Dogs are renowned for doing odd things when it comes to dinner time.
It is common for some dogs to become protective and start guarding their food. This is often behavior you are told not to encourage and nip in the bud as soon as possible.
However, this is not the only thing you will see with a dog and its food. You might also notice your dog dip its head in and out of the bowl.
If a dog dips its head in and out of the bowl, the most likely reason has to do with it being a habit. Dogs build habits including bobbing their head into a food bowl before eating. It helps them sniff the food and inspect it before consumption.
Always pay attention to how this impacts the dog.
You don’t want a situation where the dog refuses to eat when its habit breaks. This is a sign the dog is now becoming dependent on this habit to verify its food and that can cause it to stop eating in different scenarios.
This article will explain some of the reasons a dog dips its head in and out of the bowl.
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Reasons Your Dog Dips Head In And Out Of Bowl
1. Eating Habit
If a dog is nodding its head up and down while eating, this might just be a habit it has developed over time.
Dogs do all sorts of things when eating and sometimes it is nothing more than an eating habit.
The only time you will want to be concerned is when it turns into guarding behavior. This is when you will want to cut the problem off before it worsens or someone gets hurt.
If the dog is not concerned about your presence or if someone is coming too close then it is likely a simple habit.
It won’t do them too much harm and they will be fine to eat this way. Just continue to pay attention to how often they do it and whether or not it goes for a prolonged period.
2. Sniffing The Food
This might be a case of the dog sniffing its food out of curiosity.
Some dogs do not want to dive into what they are eating.
One of the reasons for this happening has to do with bad experiences in the past. They might have been fed something distasteful and it has become a core memory for them.
To avoid this situation, they will bob their head up and down to smell the food.
They might not even sniff the food and just do it out of habit to soothe themselves.
3. Act Of Guarding Its Food
This is when you are going to want to take notice.
It can also be a sign the dog is about to start guarding its food and this is a warning sign to those around it. This is a way for it to prepare to get into that zone and it is important to pay attention to this type of behavior.
You don’t want a situation where the dog is guarding its food and hurting others to do so.
You will want to train the dog to not do this.
4. Having Fun
This is one of those reasons that might seem odd but it can be a possible reality depending on your dog’s nature.
Some dogs simply want to move around and have fun.
This can include bobbing their head up and down while eating.
Do not fret about this and only focus on what happens after. If the dog does this for a few seconds and then begins to eat properly, it’s not something you will want to worry about too much.
The only time you should be concerned is when the dog starts to take it out on others around them.
Final Thoughts
These are the things to think about if a dog dips its head in and out of the bowl.
If a dog dips its head in and out of a bowl, this is commonly an eating habit they have picked up to soothe themselves. It can also be seen as guarding behavior, a source of entertainment, or a chance to sniff their food.
You should only focus on what happens after this initial bobbing.
If nothing happens, you are good to go.
If it becomes a prolonged experience then you will want to take the time to figure out what is causing this to happen.
It’s important to remain on top of this while figuring out what is best for your dog and its health. You don’t want to let it occur when it is unsafe for the dog.
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