# Not eating out of the bowl...



## cheaderbug (Jan 12, 2012)

Zeek has started this new thing where he will not eat his food out of the bowl. I was kind of worried because he was not eating at all so I tried putting in on the ground instead of in the bowl and then also having him eat out of my hands. Both work perfectly fine and he eats the food as normal. But I do not really have time to clean up all of the food when he is done and/or to sit there and hand feed him when I come home from work for 20 minutes...does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get him to eat out of the bowl again?

I have tried putting pb in the bowl and he loves that, however I do not want to get into a habit of putting a little big of pb in there everytime he eats a meal.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

If you don't have to time clean up the bowl right after he ate and you have to leave, can you simply buy a second bowl? You can then rotate them and always have a clean one on hand if you're home for a very short break just to feed him.

Perhaps I misunderstood what issue was...


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

cheaderbug: reading it again... :-[

Does he eat from the bowl at any other time during the day? If he does, what's his behavior like during the time you're home for that short break? Is he doing this in order to keep your attention on him for as long as possible?


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## cheaderbug (Jan 12, 2012)

Sorry for the confusion. I will clarify. He will not eat out of his bowl unless I put pb in it with his food. 

Because I do not want to get into the habit of doing that all of the time I have found he will eat off of the floor and out of my hands, but I want to make him eat out of the bowl again (without the pb everytime).


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Put the food in his bowl and leave it. If he hasn't eaten it in 20 minutes, remove it. Do not feed him again until the next feed is due. He should start eating from the bowl fairly quickly.


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

Got it. Sorry I was so dense!!

It sounds like he's not a big fan of his food unless you sweeten the offer, so to speak, either via pb or hand-feeding. 

Do you mind me asking what you feed him and what happens when he eats off the floor - does he eat everything or only a few pieces?


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## Aimless1 (Sep 25, 2011)

Ozkar nailed it. If he doesn't want to eat from the bowl take it away. He will eat from it again when he's ready.

Just went through this last week with my 11 yr old Gordon. Refused to eat for 4 feedings (morning and night) from his bowl. He is eating just fine now. In his case he was having some sort of intestinal/stomach upset. Once he got past that he is eating normally again.


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## cheaderbug (Jan 12, 2012)

I will have to try that and see if it works. 

(When he did eat it off the floor he ate it all!)


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## polkan (Dec 29, 2011)

My dog never showed behavior like this, but if it did my reaction would be to try to isolate the cause. 

I would make sure the dog is healthy, first of all, that I wasn't overfeeding, I would try to remember if anything happened that may have caused the dog to get spooked by the bowl (something fell when it was eating? the bowl is making noises?). I would be trying everything - moving it to a different location, checking if the dog would pick treats from it, and so on. Sure it will be a lot of hassle but I will know what's going on.

I don't think I would be starving a dog until it has no other option left but eat on my terms, especially since it can't explain the problem in plain English.


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Ruby went through this phase as a puppy We did the same thing others recommended by taking away. She learned quick and never ad a problem again. They just love to test you.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Believe it or not, this behavior is common enough that there is a thread about it somewhere. 

We solved this one differently at the office and at home. At home she has a big bowl that I bought for water and a smaller one that I bought for her food. I switched them. She will eat her food from the big bowl since her whiskers don't touch the sides, and she will only drink from the smaller bowl. Odd.

At the office, I turn over her frisbee and feed her off that. It is flat enough that she will eat from it, and it has a lip that keeps the food contained.


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## mgates (Sep 20, 2011)

We had this exact same problem with our V from about 4-6 months. Our trainer told us to take the food away if she wouldn't eat it, but since we work outside of the home, I felt too bad having her go hungry for the day. 

I would give her a little bit from my hand, slowly move my hand over the bowl and then take it away. This usually worked to kind of lure her into eating from the bowl. I'm sure this is not an approved method, but it did work for me when I was in a hurry to get to work. She's now 7 months and has thankfully gotten over this phase. If she's ever being stubborn, I have her "sit" and then reward her with a few pieces of food. It's almost like it reminds her that she's hungry and then she starts to eat.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Riley was being picky last week about eating from her bowl and looked a little thin. I sprinkled some cheese on her food and she sucked it down. It's easy and it doesn't create a mess.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

Ruby will quite often pick some kibble out of her bowl and run over to her mat to eat it, I just shrug my shoulders and shake my head when she does it now ;D


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