Why does my dog push food bowl away with his nose and not eating

Why Does My Dog Push His Food With His Nose? 8 Possible Reasons

The information is current and up-to-date in accordance with the latest veterinarian research.

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As a pet owner, you understand that mealtime is usually your dogs favorite time of the day, but sometimes the sound of your dog gobbling its meal down is replaced by the sound of the bowl scraping on the floor. You may have noticed your dog pushing its food with its nose, which can be confusing. This is a common practice for some dogs, and as long as they eat, there is usually no need for concern.

The 8 Possible Reasons Why Your Dog Pushes Its Food With Its Nose

Sometimes, your dog just enjoys playing with its dinner, but the behavior can have a purpose. If your dog is a picky eater, seeking attention, curious, or bored, they may push their food with their nose. It could also be due to a problem with the food bowl, vision problems, or dental issues. Also, they might be more interested in the food youre eating.

1. Stashing

Some dogs are stashers and will hide their food for later; this behavior comes from their ancestors. Your dog could be moving its bowl around to hide some of the kibble beneath the dish or spilling it out to move it to another location. If your dog noses its food and leaves some behind in the bowl, watch to see if they come back later to eat it.

2. Curiosity

Your dog may just be curious. You may have noticed this behavior before when your dog finds interest in random things. If you have changed your dogs meal, your pets sense of smell will make them curious about whats in the bowl, and they will use their nose to investigate.

3. Attention

Your dog may be in search of attention. They may want you to notice them, and by nudging their bowl, it grabs your attention. The attention you give them reinforces their behavior. Try not to respond if you suspect your dog is seeking attention to prevent reinforcing the behavior and turning it into a habit.

4. Boredom

Your dogs boredom is often caused by a lack of stimulation. If your pet hasnt indulged in its regular daily activities, like walking and playing, it may be nudging its food to have fun. We understand life can get busy, but even if you can take your dog out for a short walk or a few throws of its favorite ball, your dog may not choose its bowl as a play toy.

5. They Dont Feel Like Eating

If your dog has been snacking during the day or has found some table scraps, they may not be hungry.

6. Food bowl

The shape of the bowl could make it difficult to eat out of, and if you have just bought a new bowl for your pet, it could be the wrong shape or size, or maybe your dog is growing faster than you realized!

7. Breed-specific Traits

Over time, dogs have been bred to push their food around in order to find any hidden threats or prey. If your dog is a hunter, they may carry the scavenging traits and will nudge their food to find more of it.

8. Dental problems

Dental issues could be another reason for nosing the food, which requires a little more attention. Your dogs mouth could be in pain while it eats, and although theyre hungry, they are too sore to eat, so they sniff the food instead. To prevent dental issues, you can brush your dogs teeth using canine toothpaste, add a dental powder to your dogs meals, try a dental water additive, or speak to your vet about prescription dental food.

9. Vision problems

If your dog is experiencing visual impairment, it could be the reason for pushing their food. If your companion is getting on with life, old age could be a cause of vision loss. An injury near their eye may also be a reason they cannot see properly. If your pup is blinking rapidly or they are pawing at it, it could be a sign of an injury.

If you suspect vision problems with your dog, it is best to consult your vet right away.

Conclusion

While there are a few reasons your dog could be pushing its food with its nose, they are mostly of very little concern and can be remedied easily. Your dog could simply be bored, looking for attention, curious, exercising its breed-specific traits, or in some cases, it could be something that needs more attention like dental issues or visual impairment. If you are unsure and uneasy about your dogs puzzling behavior, it is always best to visit your vet.

Featured Image Credit: ienuskin, Shutterstock

Why Does My Dog Push Food With His Nose? 7 Vet Reviewed Reasons

The information is current and up-to-date in accordance with the latest veterinarian research.

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Dogs can do weird things sometimes, as any dog owner can tell you. Pushing their food around with their nose after you feed them is definitely one of those things that can make you wonder: Whats the reason for this behavior and what does it mean?

Believe it or not, dogs do have reasons that they do this, even though it may seem strange to us. Lets look at a few common explanations for why this happens.

The 7 Reasons Why Dogs Push Their Food With Their Nose

1. Stashing

Your dog may be trying to stash or bury their food to save it for later. Storing food is a trait that many wild dogs have, like wolves. Since they know that food may be scarce at times, they may try to save food that will last them a while. If your dog isnt feeling particularly hungry at meal time, they may try to stash their food, knowing that they will have it when they want it again.

2. Investigating

Dogs are curious. They may be pushing their food with their nose to simply investigate whats in the bowl. Have you recently changed dog foods or added something new to their diet? Nosing their food could be a sign that they have noticed the change and want to check it out. Dogs use their sense of smell to learn about the world around them. You will also notice this when a dog is on a walk or exploring the outdoors.

3. Bowl Placement

Maybe the dog isnt intentionally pushing their food, but the bowl is sliding across the floor as they eat. You can put a mat under the bowl to provide traction or place the bowl in the corner of the room so its blocked by the walls.

4. Bowl Size

If the bowl is too small for your dog to eat out of comfortably, they could push their food with their nose to try to move it to a more comfortable spot. The bowl should not touch or rub against your dogs cheeks or chin while they eat. If it seems like the bowl is too small, switch to a larger bowl or a plate and see if that stops the behavior.

5. Learned Behavior

If your dog pushed their food once and you gave them attention, they may be doing this because they want more of it. Maybe you assumed that your dog didnt like their food and tried to make it more appealing by adding treats to it. Your dog now thinks that if they push their food around, theyll get something else, including your eyes on them. Try ignoring your dog when they do this, and see if they eventually finish their meal.

6. Health Issues

If your dog has no interest in eating, they may push their food away. If they come back to it later when theyre feeling hungry and finish it, this isnt a cause for concern. If your dog is pushing their food away and seems to have no appetite in general, this could be a sign of a health problem. Some medications can also cause dogs to have a reduced appetite. If your dog suddenly stops eating, talk to your vet. They will likely need a thorough checkup to rule out any health issues.

7. Mouth Issues

Maybe your dog wants to eat and tries to do so but cant. If theyre pushing their food away even though they seem hungry, the issue could be in their mouth. Dental issues are common in dogs. Signs that your dog is experiencing mouth pain are drooling, bad breath, trouble eating or chewing, pawing at the mouth, and swollen or bloody gums.

Conclusion

While dogs may do many things that we dont understand, they do typically have their reasons for their behavior. If you notice your dog pushing their food with their nose, try to identify the issue and see if you can solve it. Any strange behavior should always be discussed with your vet, especially if it seems that your dog isnt feeling well.

Featured Image by: Jaja Fekiacova, Shutterstock

13 Reasons Why Your Dog Pushes His Food With His Nose

You noticed that your pooch has an unusual eating behavior.

Theyre suddenly being goofy with their food.

Fido keeps nudging their meal. And you wonder whats up with them.

Is this normal?

Why does your fur baby do this?

Keep reading to find out:

• Whether Fidos food nosing is instinctive.
• Serious medical reasons that cause this behavior.
• 13 real reasons why your dog pushes their food with their nose.
• And a lot more

Why does my dog push his food with his nose?

Your dog pushes his food with his nose because theyre a picky eater, curious, bored, seeking attention, caching, or moving their bowl. This could also be due to breed, reinforced behavior, food bowl issue, vision, or dental problems. Or they might want the food youre eating.

13 reasons why your dog pushes his food with his nose

#1: Curiosity creeps in

A dogs curiosity is very obvious in their actions.

Just like how they find interest in random things. Such as your pillows and shoes.

And this has been a part of their nature. Which often comes from the kick of their extreme senses.

Their smell, for example, is what causes them to be curious about their food.

You can tell that theyre curious if they keep nudging their food plus sniffing it. As if theyre trying to know whats in there through its smell.

Wondering how they do that?

Dr. Gibeault says that dogs can differentiate trillions of smells into parts.

Just like when we smell fresh-baked bread. Its more complex and detailed when it comes to canines. They could be detecting the flour, yeast, and salt in it.

Thats why their curiosity really creeps up when they smell something interesting.

The findings of a study suggest that dogs show curiosity if theyre exposed to unfamiliar situations or things.

In this case, it could happen if you suddenly change Fidos meal. Say you tried a new dog food recipe.

Your pooch may get used to their usual meals. So now, they could be smelling the newness in it. Which happens to pique their curiosity.

As a result, theyll nudge their food to investigate it. Trying to decode whats up with their meal.

If you really want to change your dogs diet, you may do it gradually. Or try to let them have a taste test first. Do trial and error. See what food will best suit your fur babys taste.

#2: Theyre saving it for later

Who knows? I might be hungry later.

Does your dog nudge their food and doesnt eat some of it?

If so, theres something you need to observe.

Try to watch them after nosing their food. Then, wait to see if theyll come back for it later and eat their meal again.

If this happens, food nudging might be your poochs way of caching.

Caching or storing their food is a behavior that came from their ancestors.

What do they do?

Wolves hunt for their food in the wild. And their hunting varies every time. Sometimes its abundant, other times they have none.

So, wolves know that their next meal will be uncertain. As a result, they try to save something that could last them for days.

In modern times, pooches display this behavior as a part of their nature. Which they may not only do with their food. It also applies to their toys or favorite objects.

Reading tip: 7 Strange Reasons Why Your Dog Puts Stuff Under The Couch

#3: Your pooch craves your attention

Im starved. ATTENTION starved to be exact, hooman.

Dogs and kids alike have their own ways to get their parents attention.

Some kids even get silly because of attention deprivation.

Just like when they intentionally mess around with their food. Because their parents are busy talking. And they want to get noticed.

This could also be the case for your fur baby. You mightve been too occupied with chores. And you dont pay attention to them anymore.

Especially if you usually look at them when theyre eating. And praise them for having such a good appetite.

A study shows that attention seeking in dogs is likely to happen due to a strong attachment to their human.

However, food nudging due to attention seeking might also become a

#4: Reinforced behavior

Yes, your dog might want you to notice them.

But does that mean that you should respond with attention?

If you do that, youre reinforcing the behavior. Your pooch will learn that youll be attentive if they nudge their food.

This response will only motivate Fido to do it repeatedly.

According to Dr. Cooper, a canines behavior towards food is easy to reinforce.

One example of it is this scenario:

Your dog pushes their food with their nose. And you reacted as soon as you noticed it.

Whats wrong? Dont you like your food? You ask and then pet them.

This is a winning moment for attention-seeking pooch. They might think that they finally cracked the code.

So, if youre a fur parent who does this, prepare yourself. Because your pawed baby will likely exhibit the behavior often.

#5: They dont feel like eating

Having no appetite might also make your dog push their food.

This is the same when youre served good food. But you just either stare at it or poke it with your eating utensils.

The reason?

You dont feel like eating it.

But decreasing or having no appetite is just a secondary feeling. It always has an underlying cause. This applies to humans and dogs alike.

So, what could be the reason why dogs have no appetite?

There are a few some of which are:

• Nausea.
• Illnesses.
• Overfeeding.
• Dental issues.
• Stomach problems.
• Recent vaccinations.
• Effects of traveling (especially if theyre not used to it).

Check out also: 11 Reasons Why Your Puppy Is Suddenly Eating Slowly + Tips

#6: Fido is a picky eater

Your pooch could also push their food because theyre picking the ones they like. And separating those they dislike.

This can be similar to children separating veggies from the food theyre eating.

Some say it tastes awful. Or it looks gross. But sometimes they just dont like it because its vegetables.

Dogs can also be picky when it comes to their food.

And maybe this is due to their limited ability to taste.

Trivia: Did you know that dogs have fewer taste buds than us?

Canines have only 1,700 taste buds. Compared to us who have about 9,000.

With this being said, foods to us will taste different to them. And that could be a factor in their picky eating behavior.

You might also like: Feeding Schedule For 5-Week Old Puppy: When & What To Feed

#7: Doggos boredom strikes

Has your pooch been inactive?

If yes, then this could be the cause of your dogs boredom. Which might also be the reason why they push their food with their nose.

Fidos boredom is often caused by understimulation.

Meaning: their minds arent exercised enough. Because of having no activity, training, or little play.

Remember the time when the lockdown happened?

Some people thought it was fun at first. No going to school and working from home.

But our activities were limited. We werent allowed to run outside, play at the beach or even chit-chat with people on the streets anymore.

And later on, a lot of us felt bored of staying indoors.

Some people might have tried doing other things to keep them entertained. Even the ones they dont usually do. Such as repainting the walls and trying a new hobby.

You see, this is how understimulation affects us. We try to do things to keep ourselves busy. And the same goes for our pooches.

Now, your pooch might be pushing their food because it cures their boredom. They could be playing with it by nudging to have fun. Just for the sake of doing something out of the ordinary.

#8: Wants the food youre eating

Picture this:

Its dinner time. You gave your dog their meal.

After that, you sat on the couch and started eating cookies. But your pooch suddenly leaps up to you.

They started sniffing your face. Then they went to their feeding bowl again. And they begin to push their food with their nose.

Fido looks back at you as if saying:

This doesnt smell like your food, Mom/Dad.

Yes, your pooch could be wanting to have a taste of your food.

A study suggests that dogs will seek the same food as their humans.

And some dogs may bark at you to convey that they want some of your meal.

Further reading: 7 Reasons Why Your Dog Barks While Youre Eating + 5 Tips

#9: Food bowls issue

Food nudging can also be due to inappropriate food bowls.

Its either the bowls opening is too narrow for your dogs muzzle. Or its shape makes it hard for your pooch to eat their food.

Say, your dog is a growing puppy. So, of course, youll start with giving them a small feeding bowl.

But some dogs grow faster than others. Such as Great Danes and Alaskan Malamutes. And the change might be unnoticeable for you since you always see them every day.

Now, your pooch could outgrow their feeding bowls. And it could be difficult for them to access their food.

If this happens, try to find a feeding bowl with a wide opening. And let your dog use it.

#10: Theyre trying to move it in a different place

I want a fresh eating environment, hooman.

Food nudging can also mean that your pooch wants to eat somewhere else.

This could be the case if your pooch is pushing their food along with their bowl.

Also if they nudge their food and pick some of it. And then carry it to another location.

Some dogs adore a certain spot in the house. It could be in the corner where theres great ventilation. Or near the window where they can watch people passing by.

And they might also want to eat their meals in their favorite place. So thats why they try to bring their meals there by pushing it.

#11: Breed-specific trait

Breeds can also influence your dogs behavior when it comes to food.

If your fur baby is a hunting dog, theyll likely display scavenging actions.

As their name suggests, they hunt for a living. During their days in the wild, they find food through foraging.

In domestication, pooches still exhibit this trait. You may often see dogs diving into garbage bins. And even to soils they see when walking.

And this instinct is also applied to Fidos food. They might nudge their food as if theyre trying to find more of it.

Now, try to see if your dog belongs to the hunting dog breeds. Here are some of them:

• Vizsla.
• Beagle.
• Brittany.
• Bloodhound.
• English Setter.
• English Pointer.
• Golden Retriever.
• Labrador Retriever.
• Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

#12: Vision problems

Sad to say, food nosing in dogs may have underlying medical causes.

And one of them is vision impairments.

Canines may push their food because they cant see it clearly. And they might be checking it through smelling.

This is likely to happen if your dog is aging. Which vision loss is a primary problem.

Also if they had an injury on their eye or near it.

Eyesight issues can either be gradual or sudden. And may also range from minor to complete vision loss.

Note: MVS says that blindness or eye problems may be an effect of serious health problems. Such as:

• Heart disease.
• Kidney failure.
• Liver problems.
• Systemic disorders.

You may spot signs of vision problems in your dog. Which include:

• Cloudy eyes.
• Eye irritation.
• Easily startled.
• Bumping into surfaces.
• Red, puffy and swollen eyes.
• Repetitively pawing their face.
• Refusing to be in a new environment.
• Suddenly unwilling to move in high places.

If youre suspecting vision problems in Fido, seek the help of an ophthalmologist right away.

#13: Their mouth hurts when they eat

Another thing to be concerned about is dental problems.

Canines push their food with their nose because their mouth could be in pain.

Your pooch might want to really eat their food. But they cant because its painful. So, as a result, theyll just have a sniff at their food.

VCA Hospital says that dental problems are a common health issue in dogs. It affects about 80% of dogs mostly when they reach 3 years of age.

Symptoms of dental issues in dogs are:

• Drooling.
• Bad breath.
• Missing teeth.
• Difficulty eating.
• Swelling under the eyes.
• Discharge from the nose.
• Pawing at the teeth or mouth.
• Red, swollen or bleeding gums.
• Tooth discoloration or visible tartar.
• Sudden weight loss or loss of appetite.

How to avoid this?

Brush your dogs teeth regularly. Plus, dont let them bite into hard objects. Such as rocks and bones. Particularly pork bones or small bones. Because this may cause cuts in their mouth. And obstruct their throat.