• thepianistfroggollum@lemmynsfw.com
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    1 year ago

    Our great Dane does this. If he doesn’t want a treat, he’ll go and put it by our small dogs’ kennels for them to have. He also won’t eat treats he likes unless the small dogs get one too.

    And, oddly enough, he’s the only dog I’ve ever encountered that can free feed (great Danes are notoriously food motivated). But water, though. We have to chase him away from the bowl or he’ll sit there and drink the whole thing.

    • wjrii@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Between the thousands of years of semi-selective breeding and the parallel evolution that made our ancestors want the selective breeding to happen, the emotional compatibility between dogs and humans is amazing. They’re not humans of course, and we do well to remember that, but the connection is eerie, and when you see a dog display that kind of pack/family oriented behavior, it’s heartwarming.

    • Dax87@forum.stellarcastle.net
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      1 year ago

      my dog wont eat her treat until we come back home. which used to work until we got another dog who did not have this issue

      • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        Mine would hide his treat until he was ready to eat it. Sometimes he’d hide it in our other dog’s bed, then be all shocked Pikachu when it wasn’t there later.

          • grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org
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            1 year ago

            I like to think she knew the limitations of her roommate.

            Funnily enough, now that she’s passed away, we hide bits of boiled chicken around the house as enrichment for Tiny Butthead. We call it "chicken fairy"ing and he gets a kick out of hunting through the house.

    • Polar@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Weird. All of my dogs are free feed. While raising them, we always allowed access to a full bowl, and they’ve never wanted to eat the full thing since they know they’ll always have access.