# My dog "rakes" with her nose



## jackh (Oct 14, 2010)

My 7 month old female golden has started to make an odd raking motion with her nose when eating. She will eat a little bit, pause and rake the floor with her nose towards the food bowl, then go back to eating. It is like she is trying to rake stuff into her food pan. I have seen her rake grass into her food pan when I have fed her outside, but she does it inside also. I have seen her do it a couple times to rake grass onto a pile of poop in the yard too. She has recently not been eating as well as she used to. Anyone seen this in a dog before? Could it be something in the food? Should I change to a different food for a while? I am currently feeding eukanuba large breed puppy.


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## vergy (Sep 8, 2006)

Well it could be just an instinct. My father's old female lab did something similar. Dogs often do things of this nature in thinking they are burying something for later. Wolves, foxes etc often bury parts of a kill to use for later when things might be tough. This instinct can show in dogs. It could be something simple as this..intinct to bury food. Maybe someone else has a more scientific reason?


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## Flying Dutchman (May 1, 2009)

My answer is not scientific at all, but my 3 year old Golden male does this, too. Only difference is that he "rakes" IN his bowl. I have two Goldens and both are slim, so I free feed them. Neither over eats, so I haven't had an issue with putting food out once a day and leaving it until they eat it. Anyway, my young guy will go over to his bowl, eat a few bites, then push the bowl with his nose in it, a few feet across the kitchen floor. Then, he'll stand there for a couple of seconds, staring into the bowl, maybe push it again, and then eat a little more. This often repeats itself several times. At times, it happens until I have to tell him to cut it out. I can't figure out what he's doing, but eventually he always gets around to eating what he needs. I wondered if he was seeing his reflection at the bottom of the stainless steel food bowl or something. 

Weird, but I haven't worried about it since he always seems to get what he needs.


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## copterdoc (Mar 26, 2006)

Maybe, she has an itchy nose.


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## DukDog (Mar 4, 2012)

My wife's chesapeke that was adopted at about six months old did this off and on her whole life (she lived to be 16 ). She seemed to have been abused as a puppy and maybe even lived on her own. We always figured she was simulating hiding her food to save some for later. Sometimes she would intentionally leave about two kernals of food in her bowl. (seemed to be saving it just in case she did not get a next meal). In my unprofessional opinion, I would say it is just some instint thing. However if she is not eating well, take her to a vet. Kobi has been gone about a year now and we sure do miss her and her antics.


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## Bridget Bodine (Mar 4, 2008)

she is trying to bury her food. If there were something there, I guarantee she would be piling it on her food. My bitches in whelp do this all the time with the papers that are in their boxes. How much are you feeding her? Is she in good weight?


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## jackh (Oct 14, 2010)

I feed two cups in the morning and again at night. She usually does not eat quite all two cups each feeding. I have not decreased the amount of food because I want her to get all she wants in the amount of time I give her. I give her around 30 minutes to eat what she wants before I pick up the pan. Sometimes she will eat maybe half her food and walk off. If she doesn't come back in 15 or 20 minutes, I pick it up. She was 7 months Monday and weighs about 50 lbs. She has not had her first heat cycle yet.


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## LabLover45 (Feb 17, 2011)

Our puppy covers her food with her kennel blanket. It strikes us as odd, but reading all your comments goes to show us that its not that uncommon. She only does it occasionally as well, she is a good weight, so Im not too worried. Thanks.


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## JimB (Aug 31, 2012)

It sounds like she is trying to bury it, but could it be the meal is too large for her...trying to save some for a little later? Would she do the same thing if the food was split up over 3 meals/day?


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## Renee P. (Dec 5, 2010)

One of my cats, Puff, tries to bury her food dish with her paw. If there is anything around, like a newspaper, she uses it.

This cat likes her chow. 

She's also got some other quirks, like a broken purr button: she mostly only purrs while doing the cat kneading thingy on a fleece blanket. Bizarre, but she's also cute and puffy so we keep her. 

So I'm curious if your dog has other quirks.

P.S. We got her as a baby kitten from some guy who found a litter of kittens, but no mama, in the garage of his new rental.


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## jackh (Oct 14, 2010)

Haven't noticed any quirks with my pup besides this one. She is a field bred golden from Saturday Night Goldens in Montana.


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## Kat's Dogs (Jun 30, 2012)

Jack - I have a littermate to your pup (also female). Of course each dog is an individual, but just for perspective: my girl eats all of her food immediately and only weighs 12 kg (26+ lbs). She gets about 2.5 cups of food per day. If Dixie is not finishing her meals in addition to showing this "burying" behavior, she might be getting more food than she needs. As long as she is not too thin, maybe try reducing her food and see what happens...


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## jackh (Oct 14, 2010)

Kat's Dogs said:


> Jack - I have a littermate to your pup (also female). Of course each dog is an individual, but just for perspective: my girl eats all of her food immediately and only weighs 12 kg (26+ lbs). She gets about 2.5 cups of food per day. If Dixie is not finishing her meals in addition to showing this "burying" behavior, she might be getting more food than she needs. As long as she is not too thin, maybe try reducing her food and see what happens...


Your pup is from the Babe/Lucky litter from this past summer? She's 7 months and only 26 lbs? How do I judge if Dixie is too thin or not? Right now, I am surprised she weighs as much as she does. She seems too short and not long enough to weigh about 50 lbs when I think of her weighing around 60 lbs as an adult. I feel like its all muscle though because she looks and feels so lean. She is very active and we train/play/walk at least once if not twice a day.


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## Kat's Dogs (Jun 30, 2012)

You can check her weight by feeling certain points on her body. Here are a couple of techniques: with her standing and facing you, put your thumbs on her spine (which should be easily felt) and fan your fingers down along her sides; you should be able to feel her ribs without pressing down. Next, if you lay your hand flat across her rump, just above the base of her tail, you should be able to just make out the two bumps of her hips (again, without needing to press down hard). Visually, you should be able to see a clear waist when you look at her from above and from the side, but you should not be able to see her spine, individual ribs, or hip bones (especially since she is a fluffy golden - evaluating a short-coated breed such as a whippet is slightly different).

Of course you can also check with your vet about her weight. Here is a traditional body condition scoring chart used for dogs to help guide you:










My girl, Kova, is a 4 on this scale, which I consider ideal for working dogs. Especially growing puppies. From your pictures, I think Dixie has a more solid structure than my pup, and from your training and play I am sure she has great muscle. Given that, I would expect her to weigh more than Kova (so don't shoot for 26 lbs!). Here is a picture of Kova's profile at 6 months:


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## Codatango (Aug 2, 2009)

My last (field bred, golden) male did this scraping nose thing, but it was in his crate, on his bed. He did it out of frustration at having to be in there and not out doing work. He had a egg crate bed with a sheet wrapped around it and a towel on top of that (to absorb dampness on the drive home). 
He started this when under 6 mo, as I recall and it continued off and on (until lymphoma got him at 4 yrs).
His white sheet would have all these bloody streaks, since he would do it enough to make his nose raw.

He also did it to his food a few times. Just a genetic quirk!

Debbie


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## jackh (Oct 14, 2010)

I'd say Dixie is probably a 5 on that chart and from the way she looks feels to me. 

I was concerned that she wasn't liking her food, so I bought a 15lb bag of Blue Buffalo chicken and rice large breed puppy and mixed it with a 5lb bag of the Euk large breed puppy she had been getting. She has been eating a full 2 cups twice a day with no raking to save any for later. I think she likes this stuff a lot.


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