• Hi - just wondered if any other B's were so messy when eating - My B is the worst messy eater I have ever seen - only got her at 5 months - so not sure what started this - but she will take a full mouthfull of food and then walk over to the cleanest part of anywhere she fancies and chew/gulp/dribble food - just like a baby… She then ignores the crumbs and repeats the process. I have tried various things , like feeding smaller qty's - but nothing has improved her "manners". Currently only have 1 dog - so perhaps some competition would improve it - but dont want to do that now.
    She is also very picky about "treats" being offered by hand - sniffs it first , nudges it , then licks it - whilst I am standing waiting and then curls up her lip and tries to nibble it....
    So I just drop it and let her get on with it....

    Anybody else have a messy food eater ?

    kris


  • If you feed her in a crate/kennel then she can't walk around with the food. Set a time that she can eat the food, be it 10 minutes or 20 minutes and then take it away. And I would not say this is a "Basenji" trait, some dogs are just messy when they eat. So limit the area…..


  • Usually the taking a mouthful and moving somewhere else to eat is so they can eat that morsel somewhere safe and be undisturbed. Possibly it comes from an instinctive behaviour that another creature might come over to the food source for their 'share', so its safer for the dog to take a mouthful, then move away from the food source where they might be challenged and so they get to eat each of their mouthfuls in peace.

    As Tanza says, feed her in her crate then its only her bed she is mussing up!


  • Yup, feed in the crate. My 4 are fed in their crates - I rarely find a crumb because even if they make a mess when they are eating, the clean it up right after.

    All of mine get various treats throughout the day, but if a crumb is dropped, one of them is sure to "Hoover" it at some point so there are rarely crumbs on the floor.


  • Mine eat up without any mess - in fact after feeding, the bowls are 'cleaned' again by all!! Gbala then gathers them all up and places one inside the other and proceeds to lick again!

    I've found that most Basenjis are too greedy to leave food around. Are her 'poos' normal?


  • We used to have one that brought her kibble , a mouthful at a time, into the living room as she did not like to eat alone. She cleaned up every crumb, however!


  • I thought when I read this you only have one b right…because my girl will gobble up her food to make sure the boy doesnt' get it.


  • Both mine do this too… take a bite , carry it a few feet, spit it out and eat at their leisure. weird. they don't do it ALL the time, but often. silly pups.


  • This is the first time I have had only 1 dog - not my choice but thats how it is. Always seen the other dogs "check" to make sure the portions and quality were "fair" and any crumbs hoovered up. any dog that wanders away from its food is obviously finished and doesnt need any more - and his is always tastier than mine anyway…
    1 pair always ate half (as quick as possible) and then swapped bowls - other one said "dont even think about it".

    But now with just the one - seems she has all day and doesnt mind - I havnt really worried about it - she is a little princess and has rights you know !


  • Mine always carries the first bite to the den and drops it there for later. We call it the Ceremonial Bite….


  • Just shows how different they can all be!

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