Why does my dog take a mouthful of food and walk away to eat it

Some dogs scarf down food so quickly they need a slow feeder bowl while others will take a mouthful of food, move it away from their bowl, and eat it. Although it doesnt make sense from a human perspective, there are some reasons for it from your dogs perspective. Why do dogs carry food away from their bowl to eat it? Here are a few reasons they could be doing it:

1. It Could Be A Residual Instinct

Moving or carrying food away from their bowl to eat it could be a residual instinct that your dog does without really thinking about it. In the wild, food can be scarce and is often a competition. You have to take what you can get, when you can get it, and you might have to fight for it.

When it comes to wolves, if there is a wolf that is unwilling to fight others or challenge a more dominant wolf for their portion, they will take what they can grab and move to a safer place where they can eat it without having to worry about competition or injury.

Your dog could be doing something similar, especially if they share a bowl or feeding area with other dogs. It could just be a way to be more relaxed while eating and to avoid competition or fights over food.

2. They Might Be Staking Their Claim

A lot of dogs that do this dont tend to go too far from the bowl. After all, they want to keep an eye on the main source of food even as they enjoy the smaller portion theyve carried away.

However, taking a portion of food and carrying it elsewhere, even if its still close to the bowl, is a clear message of ownership. Your dog could be staking their claim and essentially telling others not to touch it. Depending on the situation and the dog, this could escalate into resource guarding behavior.

3. Your Dog Could Be Lonely

Although many dogs will stay near the bowl when they carry food away, some dogs will end up in a different room entirely. If this is happening, take a closer look at the situation. If your dogs bowl is in another room and they are bringing their food to where you are to eat it, they may just be lonely and looking for company.

If they arent trying to make sure you cant get their food, they might just want your company while they are eating. At the same time, your dog feels safe with you. So, this could also be a way for them to protect themselves and their food while eating, even if there are no actual threats.

4. It Might Be The Bowl

Moving food out of the bowl to eat it seems to be common in dogs that are eating hard kibble out of metal bowls. It could be possible that your dog doesnt like the noise kibble makes in the bowl or their tags hitting the bowl as they are eating it. Other possibilities could be related to the feel or smell of the bowl.

You can try changing to a different dog food bowl if this behavior is making a mess on your carpet. You could also try putting a mat down under their bowls to see if theyll eat from there if they continue carrying food away from their bowls. You can try a few things to see if it makes a difference. If its not causing issues for you, then you can also just let your dog do their thing.

5. Your Dog Might Want Privacy

Another potential reason your dog may carry food away from their bowl to eat it could be your dog wanting more privacy or seclusion while they are eating. If their bowl is in a busy or loud area and they are moving to a quieter area to eat, you may want to consider moving their bowl to a quieter, more secluded area.

Some dogs may not mind having you nearby while they are eating or having a lot of activity going on and some dogs may prefer some privacy, seclusion, and quiet. Taking a closer look at the differences between where your dogs bowl is located and where they are taking food to eat can help you determine whether this is the case.

You may not ever need to answer this question. But, if your dog moves their food away from their bowl to eat, now you know a few reasons why they might be doing it. And, if anyone ever asks you, why do dogs carry food away from their bowl to eat it?, youll have a few answers to share with them.

Who knows? Maybe it will help you win at trivia someday. At the very least, figuring it out for your dog could be valuable insight for setting up a feeding station for your dog.

Why Do Dogs Walk Away From Their Bowl To Eat?

Every meal my dog - justlikecountlessothers - takes a mouthful of food from her bowl, and then briskly walks it over to the carpet, where she finally eats it. And I just don't get it. Why not just eat at your bowl?

She's an only dog, so it's not like she's trying to shield it from the competition. I'm certainly not super interested in eating her food.

Jill Layton

As it turns out, it might be more than just an adorable quirk. Like so many canine behaviors, it could be instinctive.

"When dogs in the wild make a kill, the outranked animals drag pieces of food away so they don't have to fight the leader or a more dominant canine for it," Dr. Julie Albright-Keck of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine told Vetstreet. "Fighting is obviously very risky, so most animals, especially subordinate ones, will go to great lengths to avoid an altercation."

But what about my dog, who has no one to compete with?

Sarah Wilson, dog expert and co-author of nine books, including "Good Owners, Great Dogs," says she might just be sensitive or nervous.

"This appears to be an urge to take their food to a quieter or more secure area to eat in peace," Wilson told The Dodo. "One of my dogs, PJ, would not take a mouthful away but would pick up her entire bowl to move to a quieter dining spot if she felt stressed."

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Stress would make anyone - dog or human - want to leave a situation.

But the behavior could also be attributed to nesting, Jonathan Klein, owner of I Said Sit dog training school in Los Angeles, told The Dodo.

"Almost like a squirrel that stores away food, except that most dogs don't save it, they eat it right away," Klein said.

Your dog could also simply have a problem with the bowl.

"If you're feeding your dog from a metal bowl, it's possible that the clinking sound created by food being pushed around, or a dangling collar tag, may be irritating or upsetting your dog," Dr. Holly Ahlgrim of DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland, Oregon, told The Dodo. "They may be chewing their food away from the bowl to avoid the sound."

In that case, she said, you should consider switching to a bowl made from a different material, such as plastic.

Flickr/Jim Winstead

Ahlgrim offered two other solutions if you're bothered by your dog's eating habits (if he's getting food everywhere, for example).

1. Move the dog's bowl to a location that he prefers. This should especially be considered if other dogs are present, as it may help to feed him in a place where there's less chance of any perceived threat or competition.

2. If your dog is comfortable with it, feed him in his crate. The Humane Society offers helpful crate training tips.

But as long as your dog's behavior is not aggressive or causing any harm, simply embrace this as part of her personality.

More than likely, if she's taking food from one room to the other, it's because it makes her happy - and that's really all we could ever want for our best friends.

5 Reasons Your Dog Takes His Food Out of the Bowl to Eat

Have you noticed your dog pick a bone, a chunk of food, or a mouthful of kibble and walk away from his food bowl to eat it elsewhere? If so, the behavior may have made you wonder, Why does my dog take his food out of the bowl to eat it?

Relax!

Not every reason your dog takes his food out of the bowl to eat it is a danger sign.

Eating his food out of the bowl could be pure dog instinct and not a danger sign. Your dog could be looking for mealtime company or simply keeping other pets in the home away from his food. In rare cases, the behavior points to food bowl rejection or a fallout of free feeding.

If you want to know more about these reasons, the rest of the article has interesting details. Lets start with the most obvious reason.

1. Its a Question of Instinct

Although dogs have lived with us for ages, they still use instinct on issues we resolve with reason.

Wolf observers have noticed that these ancestors of dogs learn to take and carry their food with their mouths when they are still young pups and keep the behavior throughout life.

Wolves readily tear away a piece of their large meal and carry it to a different location to eat it peacefully, hide it for later consumption, or bring it to a nursing wolf and her pups.

As wolf descendants with remnant wolf behavior, its not unnatural for a dog to take his food from the bowl and walk away to eat it elsewhere.

Some dogs may also show this behavior as a form of hoarding. This usually happens if the pet has suffered hunger when you are out for work. Dogs with a history of neglect, like those adopted from shelters or rescues, may also show hoarding behavior.

2. Your Dog Feels Like His Food is Threatened

Most of us know that before we de-wolfed them with domestication, dogs did many things in packs. That includes hunting and food sharing.

But, do you know that dogs have become solitary food gatherers compared to their wolf counterparts who still practice pack hunting?

Experiments with dogs and wolves have shown that dogs are less likely to work together to acquire food and less likely to share food with their conspecifics than wolves.

This explains why a dog will carry away its food from a bowl to eat it elsewhere if he feels that others around are interested in his meal. It could be another dog in the home or a cat that tends to dip its muzzle in the dogs bowl when its time to eat.

Taking food away from fellow pets is especially true if you dont feed them separately or if you feed the pets at different times.

The need to keep other pets away from his food bowl is just one of the many reasons your pet can develop a range of other strange dog-eating behaviors.

3. Youve Isolated your Dog from the Rest of the Family

Yes. You read that right!

Dogs are social creatures. They dont only enjoy a cuddle on the couch, but they are also happy eating close to the family.

So, if you cuddle and play with your pup but send him into exile when its time to eat, your dog might want to let you know he prefers eating close to you. Thats why he will prefer to take his food out of the bowl and eat it on the floor next to you.

Incidentally, there are also dogs who wont eat unless you watch them. On the extreme, Ive seen my dog bring food to my bedroom when I leave him to eat alone in the living room.

Also, if you have more than one dog and they are friendly with each other, the dogs might prefer being in each others company when eating.

This video has the humorous proof you need to believe that dogs enjoy eating with company:

4. Somethings Wrong with the Food Bowl

Its already unnatural that you make your pup eat out of a bowl, something his ancestors never did in the wild. But its an altogether different thing if you make your pup eat from a bowl that frightens him or makes eating uncomfortable.

A metal bowl can scare a pup whos just beginning to feed on solid food if he sees his image on the plate or hears noises when the plate moves.

I saw my dog just lie and watch his reflection on a metal bowl when he was a puppy, without touching his food. I had to replace the bowl, and he jumped right into munching his kibble.

Also, if the food bowl is too large for a puppy or too small for a big dog, eating from there can feel uncomfortable, making your dog prefer to take his food out of the bowl.

5. You Use Free-Feeding with your Dog

Apart from the obvious risk that free-feeding can cause canine obesity, doing so can mean throwing every practice of good dog feeding out of the window. Your dog will eat when he feels like it, and that could also mean picking a bit of the food out of the bowl and eating it while lying next to you as you work.

Dogs can also be picky about cleanliness. If the food is in the bowl all day, your dog might prefer taking what he wants to eat out of the bowl and eating it on the floor. That way, the remainder food stays clean for later.

Read more about the pros and cons of free feeding in our article dedicated to the topic.

Final Tips

If youve asked or heard someone else ask, Why does my dog take his food out of the bowl to eat its quite likely you or the other person consider this behavior weird.

However, taking his food out of the bowl to eat is not something you should fret about. Your dog might simply be going by ancestral dog instinct or seeking your company while eating.

If the behavior seems out of hand and you find food remains all over the house, a couple of refresher obedience training sessions will quickly resolve the issue.

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