Why do our dogs get up..

About 1-2 hours before I feed our dogs (I feed them at 16:00 pacific time) when I get up to leave the room, our dogs get up and rush into the laundry room, thinking I'm going to feed them..

The main concern about this, is that our older dog (Brandy, Black Labrador mix, 13+) has arthritis AND the room I'm usually in around this time has a floor. When she tries to get up, she slips all over the place.

This behaviour started about 2 years ago, and not only is it annoying (The noise) but I don't like the way Brandy slips around..

(Our other dog is young so there is no concern with him)

It is said that dogs do not have a good sense of differences between medium lengths of time. For example if you leave puppy at home, and go to the store for an hour, from the dog's point of view it really can't tell whether you have been gone 1 hr or 2-3 hrs. So most likely 2 hrs before does seem like din din time to them.

Two years is a lot of behavior to overcome. You might try working on them to stay, and rewarding with a treat. But don't give them peanut butter-apple treats... it will spoil their dinner. :D

How about putting down an area rug?