I am NOT hand feeding this dog About This Page:

[TMWIlson7196]

My sisters dog is staying with us thankfully only for a few more hours. Anyway he eats canned dog food. The problem is he won't eat it out of the bowl or off a fork. He will only eat it if you hand feed him. And yes I mean stick your hand in the mooshy food and pull out a piece of meat and give it to him. We are trying to break him of this but it isn't working. He started doing this last week according to my sister. She said he wouldn't eat so she hand fed him and he started eatting. So now that's how he wants to always eat. I'm sorry but no way am I sticking my hand in the dog food and hand feeding this dog. We don't even do that for our own dogs. Anyone have any ideas what to do to break this habit with him? Right now we have him fenced in the kitchen with his bowl of food. We figure when he's hungry enough he will eat but that's not working either. He hasn't eatten since yesterday morning. I could kill my sister for starting this bad habit. I can see why she did it because he wouldn't eat other wise. So now what do we do? Any help would be great.

[CinderAbby]

How old is he? Did something happen at your sisters house that he could be responding to?

I ask only because one of our dogs got hit and killed by a car a couple of years ago and our second one was like that for quite a few days - she either wouldn't eat or would only eat out of our hand. I broke her of it by feeding her a white rice and hamburg diet for quite a few days. The first day or two, that's all she got on a plate or in her bowl. Then graudally I started mixing her food back in (3/4 rice and hamburg to 1/4 dog food, then 1/2 and 1/2 and so on.) We haven't had any problems since and we're going on 2 1/2 year now. She's never gone back to not eating/hand feeding only. And if she did, I'd do the same thing again.

And the reasoning for slowly adding back the dog food (just in case you don't know) is dogs digestive systems are sensitive and by changing the diet quickly the could end up with diarhea, etc.

Good luck

[TMWIlson7196]

Toby is about 6 years old. I don't believe anything has happened at my sisters house. She does have another dog. But Toby hasn't had any problems until now. He seems ok as far as pottying goes. No soft stool or anything like that.

[MickeyWatch]

Keep going with your method. Once the dog gets hungry he will eat. My sister in law's dog will only eat when she is holding the bowl in front of him while she kind of squats down next to him. I refuse to do that in my house. So, when I watch her dog, I confine him in one room (to keep our dog from stealing the food) and give him 1/2 hour or so to eat. He will eventually eat his food from the bowl, on the floor. After a while I put the remainder of the food away.
Remember, you are the Alpha Dog in the house. Don't let the dog control you! Letting a dog eat caned food out of your hand means that the dog is in charge of the feeding process, not you! He will not let himself starve.

[Lorraine515]

I know you don't want to do it, but it's your sisters dog and you don't want anything to happen to Toby, so I would get a rubber glove and hand feed him that way you don't have to worry about all the dog food on your hand. I've had to hand feed my brothers dog when he was here too, so I know what you're going through.

[Mares75]

I know it sounds horrible, but honestly if you put the food in a bowl he will eat when he gets hungry enough. Just don't leave the canned food out for hours, it'll get nasty. Dogs won't starve themselves. We get people in at work all the time saying their dog will only eat if hand fed, will only eat a particular type of lunch meat, etc, etc. Really it's just because the dogs know if they wait they'll get what they want. When they find out it's not going to happen, they'll eat out of a bowl or eat dog food instead of lunch meat.

[TMWIlson7196]

Originally Posted by Mares75

I know it sounds horrible, but honestly if you put the food in a bowl he will eat when he gets hungry enough. Just don't leave the canned food out for hours, it'll get nasty. Dogs won't starve themselves. We get people in at work all the time saying their dog will only eat if hand fed, will only eat a particular type of lunch meat, etc, etc. Really it's just because the dogs know if they wait they'll get what they want. When they find out it's not going to happen, they'll eat out of a bowl or eat dog food instead of lunch meat.

I hope your right. But so far it's not working. He's been here since Sunday afternoon and he has yet to eat anything. We keep trying to put him in a room with the food and he just lays next to it.

[Cam22]

No advice, but some headed your way.

[TMWIlson7196]

Originally Posted by Cam22

No advice, but some headed your way.

Thank you. I'm gonna need them.

[Joanne929]

Oh boy! You're right about it being a dumb thing for your sister to start doing - maybe he's just ticked off that he's not at home and misses her? I hope he eats soon!

[jagmom08]

That's only 1.5 days. I doubt he will starve himself. I say no hand feeding, yuck.

[home4us123]

[TMWIlson7196]

Originally Posted by jagmom08

That's only 1.5 days. I doubt he will starve himself. I say no hand feeding, yuck.

I don't think he will starve either but that can't be good for him to not eat. And I say yuck too. Gross.

[TMWIlson7196]

Good news. I got Toby to eat, finally. I put it on a plate instead of a bowl and he ate it right up. What made me think of a plate was my dog, both dogs are dachshunds, does not like his kibble in a bowl. It sits to high and hits him in the throat and he chokes. I thought maybe that was Tobys problem too. I guess that might be what it is. As long as he ate and I didn't have to hand feed him I'm happy.

This is Toby.

[DisneyFanAnn]

So glad he ate!