Dogs Unusual Eating Habits

Question
WE have an 8 year old female mini-dachshund. We feed her in the laundry room in the same bowl she's used for years. Lately she's been taking out one piece at a time and bringing it out into the rest of the house and just sitting by it. Then, she'll get another and another, until my living room rug is littered with pieces. When I tried to discipline about it, she stopped eating for two days. She's way too little to go without food for that long. What is going on?

Answer
Hi Lucy,   I'm sorry I'm so late getting back to you.  I'm the new guy on the block & I had some trouble with my E-mail at first.  Besides being too old for computers.  
  Oddly enough, I had a friend with a Dachshund that did this same thing.  I think he just put up with it.   My first reaction to this one would be to pick up the dog's food if it hasn't eaten it all within about 20 minuets & not feed it again until the next day.   This usually takes care of fussy eaters in short order.   However, this one is 8 years old & I assume this is a new behavior.  I also hear that you are concerned about her not eating for 2 days, so she must not be overweight or anything like that.  You probably haven't recently changed feeds or you would have caught that already.  Having ruled out all that, I would take her to the Vet, have her checked for parasites (heartworms etc.) and check on her teeth.
If her general health checks out OK, then I would go back to plan-A & start restricting her food.
    Interesting note on this;  I had a friend when I was a boy who had a poodle that seemed very old to me.  It never ran around with the kids or anything like that, it just layed around all day & slept.
They took this dog into the Vet & had ALL of it's teeth pulled out. I guess they were really bad.  About a week later this same dog ran around & barked alot just like a puppy.  I was amazed, and I was only about ten years old, whoknew?
Good Luck Lucy, & thanks for asking,  Rob