# Would like some input on a quirky behavior...



## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

HI All,


I don't post much but I really appreciate all the information I find here. I really hope someone can give me a clue as to what this particular behavior means. Currently we are fostering an adorable Havanese (It is a foster to adopt program). She has been with us for 3 weeks now and she seems to have suddenly developed this quirky habit of pushing her food bowl around, almost like she is trying to turn it over. 
My husband suggested that maybe she was trying to get her hair out of the way, but tying up her hair hasn't improved matters. I am trying to attach a video, but cant figure out how to do it. I am not able to upload it to YouTube ,so I cannot attach the link either...
Any input will be appreciated...

Thank you
Anna


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

My Leo will sometimes push his bowl around and try to "bury" it in his bedding. Or if he's hungry, he will push it around as a way of communicating that he wants food!


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

I wish I could explain it better... It is not really pushing around... its kind of an up and down bobbing action of the head, I wish I could figure out how to post the video.. . And its not like she is very hungry either... Most of the times she has to be coaxed to eat, esp if I add crushed flaxseed or coconut oil...


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Can't help you with the bowl issue, but I don't believe that dogs should have flaxseed. Hopefully those you know will chime in on that. Good luck with your problem.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Its not????  I was under the impression that it is really good for the coat and skin. I should stop giving it then.


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## siewhwee (Sep 24, 2009)

I agree. Flaxseed is good for your dog. My vet recommends it when my Hav had skin problems.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

AnnaM said:


> Its not????  I was under the impression that it is really good for the coat and skin. I should stop giving it then.


probably better options .http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=fattyacids he's experimenting to see what happens, maybe you have reinforced it?


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

video: upload to youtube, then post the link in the body of a reply.

wow you have two havs now! what color is the foster?


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## Ruthiec (Jun 18, 2013)

Is it a shiny metal bowl? I've noticed Charlie sometimes backing off his water bowl if he sees his own movement reflected. Maybe your little one is seeing something and trying to get at it? Just an idea.

Charlie won't even eat food out of a bowl -I've tried a few different ones but he just picks one or two bits out and then gives up. It's a different story if I tip it onto a plastic mat; he gets stuck in straight away and eats the lot. 

If only they could speak to us to explain what's going on


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Hope this works....


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

^ yeah, my little guy wouldn't eat out of a bowl when he was a pup. grew out of it. didn't each much either when he was a pup, but he got over that quick, lol.

Yup, it works. sorry I have to watch it again, b/c your foster hav is so cute, I didn't pay attention to the behavior.

Is she tipping the bowl or flicking the towel on the ground?


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

sprorchid said:


> video: upload to youtube, then post the link in the body of a reply.
> 
> wow you have two havs now! what color is the foster?


She is a wonderful white and caramel color.... She is adorable but I am not able to take a picture that does her justice... In all the pictures, all I can see is the brown stain around her mouth


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Looks like she's trying to cover the bowl (hiding it), as she did it with the empty bowl and mat/towel. 

Like she's saving it for later, esp b/c your other hav is right there, Lola, even though Lola is just checking it out, it can be taken as 'I want your food'.

that's my non-expert opinion. Where's Dave? paging Dave.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

sprorchid said:


> ^ yeah, my little guy wouldn't eat out of a bowl when he was a pup. grew out of it. didn't each much either when he was a pup, but he got over that quick, lol.
> 
> Yup, it works. sorry I have to watch it again, b/c your foster hav is so cute, I didn't pay attention to the behavior.
> 
> Is she tipping the bowl or flicking the towel on the ground?


Not sure, a bit of both, I guess. She didn't have this quirk when we got her...


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

better post a pic soon, before the rest of the forum badgers you, lol.

better a bad cute pic, than no pic at all. I know what you mean though, Ollie's dark face is really hard to photograph well. usually he comes out just looking dark, no eyes...


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## Beau's mom (Oct 6, 2011)

I don't get it, either -- but Beau does it, too! Rarely with his food bowl, though. He sometimes does it with a partially chewed bully stick or treat of some kind. Sometimes he does it and finally pushes it under a rug or a stone -- or someplace he will remember. Then he goes back later and gets it and then chews it. I've sometimes thought he does it to something he doesn't want to eat or chew right then, but he might want it later. It is strange but seems to be harmless.

It's purely a guess, but maybe he's telling you he wants it, but not now. Or, he doesn't like eating out of a bowl? Have you tried putting his food out on a paper/plastic plate?


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Anna, lemme know when you have time for a playdate, I'm already in love with your foster, I might steal her, ha!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Looks as though she is trying to get the mat and leash, or whatever it is, out of the way. Have you tried removing the mat?

Also, sorry if I steered you wrong about the flaxseed, but I had heard it somewhere. Please go by whatever your vet says.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Bella does the same thing. She is a picky eater. She won't even eat out of a bowl. I have to put her food on the tile. She will do the same thing and then eventually use her nose like that to push her food into a pile. If she won't eat, I try again at night. I never figured out why she does this. It's been 9 years....I just assume its her being picky!


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I think she is trying to bury her food, saving it for later. Some dogs will "bury" their treasures to keep others from getting it.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Beau's mom said:


> I don't get it, either -- but Beau does it, too! Rarely with his food bowl, though. He sometimes does it with a partially chewed bully stick or treat of some kind. Sometimes he does it and finally pushes it under a rug or a stone -- or someplace he will remember. Then he goes back later and gets it and then chews it. I've sometimes thought he does it to something he doesn't want to eat or chew right then, but he might want it later. It is strange but seems to be harmless.
> 
> It's purely a guess, but maybe he's telling you he wants it, but not now. Or, he doesn't like eating out of a bowl? Have you tried putting his food out on a paper/plastic plate?


Bella won't eat out of a bowl. She does better off the floor or off a plate.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

ziwipeak Linda. try that. it's like doggie crack.

and I am proud to say, all my dogs know how to eat off a fork, lol.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

She actually eats from the bowl too, after some time. Other times I end up feeding her by hand...


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

sprorchid said:


> Anna, lemme know when you have time for a playdate, I'm already in love with your foster, I might steal her, ha!


Ha ha 

Play dates are always welcome...


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

davetgabby said:


> probably better options .http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=fattyacids he's experimenting to see what happens, maybe you have reinforced it?


Thanks Dave. This article seems to recommend flaxseed...


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## siewhwee (Sep 24, 2009)

My Hav did what yours is doing, pushing at the bowl, and sometimes looking like he was going to overturn it. In his case, he was letting me know that he didn't care for the food. He was a picky eater. He suddenly outgrew it last month ( he's 3+ years old now), and I don't have this problem anymore. Don't know why, but am happy it stopped.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

That's what Leo does sometimes when he doesn't seem too hungry. I have always just assumed he was trying to bury the food to save it for later when he was hungry. I generally just take up the dish and offer it a bit later.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

siewhwee said:


> My Hav did what yours is doing, pushing at the bowl, and sometimes looking like he was going to overturn it. In his case, he was letting me know that he didn't care for the food. He was a picky eater. He suddenly outgrew it last month ( he's 3+ years old now), and I don't have this problem anymore. Don't know why, but am happy it stopped.


Now that I think about it, probably she is not hungry at these times too, 'coz this is when I resort to hand feeding, otherwise she just walks away...


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

sprorchid said:


> ziwipeak Linda. try that. it's like doggie crack.
> 
> and I am proud to say, all my dogs know how to eat off a fork, lol.


Lol! I've tried everything! Bella spits out filet! That's not an exaggeration.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

AnnaM said:


> I wish I could explain it better... It is not really pushing around... its kind of an up and down bobbing action of the head, I wish I could figure out how to post the video.. . And its not like she is very hungry either... Most of the times she has to be coaxed to eat, esp if I add crushed flaxseed or coconut oil...


If you want to post a video, the easiest way is to upload it to YouTube, then post the link here.

Oops! Should have read the whole thread before responding!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sprorchid said:


> Looks like she's trying to cover the bowl (hiding it), as she did it with the empty bowl and mat/towel.
> 
> Like she's saving it for later, esp b/c your other hav is right there, Lola, even though Lola is just checking it out, it can be taken as 'I want your food'.
> 
> that's my non-expert opinion. Where's Dave? paging Dave.


Yeah, looks like mild resource guarding to me.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Sheri said:


> I think she is trying to bury her food, saving it for later. Some dogs will "bury" their treasures to keep others from getting it.


Sheri is totally right, this is classic 'burying' behaviour, VERY common with chews, bones etc, and sometimes happens with bowls; it's called 'vacuum activity' (going off in a vacuum) and is a well known by ethologists. The animal brain is 'hard-wired' with lots of little 'clock-work' mechanisms that go off usually when stimulated by something but not necessarily in the appropriate environment. Your dog is behaving as if there were earth there in which to bury the food, even though there isn't (the vacuum); sometimes they will do it even without the food itself. He is telling you that he doesn't want it now, he wants to save it for later. I'm not entirely sure of the appropriate response, but would imagine it could simply be to remove the bowl and replace it later when he might be hungry. It's really interesting. I'll see if I can find a paper on it or some book reference if you like, but that is definitely what it is.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

krandall said:


> Yeah, looks like mild resource guarding to me.


I understood resource guarding as an aggression issue. She has no such issues. And even if Lola is nowhere near her bowl, she tends to do this. On another note, Lola (our other Hav) has become an eating machine these days


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Lalla said:


> Sheri is totally right, this is classic 'burying' behaviour, VERY common with chews, bones etc, and sometimes happens with bowls; it's called 'vacuum activity' (going off in a vacuum) and is a well known by ethologists. The animal brain is 'hard-wired' with lots of little 'clock-work' mechanisms that go off usually when stimulated by something but not necessarily in the appropriate environment. Your dog is behaving as if there were earth there in which to bury the food, even though there isn't (the vacuum); sometimes they will do it even without the food itself. He is telling you that he doesn't want it now, he wants to save it for later. I'm not entirely sure of the appropriate response, but would imagine it could simply be to remove the bowl and replace it later when he might be hungry. It's really interesting. I'll see if I can find a paper on it or some book reference if you like, but that is definitely what it is.


 How interesting. But this is a recently developed habit, though.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

*Vacuum activities*

This is from Wikipedia, it's really fascinating:

Vacuum activity
The term was first established by the ethologist Konrad Lorenz in the 1930s after observations of a hand-raised starling.[3] In 1937 Lorenz wrote: "With head and eyes the bird made a motion as though following a ﬂying insect with its gaze; its posture tautened; it took off, snapped, returned to its perch, and with its bill performed the sideways lashing, tossing motions with which many insectivorous birds slay their prey against whatever they happen to be sitting upon. Then the starling swallowed several times, whereupon its closely laid plumage loosened up somewhat, and there often ensued a quivering reﬂex, exactly as it does after real satiation."[4]

Examples:

Wild raccoons often appear to 'wash' their food which may be expressed as a vacuum activity by captive racoons in the absence of water.
Squirrels that have lived in metal cages without bedding all their lives do all the actions that a wild squirrel does when burying a nut. It scratches at the metal floor as if digging a hole, it acts as if it were taking a nut to the place where it scratched though there is no nut, then it pats the metal floor as if covering an imaginary buried nut.[citation needed]
Lorenz observed that a flycatcher bird snapped at the air when flying as if it were catching insects though there were no real insects there.[citation needed]
Weaver birds go through complicated nest building behaviour when there is no nest building material present.[5]
Wild raccoons often investigate their food by rubbing it between their paws while holding the food underwater, giving the appearance of 'washing' the food (although the exact motivation for this behaviour is disputed). Captive racoons sometimes perform these actions of 'washing' their food by rubbing it between their paws, even when there is no water available. This is most likely a vacuum activity based on foraging behaviour at shorelines.[6]

Sham dustbathing (sometimes referred to as "vacuum dustbathing") is a behaviour performed by some birds when kept in cages with little or no access to litter. During sham dustbathing, the birds perform all the elements of normal dust bathing, but in the complete absence of any substrate.[8][9][10] This behaviour often has all the activities and temporal patterns of normal dustbathing, i.e. the bird initially scratches and bill-rakes at the ground, then erects her feathers and squats. Once lying down, the behaviour contains four main elements: vertical wing-shaking, head rubbing, bill-raking and scratching with one leg. However, hens "dustbathing" on wire floors commonly perform this close to the feed trough where they can peck and bill-rake in the food.[11] Because it seems the birds appear to treat the feed as a dustbathing substrate, the term "sham dustbathing" is more appropriate.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

AnnaM said:


> How interesting. But this is a recently developed habit, though.


As I understand it these behaviours can develop at any age. My first dog, Pamba used to bury imaginary bones and that didn't start until she was about two years old. There's a lot of literature out there - if you google 'vacuum activity' you'll find masses of links.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Lalla said:


> As I understand it these behaviours can develop at any age. My first dog, Pamba used to bury imaginary bones and that didn't start until she was about two years old. There's a lot of literature out there - if you google 'vacuum activity' you'll find masses of links.


Reading that makes me so sad. It is like they are making up for the extreme deprivation in their lives...  Does that mean our pets also feel deprived on some level?


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Ruthiec said:


> Is it a shiny metal bowl? I've noticed Charlie sometimes backing off his water bowl if he sees his own movement reflected. Maybe your little one is seeing something and trying to get at it? Just an idea.
> 
> Charlie won't even eat food out of a bowl -I've tried a few different ones but he just picks one or two bits out and then gives up. It's a different story if I tip it onto a plastic mat; he gets stuck in straight away and eats the lot.
> 
> If only they could speak to us to explain what's going on


It is a regular ceramic bowl...


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

AnnaM said:


> Reading that makes me so sad. It is like they are making up for the extreme deprivation in their lives...  Does that mean our pets also feel deprived on some level?


Absolutely not, this is hard-wiring; these behaviours are nothing whatsoever to be sad about! The brain has built-in mechanisms, handed down in the animal's DNA, that you could think of as short-cuts - instant ability to perform tasks necessary for the animal's survival. There they are, hard-wired into the brain, but with the animal now in an environment where the behaviour is no longer appropriate but no mechanism for turning off the program. Brains are just wonderfully interesting and complicated. The dog, or other animal, isn't doing anything out of frustration, just doing what it is neurologically set up to do. We don't need to bring any human thoughts of what it 'must' be like for the animal into the picture, there is no emotional component other than our own if it makes us 'feel sad'. Here is a quote that my husband, who is a biologist, has sent me from a lecture he gave some time ago:

"Animals sometimes perform complicated patterns of behaviour in a vacuum - they are even called 'vacuum activities'. The most spectacular example I know is from a German film I once saw of a beaver. This was a captive beaver, but I must first remind you of something that wild beavers do. They build dams, mostly of logs or branches, which they cut to size using their very sharp gnawing teeth and push into the growing dam. You might wonder why they build dams, by the way. The reason is that the dam makes a lake or pond, which helps them to find their food without being eaten. Beavers probably don't understand why they do it. They just do it without thinking, because they have a mechanism in the brain that goes off like clockwork. They are like little dam-building robots. The clockwork behaviour patterns that form the components of dam-building routines are quite complicated and very different from the movements that any other animal does - because no other animal builds dams.

Now, the beaver in the German film was a captive beaver, which had never built a real dam in its life. It was filmed in a bare room, with a bare cement floor: no river to dam, and no wood to dam it with. But, amazingly, this poor lonely beaver went through all the motions of building a dam in a vacuum. It would pick up phantom pieces of wood in its jaws, and carry them to its phantom dam, shoving them in, tamping them down, generally behaving as though it 'thought' there was a real dam there, and real wood to tamp into it.

I think this beaver felt an overwhelming urge to build a dam, because that is what it would do in nature. And it went ahead and 'built' a phantom dam in a vacuum."


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Well, it still makes me sad that all these captive examples are being deprived of a chance to actually live out their lives the way they were meant to...


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

AnnaM said:


> Well, it still makes me sad that all these captive examples are being deprived of a chance to actually live out their lives the way they were meant to...


I know, Anna, and I agree in some ways; but don't forget a lot of the 'living out their lives the way they were meant to' would, in reality, mean that they would probably be hungry, possibly be diseased, and many of them would be dead before their time. On top of that, even animals in the wild are known to perform vacuum activities. And as far Havanese are concerned, they'd be wolves!!


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

And I don't want to live with wolves ....


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

My Laila does the exact same thing with her bowl. Never could figure out what she wants


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

AnnaM said:


> I understood resource guarding as an aggression issue. She has no such issues. And even if Lola is nowhere near her bowl, she tends to do this. On another note, Lola (our other Hav) has become an eating machine these days


No, resource guarding, at it's mildest, need not be "aggressive". It only means that the animal is trying to keep some resource away from another animal (or human) One example I can think of is when my husband comes homes and puts his arms around me, Kodi IMMEDIATELY is there, trying to push between us. He's not being the least bit aggressive, or even unfriendly... he just thinks that all "loving" should be focused on HIM!!! :laugh:

It sounds to me that BOTH dogs are handling their "resource guarding" in different ways... Lola has decided to eat her food FAST, so the new dog can't get it, while the new dog has decided to try burying it instead. And just because Lola isn't in the room doesn't mean the new dog is unaware of her presence, or her potential "threat" to the food.

This is actually how Kodi learned to be a good eater. Like many Havs, he was an indifferent eater as a youngster, although I never played into it. Then I went away for two weeks and left him with a friend who has several large dogs. Kodi was ALWAYS fed separately from the bigger dogs, safe in his ex-pen, so there was no real danger that they would get his food. But the perceived threat that they MIGHT get his food was all that was needed to teach him that smart dogs don't waste time over their food.  From that time on, he has always finished up his meals lickety split!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> This is from Wikipedia, it's really fascinating:
> 
> Vacuum activity
> The term was first established by the ethologist Konrad Lorenz in the 1930s after observations of a hand-raised starling.[3] In 1937 Lorenz wrote: "With head and eyes the bird made a motion as though following a ﬂying insect with its gaze; its posture tautened; it took off, snapped, returned to its perch, and with its bill performed the sideways lashing, tossing motions with which many insectivorous birds slay their prey against whatever they happen to be sitting upon. Then the starling swallowed several times, whereupon its closely laid plumage loosened up somewhat, and there often ensued a quivering reﬂex, exactly as it does after real satiation."[4]
> ...


I agree this CAN happen... Like when a dog "catches" then "swallows" "air cookies" that are tossed to him. But I'm not sure that's exactly what's happening here. The WAY she's behaving is, of course, partly instinctive... it is pure instinct that make dogs want to bury things. But I also think the pressure of the other dog is making her feel the need to bury the food "for later"

I think I'd probably start feeding the new dog in her crate or pen EVERY TIME, so that she gets to really understand that Lola is not going to be allowed to take her food.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

AnnaM said:


> Well, it still makes me sad that all these captive examples are being deprived of a chance to actually live out their lives the way they were meant to...


I agree... seing captive WILD animals "going through the motions" is very disturbing to me too. But that's not exactly the same thing as with a domestic animal. And there's no reason that she should't be allowed to bury things outside if she wants to! There is a very funny video somewhere on the forum of a dog who buries his food dish under a pile of toys when he's done eating! 

And again, I really think that part of the issue here is worry that Lola is going to get her food. Try feeding them completely separately. She may still cover her food, but at least you will know that you are not doing anything to CAUSE her to worry about it.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Burying might well be resource guarding, but what is interesting here is that there is nothing to bury the resource in. 

If she is resource guarding she is doing so entirely ineffectively - what she is doing is an innate, clockwork behaviour entirely well understood and utterly fascinating. If she wanted to resource guard she would actually bury the food, or growl, or stand over it, or fight, or any degree of any of those things that would keep the resource to herself. What we are seeing is truly interesting, really well understood and quite separate from actual resource guarding. I've read up on it some more (there's a really interesting lot of literature out there), and I promise it's a very well documented behaviour that is very different from actual resource guarding. There is nothing different, either, odd though it might seem, between wild and domestic animals - these are hard-wired behaviours deeply embedded in generations of DNA, the same in the wolf ancestors of domestic dogs, visible in captive animals because they are removed from the environment that would otherwise give them the ability to seek out the actual things - beavers' logs, earth, sand, whatever - that they could use in normal circumstances. Wild animals do exactly the same thing if they are in captivity - it's not the animal that has changed, it's the environment. There are some films of animals doing exactly the same "burying" - I'll try and find a link or two. There's one of a dachshund trying to bury an actual bone but on a carpet. There's no other dog around from whom the dachshund is trying to guard the bone. Sometimes these behaviours are provoked by frustration, but I don't think we should assume that an animal who displays them is necessarily distressed. Or worried about the presence of another animal - they will often do the self same behaviour with or without another animal present. It's more complicated than how it might look from casual observation - there's a mountain of data out there that I don't begin to understand, but others do and have done the research and collating of that data...which is reassuring, I suppose!


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

krandall said:


> No, resource guarding, at it's mildest, need not be "aggressive". It only means that the animal is trying to keep some resource away from another animal (or human) One example I can think of is when my husband comes homes and puts his arms around me, Kodi IMMEDIATELY is there, trying to push between us. He's not being the least bit aggressive, or even unfriendly... he just thinks that all "loving" should be focused on HIM!!! :laugh:
> 
> It sounds to me that BOTH dogs are handling their "resource guarding" in different ways... Lola has decided to eat her food FAST, so the new dog can't get it, while the new dog has decided to try burying it instead. And just because Lola isn't in the room doesn't mean the new dog is unaware of her presence, or her potential "threat" to the food.
> 
> This is actually how Kodi learned to be a good eater. Like many Havs, he was an indifferent eater as a youngster, although I never played into it. Then I went away for two weeks and left him with a friend who has several large dogs. Kodi was ALWAYS fed separately from the bigger dogs, safe in his ex-pen, so there was no real danger that they would get his food. But the perceived threat that they MIGHT get his food was all that was needed to teach him that smart dogs don't waste time over their food.  From that time on, he has always finished up his meals lickety split!


 I think that's how Lola ended up as a good eater too. She spent the summer with Starr when we were on vacation. She had four dogs already and that taught Lola to get on with finishing up her food already. But at the same time Twinkle had been one of the dogs whom Starr was fostering. So she should be well used to surviving mealtimes in a multi dog household and when she moved in with us she didn't exhibit this behavior. So not sure what changed now...

P.S. This is a fascinating discussion!


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## emichel (May 3, 2012)

sprorchid said:


> and I am proud to say, all my dogs know how to eat off a fork, lol.


Yeah, but do they know how to use chopsticks? :bolt:


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

^ working on it, but one of my anatolians is part beaver. he'd mow right thru it.


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Here's a link to a film on YouTube called "KC the weiner dog tries to bury bone on bed". Classic vacuum activity!


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

That looks remarkably like what Twinkle is doing!


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## Lila (Apr 9, 2013)

Well Anna, I haven't read all the posts but here is a link of Mikey doing the same thing a couple months ago. He only did it when he wasn't very hungry and I think he was covering it up for later. At first he just moved the bowl around like yours did and then he started using his toys to cover it. Now he hardly does it at all. He does seem to do it more when we're away from home. I wouldn't worry at all about it. If the food is a good brand he'll eat it when he gets hungry.


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## Lila (Apr 9, 2013)

Ooops, it's not on you tube anymore. Here it is again;


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Lila said:


> Ooops, it's not on you tube anymore. Here it is again;


Yup, Mikey is doing classic vacuum activity, too. It's such a thrill that we truly understand it, don't you think? It doesn't diminish anything, just makes us better informed and better able to know what our dogs are up to. It isn't worrying, it isn't sad, it isn't particularly weird - lots and lots of animals do it - and we know what it's about. People are so put off by scientific explanations when they are actually SO THRILLING!!!!


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

Lila said:


> Ooops, it's not on you tube anymore. Here it is again;


Thanks for the video... Probably I will find her food bowl under the toys one of these days....


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

AnnaM said:


> I wish I could explain it better... It is not really pushing around... its kind of an up and down bobbing action of the head, I wish I could figure out how to post the video.. . And its not like she is very hungry either... Most of the times she has to be coaxed to eat, esp if I add crushed flaxseed or coconut oil...


 Maddie does that up and down motion on blankets like she is trying to move it or nest? I have no idea.


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## BFrancs (May 17, 2012)

Canela does the same thing but she is clearly doing it to cover/hide her food from the other dogs. In her crate she has a blanket and will hide her treats, food or even "special' toys and when she's ready for them so goes to get them. The other dogs know not to touch "her stuff"; my husband teases that she has the messiest room of all four. LOL


Lalla, Interesting stories about the beavers and vacuum activity...


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

AnnaM said:


> Thanks Dave. This article seems to recommend flaxseed...


here\s what the author , Sabine says. ...."Flax seed contains only ALA, which has to be converted by the body through use of an enzyme. The EPA, DPA, and DHA present in fish oil are directly usable without requiring any conversion.

Not all dogs have sufficient capacity to efficiently use flax and convert the ALA, plus flax also contains omega 6 fatty acids, which are already plentiful (or excessive) in typical diets, especially kibble, so the fish oil is generally the better option.

Fresh ground flax seed also supplies some trace minerals though, which is nice, so for that purpose I sometimes use them for homemade diet recipes if necessary, but overall I find fish oil far more species appropriate, and for dogs with kidney disease it's a less damaging choice"


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Lalla said:


> Sheri is totally right, this is classic 'burying' behaviour, VERY common with chews, bones etc, and sometimes happens with bowls; it's called 'vacuum activity' (going off in a vacuum) and is a well known by ethologists. The animal brain is 'hard-wired' with lots of little 'clock-work' mechanisms that go off usually when stimulated by something but not necessarily in the appropriate environment. Your dog is behaving as if there were earth there in which to bury the food, even though there isn't (the vacuum); sometimes they will do it even without the food itself. He is telling you that he doesn't want it now, he wants to save it for later. I'm not entirely sure of the appropriate response, but would imagine it could simply be to remove the bowl and replace it later when he might be hungry. It's really interesting. I'll see if I can find a paper on it or some book reference if you like, but that is definitely what it is.


Thanks for this thought provoking idea. It got me thinking lol. I didn't think it was vacuum behavior and was leaning to something else or resource guarding. So I aked a friend . whether it was either . Here is his reply.. ".Neither.

A "vacuum behavior" is one with no obvious stimulus or motivation. This dog is doing a substitute behavior in a behavior. Prey acquisition is hypertrophied in dogs and are expressed in many breed-types as individual or sometimes sequences of behavior. Chasing game is hard of hunting but many herding dogs were bred not to display grab-bite which is the next behavior in the sequence.

After eating, canids take food back either in their stomachs (for regurgitation) or in their mouth to either a den site or rendezvous point. That is the "retrieve" behavior bred for in some breed-types and the end point of feeding behavior (serotonin release). If neither behavior is available or has a history of reinforcement, then the dog can substitute another behavior. This dog is burying the dish under the carpet which gets the neurochemical release that is internally rewarding" Ken McCort


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

*Update on Twinkle and her bowl...*

I noticed another thing today.... She does this mostly for her mornings meal. Does that mean she is not hungry? Should I give her food only in the evening?

Yesterday, she found a paper that she tried her best to cover her bowl with...

Watch the video 






And today finally she managed to cover her bowl with that (with a little help from my DH  ). Look at her contentment 

Not sure why the picture is sideways


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yep she doesn't want it. stick to your times twice a day and only leave down for ten mins. if she doesn't eat, take away and no food til next feeding. Don't give more than half her allotment at any time if you're feeding twice a day.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

My thoughts. . . He is trying to bury the food. Does he eat all of it? I would remove the little mat. Give him 20 minutes to eat and remove the food , if he does not eat, and feed him at the next meal.


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

*needs a plate?*

Is it possible he's trying to judge how high the side is? Lucky does not eat well or much from a bowl with high sides but eats very well off a plate. Just a suggestion and forgive me if it's already been made. Just watched the video (wow) and commented. Good luck with it in any case.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

I can definitely try a plate. This morning she didn't touch her food and I put it away. Evening when I offered she tried to bury it and then walked away. I had to finally hand feed her ( I seem to be doing that more and more these days  ) DH says I am teaching her new bad habits


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

I would not hand feed her. 

My boys love my company while they are eating. They will not eat if I do not stay in the room. And, then, I have to tell them to eat. I guess they like me to talk to them too while they are eating too, lol.


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## Alcibides (Feb 14, 2012)

AnnaM said:


> I can definitely try a plate. This morning she didn't touch her food and I put it away. Evening when I offered she tried to bury it and then walked away. I had to finally hand feed her ( I seem to be doing that more and more these days  ) DH says I am teaching her new bad habits


The hand feeding trap is an easy one. I stopped but I still take a little out of the dish and put it near Lucky to remind him what's in it. Other days like today he was ravenously hungry but sometimes he does a stalking routine before "catching" his food and other times he just ignores it. The plate made a big positive difference, not putting his head into something (and the metal bowl forget it). I thought your pup looked like she was wary about putting her head in. I'm sure this has been said before too, but does she like the brand. Switching also made a big diff for Lucky and he's been on Wellness happily for months now. It's a good thing they don't prefer a plate for water, all things considered.http://havaneseforum.com/images/smilies/smilies/party.gif Good luck.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

She is on Wellness Core Grain free right now, but I've been thinking I should change it too. The only problem is, our other dog, really likes it...


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

Anna - she'll eat when she's hungry. I've had to hand feed my dogs at different times, and Ollie as a pup. it was just a phase for each of them.

You don't have to change food entirely. you can mix in some Ziwipeak (expensive).


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## narci (Sep 6, 2011)

Oreo does this...with his bones to hide it.

Most likely he's trying to use the mat to cover/hide the bowl.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

Hello, Anna:

I just read the entire thread and enjoyed the videos of Twinkle (formerly Layla). This is new behavior for her (although I did not use a placemat for her bowl, so she may not have had an opportunity to cover her bowl).

She never wasted a moment eating her food as she knew that there were several other dogs close by who would be happy to inhale her bowl of kibble. In fact, all the dogs inhaled their food. If they didn't, there would be another dog very near by to give them incentive, hungry or not.

Because she was eating so fast (as was Blueberry), I bought bowls to slow them down. The result was that all the dogs finished at about the same time, and nobody came near other dogs while they were still eating.

This is one that I bought for Blueberry. I bought a shallower one for Twinkle.

Amazon.com: Skid Stop Slow Feed Bowl - Medium (Color May Vary): Pet Supplies

I don't know if she is not hungry or is being picky. I am sure that if Lola loves it, it must be tasty. She did enjoy Taste of the Wild Wetlands kibble, but she should have transitioned to the Wellness Core without difficulty.

I have fallen prey to handfeeding in the past; it's best not to do it. You have been given good advice about picking up the food after 10 minutes if she doesn't eat it and feed her at the next meal.

You are taking really great care of her, Anna.

p.s. This is Sally Minton's photo of Layla at the Havanese Club of Northern California August playdate. She's peeking out from behind my Buster's tail end.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Let's just face it. Our Havanese are different, they show all kinds of different behaviors. That is what makes them so special, loved, and adorable.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

AnnaM said:


> I can definitely try a plate. This morning she didn't touch her food and I put it away. Evening when I offered she tried to bury it and then walked away. I had to finally hand feed her ( I seem to be doing that more and more these days  ) DH says I am teaching her new bad habits


Yup. You are, especially if she's doing it more and more. If she'll eat from your hand, she'll eat from her dish when she's hungry. Healthy dogs will NOT starve themselves.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

StarrLhasa said:


> I have fallen prey to handfeeding in the past; it's best not to do it. You have been given good advice about picking up the food after 10 minutes if she doesn't eat it and feed her at the next meal.
> 
> You are taking really great care of her, Anna.


 Aww Starr, thank you so much for you words... In theory, I agree that Hand feeding is not a good idea, but when I see how small she is, I feel she cannot afford not to eat  Esp when it is her second meal in a row... And even eating from my hand, I feel she is doing so that I won't feel disappointed.


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## AnnaM (Jun 2, 2012)

krandall said:


> Yup. You are, especially if she's doing it more and more. If she'll eat from your hand, she'll eat from her dish when she's hungry. Healthy dogs will NOT starve themselves.


 I am going to stick to my guns today. I will not hand feed her. Yesterday she tried covering her bowl with her leash! :frusty:


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

That exactly what Bella does when she doesn't want to eat. I don't resort to hand feeding her even if she goes an entire day without eating. After 9 years I finally found a food she actually eats! She is eating both am and pm which is a real switch for her!


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