my pup is scared to eat his dinner because of me

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You could try sitting on the floor & hand feeding him for a while, although that probably won't help his fussiness. Otherwise, just wait for him to forget what happened - he will eventually - but you'll need to go back to doing his dinner yourself.

I hope so,i went in with him after he ate his dinner and put my head beside his drinking bowl and he was drinking away,i hope he really does get over it,even know i was in the wrong it was just the once so i hope it doesnt scare him for life.

Guess i need to build the trust back up again

Broxi wrote:

Guess i need to build the trust back up again

Answered your own question there, mate. I'm sure it won't take long and it'll all be forgotten about in a couple of days.

Boa67 wrote:

Broxi wrote:

Guess i need to build the trust back up again

Answered your own question there, mate. I'm sure it won't take long and it'll all be forgotten about in a couple of days.

Deff mate,its funny because even now hes stuck to me like glue i know there very loving dogs but it gives me hope that hes not generally scared of me but more just worried when its meal times

Broxi wrote:

Boa67 wrote:

Broxi wrote:

Guess i need to build the trust back up again

Answered your own question there, mate. I'm sure it won't take long and it'll all be forgotten about in a couple of days.

Deff mate,its funny because even now hes stuck to me like glue i know there very loving dogs but it gives me hope that hes not generally scared of me but more just worried when its meal times

No way he'll be scared of you after just one minor indiscretion, mate. Don't beat yourself up about it, he obviously adores you and will forget about it quickly.

It's just association at the moment. If you continue to give him his food & don't repeat the incident he'll soon replace the bad association with the good one. Dogs are like that, they forgive really quickly.  

You need to not make a fuss about meal times or he will turn aggressive. Make dinner as less of a fuss as possible. go in, make the dinner, say nothing to him during this time, set it down, and walk out. Come back in 30mins and he will have ate it.

Thanks everyone and thanks for not jumping down my throat and realizing that i love my dog but made a mistake,i choose not only to tell people here for help but always i hope it makes people aware if they didnt know that dogs and 'staffys' are very soft and really arnt the big bad tough dogs that people think and are just loveable and kind that will pick up so easy on your additude and show a real dislike to it.

I know i have learnt a big lesson and lets just say the presents hes already got under the tree this christmas is going to get doubled haha

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Today was the first time i had fed him since the other day,took him out for his walk first as i always do then feed time,he sat on the sofa watching me make it i sat it down and it took me about 10secs to get him in using soft baby talk slightly nervous but he went straight to his bowl ate all his dinner and give him plenty of praise.

Hayley I only seen your post after making his dinner,i will carry on with what i did only because it worked but if it fails to work again i will try the method you suggested it makes alot of sence aswell

Glad he's eaten his breakfast ok, I'm sure you'll both be fine, like you said you've made a mistake and held your hands up about it, brox loves you and you him, he'll soon forget

I'm sure he will be fine in time, he just needs to know he can trust you again.

Just fed him his second meal today and everything 100% back to normal im soooo happy

That is great to hear   

Hayley wrote:You need to not make a fuss about meal times or he will turn aggressive. Make dinner as less of a fuss as possible. go in, make the dinner, say nothing to him during this time, set it down, and walk out. Come back in 30mins and he will have ate it.

To me, that would be an even bigger mistake! Dogs should always be comfortable with people in the room, going about their normal business, when their food is down.

I'm glad everything is back to normal. As you said earlier, you tend to forget that although they are a rough, tough breed, they can actually be very sensitive; but then, that's one of the great things about them!  

He is back to being scared again,and just under eatting all the time now,he has no problems eatting human food in his bowl or from me,i think i mite have to get rid of him now.

Shame but nothing i can do now,hes messed up now mentally

you doing something he doesn't like or scared about!

Wow... Wish I could take him!

I duno if i should just start feeding him tinned meat now and not dry i know he would eat it,i normally just put warm water in his kibble,im going to call into my local shop and get a cheap tin food and mix a small amount in and see how he responds,then if he eats it,i can either go buy tin wainwrights or something that is decent for him to eat or that and mix it with his dry

I think what you need is patience. If you're considering giving up your dog because YOU lost YOUR temper and scared him, then to be honest he's probably better off somewhere else! However, as you have come here for help I have some hope. If you want our help and you're going to take it on board then we'll help. However, I personally am not going to waste my time if you would seriously give up on a pup so easily, due to your own mistake. Everybody gets frustrated, but you need to take yourself out of the situation when you feel yourself getting wound up to prevent "messing him up mentally" any further.

If you want the help, I'm happy to go back to basics with you and talk you through a training plan step by step. Otherwise, please contact a reputable rescue centre and find him a permanent home.

Broxi wrote:He is back to being scared again,and just under eatting all the time now,he has no problems eatting human food in his bowl or from me,i think i mite have to get rid of him now.

Shame but nothing i can do now,hes messed up now mentally

I don't think you mean that   Stop giving him human food as that won't help. You do need to be patient, build his confidence back up   

I love my puppy,the only reason i would give him to someone else is if i thought he was scared of me,i only want him to be happy.

He has had one meal today,my girl tried to put some one a plate to try and see if he would eat it and he wouldnt,i walked into the kitchen and he crouched down in fear,for me thats a very sad thing to see your puppy do, in general hes great with me always sitting beside me,he still sleeps in are bed everynight and cuddles in and goes on 3 walks a day with me,its just meal times he freaks out now.

I really want the help because my other half and her daughter loves him to bits,they would be hurt to see him go

Okay.. firstly, what are you feeding him? How much, and how often? Does he get treats? And does he get human food?

Dogs are extremely forgiving, but he can probably pick up on your stress. If you don't feel that you've got the patience, have your girlfriend do the more testing stuff and you can do other bits and pieces.

I feed him wainwrights salmon, he was on lamb but kept farting alot on it so changed back to fish normally eases alittle bit on fish,i feed him 120grams 3 times a day - 360grams a day,on packet it recommends 270-380grams a day i think so i went close to inbetween that.

He doesnt really get much treats apart from bones with stuff in them like a morrow bone,he would have about 1 a week,he doesnt chew much on them,he likes to chew around the house more lol.

He generally doesnt get human food,i think im alittle gulity of throwing him something small down from my plate every now and again but im always aware of what im throwing him.

Is he not just being picky with his food? I got Ledger from rescue and after 6 months he went off JWB I tried Pero and he loved it every now and then he isn't fussed with his breakfast and will just look at the bowl then at me then walk off tbh I leave it there for him to graze (after all sometimes I don't want breakfast) tho I should really pick it up and have him go without for the odd meal.

Stop giving him human food and treats if your diet should be beans on toast every day but someone gave you the option of a steak and all the trimmings what would you do?

Very true , im starting to think hes gone off his food and then when im feeding his food hes think 'o no i dont like this food but he shouted at me for not eatting it' because about 20mins ago when my other half sat on floor with him with his dinner he wouldnt eat,i came in he crouched down in fear and then i said 'watch this' i put his dinner in the bin put abit of turkey in bowl and he came over and ate it

I might feed him wainwrights tin food just,never going to be better than dry but its good quality for tin food,id rather him eat that than not much dry,i have tried him on loads of dry foods,he is very fussy in general


Hes stil in good shape now thankfully but it wont last long

Be strict with a routine but don't make any fuss around the food. Get him to sit, wait place the bowl down give him the 'ok' and that's it if he's fed in the kitchen make a brew or something for a couple mins then leave him to it if he hasn't eaten say 30 mins later pick the food up (cover in cling film to keep fresh) he can have it at the next meal time.

Maybe drop to two meals I do half morning half at night but some prefer 1/3 morning and the rest at night

Am I right in thinking that he's 8 months now? I'd get his meals down to 2 feeds daily to start, might just be too much food!

Some dogs just don't like dry food, I know that mine won't touch it and I wouldn't want to eat it if I was a dog either.. boring!! She's fed on raw/nature diet now but when she was in kennels we used to mix a tiny bit of strong smelling tasty meat into her food and she would eat no problem. If it causes a lot less hassle at meal times, why not mix a tiny bit of the wainwrights trays or maybe butchers tripe into the food, mixed with a little warm water to really coat the biscuit. Shouldn't cost much more as it really is only a forkful of food when mixed with the water is spreads out well but make sure all of the biscuits are covered. It keeps fresh in the fridge for a few days. This is always the trick that I used in kennels when the dogs were stressed. You could also consider tinned sardines if you want to stick to fish. You'd only need half of one per feed really mashed up but it makes the food a lot more appealing If he eats this initially but then starts to get fussy again, don't pander to him but don't lose your temper. Leave it down for 10 minutes and if he hasn't eaten take it away and don't give anything until next feed time. A healthy dog will not starve themselves, if he's losing weight and refusing to eat completely a trip to the vets is in order.

As Jules and Saz have said, stop with the human food and keep treats for training only. For now at least, once he's feeling a bit better and eating you can begin to introduce treats and * bits again.

Give it a go and come back to us if all's going well we can work on making a positive association with you and the food bowl as if he's worried about the food bowl itself, or eating around you, then meal times need to become positive again.

thanks for all your help,i will keep you all posted


good nyt

Stick at it   xx

I bought a tin of meat for him but a small amount like a tea spoon in his dinner and he ate it all,was alittle nervous he didnt know what i was doing,i let him smell the bowl that had new meat in it and he jumped down and cleared his bowl in quick time hehe.

It seems that while of course i scared him it was all down to him going off his food completly where as i thought he was just being fussy in general,so adding a small bit of dog meat to his dinner has fixed the problem.

Well anyway so far so good

Thanks all and i will update in a few days

awesome! Very happy for you both

Great news just you being relaxed will help