What is my dog up to? Also, cuteness overload advisory.

Rius

So, this is our new dog, she is a blue heeler/terrier mix and is about 2 years old. We've had her for a couple of months now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f33UdmoYczk

She'll also behave like this occasionally with frozen string beans, small ice cubes and even her regular food if it escapes her bowl.

Is she just playing with her food in the cutest way possible or is there something else going on here?

bowen

Man is she excited or what.

It's a play behavior if I remember, sort of like pouncing on toys with cats. Also, with no sound, it's still hilariously cute. I don't think I'd worry, though you can always ask your vet.

spool32

yeah, that's no big deal at all. She's sort of marking the food as hers and playing with it a bit, is all. My Akita does this with bones, and toys too.

"Rawr, this is miiiine!"

Unless she's growling at you and being possessive of whatever it is, just enjoy her being silly. If she IS growling and being possessive, take it from her and make her obey you before she gets it back.

Arch

she is just playing with her food in the cutest way possible

This is the answer

Also ohgoodnesscuteohgoodnesseeeeeeeeeesocuuute

Arch

lookit that little tail wagging like crazy eeeeeeee

JebusUD

Mad Dog Disease.

No, she is fine.

japan

She is probably trying to bite down on whatever it is to chew it, but faces the perennial dog problem of not having lips and therefore not being able to open her jaw to do so without dropping it. The fact that it always seems to be getting away triggers a play/chase response.

My dog used to do this with grapes, which are even more fun (until you get bored of being hit by flying slobbery grapes) because they're slippery and round, so even if she did manage to close her jaws on it there was a 50/50 chance of it just being ejected from her mouth at great speed.

bowen

Dogs are the greatest.

LaOs

japan wrote: »

She is probably trying to bite down on whatever it is to chew it, but faces the perennial dog problem of not having lips and therefore not being able to open her jaw to do so without dropping it. The fact that it always seems to be getting away triggers a play/chase response.

My dog used to do this with grapes, which are even more fun (until you get bored of being hit by flying slobbery grapes) because they're slippery and round, so even if she did manage to close her jaws on it there was a 50/50 chance of it just being ejected from her mouth at great speed.

I used to love watching my former roomie's dog attempt to eat grapes. But then she told me she heard grapes were bad for dogs, so I had to stop.

ceres

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww this dog is the best

My dobies did this with ice cubes and were also adorable

Imriaylde

She's killing it. Would you want to eat live food?

Also, omgit'sfullofadorable.

etdragon

Ahhhhhhhhhh sodamncutei'minpain! Also, yeah my parent's first dog did stuff like this. Totally normal dog silliness.

GnomeTank

Very much play behavior. This is what happy dogs do.

cabsy

LaOs wrote: »

japan wrote: »

She is probably trying to bite down on whatever it is to chew it, but faces the perennial dog problem of not having lips and therefore not being able to open her jaw to do so without dropping it. The fact that it always seems to be getting away triggers a play/chase response.

My dog used to do this with grapes, which are even more fun (until you get bored of being hit by flying slobbery grapes) because they're slippery and round, so even if she did manage to close her jaws on it there was a 50/50 chance of it just being ejected from her mouth at great speed.

I used to love watching my former roomie's dog attempt to eat grapes. But then she told me she heard grapes were bad for dogs, so I had to stop.

To get off topic mildly grapes are bad for dogs in much the same way chocolate is bad for dogs, meaning it depends on weight. I believe it's something like an ounce of grapes per pound of dog weight can be distressing? Not sure that's an exact amount but a handful of grapes for a medium size dog is ok occasionally, just like that same dog eating a handful of M&Ms is ok but you don't want to do it every day.

GnomeTank

Chocolate is also dark chocolate or bakers chocolate. Processed milk chocolate will, at worst, give most dogs a tiny tummy ache. It's the unrefined stuff that makes them sick, and yes it's per weight.

Djeet

I'm not sure if it needs saying or not, but I'll say it anyways: don't feed your dog chocolate. If he ate a bag of chocolate check this chart to see if you need to go to the emergency vet immediately or if it might be something you could take more of a wait and see attitude.

Sporked

Milk chocolate is less bad for dogs than dark chocolate, cocoa powder is the worst thing they can get into. You don't feed your dog chocolate because they LIKE chocolate and will totally take great pains to obtain more, which is obviously bad. Since EVERYONE'S dog will at some time get into something it shouldn't, it's better for that thing to be something that is less likely than chocolate to kill the dog.

Officer 1BDI

Your dog plays with her food almost the exact same way my dog plays with his ice cubes. Which is to say, adorably.