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Archived Message

Linoleum Flooring?
by Clayr
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Linoleum Flooring? Curious to know if other Maltese owners notice this with their dog! Our dog's food dishes are in the kitchen on the linoleum floor, but when he goes to eat he brings his dry food on to the carpet? will not eat out of the bowl? Also when you ask him to sit in the kitchen he won't because of the linoleum tile? Is it possibly too cold for him? He also loves to sit right in front of the fireplace (when the fire is going of course), he sits very close, loves the heat!!

DISCUSSION:

I've seen lots of dogs do this, and I'm not sure why. It could be the warmth, or it could be an attempt to hide his eating so that a "preditor" wont take his food away. Obviously, I'm just guessing.. but sounds good anyway. Puff doesn't do this, but he does have a peculiar habit of pushing his food bowl around the kitchen. I can't see any real pattern to when or why he does it but he doesn't eat it until we put the food back it its usual spot. I notice it is most often when he is left alone for a while (seldom for more than 3 hours).. maybe its stress or boredom. They do have absolutely precious ways of showing when they are displeased don't they?
Aimee


My current Maltese, Buster does this (we have ceramic tile) and my previous Maltese did it also. I don't know why.
Libby & Buster
Our dog does this as well. He carries his food up the stairs to eat on the carpet in the livingroom. We have tried putting a rug in the room with his food, but he likes to bring it up to where we are, and chew it so all the little pieces crumble all over the carpet.
Patti
Hi, Clayr! It totally baffles me why Maltese do that dinner game! Lots of Maltese seem to "play with" their food. My Otto takes one kibble at time to the livingroom rug to eat it - then comes back for one more. Why? Maybe someone else knows - not me. But it cracks me up to watch the food rituals!
valan
Angel doesn't eat directly out of her bowl on the linolium floor either. Ever since she was a little puppy she likes to scoop up a small mouthful of food and then drop it in either my or my husband's lap and then proceed to eat them one by one. In the morning when I'm standing in the bathroom getting ready for work, she will try dropping them right on top of my foot. Of course they almost always roll off but then she is content to eat them. We think it is cute and isn't a problem at all. Now that she is older (3 years old) she doesn't always drop them on us but she also doesn't eat directly out of her bowl either. She sometimes takes her food over by the patio door and eats while looking outside. But I do think it is quite common for dogs to move their food away from their bowl. I'll bet they would do that even if you did put their bowl on the carpet. I guess we should just be glad it is dry food.
Sandee M.
Phoebe doesn't like to lay on the litchen floor - since it is winter I figure it's cold, but she is fed in her pen and it's on the carpet & she eats her food one little bite at a time and I'd say half of the time she carries a bite to her bed to eat, then returns for another bite & so on. She is a nibbler. My Yorkie used to do the same thing!
Leslie R.
Hi! In my opinion it NOTHING to do with floor-covering. It is inherent, in the wild all animals take their food to more privacy . I have one who lines up her food on the sofa, one piece at the time, then contemplates...sooo cute ! The only time they ever eat at the bowl..is when I add canned ! Proud & exhausted owner of 15 babies !
Renee
Divot loves to get in front of the fire place when he is tired. One time he was just standing there and looking strait into the fire. He kinda put his head down and all of a sudden he fell over to his side and went to sleep! We keep a blanket up there now incase he ever does it again it won't hurt so much.
Taylor W.
Forgive me for remembering Precious to everyone...but this is so cute! She, too, loved, preferred to eat in the living room ON the carpet. So, to protect the carpet, I placed her saucer of food onto a carpet sample. But that wasn't enough. One day, she began this weird, weird habit. She would try to cover the food up when she wasn't hungry. She would rub her nose raw trying to toss imaginary "dirt" over the saucer of food. So one day, out of desperation, I placed a washrag over the saucer to cover her food FOR HER. She was very satisfied, would stop trying to cover it up with dirt, and then when she got hungry, she would take and pull the washrag off and uncover her saucer of food. It was something she did for the rest of her little life.

Mikee and Angel have a different method. I place all their food into one large dinner plate and place it on the kitchen floor. He lays down and waits until she has finished and then he eats. He just watches her while she eats and never attempts to stop her. Then, after he finishes, if there are some crumbs left, they share them. I'm so happy they eat well together and do not have confrontations over food. I have to be alert that Angel leaves ENOUGH for Mikee, however!
Annette


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