My dog won't eat her dinner unless it's out of my hands, I have tried changing bowls, moving to a different place in the room and she whining. I've been doing quite a bit of overtime the last couple of weeks where as normally I'm home 2 days a week and afternoons and but she's not left on her own for any longer than 2hrs. She still playful, drinking, solid poo. Can anyone help please has anyone else had this.
My boy goes through this now and again, it is a pain, like you we move the bowl to another room, we scatter the food in the front room, sometimes hand feed him, last time he done it we added some water in his food and bingo he starts eating it.
Is this something new with her? The dog in your avatar looks like an adult, is it her and has she always been like this? What kind of bowl is it? I do know of a little doggie who would eat out of his stainless steel bowl till he got near the bottom and then he stopped eating out of it altogether. His owner thinks he sees his reflection in it and it frightens him but she's guessing. Switching bowls worked for her though.
She's 11 months, no she's been doing this for nearly 2 wks, at first I thought she had gone off her food but she will happily eat it out of my hand, then I put some ham in her bowl she ate that but won't eat her food. I've tried changing her bowl and she still won't eat it.
Strangely, I think, this isn't uncommon. We hear it a fair bit on the forum. I do wonder why. Have you been doing something with the food bowl? Sit and wait until released to eat etc? I do think there must be something that people do with the food bowls that creates this (no criticism, please don't take it the wrong way - I just wonder if there are some training instructions out there that are just a bit strange).
No not at all any info gladly received. She sits and waits of her own accord she has done since we got her, I wash the bowl after every feed, but she just won't eat her dinner out of it, she'll happily eat ham from it. I've tried leaving her thinking she'll eat when she's hungry. She gets fed twice a day and always around the same time. Someone has mentioned separation anxiety as I've been doing a lot of overtime the last couple wks
This is a bit strange, really - most puppies will dive towards a bowl of food. What is she waiting for I wonder if nothing has been trained? Perhaps the breeder had a cue to allow the puppies to eat (I know my puppy came with her recall cue associated with being released to a food bowl) I'd try a few things. Check she likes the food. See whether she'll eat it if you put it on the floor, or a tray and so on. Just explore what it is that she doesn't like. If you narrow it down to it being the bowl - perhaps she got pushed out of feed bowls in the litter or something and the breeder fed her differently etc. So feed her on a tray etc.
She'll eat it from my hand happily, I've put her food in different bowls still won't eat it but she will eat ham from her bowl. So it's just getting her to eat her food from a bowl. She is happy in every way playful, walking, she's drinking fine. I really am stumped as to what her issue is
Most dogs love being hand fed, so - given the choice - she is choosing to be hand fed. I would try a completely different surface (like a shallow tray) and put her food on there. If she refuses it, take it up and don't hand feed. Feed the next meal. She will soon learn that hand feeding is no longer an option. Maybe put a teeny bit of ham with her food to get her started.
Ok thank you I'll try that, hopefully like you said she will soon realise she not getting fed. Fingers crossed I'll let you know
You can enhance the attractiveness of the food in the bowl by mixing it up (pretend if you have to) and making yummy, yummy sounds. The slight delay this causes often helps get them salivating and ready to eat. Then follow the advice to leave it for a time, maybe 15 or 20 minutes, then take it up and throw it out, let her see you throwing it out.
My boy refuses to eat every so often - like you happy to be hand fed but won't touch his bowl. To get him over this we put a bit of grated cheese in the bottom of the bowl and then put his kibble on top of it, while I'm doing this I am talking to him in a really excited voice - about what a special treat this is going to be for him, he's not to tell Dad about it, it's our secret - anything I can think of but all in a really excited voice. Put the bowl down (Bailey has been trained to sit and wait for the release cue), cue him to eat, and walk away. Within a few minutes Bailey is back by my side looking really pleased with himself - and yup his bowl is empty! I may look and sound like a complete loon but hey it gets him to eat from his bowl!
The things we do lol. Thankfully she has started to eat from it again, I took it away if she refused it, took a couple days but she got there in the end. Thank you all for your help
