Why do dogs always act like they’re hungry?

You feed your dog really well, healthy, hearty meals designed to ensure you dog remains healthy and happy.  In fact, you may have just fed your dog yet the minute you sit down to eat your meal here comes those eyes.  Oh and the act that goes with the eyes –as if they’re one stagger away from collapsing from sheer starvation.  Of course, they are quite confident you’re going to give them the rest of your meal and it doesn’t even mater if they don’t like what you’re eating, and won’t eat it, if you don’t give it up, it totally means you’re heartless and don’t love them. 

They’re so very sure you must have cooked an extra steak for them – right?   Oh and if they don’t like it they will of course leave on the floor for you to pick up.

Then there’s the dogs that just help themselves – don’t mind me as I help myself to this pie you’ve left on the kitchen bench.

So what the?  It kind of makes sense if you dog is a rescue dog and possibly remembers the feeling of an empty tummy from lived experience – he may not get fed again. 

Researchers tell us its normal for all dogs regardless of their lived experiences, and it’s thought that the behaviour is a holdover from when wild dogs were first invited to share our campfires and our food scraps. Back then for the dogs, food was a commodity, and they never knew when their next meal was coming. Thus, it was better to chow down on food when it was there, and it’s likely that the focus on food is biologically hardwired into our dogs today.

BUT, it is important to know your dog and his behaviour.  Because, if your dog goes from a begging dog that acts hungry to a dog whose behaviour suddenly changes to become more demanding of food you need to speak to a Vet immediately to make sure you don’t have a serious problem.

It’s also important that you know what foods your dog can eat because some food like chocolate could make your dog really really sick or kill them – see my blog on “Dangerous Food for Dogs”.