Food issues / poodle

[LynneD]

Hello all,

I have a 5 year old black toy poodle who is absolutely THE best dog I've ever had. She's smart (and loves to learn). She's loving. She's never been destructive. And so on.

Other info: I got her when she was about 3 months old from a local breeder. I have one housemate she also gets along with really well.

One thing she does have is over her food:

She always acts as if I'm going to take her food away.

For example, when I get home at night, she runs to greet me - and then hurries over to her bowl and starts trying to hide her food in different parts of the house. If I get too close, she tries to eat it or hide it in her mouth.

If she sees me looking that way, she lowers her whole body almost to the floor and looks up at me as if she's fearful (even if I'm just talking sweet to her).

If I completely ignore her and her food, she still does all this.

It isn't a big deal to me -- as I say, she's such a sweetheart just about every other way. But if I could be doing something else to help her feel more at ease (and therefore happier), that would be great!

Thanks for your thoughts -

Lynne

[passionate61]

Hi, if your poodle already has her food when you get home, who is feeding her?
Can you not feed her yourself when you get home. Then she would associate you with being her provider.

[LynneD]

Hello! I feed her twice a day -- I give her half her food in the morning, before I leave for work. And then I give her the other half after I have dinner in the evening. She acts the same way with both meals.