Growling At Her Food - What Is She Trying To Tell Me?

[Guest BrindleBabes]

I've been trying to get my pups moved to a higher grade food. No problem with Tess. But in the morning, Grace circles her dish and emits this loud, pitiful whining/growling sound. Sometimes she will eat, but sometimes she won't. I've tried elevating her dish and changing her food. This morning she readily ate treats, so I do think she's hungry. Something is putting her off, but I have no idea what it is. I feed them separately, so I don't think it's resource guarding.

 

Does anyone have any idea what she's trying to tell me??

 

 

Edited January 10, 2013 by BrindleBabes

[Yamaha_gurl]

Maybe something in her mouth hurts?

[JAJ2010]

Have you tried feeding her in another room?

[Guest IrskasMom]

Is it just whining or is it barking ??? Whining I have no Idea what she is trying to tell you.

My Morty before he starts eating ( no matter what time ) barks and barks . I think he barks to scare everybody away from his Food .

[a_daerr]

Truman growls and barks if he even hears Henry's footsteps in another room. His is resource guarding.

What is her body language like? Tense, reluctant, excited?

[Batmom]

Was she doing this before you changed food?

[TheFullHouse]

If this is a new behavior since the food change, she may be trying to tell you that the food doesn't agree with her. It could be more than taste. Have you changed protein sources?

[Guest Scouts_mom]

Have you tried a different food bowl? I ask this because my "brave" Henry knocked his dish off the raised stand. The dish is metal so it made a lot of noise and Henry decided the dish was dangerous and won't go near it, even when it was filled with food.

[Guest BrindleBabes]

Truman growls and barks if he even hears Henry's footsteps in another room. His is resource guarding.

What is her body language like? Tense, reluctant, excited?

 

She seems upset. Even though they are on opposite sides of the room, she can see Tess when she eats, so maybe you're right. At noon I fed her in the bathroom and it went fine. So I'll try feeding her in the bathroom tomorrow morning. Maybe she's not interested in "breakfast" but doesn't want to leave her food (as Tess will absolutely, positively eat it!).

 

If this is a new behavior since the food change, she may be trying to tell you that the food doesn't agree with her. It could be more than taste. Have you changed protein sources?

 

I did change from lamb to venison, then to chicken. You might be right, that the chicken doesn't agree with her. At noon I gave her a choice of foods and she ate the lamb and rice first, followed by lamb grain-free and lastly venison. So it seems she does prefer her old protein source.

[a_daerr]

She seems upset. Even though they are on opposite sides of the room, she can see Tess when she eats, so maybe you're right. At noon I fed her in the bathroom and it went fine. So I'll try feeding her in the bathroom tomorrow morning. Maybe she's not interested in "breakfast" but doesn't want to leave her food (as Tess will absolutely, positively eat it!).

 

If I don't supervise, Henry will come over and try to steal Truman's food. That's why he growls.

Another thought, maybe your girl actually likes her new food and is trying to say, "Hey I like this stuff, so I REALLY don't want you to steal it!!"

[Guest larock]

I know this is going to sound weird by our grehound Roodie is deathly afraid of the smell of lamb. He'll freak out, growl and bark and stress pant till we remove all traces of it from the house. When he did this the first time we had no clue what was going on but the second time we put it all together. He actually won't even come with 10 feet of you if you're holding it. Maybe your girl feels the same way about chicken...

Edited January 10, 2013 by larock

[TheFullHouse]

She seems upset. Even though they are on opposite sides of the room, she can see Tess when she eats, so maybe you're right. At noon I fed her in the bathroom and it went fine. So I'll try feeding her in the bathroom tomorrow morning. Maybe she's not interested in "breakfast" but doesn't want to leave her food (as Tess will absolutely, positively eat it!).

 

I did change from lamb to venison, then to chicken. You might be right, that the chicken doesn't agree with her. At noon I gave her a choice of foods and she ate the lamb and rice first, followed by lamb grain-free and lastly venison. So it seems she does prefer her old protein source.

A lot of greyhounds don't do well on chicken. I have to have two protein sources for my dogs because they don't do well on just one.

[NeylasMom]

I know this is going to sound weird by our grehound Roodie is deathly afraid of the smell of lamb. He'll freak out, growl and bark and stress pant till we remove all traces of it from the house. When he did this the first time we had no clue what was going on but the second time we put it all together. He actually won't even come with 10 feet of you if you're holding it. Maybe your girl feels the same way about chicken...

There's actually something specific about lamb that causes odd reactions in certain dogs. There have been threads on here about it, although it's usually when humans are cooking it for themselves (something about the cooking process).

[Guest greytone]

I don't have any advice for you but am curious as to what you find out is wrong. I've never heard of a dog growling at their food.

[Guest snoopycomehome]

I think I have an idea what Grace is saying! She is requesting bacon-wrapped filet mignon...but if you can't get her that then a T bone would do. Medium rare.

[a_daerr]

There's actually something specific about lamb that causes odd reactions in certain dogs. There have been threads on here about it, although it's usually when humans are cooking it for themselves (something about the cooking process).

 

Totally unrelated to the original topic, but I just looked this up. CRAZY! The best explanation I could find is that when tested, one chemical compound that is unique to lamb (4-6-dimethyl-1,3-oxathiane) was associated with a stale/wet animal odor. I wonder if that could be plausible? Very, very odd.

[Guest BrindleBabes]

I think I have an idea what Grace is saying! She is requesting bacon-wrapped filet mignon...but if you can't get her that then a T bone would do. Medium rare.

 

I'm sure that would work!

[Guest BrindleBabes]

I don't have any advice for you but am curious as to what you find out is wrong. I've never heard of a dog growling at their food.

 

I will -- IF I ever figure this girl out! This morning she growled a little, then ate - but this afternoon she refused to eat. Soft poops (not unusual for her). Other than that, her energy level seems to be fine. Aaauugghhh! Maybe I'm being a helicopter mom and trying too hard?

[LadyGrey]

Mabe she saw a bad vision in the bowl.

[Guest joviemom]

It could be what you are feeding. My girl has a very sensitive stomach and gets acid reflux which can be really painful for her. It took me a long time to find something that she would eat. There were many mornings (mornings are generally worse for her) that she wouldnt eat but she would walk around whining after I put her food down.

 

After months of trials I found out I can do about 1.5 cups dry and .5 cup wet and she gobbles it up. It was really the wet food that made the difference. If I dont have the wet food in there she wont eat and will walk around whining! I imagine for my girl she would actually be in pain when she ate certain food and she was trying to tell me that.

 

Hope you can figure it out thought!

Edited January 12, 2013 by joviemom

[Guest BrindleBabes]

I may have figured this thing out. It didn't work to feed Grace in another room, so I moved Tess. Success! And as soon as Tess came around the corner where Grace could see her again, she growled. No idea why -- they've been eating within sight of each other for six years.

 

Then I got some samples of California Naturals grain-free lamb and added it to her venison & potato. She's been eating it and asking for more, so perhaps she was missing her old protein source (lamb). Fingers crossed that this combo agrees with her digestive system.

 

It's pretty amazing how they try to communicate with us -- and sometimes we even listen!

 

Thanks for all the suggestions -- they were very helpful.

 

'Copter Mom

[Guest MzBanks]

Dr. Jean Dodds has come up with food sensitivity tests - not cheap but probably cheaper than the vet bills treating the effects of food senisitivity - might help with finicky dogs as well, maybe they avoid what they know makes them sick.

 

http://www.nutriscan.org/