Table manners and timing

"Peter" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

> In an attempt to mimmic pack behavior, Gretchen doesn't eat
> until after the humans have eaten.
> She sits quietly with an expression of intense
> anticipation, watching every move
> that is made until we are finished. She won't move until
> given a verbal release,
> then she jets to her table.

You first implied that she chooses to not eat until you've
finished your meal, then you write that you release her to eat.
Which is it?

My dogs wait for a release to eat, too, but I don't purposely
have them hold it while I have my own dinner. I dislike
hyperbole, but that'd be torture for Rocky.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

On 6 Feb 2008 19:02:08 GMT, Rocky wrote:

>"Peter" said in
>rec.pets.dogs.behavior:
>
>> In an attempt to mimmic pack behavior, Gretchen doesn't eat
>> until after the humans have eaten.
>> She sits quietly with an expression of intense
>> anticipation, watching every move
>> that is made until we are finished. She won't move until
>> given a verbal release,
>> then she jets to her table.
>
>You first implied that she chooses to not eat until you've
>finished your meal, then you write that you release her to eat.
>Which is it?

Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic pack
behavior.

Mustang Sally
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

sighthounds & siberians wrote:
>
> Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic pack
> behavior.


Getting back to my original question in this thread, does mimicking pack
behavior explain Cubbe's not eating when we're not home?


--Lia
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

In article ,
Julia Altshuler wrote:

>
> Getting back to my original question in this thread, does mimicking pack
> behavior explain Cubbe's not eating when we're not home?

I guess it depends on your definition. Most dogs are "social" eaters.
If that makes it pack behavior, so be it.

I haven't had an only dog in a long time. All of my dogs eat whatever
is given to them, immediately. But they have each other.

Years ago, I would give my dog a milkbone before I left for work, come
home after work, knock on the kitchen window, and he would get up from
his favorite napping space on the deck, with the milkbone, bring it in
through the dog door, and eat it.

Teddy, my wonder Golden, would never touch a biscuit in a wide open and
full box that sat on the kitchen floor. I think maybe part of it was
when home alone, you don't eat. When we were home, he was fed and had
companionship and never went for it then either.

Most of my dogs don't seem to consume water when I'm not home either.
Not always a good thing, just what it is.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

In article ,
Janet Boss wrote:
>I guess it depends on your definition. Most dogs are "social" eaters.
>If that makes it pack behavior, so be it.

I think it could be a lot of things, depending on
circumstances. I have a friend whose dog is kind of
neurotic, and he won't eat unless she's home. Nobody else
will do. If you feed him and she's not there he'll ignore
his food and keep running to the front window and looking
out. It's a problem when she travels, which she does
rarely, and you have to be concerned about an anxious dog.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - shore.RemoveThis@panix.com

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message

> sighthounds & siberians wrote:
>> Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic pack
>> behavior.
>
>
> Getting back to my original question in this thread, does mimicking pack
> behavior explain Cubbe's not eating when we're not home?
>
>
> --Lia
>

Chiming in from lurking status...

Chloe used to leave her food and not eat when we were not at home. Then
something changed a year or so ago. Can't explain exactly. On one hand
she had gained a little too much and we put her on a diet about 3 yrs ago -
which meant her dry food was measured and restricted. But even in the
beginning of that regimine, if we fed her right before leaving we would
return home to a still full bowl.

Now she has changed into the dog that scarfs down food within seconds of it
hitting the bowl (after release) and she now comes and gets me up to be fed
and as soon as she is done eating she'll go to my husband and beg him for
food and act like she hasn't been fed. (mind you - she lost her 5 extra
lbs and her weight has been stable for a couple years now, so its not like
she is underfed).

What makes them change their eating habits.
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:08:26 -0500, Julia Altshuler
wrote:

>sighthounds & siberians wrote:
>>
>> Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic pack
>> behavior.
>
>
>Getting back to my original question in this thread, does mimicking pack
>behavior explain Cubbe's not eating when we're not home?

If by mimicking pack behavior you mean the dog is mimicking its human
pack by only eating when they're home, I don't think that's what's
behind it. If you mean (or Peter meant) the dog is mimicking wolf
pack behavior by only eating when or after its humans eat, I don't
think that's the case either. Some dogs eat when their people are
home, some don't. Most of the dogs I know are happy to eat when
people are home and when they're not. Once in a while Gene doesn't
want to eat unless someone is in the room with him. Triss prefers to
eat without a human in the room. With Music, we're lucky he hasn't
eaten the house itself. Such behavior might be explained by the dogs'
bond with the owner, by personality quirks in the dog, by prior
experiences in a former home, or by a variety of other things.

Mustang Sally
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

sighthounds & siberians said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

>>You first implied that she chooses to not eat until you've
>>finished your meal, then you write that you release her to
>>eat. Which is it?
>
> Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic
> pack behavior.

Yup.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

Julia Altshuler said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

>> Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic
>> pack behavior.
>
> Getting back to my original question in this thread, does
> mimicking pack behavior explain Cubbe's not eating when
> we're not home?

Perhaps in a "no competition here so I don't have to gobble it
down" way - I see that when there's only one dog to feed, but I
wouldn't parlay that theory to you and Jim being competitive
when it comes to Cubbe's food.

If I had to stick a label on it, I'd say it was anxiety and that
food was low on her list of priorities when left alone.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

"Rocky" wrote in message

> "Peter" said in
> rec.pets.dogs.behavior:
>
>> In an attempt to mimmic pack behavior, Gretchen doesn't eat
>> until after the humans have eaten.
>> She sits quietly with an expression of intense
>> anticipation, watching every move
>> that is made until we are finished. She won't move until
>> given a verbal release,
>> then she jets to her table.
>
> You first implied that she chooses to not eat until you've
> finished your meal, then you write that you release her to eat.
> Which is it?
>
Sorry for my poor communication. That is *my* attempt to mimmic pack
behavior, not hers. I choose when she eats. She has a bed is in the next
room and she watches us while we eat, her choice, she could be anywhere in
the house that she wants. When we finish eating she sits and stays in the
living room doorway on command, while I prepare her meal. I then take her
food to her room (she has her own bedroom, adjacent to ours). I then return
to the living room and sit down. She will stay in that position until I
release her.
Peter
>
> My dogs wait for a release to eat, too, but I don't purposely
> have them hold it while I have my own dinner. I dislike
> hyperbole, but that'd be torture for Rocky.
>
> --
> --Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message

> On 6 Feb 2008 19:02:08 GMT, Rocky wrote:
>
>>"Peter" said in
>>rec.pets.dogs.behavior:
>>
>>> In an attempt to mimmic pack behavior, Gretchen doesn't eat
>>> until after the humans have eaten.
>>> She sits quietly with an expression of intense
>>> anticipation, watching every move
>>> that is made until we are finished. She won't move until
>>> given a verbal release,
>>> then she jets to her table.
>>
>>You first implied that she chooses to not eat until you've
>>finished your meal, then you write that you release her to eat.
>>Which is it?
>
> Either way, the dog's behavior is not an attempt to mimic pack
> behavior.
>
> Mustang Sally
>
Sorry I worded that so poorly. That was my attempt to mimmic pack behavior,
not Gretchens.
Peter
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

LFM wrote:

> What makes them change their eating habits.

I switched my dogs from a 24-hour buffet to set feedings, and my
formerly "wouldn't eat unless I was standing right next to him" dog
very quickly developed a new appreciation for his kibble.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing 

Rocky wrote:
>
> Perhaps in a "no competition here so I don't have to gobble it
> down" way - I see that when there's only one dog to feed, but I
> wouldn't parlay that theory to you and Jim being competitive
> when it comes to Cubbe's food.
>
> If I had to stick a label on it, I'd say it was anxiety and that
> food was low on her list of priorities when left alone.


This is interesting and makes more intuitive sense to me than the pack
behavior idea.


Cubbe doesn't seem to be anxious when she's left alone. While I don't
have a camera on her, as near as we can tell, when we leave, she watches
us pull out from the window. Then she sleeps on the couch. When we come
home, she will have heard the car and be ready to do the waggy dance at
the door. Sometimes we catch her snoozing and sneak up on her. And
since the mice moved in downstairs, sometimes it will be evident that
she's been staring at walls because of the way she doesn't waggy dance
when we come in. On occasion, she'll run to the door, look at us
excitedly, then run back to the wall and keep wagging at it. In other
words, I think she does what she always does in the house whether we're
home or not. Most dogs follow their people from room to room. This one
doesn't bother.


So that doesn't sound like anxiety to me, BUT there's still the business
about her not eating when we're gone. She doesn't drink either.


Obviously I want her to be comfortable when we're gone. She always gets
a chance to potty before we go, and she sometimes gets fed just before
we leave. There are plenty of times she's run to the water dish the
moment we've gotten home and tanked up. I hate to think of her being
thirsty, but since there's water in her dish, I don't know how to tell
her to go ahead and drink when she's thirsty. Then on the other hand, I
hate to think of her uncomfortably holding her urine because she drank
too much and we're not home to take her out. The best we can do is to
make sure we're home to feed, water, and walk her, and leave the rest of
the decisions up to her.


Maybe her not eating when we're not home isn't so much anxiety as being
low on her priority list like you say? I'm just thinking out loud here,
not sure what's going on. It's interesting to me that other people with
single dogs have reported the same thing.


--Lia
 >> Stay informed about: Table manners and timing