her mother was a messy nibbler when I got her. After putting her on a diet and loss of a couple of pounds, she no longer wasted any time or food.

[Porscha]

I am thankfull that she isn't a nomadic drinker for sure! I am having enough fun with muddy paws at this time of year nevermind cleaning up every drink of water!

We used to hand feed her as a pup so she got used to having our hands in her food. I don't think we will go there again, at least not regularly. We maintain a periodic sharing of toys treats, haven't had any posession problems.

The only other thing we might try is the Laundry room. But we think that might increase the problem as she will walk through the house to check on us and see whats going on. So we might have a larger area to clean!

Maybe a larger bowl? or a higher one... hmmm

[jlhnokc]

I taught Jaycee "Go Eat" because of this. Should would do the same thing, cruise around the house and check on everyone while she was eating...So I started standing around in the kitchen and when she would walk off from her bowl, I would bring her back or herd her back saying Go Eat, and tap my finger on her bowl. Now, if I'm in the living room, she will usually check on me once, but it's without a mouthful of food. She wasn't too bad though because she didn't scatter kibble everywhere, it was just a pain because she took so long to eat...But she is COMPLETELY a NOMADIC water drinker. I don't ever walk in just my socks in the house because there is ALWAYS a trail of water after she has gotten a drink...I guess I could teach her to wipe her mouth...wonder how hard that would be?

[Porscha]

I will try that for sure. I am going try to get her to clean up her own mess too. I don't know how hard it will be, but its worth a try.
Glad to know she isn't the only one.

Thanks!!

[Kawakaze]

Nishasmom, i have seen a solution to the nomadic drinking, it was a long time ago, i dont recall much other than it stuck in my mind for being a bit weird.

It was a weighted dish with a sponge inside, it had a hole in the top smaller than the sponge, i think it was to prevent so much mess when the bowl got knocked over. Im sure you can make something like this in minutes. Im also sure you friends will think you are losing the plot when they see it though :)