Why do some dogs kill and eat their puppies?
Unfortunately, nature at work is oftentimes neither cute nor cuddly and a mother eating her young is a prime example. It's something that occurs frequently in the wild.There are several reasons why this could happen with a dog and her pups.The main one is the mother senses something is "wrong" with a puppy. This can include a congenital anomaly or a puppy that was stillborn. The mother's instinct is to rid the litter of the unhealthy puppy to give the remaining young the best chance for survival. In this instance, it's not necessarily a sign that the dog is unfit to raise the puppies. It can happen if the dog is in a stressful environment. This could be a loud shelter or a busy home. Too much human attention too soon is another cause. Inexperience is another. Stress or fear can manifest as aggressive behavior and she could easily direct it at the puppies.If the dog has mastitis (a painful inflammation of the nipples), the intense pain of nursing could cause her to kill the puppies. Owners should regularly monitor their dog for this condition to avert any tragic outcomes. Finally, some dogs just aren't cut out to be mothers; they're overwhelmed by birthing a litter, and the flood of hormones can cause unpredictable behaviors. Sometimes, after a day or two of supervision, the mothering instincts could kick in, but it's by no means guaranteed.A veterinarian I worked with offered one possible remedy to clients in this predicament: remove the puppies from the mother until it was time for their feeding; muzzle the dog, position the puppies to nurse and remove them afterwards. If after a couple of weeks, the aggressive behavior is still present, the owners must resign themselves to bottle feeding the puppies or finding a surrogate.Any dog that shows aggression towards its puppies should be spayed as soon as possible.
My dog will only eat when I'm in the room with her?
I've recently rescued a 5 yr old mini-dachshund. She was neglected rather badly by her previous owner. In the two months we've had her, she has made wonderful improvements! Her health and her personality are improving every day. The problem is, she will only eat her dog food when I'm in the same room. She will try to eat the cat food sometimes, and doesn't need me in the room for that. But to eat her own food - I have to be standing right there. This is problematic because both my fiancee and I work, and I attend school as well. So we can't stand in the kitchen when it's time for her to eat. She is well cared for, and gets two walks a day. I just worry because if I'm gone all day, her food will sit in the bowl all day. Untouched. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!
Why does my dog only eat when we eat?
I have 2 year old yorkie. She's almost too smart for her own good! I've noticed that she will not eat her dog food, unless me and my husband sit down and eat. Today I skipped lunch and so she didn't eat, when we both sat down at dinner time she ran to her food dish and ate! Then after dinner about an hour later she was passed out sleeping and we grabbed some desert, she woke right up and ran to her empty dish and sat there like "Where's mine huh?"....Why does she only eat when we do?
Will a dog eat itself to death if you give it twenty pounds of food? Or will it get full and walk away at some point?
I came home from work one day to find my dogs had broken into the cabinet and eaten an entire week's worth of food in one sitting. There was a shredded bag, a couple areas covered with puked up dog food, and two dogs lying on their sides as if they were in A LOT of discomfort. I cleaned up the mess, trying not to yell because if you don't catch a dog in the act yelling at them accomplishes nothing. Then, I got my dinner and went to the living room only to hear my dogs whining and pushing their bowls around because it was almost six o'clock, their normal time for dinner. I'm speculating that it's possible for a dog to eat itself to death, but more likely it's just going to be sick and then ready to eat again after that.Edit: People have pointed out to me that it's possible for a dog to die from bloat from eating too much of something or something it shouldn't have eaten. I agree that it's NOT a good idea to give dogs free reign of food unless you're 100% sure you have a "grazer" but still think, overall, the majority of dogs will vomit as a means of self-protection than will die from overeating.
Is it ok for my dog to eat guinea pig food?
Dogs love sampling other kinds of pet food. They'll basically take anything they can find. My dog liked eating guinea pig food, too, as well as bird food, fish food, and especially cat food. They're very good at scavaging. Guinea pig food won't hurt your dog (unless she eats huge amounts of it), but she definitely won't get all the nutrients she needs from it. Basically guniea pig food is made up mainly of vegetable matter, and your dog needs more protein than that. Maybe you should gradually shift to a different brand of dog food. If she's not eating it then she probably doesn't like it. Either that or she's being fed too many substitutes, like table scraps or treats-- or guinea pig food. :)
My Husky eats too fast. How to slow him down?
My 2 year old male Siberian Husky eats too fast all the time. He attacks the bowl and finishes in about 10-15 seconds. Whenever i put his bowl in front of him, i stand in front of the bowl and tell him a loud NO several times, but instead he starts eating even faster. I don't think he is chewing at all, he is more like drinking the food. I've heard this can cause twisting of the stomach, a serious and sometimes deadly condition. How to make him understand that he must eat slower?
My dog won't eat her food, but she'll beg for ours. Why? She'll whine and go crazy for human food, but when it comes to dog food, she avoids eating it. It's as if she knows her food doesn't taste as good as ours.
If she doesn't eat her own food and she's not starving to death, I'll have to draw the conclusion that her strategy is working and that you are being manipulated into feeding her your food.......? ;-) Let me tell you a true story.I'd had a very shy dog here for two weeks to work with her. The day after she was back with her owners they called me. I wondered slightly worried if everything was ok...?"Yes, yes, she's fine. She's really doing much better. But I have to ask: since she's come back she doesn't beg at the table any more! We've been trying to fix that for two years and never managed; how could you make her stop begging at the table in just two weeks??""I didn't feed her from the table.""Oh..... Ok... We'll try that."True story. :-) In my experience fussy eaters who turn their noses up at all types of dog food have become this way for two reasons:They are given plenty of other foods and treats instead.They are not given enough exercise to work up a proper appetite.So the solution is, as is usually the case :-), with the owner. You need to stop giving her lots of other unhealthy food and stick to your guns with tasty, good quality dog food as her only option, and you need to make sure that she gets plenty of exercise and activity so that she is hungry when she comes back and you present her with the food. I also recommend feeding her before you eat, so that she has the stomach full when you're eating.Good luck!
Can dogs eat hot food? Or is it just a myth?
My bff will be eating something and her dogs will be begging and if the food is hot or something she tell them that they can't have any it's too hot. I train and if my dogs are really good I use little pieces of hot dogs, i freeze them so i need to heat them up before use. It's always a little hot when i feed them it so when I do my bff will tell me that it's bad for them. I know that it can burn their tongues I never have it that hot.