Why does my dog take her food to the carpet

Q. Why does my dog stuff her little cheeks with her dog food, carry it into the living room, spit it all out on the rug and eat it there? — Kristi B.

Table of Contents Show

4 Reasons Your Dog May Be Carrying Their Food Away
1. Your Dog Wants to Protect or Hide the Food
2. Your Dog Doesn’t Want to Eat Alone
3. Your Dog Doesn’t Like Metal Bowls
4. Your Dog Is Creating a Personal Stash of Food

A. Most of the time we think of our dogs as part of our families. They are sweet, lovable, clever, funny and our best friends. But when we see behavior like this, it’s a reminder that those bundles of furry love are descended from the wolves — even the little guys.

This peculiar habit is an instinct that even centuries of domesticity hasn’t completely been bred out of them.

Out in the wild, there’s a lot of competition for food, and if a wolf is not willing to fight others for his portion, he will grab what he can and retreat to a safer place.

In homes where there is more than one dog or a variety of different pets, that instinct is more common, but it can be seen even in households with just one dog.

Your dog is saying this is my food and no one better touch it. Depending on your pets’ aggressiveness with food, he or she might not be all that fierce about it, but the message is clear.

Typically, the domestic dog doesn’t take the food all that far away. It wants to be able to keep an eye on the rest of the food in the bowl.

If your dog is taking her food to the living room, she could be trying to protect her food, or she also might be lonely and looking for some company at dinnertime.

Dogs are very social creatures and if they aren’t concerned over keeping their food to themselves, then they like to dine with the family.

Another theory involves the use of metal bowls. Apparently this behavior is seen more often when dogs are being fed hard kibble out of metal bowls. They might not like the noise the kibble makes.

There’s no harm in the behavior, except perhaps to the carpet.

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Cats can exhibit this behavior, too. Although cats don’t have the same pack mentality, they can want to guarantee they are getting their fair share. Cats also tend to be more private than dogs, so they could be looking for a quiet, secluded place to eat.

Some cats don’t like having their water bowl too close to their food bowl, and no, I have no idea why. It’s a cat thing.

Newer research recommends feeding cat in flatter, shallow dishes to avoid “whisker fatigue.” Apparently eating from a deep, small bowl puts pressure on a cat’s whiskers as its dips its head down to get food. A cat’s whiskers are very much a necessity to them.

If the behavior in your dog bothers you, experts recommend finding a more private place for your pup to eat, or feeding her close to where the family is eating, depending on her reason for taking the food from her bowl.

You also can try replacing the metal bowls with plastic ones.

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Why does my dog keep dragging food away? Don’t worry — it’s pretty normal behavior. Photo: Andres Rodriguez

Feeding time is a happy time when you have a dog.

They are nearly bouncing off the walls when you’re getting ready to fill up their food bowl.

Usually when we put food in our dogs’ bowls, they dive right in and start eating. But some dogs do some pretty strange stuff at feeding time.

One behavior that may have you scratching your head is when your dog carries their food away from the bowl before eating the food.

If your dog does this and you can’t figure out why, keep reading because I have a few ideas.

4 Reasons Your Dog May Be Carrying Their Food Away

Oh, so this is why some dogs carry their food away — so it doesn’t get stolen. Photo: Viral Paws

1. Your Dog Wants to Protect or Hide the Food

Some dogs, particularly those in multi-dog households, may carry their food away as a way to keep it to themselves.

Before dogs were domesticated, they often ran in packs. The more subordinate pack members would carry food away to hide it from other members of the pack.

“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,” says Dr. Julie Albright-Keck, DVM, DACVB, assistant professor of veterinary behavior at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dogs aren’t looking to start a fight — that would be dangerous. So trying to put the food out of sight is a compromise between giving up their food and fighting for it.

“Rather than stay in the pack and fight for what is theirs, they will snag a piece or two and run away with it,” explains writer Langley Cornwell.

“This means they get to eat without the risk of a fight. It also ensures they get some of it without another dog trying to take it away.”

If you have more multiple dogs, try feeding them separately to see if that helps.

In single-dog households, it may be easier to use a crate or block the exits to the room so your dog can’t carry food elsewhere.

Some dogs carry their food away because they prefer to be in the company of others, rather than eating alone. Photo: Jeannine S.

2. Your Dog Doesn’t Want to Eat Alone

Dogs feel loneliness just like people do.

If you’re in another room and your dog is alone in the kitchen, they may carry their food to where you are to eat it.

“Dogs naturally long for companionship, so he may just want to see you or be near you while he eats,” says Cornwell.

Dogs are family members but often don’t eat with the family. Carrying the food to where you are could be a sign that your pet simply wants to be part of the family dynamic.

As a pet sitter, I’ve seen this behavior firsthand.

One of my clients simply will not eat if she’s all alone in the room. When I sit for her, I usually set up my laptop nearby or even bring her food bowl outside so we can enjoy the sunshine together.

I’ll sit or stand nearby while she eats. This makes her happy, and she eats right from the bowl every time.

Some dogs don’t like metal food or water bowls. Photo: Pawsdeluxe

3. Your Dog Doesn’t Like Metal Bowls

If you have metal dog dishes, your dog may be annoyed or frightened by the noise the dishes make when they clang together.

Even the sound of their tag hitting the bowl can startle a dog, so they may take the food and carry it away from the source of the noise.

The easy answer to this?

Just swap the metal bowls for plastic ones. Then your dog isn’t startled by the metal-on-metal jangling and can eat in peace.

Then again, plastic bowls are pretty terrible. You could try paper plates instead — though, depending on the type of food you feed your dog, this could get messy.

“Why eat on the floor when I can eat up here on the sofa?” Photo: David Pickman

4. Your Dog Is Creating a Personal Stash of Food

When in the wild, dogs or wolves would often drag remaining prey away and hide it somewhere. Your dog could be doing the same thing.

In their book How Dogs Work, Raymond Coppinger and Mark Feinstein explain that dogs “sometimes store food that they have foraged by digging a ‘cache’ and hiding it away for future consumption.”

If you stumble across dog food in random places, your dog may be “caching” some of the food. The solution, again, is simple: Make sure you’re not overfeeding your dog, and then block off the exits to the room they normally eat in.

If your dog is carrying food away, it may be because of one of the above reasons — or something else could be at play. As always, check with your veterinarian if you’re concerned.

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This article was originally published in 2016 and is regularly updated. It was last reviewed for accuracy and updated Sept. 4, 2019.