scared of his food bowl??

some time ago I wrote to ask for advice as Buddy was becoming very fussy eating - I took your advice of tough love and had a week of putting the dish down and taking it back up - we went four days without him eating, no treats nothing , in the end he just didn't bother to even see what was being put down- I could see he was hungry and could hear his stomach growling .

I then tried a change of food and for two days ate ok probably because he was so hungry - third nothing back to tough love -same as before over a week not eating - I have tried the following

hand fed -he eats until my hand gets to his bowl and he grunts and dances about and runs away until my hand comes away form the dish and he comes back
put food in his Kong but he cant get the natures own food out as it stick to the sides - frustrated dog...
put food in cats dish - ate once now same reaction to dish
tried china dish, glass dish , metal dish same reaction
Put food on the floor - will eat some days and some days not and hard to do tough love when on the floor
always wants the cats food though...

Am totally mystified as to what is going on in his little head - he is hungry, I can get him to eat , so he likes the food , but not in the way I want ( hand feeding) he has been to the kennels for a second stay last week and was hoping this would help , as his first stay he came home eating for England than this behaviour started , but this time they said he rarely ate .

Its almost certainly something linked to the bowl but no idea what - he has always ate from a bowl since I have had him at 10 weeks he is 8 Months now but the last month he will not go near any food in a bowl, he still drinks his water from one fine, .vet has checked him no issues - he is a healthy weight of 15kg and has a lovely coat only because I am feeding him using my hand to encourage , but in my mind I am creating a habit I will not be able to break - just do not know what else to try - he has three walks a day 2 for a minimum of 45 minutes - loads of play in the garden ...
any suggestions.. or do I just have an odd bod !!! with a habit he will grow out of ?

What sort of bowl does he have?

Iza likes a really big bowl so i use casserole dish

Have you any old plates you can use for his food its definitely something behaviour related associated with the bowl thinking using your own like a playe might help him is he the same with water or just the food?

Hey! Is the change of food sticking to dry food brands? Or have you tried different textures as well? I'm assuming he's had a thorough vet check to cover any tummy/dental problems? Have their been any incidents where something scared him near his bowl? This could be a loud noise elsewhere when he approached, or even his tag clanging against the bowl if he wears a collar indoors. Agree with crystal that a flat surface may be good to try yet - even a tray could work as you could then lift that up if he decides not to eat, but it's the same as eating on the floor essentially.

hi guys- thanks for your input- I have tried him with a metal bowl - and a ceramic one and a smaller china cat bowl.. he drinks water fine out of the metal one no issues . He did have a dangling tag but since Monday he has a flat tag that slides on his collar .. but maybe the noise before freaked him, cant remember any thing spooking him by his bowl... I have tried all types of textures - at the minute he has natures own mince various flavours with a little kibble - he eats it if I hold it or if I put little bits at a time on the floor .. have noticed if he has food with gravy/water after eating he goes mad rubbing his nose on his bed - maybe a flat dish or a tray as suggested might help .. he is a strange little boy that's for sure..Vet has fully checked him no issues anywhere ..he is just a bit odd !! will let you know how I get on

Yes carol please hen

try putting dry food in microwave for few seconds releases smell. Iza Salmon and potato smells rather nice straight out micro.

will try that - do I need to put water with it in the microwave?

no water. Just stick it in for say 10 seconds at a time till you can smell it.

will have a go tonight ... will try anything at this point becoming hard work - not that it appears to be bothering him...lol

well last night heated his kibble in with a little of his mince - put half on the floor and half in a cat shaped plate ... he ate the half on the floor straight away and then out of the plate - result...!! did the same this morning he ate off the floor but not the plate but I didn't have to hand feed him - so I am going to do this for the next couple of days and if he doesn't move to the plate will try a tray - but I think the heating of the kibble has helped a lot thanks for the tip !

Colin, you genius

Hopefully it lasts Iza can be fussy with dry food at times its a pain.

I am also going to move where I feed him if I can as he faces a wall maybe he thinks someone or the cat ! might come up behind him ..he ate last night out of the dish also because the cat started eating it I think.. have to get the cat more involved lol - will keep you updated see if your tip has cracked it! thanks again

Col great :

Iza stands back and lets the cats eat er food i have to chase them lol

Aww iza live when cats and dogs get along

She once got chased by a cat outside was so embarrassed

Buddy chases the cat all the time to play , gets really upset when he gives it his ball and it whacks him on the nose ! our cat is 17 and really just wants to sleep but still puts Buddy in his place when he has to...

Oh iza can just picture buddy giving the cat the ball awww bless him .

well I think Buddy is just playing games and now it is staring to annoy me... he has gone back to not wanting to eat again.. I have tried trays dishes floor hand.. the only way he seems to eat is if I put the food in his kong - but I think I need a bigger kong the one he has is not big enough to get a substantial amount of food in. He likes the food as he will eat it in the kong. I am just wasting so much food , Maybe I need to feed him just once a day but not sure the best time to do this and if at 8 months one meal is ok ? Buddy is such a good dog in every other way if I can crack this I can honestly say I have no concerns about him at all-other than his need to chew of course... do you think this food behaviour will go or will he always be like this??

Hope not carol as emotionally this must be draining as you want him to eat enough to get as much nutrients as he can im stuck but i hope someone else can offer a better solution

thanks Crystal I hope I can crack it soon - am even thinking of trying Raw- don't really fancy it but if he eats would be worth it - mind you gave him a bone on Sunday and after jumping on it for 20 mins he sat and looked at it and watched the cat eat it!! I ended up taking it away in the end so Raw might not work either LOL ! he is an odd bod that's for sure..

How is he with his food now

hi Crystal , still a bit hit and miss but over the weekend gave him just raw mince (natures own) on Friday had to feed him by hand - Saturday morning a bit of hand bit of floor -Saturday night though put his dish down in the kitchen where I was cooking and with some encouragement he ate fine - same Sunday morning - Sunday night didn't want to know and went hungry - this morning I mixed a little kibble in it and put it in his kong as wouldn't go near his dish - then he started licking his bowl so I scooped it out of the kong playfully into his bowl and he ate it... I put kibble in his kong when I went to work and just been home to walk him and he has eaten that too.. think I will have to look at feeding Raw.. bit complicated but if he eats.... he is a very strange little boy when it comes to food

Aww bless him .

What worked with Kiki was just changing the bowl with another bowl in a different material. She would eat in the kennel out of metal or alumium bowls but just just would not go near them once she was with us. Even filled with her most loved snacks (meat 'sushi' snacks or piefjes of hotdog) she still will not go near them today.
Eating and drinking out of plastic or melamine bowls is no problem. And luckily for our wallet, she's not chewing them up:-bd Thanks to the tips on the forum to deal with chewing issues.

Well Buddy doesn't seem to care what bowl it is in he will not eat out of it - prefers the floor ! he will however lick his bowl if he wants more food- I have a very strange odd bod!! - but so far we are on day 4 of raw mince ( natures menu) and we are still eating OK albeit with a lot of encouragement from me to get him started .. but once he has his first mouthful he eats the lot ...

aw carol thats excellent perhaps he didn't like the consistency of the food he was getting. mias fussy with the treats she gets and wnt eat certain ones if someone else gives her the same treat she gobbles it mia plays me like a violin.

I had this with Marley for a few days, I put his food down he went and started eating it, then I picked up his water bowl to change it and accidentally dropped some water on him, from then he would not eat or go near his bowl so I hand fed him, then I moved his bowl away from his water and again he ate fine. Till I put it back!! Again he wouldn't eat so instead of doing his food first I did his water bowl then his food and he just stood behind me and watch and since then I've had no trouble at all thank god lol! Anything like that happen?

emma- I cant think of anything that's what is so odd he was fine even went to the kennels and came back fine it started just about a week after that - he is hungry but I just cant get him to come to his bowl and eat - he is only putting on weight because I am feeding him but the its catch 22 the longer I do it the harder to break the habit - but he went nearly 4 days before -too long for a puppy ...I have moved his plate - changed his plate changed his food ... really at a loss

I would now stop changing things. From experience with horse training, the more of an issue we make of things the bigger an issue it can be for the animal. I would now pick one place, one bowl and then be completely normal. The only change I'd make is for you to then leave the room for 10 minutes to give him time to eat without you there. It is possible that your worry over this is worrying him and he might be more relaxed on his own.

Then give it at least 2 or 3 days without changing a thing, and no snacks in between. I can't promise it'll work but it's worth a try.

hi liz, I will definitely give it a go ,as I have an open plan house hopefully he doesn't get into any mischief whiles on his own .. but we will see... will let you know will probably start tomorrow morning after OH has gone to work and get him to do it in the afternoon before I get in so there is only one of us about see if it works I am going to take his toys away too so there are no distractions -

well leaving him alone didn't work .. if I lay the bowl on its side he will eat from it -odd but true..- but is being fussy what he eats yesterday beef mince no issue today venison spat it out- will try again later as he should be hungry , but he didn't eat the lamb mince either so maybe he is beef fan... talk about odd dog...