Meal time is getting worse
We feed Barney twice a day, morning and night. He goes absolutely nuts, like in a way that is making me wonder if he IS actually mentally wrong. Typical morning feeding: Come downstairs and pet and hug him for a few minutes. Then I go to fill his water. That's when it starts. He starts spinning and running and growl/barking and running and sliding into the walls (from running too fast and trying to stop or turn). Then, I go to feed him. We have an island in the kitchen that I place his bowl on when I mix his food. He trots around and around the island, like patrolling it. Then, when he senses I am about done and ready to put his food down, he starts walking VERY slowly...like step...step...step...all tense. I'll put his food down, he'll gobble a few bites, then spins and runs and barks...and now almost everytime he gets so worked up he pukes up kibble (all dry...more like he is so worked up that they get caught in this throat and he coughs them up from there). I don't mind that he gets excited at meals...I always loved to watch Maggie do her spins and jumps...sometimes she would catch great air! But this just seems so crazy---manic. Also--he does not have food aggression. I can take his bowl away from him while he is eating it with no problems or growling...so the growling I mentioned earlier doesn't seem like it is related to food aggression or anything. PLEASE HELP...anyone, anyone.... |
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LOL  You paint a very funny and familiar picture. Barney seems to be on overdrive and can't control himself. No advice, but laughter. |
| Have you tried leaving the room after putting the bowl down? Also, I think I would keep the morning excitement before breakfast to a low....ie..dont say...want your breakfast huh huh huh..and get him excited...Id just go in there, not say a word, put his food down and walk out of the room...see what happens....cant hurt anything to try that...
ps...panda likes neurotic hyper barney....it makes her feel normal |
| Laughing at the funny image in my head, but I suppose it's loses it's charm living it everyday.
I agree with Darcy, make it low key as possible. I completely ignore my dogs first thing, let them out to pee...while they are outside I fill dishes, they come back in. I set food down and walk away. Then later, love them up and play. But our mornings are busy, and I can't have them excited...I am making lunches, getting kids off to school etc. |
You might also want to try eating a little cracker or something rightbefore giving him his food... show him that the "alpha dog" gets to eat, and then he does... might help the behavior a little ie... food order is established, no need to act like a ding a ling? Just something to try...  |
Thanks everyone, glad my problems are so amusing to you all! 
Yeah...all good suggestions. I don't know. I really don't make a big deal of seeing him in the morning. It is mostly just a few pets and a good morning...I feel bad, though, because morning is so hectic that I basically just have time to feed him and leave, so I want to at least pet him so he knows that I love him while I am gone all day... I've tried walking out of the room, and now, since it is so cold, I put his food down and then go out to warm up the car, and as soon as I leave the kitchen he just barks and barks and jumps up on the baby gate...by the time I get back in he is back to eating, but... I've tried the loud 'no' and that doesn't do anything. I've tried ignoring and that doesn't do anything. I've tried preparing his food while he is outside and just having it there on the ground waiting for him when he gets back in and that doesn't change things either. He's better when my husband feeds him (he's apparently the alpha--he'll do everything for my husband) but even though I am strict and do all the things he does, Barney knows the difference. I'm just afraid that he's going to choke on his food and I don't know how well I'll be able to Heimlich maneuver him! Oh, and Barney says to say "Hey, sweet thing!" to Panda...   |
| Maybe he associates eating with you leaving and it's causing him anxiety. Do you think you can change up the routine or give yourself extra time to see if that works?
Verve UP |
| I'm late enough in the morning as it is...NOT a morning person at all. I don't think I could, in all honesty. I know that makes me sound like a horrible person...
I've thought that it probably is some form of anxiety, but I don't really know how to lessen it. He used to be horrible in the crate...drooled to the extent we thought he had peed in there, so we stopped using it and he's fine. But he does it at night, too, when we have all the time in the world. |
| Have you tried not feeding him when he is acting out of control? If mine bark or whine when I am preparing or about to deliver food, I stop preparations and put their food away. If she does not sit and stay quietly until I release her, she does not get to eat. A couple skipped meals and now they sit quietly at my feet until I give them the ok. I think we've talked about this before but I forget why that did not work for you. Sorry if I am repeating myself. |
| what about putting him in a crate to eat? then he wouldn't have the room to jump all over, but then he might just spill the food all over in the crate. I don't know, that's all I could come up with... |
| Val...I tried that, but it didn't seem to make a difference. He'd be ravenous at the next meal, but still take the time to go crazy. He might not have been as crazy, but what do I do at that point? Say I take away his breakfast. Then, at dinner he is still 80% of his usual craziness. I can't take away his dinner, too, can I? So, up until this point, he seems to have forgotten by the next morning and it all starts over again. I went probably 3 or 4 days in a row of not letting him have his breakfast to no avail. And I know that's not very long, but I don't want to starve him.
As for the crate...that would cause more problems than it would solve, I'm sure! It gets better if my husband feeds him a few times in a row, but he's in med school, so he's not around as much during meal times as I am. I feed him 6-7 mornings a week and probably 5-6 nights... |
| How about a leash attached, step on it ,give him some quick sit/stay commands. Then a wait, until the food is ready, set it down and with him restrained maybe it will be enough time to calm down.
Or skip the morning feeding, or make a free feed in place...if you can be home. |
| I leave for work at 8ish and don't get home til close to 7, so I can't be home to supervise the free feeding.
The leash thing might work, although right now all he associates the leash with are walks or going for rides, all things that make him equally crazy with excitement, so I'm not sure that would help! |
| Sorry, just had to laugh at your description. Mealtime was crazy here with my two...
... now they are both given the sit/stay command while I get their bowls ready. That's funny to watch, too, cuz sometimes the youngest one tries to sloooowly creep closer. She knows, though, that she's got to return to her spot before the food bowls go onto the floor. Donna S. Chloe & Lucy's mom |
| I know you don't have much time in the morning, but if you can make a few extra minutes, try hand feeding him. Our trainer is a big proponent of hand feeding to reinforce pack order on an ongoing basis. A few days a week I'll hand feed Bailey about half of his food just to remind him that I'm the big dog. It's great for training because he has to obey commands or he doesn't get another handful.
Good Luck! |
| I hand feed Maggie when she seems to be developing an attitude (doesnt sit fast enough, grumbles, etc). I make her sit, down, stay, etc. too before each portion. She hates it but it works.
I do think that they can probably handle a few skipped meals. It does need to be clear that his behavior is the reason the food goes away. With mine, I say Quiet and the next whine is what causes me to stop and walk away from food prep. Anyway, I realize that doesn't work for you. That's too bad though. |
Valerie wrote: Have you tried not feeding him when he is acting out of control? If mine bark or whine when I am preparing or about to deliver food, I stop preparations and put their food away. If she does not sit and stay quietly until I release her, she does not get to eat. A couple skipped meals and now they sit quietly at my feet until I give them the ok. I think we've talked about this before but I forget why that did not work for you. Sorry if I am repeating myself.
we had the same problem with Daisy, and she pull it ower to the other dogs. I just did the same thing as Valerie and it took only 2-3 days and then they know that if they wanted the food they have to sit. After I started to do this all is calm!  |
Anonymous wrote: Maybe he associates eating with you leaving and it's causing him anxiety. Do you think you can change up the routine or give yourself extra time to see if that works?
Verve UP I agree that it may be an anxiety related thing. Have you thought about putting his breakfast into a couple of those puzzle cubes and letting him work at getting it while your gone. That way he'd be less likely to associate the meal with your leaving. |
| Sounds like he is getting wound up in anticipation of mealtime and/or you leaving.
I would change the routine so it is not as predictable. Like feed him in another room, put his dish down before getting his water, even put it in another place. And like Valerie does, no food for a boy who is dancing around. He can sit quietly and wait. When the dish is down, the first time he grabs some and runs the dish comes up and you start over again. Might be best to start this on a weekend, when you have time. Another idea would be to mix his food up the nite before and freeze itside a huge Kong...the big, black ones are great. It is not the same as a bowl of food and will keep him busy for a long time. |
| Phew! I thought feeding here was bad with Jack. It's was maybe half of what you are going through.
In 10 months Jack has improved, not perfect by any means, but he has improved. We prefill the bowls before the meal so Jack doesn't have to endure bowl filling. He gets fed second to last. He must sit and stay before eating. We still can't get near his head or bowl while he eats, but I can scratch his butt......a little bit. I try not to scold, but rather acknowledge good behavior. I never leave any of them alone while feeding. I sit quitely as a referee. After feeding they all get their beloved "cookie" and leave the house. AT that point I clean the bowls and refill them, stacking them away until the next feed. Then they can come back in. As stated before, could his misbehavior be tied to you rushing off to work and he's acting out his anger in this manner? |
| I am pretty sure it is about me leaving and he is angry--I would be!
This morning...CALM!! I don't know if this is a fluke or what, but I came downstairs and immediately went to the pantry (on the other side of the room from where the dog stuff is kept) and helped myself to a handful of Cheerios. I set the box on the counter and just went in and grabbed a few and ate them. Barney, meanwhile, was sitting on the other side of the room, jsut watching, doing nothing. Then I went to grab the water pitcher and turned on the faucet (still eating Cheerios). No madness (water was a super crazy issue before). Then I fill the water bowl. Then I fill his food bowl and still nothing. He just gulped and ate quietly, no barking, growling, dancing, spinning. If all it takes is eating a handful of Cheerios before starting his routine, then yippee! Still, cautiously optimistic... |
There you go, just mix up his routine each morning and he'll be fine. 
Tomorrow maybe you can do a crazy momma dance for him! |
VerveUp wrote: Tomorrow maybe you can do a crazy momma dance for him!
I usually reserve that for dinnertime! |
| Wow, Steph! I hope that's all it takes! Keeping my fingers crossed for you! |
| I'm so glad he was better!!! Yay!!! |
| keep us posted this is interesting...who knew you eating would throw off his routine enough to keep him calm...maybe he thought you were staying home??? |
| I'm not trying to be flippant, but could you just try to blow it off. It doesn't seem like there is any way to stop this, it's just part of his loveable, goofy personality.
I have four dogs; 2 sheepies, a sheltie and a Brittany. Mealtimes used to sound like I was feeding Christians to lions. Fozzy was food aggressive, Ruby had to be fed in her crate....blah, blah blah. But you know, it all started working out. Now mealtimes are pretty quiet. My point is, if he isn't food aggressive, isn't biting, just let him have his little idiosyncracy until he's done with it. You probably won't be able to change it anyway, so don't set yourself nuts. |
| ^^^
ben's mom ...what a cute avatar! |
| Ben's Mom--I had thought of that too! I first mentioned his crazy meal time behavior a few months ago, and it was actually better then than it is now, but I kind of just let it go and let him behave how he was going to behave, especially since, like you said, he wasn't aggressive or anything, but what prompted me to ask everyone this time was that he was working himself up so much that he was nearly choking on his food (he gulp his food and then race around and get crazy and I could just just hear the food getting stuck), as well as he was running around and slamming into the walls, I was afraid he'd either break through a wall or actually hurt himself. So, it's not just the peace and quiet that I was after... |
| Yeah, that is alarming. My Fozzy used to be a yacker as well. He'd gobble his food like he was arming himself for a famine, run to the water dish and the next thing you know, he'd be yacking it all back up again. Thank God for the little green clean machine.
He was a rescue and I am at least his fourth home, so I didn't really know much about his previous experiences. Now, 8 months later, he eats quietly and hasn't yacked for a couple of months. I hope your goofball calms down on his own, too. |
| Well, this morning wasn't as calm as yesterday, but not as crazy as usual, either. I decided to enter the kitchen unannounced from a different door than usual. Barney was waiting for me there. I gave him a few pets. Then I went to get a handful of Cheerios. Ate them. Then got the water pitcher, and he did a few spins, which is fine by me. Then I poured the water. All good. Then I went to get the food. A few spins, again, fine. Then he was eating and I went to the garage (attached to kitchen) to get a drink. I could hear him running around in the kitchen. When I came back in, he was back to eating. Then, I went to go start the car. Then the usual hacking and choking and regurgitation started and barking, too.
So, better than usual, but still.... |
| Why do you go to the garage to drink?..Just asking....
Keep it up and keep good ole barney boy on his toes...sounds okay so far! |
| Sounds like it is related to your leaving. Maybe he thinks if he's hurry's he can come too??
I know it was mentioned earlier, but how about gettng up an extra 15 min early and just let him eat while you also sit down to a bowl of cherrios, so by the time you are leaving he's done, and calm. Give him a distraction toy, or bone to chew one while you leave. Ignore him completely when you are leaving, no goodbyes. |
Darcy wrote: Why do you go to the garage to drink?..Just asking....
Is it bad to go to the garage to drink  ?
That's where we keep all the Costco bulk drinks, so I went to grab a Perrier to take to work... Yeah, I'll see what I can do to make the morning less stressful for him. On another note: Last night he was so sweet. I was brushing him in the living room (husband does it in the kitchen, all proper) and so I get down on the floor and make him all nice and fluffy and he lies down so I am just sitting there brushing him over and over, but he WON'T flip over! So, I have a beautiful dog from the left, and a ragamuffin from the right |
| what side does he like to lay on? Panda really only likes her right side brushed....if he likes the left, we can just keep them together and they would look perfect.....lol..cracks me up.....I though only panda liked one side...the second never looks as good as the first... |
| We would have to have them face opposite ways...Barney like to lie on his right side too! I kept trying to have him sit up and/or roll over, but he would sit up and then just slump back down... |
barney1 wrote: Darcy wrote: Why do you go to the garage to drink?..Just asking.... Is it bad to go to the garage to drink ?As long as it doesn't become a problem and you don't go there to drink in secret, you should be fine. Chalk Clyde up as a left side brusher too. He walked around for days all puffed out on the left because he was all ornery about doing the right. He hates lying on that side for some reason. Last night he kept sticking his foot in my mouth to get be to stop brushing him. He's smarter than I give him credit for sometimes... |
| We can have a pushme-pullme sheepie!!!!! |
| oops ...meant pushme-pullyou.......you know Dr. Doolittle |
| stella has started the same routine. It's so funny that I sort of egg it on for a good laugh. Maybe it won't be so funny when she gets bigger though. |
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