# Not eating from bowl



## sarahbalzer (Jul 27, 2015)

Hi Guys,

Sorry me again! Love this forum, everyone is really helpful.
Charlie our 11 week old puppy will not eat from his bowl. The first week or 2 we had him he scoffed it down from the bowl and even licked it clean. Now he will not go near it. He had not eaten since yesterday so I sat on the ground with him and scooped it out of the bowl with a spoon and he ate it off the spoon and then I put some on the ground and he ate it too. I ended up picking it up with a spoon and putting it on the floor and he ate it all?
We also tried to put it in another bowl and he still did not want to eat it?

Anyone experienced this before with their V?

Any advise would be great, it worries me that he is not eating?

Thanks
Sarah


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Did something happen when he was eating, was he startled or something? Puppies associate events and feelings and places or things as a way of protecting themselves from danger. So, if something freaky to him happened while he was eating or standing near the bowl, he'd associate that with the bowl or the food itself.

You don't want to hand feed him or otherwise give him attention, because he'll seek that out and you'll be doing this forever. Rather, get him a new bowl and feed him in his crate (or another part of the kitchen that you're reasonably sure is OK).


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

I think there are previous posts regarding this. Does the puppy wear tags on his collar? If the bowl is stainless steel he could be getting shocked by it. Other than that I would pretty much say the same thing as Gingerling.


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## sarahbalzer (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks guys, I'm not sure if he was startled whilst eating, but that may be the case.
He doesnt wear a collar yet, so might be.

I even tried on a flat plate this morning and he still didnt want any.
Yes I didnt want to keep up the hand feeding, as dont want to be doing it forever, my husband is into more tough love, and said he will eat it if he is starving just leave the bowl out, but I feel sorry for him and dont want him going hungry 

Might try put it in his crate at lunch today and see if that helps.

Thanks for your responses guys, really appreciate it.


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## fullmanfamily (Oct 17, 2014)

Vizsla's seem to be notorious for being picky eaters. When are puppy was young, we could put food out for a certain amount of time and if she didn't eat it, we would take it away. She still isn't really a big breakfast eater a year later. Now that she's on two meals a day, we portion about 1/3 in the morning and 2/3 in the evening. 

Her bowls are stainless steel and she does have tags. She also has an invisible fence collar. She likes eating more at my mom's house out of Tupperware...so you all might be onto something!!


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Savannah never has liked eating out of a bowl. We went through all kinds of ideas and finally, we just turned a cheap Petco Frisbee upside down. Voila. 

In retrospect, not eating out of a bowl is one of those battles that was not worth fighting in our house.


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## sarahbalzer (Jul 27, 2015)

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Might give the frisbee a go see if that works. He only eats food off the floor. He is an odd one haha.
Thanks


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Dharma's food seems to taste better to her after she has tossed it all over the floor and played with it or pounced on it sometimes. Other times she will stand at her dish and scarf it down.


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## Pitanga (Sep 1, 2015)

I read Ian Dunbar's book and his advice is to actually give all of the puppy's food on chew toys like kongs, on training sessions, and by hand feeding (from you and from visitors). So no food bowl for the first couple of months! I just got my puppy so I dont know how that will turn out in the future, but I really liked the stuff I read in his book about puppy behavior and I am choosing to trust him 
I dont think you need to worry! I wouldnt starve the puppy though... 
Hope this helps!


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Pitanga said:


> I read Ian Dunbar's book and his advice is to actually give all of the puppy's food on chew toys like kongs, on training sessions, and by hand feeding (from you and from visitors). So no food bowl for the first couple of months! I just got my puppy so I dont know how that will turn out in the future, but I really liked the stuff I read in his book about puppy behavior and I am choosing to trust him
> I dont think you need to worry! I wouldnt starve the puppy though...
> Hope this helps!


I'm assuming your puppy was fed in the litter in one of those large communal stainless steel bowls..you know, with the raised center so it doesn't overturn so easily... and he's just fine. By changing the feeding routine to make it "fun" or whatever, you risk making this an expectation forever. Do you really want to smear food on Kong Toys and hand feed forever?

The OP has a specific problem which might require an exceptional approach. You don't and by doing this, you run the risk of creating an exceptional situation around feeding that you might not like. 

Books and the so called self proclaimed experts who author them don't know your dog and you and the unique dynamic that exists btwn you and your V and what you really want in the relationship with your V. Whenever you read one of these books it's always good to filter the suggestions and recommendations thru the filter of your lifestyle and most importantly, what type of dog you expect or want, and see if the recommendation jives with your long term goals. Hand feeding a puppy just seems like an invitation to an overly dependent relationship that's not good for either of you.


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