# Acts like he's starving



## kcscott85 (May 3, 2009)

I feed Kaiser raw, he gets 2.2 pounds every day because he's underweight. Before that he was fed 3 cups of Canidae every day. That's in addition to his training treats. So he's definitely not starving. But he acts like he's never eaten before and freaks out when our 1 1/2 yr old drops a piece of food (even a cheerio) and sometimes has even snatched food from his hand. This morning I was babysitting for my friend's daughter and Kaiser got into her diaper bag, found her lunch, and ripped it open







. 

I've never had this problem with a dog before, Sadie loves food as much as the next dog, but if you tell her no, she won't go near it. Kaiser acts crazed. I put him in a different room while we eat and as soon as he's let out, he runs to the table and licks the floor until I make him stop. We train 3 times a day for 20 minute sessions each and he does wonderfully then. He even does well under some distractions, people walking by, the lawn mower, etc, but if there's food involved it's like he's never heard the word "no".


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

How old is Kaiser? I'm guessing he's fairly young.

Lots of dogs have very high food drive, like your boy appears to have, and will act like they're starving all the time, even right after they finish dinner. Some dogs are are better at learning to control the impulse to obsess over food than others. A lot of aspects of self control come with maturity, but much can also be taught.

You might find this video on using food to teach impulse control helpful, especially since it's around food where he seems to have the biggest trouble with impulse control!









http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc


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## windwalker718 (Oct 9, 2008)

I've 5 dogs, all in good to maybe a touch TOO good weight... no health issues regarding food.. and all except one inhale their food every single meal as if they haven't been fed in months. I have to laugh when I hear the ACO's on Animal planet state: "See how he goes after that food? You can TELL he hasn't eaten in days, cause no dog eats like that otherwise!" 

Yeah?? Well come watch mine every single day. (My Tibetan Spaniel likes to check thru the dish first to be sure there's no hidden veggies or pills or nasty surprises before she eats... LOL)


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## kcscott85 (May 3, 2009)

He's only 7 months which is why I understand this can be an issue, but I'd like to try and nip it in the bud before he gets to be 100 lbs and I just can't stop him! Sometimes it's hard for me to remember he's only a puppy. He's my first GSD (besides one I fostered)- I've always had labs and he's already bigger than a full grown one! I'm watching that video right now and going along with some of the training tips, I'll try anything! Thanks!


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## garoach (Jun 19, 2009)

Does anyone have recommendations of pupy food for an 11 week old GSD?


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## Jessica H (Mar 14, 2009)

Sadie, my 5 YO Cairn acts like this. She acts like she has never eaten in her life and she doesn't even chew her food. I had to buy a brake-fast bowl to slow her down a little. If you drop something she is FAST and swallows whatever it is before I can get to it.
Scooter is the opposite.
I got them both from the same breeder and she told me Sadie was the runt and got pushed out of the way at feeding time, she told me that Scooter was the one that pushed other puppies out of the way. So maybe Sadie feels like she always has to eat fast or she will get pushed out of the way. No idea but it makes sense.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: kcsHe's only 7 months which is why I understand this can be an issue, but I'd like to try and nip it in the bud before he gets to be 100 lbs and I just can't stop him!


Why couldn't you stop him? Unless he runs loose by the neighbourhood eating garbage you have full control of what he eats (except for the occasional Cheeto) The dog will be as lean or fat as you want him to be controlling the amount of food you give to him. Now you know that the amount of food he wants has nothing to do with the amount of food he needs you are not abusing him for not letting him eat as much as he wants... Shesh! that's valid for me too, I'm too food driven.

Chris video is great because it teaches several things: a dog CAN control his impulses, a food driven dog will do everything for food (even ignore food) and since you have a baby it is a great way to teach the dog to play nice with him.


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## kcscott85 (May 3, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: LicanAntai
> Why couldn't you stop him? Unless he runs loose by the neighbourhood eating garbage you have full control of what he eats (except for the occasional Cheeto)


Haha, I was kidding- I meant when he was full grown and drags me around the kitchen floor picking up cheerios! My main thing is him knocking Justin down. He's always so great with Justin (herds him away from the street, the ocean, and walks behind him up stairs..so cute), but when there's food, he charges and that has to stop.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

I love that video, I've posted it several times! I started working with Halo when she was a tiny puppy - she ate most of her lunch kibble for several weeks doing the "It's yer choice" game. I also fed her some meals out of a bowl so I could practice having her sit or down and wait until released to eat with the bowl on the floor, another excellent technique for teaching self control around food. 

I hadn't done much self control work with her recently other than at mealtimes, but yesterday we started with the step of having bowls of dog biscuits on the floor. I walked her on leash back and forth between them, and at first she pulled towards the bowls trying to get at the food. I waited until the second she started to turn away, back towards me, and I clicked and gave her a much better treat. Once she was no longer trying to get at the bowls I walked her around the bowls rather than just up to them, at first with me next to the bowl and her on the outside, and then with her on the inside next to the bowl and me on the outside. In just that one training session she was pretty consistently looking at me rather than the bowls on the floor. 

I have two EXTREMELY food motivated dogs, Halo and Keefer both inhale food, and would eat as much as I would give them. It's up to me to know how much they need and to only feed that amount, no matter how hungry they seem to be. The video will help you prevent him from snatching food out of people's hands, I'm not sure how you'd adapt it for raw feeding though. I always start training my dogs from day one that the way to get what they want is to look AWAY from it and at me. Staring at it and trying to get it just delays the process, ignoring it and giving me eye contact is what works to "make" me give it to them. You'll be surprised at how quickly you can train a food motivated dog to ignore food - the more they want it the faster they learn how to get it! 

Are you having him sit for his meals? Halo is also 7 months old, and she's been doing this since she was a little puppy:










She was almost 15 weeks old in that picture. At first I released her the second the bowl touched the floor - if she broke her sit, I picked the bowl back up and waited for her to sit again. Over and over again, as many times as it took.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: kcs Haha, I was kidding- I meant when he was full grown and drags me around the kitchen floor picking up cheerios! My main thing is him knocking Justin down. He's always so great with Justin (herds him away from the street, the ocean, and walks behind him up stairs..so cute), but when there's food, he charges and that has to stop.


Exactly why I think that video is so great in your situation: "Do not jump over the baby with both of your paws as large as his head to steal the cheerio, ask nice to mom for it"


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## kcscott85 (May 3, 2009)

I think it's more of a competition between the 2 dogs. Before we got Kaiser, Sadie was the queen and when Justin dropped something from his highchair, she waited patiently for us to be done and get up before we released her and allowed her to get it (depending on what it was of course!). When Kaiser came, he didn't get the process but he picked it up quickly and it's become a race to the death for the most bits of crackers. We started feeding them separately and making them wait thirty seconds in a down from the time the bowl touches the ground, but it's not helping Kaiser's case any differently. Maybe as he gets older he'll calm it down a little?


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## kcscott85 (May 3, 2009)

Oh yeah, and Cassidy's Mom? I just clicked on Halo's dogster page and she is one amazing looking dog. I love her coloring!


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

On an episode of K9 Cops they talked about a medical condition one of the dogs has which causes him to behave like you described around food. I don't remember what it's called but you might also want to check into possible medical conditions that display this way.


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