Why is my dog ​​picking out the peas?

Why my dog ​​loves asparagus and refuses chicken – about taste, genetics and what the bowl has to do with it.

Karlchen picks out peas. Monty would eat asparagus until there's nothing left. Leo loves bananas and carrots. Three dogs, three completely different eating personalities – and the question that's been on my mind for years: How does that happen?

By Pia von Ramin · Reading time approx. 5 minutes.

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Karlchen approaches his food bowl like a restaurant critic making a reservation. He takes his time. He inspects. He sorts – meticulously, almost methodically – each individual pea out of his food. Then he eats. Or he doesn't.

Monty, on the other hand, would eat tuna, salmon, and asparagus until there's nothing left. Leo loves bananas. Not just occasionally. He really does.

Three dogs. Three completely different eating personalities. And the question that has occupied me for years: How does that actually happen?

Taste is not accidental.

Dogs have about 1,700 taste buds. Humans have around 9,000. So they don't taste as subtly as we do – but their sense of smell is about 10,000 times better. What we perceive as taste is actually largely smell for dogs.

That explains a lot. Karlchen won't touch chicken – not because he doesn't like the taste, but because it doesn't smell right to him. Not tempting enough. Not complex enough. Raw, fatty ground beef mixed with tripe, on the other hand – that's a different story. Intense, animalistic, unmistakable. He comes running immediately.

Genetics and experience – both shape taste.

What a dog eats is partly genetically determined. Breeds originally bred as hunting dogs have different preferences than herding or companion dogs. But experience plays an equally important role.

A dog that has been introduced to certain foods as a puppy develops a preference for them – sometimes for life. Monty's fondness for asparagus isn't a whim. It's a history. So is Leo's love of bananas.

I've stopped trying to explain it. I just observe it. And act accordingly.

Why some dogs gulp down their food and others select it

Monty and Leo eat so fast that they would probably throw up afterwards if I let them. Karlchen takes twenty minutes for the same amount – and that's only if the peas are removed.

This has nothing to do with training. It has to do with their original feeding behavior. Dogs that lived in packs had to eat quickly – those who hesitated got less. This instinct is deeply ingrained, even after thousands of years of domestication. Some dogs have it more strongly than others.

I use slow-feeder bowls for Monty and Leo. Not as a training method – but because their bodies simply can't process food as quickly as their brains want to eat.

What Monty is not allowed to do – and why that's important

Monty is taking cortisone. He has been for some time. Corticosteroids suppress the immune system – this is the desired therapeutic effect, but it also means that his body is less able to defend itself against certain pathogens than a healthy dog.

Raw meat is therefore not given to him. Not because I fundamentally reject it – Karlchen gets it daily. But because I know my dog ​​and what's appropriate for him.

This is perhaps the most important thing I can say about dog nutrition: There is no universal answer. There is only your dog.

A clean lick is not a rinse.

"Why wash it – the dog has already licked itself nice and clean."

I hear that more often than I'd like. And even more often when it comes to the water bowl: "He prefers to drink it when it's been sitting out for a few days."

Maybe. But what's there isn't just old water. It's bacteria. Biofilm. Saliva residue. For a healthy dog ​​that eats dry food, that might be tolerable – for a dog that eats raw meat, it's simply unhygienic. And for an immunocompromised dog like Monty, it can be dangerous.

All our dog bowls go in the dishwasher every day. Because we feed them in the morning and evening, each dog has two bowls – one is always clean. It sounds complicated. It isn't. It's just routine.

The food bowl as a resource – underestimated in multi-dog households

What many people don't consider: A food bowl isn't something a dog can take for granted. It's a resource. And from a dog's perspective, resources must be defended.

In our household with three dogs, this means strict separation at mealtimes. No shared table. No mutual observation. The water bowls are placed in locations that are not easily visible – so that territorial behavior isn't even triggered.

Small measure. Big impact. Less tension. More peace.

What Karlchen, Monty and Leo taught me

Three dogs. Three personalities. Three completely different relationships with their food bowls.

Karlchen taught me that eating has dignity. Monty taught me that caring sometimes means leaving something out. Leo taught me that a dog who loves bananas and carrots is generally right.

If you truly observe your dog while it's eating – not correcting, not comparing, but simply observing – you'll understand it a little better. And sometimes that's enough to do the right thing.

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Pia von Ramin is founder of 4legs.de She lives in Hamburg with her Italian Greyhounds Karlchen and Monty, and her Weimaraner Leo. She thinks daily about how to make life with a dog a little better.