Bailey flips his salad dish?

[BaileyBunny]

Last night was the first night that he’s done it. I moved him to my moms house yesterday (because my boyfriends roommate has allergies- and threatened to kill him. The only reason legal action hasn’t been taken is because my boyfriend needs him for rent.) and my mom has a dog, nico. (Scottie/schnauzer mix) nico likes bailey. My dog was giving the rabbit his favorite ball to play with him. Bailey was not afraid, he hopped up to nico and swatted at him if nico got too prodding. At the old house, he never flipped the bowl. As of the move, every time I fill it, he flips it. Why? How do I get him to stop?

[Roberta]

In the case of my long eared terrorists the answer would be “Because they can”
Once they figure out they can do it and they know it is just a little bit naughty the whole thing becomes a game. Try getting a heavy ceramic dog dish. I am progressively replacing all their dishes with food safe ceramic dog dishes and it seems to be eliminating the problem. Only the breakfast salad bowl gets tossed now, probably because it is plastic.

[LittlePuffyTail]

My guess is he’s just feeling a bit stressed and frustrated about the move. Maybe he doesn’t like where you are putting his salad bowl.

[peppypoo]

Sometimes they just see the bowls as toys., and like to play with them..I agree with Roberta that the heavy ceramic dog dishes are the best.

[Eucalyptus]

Java tends to pull and turn the salad dish in different ways so that he can reach different veggies (instead of moving HIMSELF around!), and once he eats about half, he flips it. Usually he does this when he can’t grab everything from the bottom (we have a silly carrot shaped bowl and he won’t reach his face all the way in), like parsnip, carrot, and celery pieces. And, of course, he flips both his salad and pellet bowl if he finishes everything and wants more!

There are times that he flips it completely over (so the entire salad is under it) and then he looks around helplessly. If we aren’t there to lift it, sometimes he’ll actually think he can’t get the food anymore and just give up. It’s really sad, but funny!

[BinkyBuster]

Buster has always flipped his dish. I have just a cheap cat one. I was going to buy a heavier one so he doesn’t flip it, but he really enjoys playing with it (and still eats the veggies from it.)
I don’t see a problem with it, as long as the veggies aren’t getting really dirty or something and they can still get at them. If it’s too heavy for them to move after perhaps buy a really light one? (Contrary to everyone elses advice.) This way they can continue playing with it and still have access to the veggies they flipped.

Good luck, and sorry to hear about all that drama.

[Author]

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