Dogs Don't Enjoy Food

I watch our dog all the time, her ways, her expressions of instinct.

There are things I can do that set her off, making her think someone's at the door, in the yard, that an animal or some unknown visitor is out there. She's constantly watching me at these times, alert to any signal for attacking. Ever vigilant.

One of the things that becomes clear upon attention is that she doesn't enjoy food. She likes to have it, of course, and wants it desperately. But all she wants to do with it is consume it, the faster the better. We give her a jerky treat or something like that and she dashes off to the other room with it -- lest anyone get it -- and swallows it barely without chewing.

I'm thinking the instinct comes from competition for food, where they want to fill their belly as fast as they can before some other dog takes their portion. But it's a heck of a way to be. Gulp!