Hi there i was wondering if anyone could help explain the behaviour of my aunties border collie. He is ten years old and is a rescue dog that they had from when he was a tiny puppy. The thing that they would like to know is, Why when they put his food down he won't eat it unless there is someone standing next to him and if you go and sit somewhere he will run to the person and just look at them wagging his tail? I have read advice that you should put the dogs food down if the dog doesn't start to eat with in five minutes that you should take it up and not put it back down till his next meal. They tried doing that but they didn't get any peace all night! He kept 'talking' and barking at them and in the end my cousin gave him something (Mistake i thought) He also, if you give him something, wont eat it unless you tell him to. This is not something that they have taught him. Anyway could anyone tell me what they could do about it and give me some advice about why he does this?

Sarah xxxx

my collie wont eat her food as soon as i put it down so i just leave it their she eats it when she wants it.also she wont take food out of my hand unless i break it into small pieaces for her she just sits and looks all discusted at me.also she wont eat dog food she just looks as if to say you eat it im having chinease lol.

border collies ARE quirky!
i have to be quite near to flynn when hes eating or he wont bother!
sounds like normal BC behavoiur to me

nell is fine now,but for two years i had to tell her to "get it" whilst eating hers!!!!!

I'd suggest this is something he's learnt as a puppy - maybe being fed when the lady of the house was busy with chores in the kitchen?  He's learnt that he needs an adult human around before he can eat.......
The picking the food up if it's not touched WILL work, but you need to be consistant, and giving in will only teach him that his behaviour may need to be increased in intensity to get the result.

Re the waiting to be told, I'd suggest he's picking up on human body language and translating it into doggy language, and if a higher ranking dog stood over the food, the higher ranking dog would have first pickings, so he's being very polite, in a doggy way ;)

Thank you for the replies. They were interesting. Thankfully it has not become a big problem but we always wondered why he does it. We will just have to love his barmy ways! :D

Sarah xxxx