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Shiba Inu pup cries and runs around with dental chew. It seems to distress her when I give her one! Why??
She's done this ever since I first gave her one, at about 4 months of age. She's now 6 months and has her adult teeth. Often, she never gets around to chewing on the treat. When she does, she enjoys it thoroughly. She'll give the treat up easily, sometimes drops it at my feet, so she doesn't seem to feel afraid of someone taking it from her. She gobbles real food (meat) treats greedily and swallows them instantly. She plays normally with toys. It's only these "dental" chews she does this with. Haven't tried rawhide, because I don't like it. It's kind of funny watching her trot from room to room with the thing in her mouth, whimpering constantly, but also darn weird.She is very sweet; never shown a hint of aggression to people or dogs. She's cautious about new things, objects, animals or people, but not fearful. Any ideas about what she's "thinking" or feeling, or anyone whose dog has done something similar?
Asked by
Guest 685648
on May 31st 2009
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in Fears & Phobias
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It's so hard to tell without actually seeing her in action, but this really sounds to me like she's super excited, not upset.
I think the fact that she drops it at your feet indicates she wants to include you in her playing and maybe even wants to play keep away or fetch with it.
Her crying can just be excited yelping or normal vocalization that you just don't hear from her normally because she's not as excited about anything else.
She might think this is more of a toy than a treat in the traditional sense and so that's why when she eats it, it seems incidental, or secondary to her playing with it.
I think it's just a cute quirk that your dog has and that she really, really likes getting this.
What is she thinking?
"Yaaaaaay! Let's play! OMG! I'm so excited!"
That's my take on it....
Jack
answered on 5/31/09.
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