Canine Food Obsession

One thing you can always assume about a dog is that there is a 99.99999% chance they will never turn down food. True, there are some dogs that are a little more mature about mealtime than your average gobbler. And, some will walk away from a bowl when they are genuinely full. But, there are some dogs that are completely obsessed with food and act like they are starving to death all the time. If you have a food obsessed dog, the first thing you must do is take them to the vet to rule out a serious medical condition. Here are some of the physical reasons your dog may seem obsessed with food:

• Aging
• Bacterial overgrowth in the intestines
• Cushing's disease
• Diabetes
• Exocrine pancreatic insufficency
• Hyperthyroidism
• Reaction to medication
• Inappropriate diet

Once you have ruled out a medical condition, you may start to deduce that your dog's food obsession is psychologically based. There is a theory that dog's are opportunistic eaters with a hereditary trait from their wolf ancestors. Hardwired in their DNA is a feast or famine trigger from their hunting lineage. Hunting wise: when food is present, a dog will feast because there may be a time when food will be scarce. This isn't the case anymore with most dogs. The hunt is over-- Humans provide food on a daily basis, multiple times a day. But, that doesn't necessarily mean their hardwired genetics has changed. Evolution takes a long time. But, this theory has not been scientifically proven. It's just a theory and there are other psychological reasons your dog may be food obsessed:

•  A change in the environment- Has a family member moved out (aka: a member of the pack is missing)? Have you added a family member? Maybe you have moved? Maybe your dog isn't mentally or physically exercised adequately? If the answer is "yes", then you may have a stress eater on your hands. Find ways to reduce the stress in your dog's life and return to normalcy.
  
• Multiple dogs in the household- Is there a dog with food aggression? Is there a bully in the pack? Remember, you should be the pack leader and institute calm discipline within your pack.
• Learned Behavior: You may have accidentally trained your dog to be food obsessed through using too much food for positive behavior reinforcement. 😶
• Memories of Food Scarcity: This happens with rescue dogs that have been on the streets or abused. My first dog was a rescue dog that was food obsessed and eventually became obese (from my lack of knowledge on what to do). We had to put this dog on a diet, which caused the food obsession to become worse, which eventually became a huge behavior mess. That being said, there are things you can do to help your dog with food obsession! Read below--

What to do with a food obsessed canine family member:
The first thing you must do is establish a feeding ritual and schedule and stick to it. Your dog must realize that there are only specific times of the day when feeding time occurs. The feeding bowl must be taken away as soon as your dog has walked away from it and they must wait until the next feeding for food. Use treats only for training. Your dog must "work" for their treats (sit, stay, fancy trick, ect...) If your dog is a gobbler, you can purchase a special feeding bowl that is designed to slow down the eating chaos. OR, you can go with a cheaper route of putting a tennis ball in their bowl.

All in all, the bottom line is that food obsession could be psychological or medical. Both reasons are unhealthy for a canine and can end up causing obesity. Obesity is definitely a medical condition that limits the lifespan of your canine and causes more medical conditions to surface. It's best to not ignore your dog's obsession and deal with it as soon as possible.