Hand Feeding your dog?
Discussion
Some of you may of Read, that i rescued Beau, the older of my two bulldogs about 6 weeks ago.
Well, for about 4 weeks she has been VERY funny with her food. She will not eat Breakfast under any circumstances, and she will only eat her tea if i feed it to her myself!
i know i know youre all gonna say 'slippery slope' but i have tried leaving it down, then binning it if she doesnt eat it, but she will quite happily go with out her food, and i would rather sit there for 5 minutes and feed it to her than know shes not eaten at all.
Does any one else have any feeding issues with their dogs?
Boris will wolf his food down like its his last meal hes ever gonna get fed!
Well, for about 4 weeks she has been VERY funny with her food. She will not eat Breakfast under any circumstances, and she will only eat her tea if i feed it to her myself!
i know i know youre all gonna say 'slippery slope' but i have tried leaving it down, then binning it if she doesnt eat it, but she will quite happily go with out her food, and i would rather sit there for 5 minutes and feed it to her than know shes not eaten at all.
Does any one else have any feeding issues with their dogs?
Boris will wolf his food down like its his last meal hes ever gonna get fed!
Had this with a rescue. The kennels he was living in would feed him by hand or he wouldn't eat....
When I first had him I would sit there and feed him, and he'd happily eat the lot, as long as it was from my hands.
Solution? An hour worth of walk, then give him breakfast. Didn't take long for him to start eating from the bowl.
When I first had him I would sit there and feed him, and he'd happily eat the lot, as long as it was from my hands.
Solution? An hour worth of walk, then give him breakfast. Didn't take long for him to start eating from the bowl.
Yeah she has her morning exercise before her breakfast, but its almost like she is reluctant to wake up in the morning ( typical bulldog trait i believe! )
When i got her, she was only used to have one meal a day, which was just dried biscuits, which was at 9am.
I needed her to put on some weight as she was tragically majorly underweight, so i started her on 3 very small meals a day ( that coincided with the puppy ) and she absolutely lapped them ALL up at first. But now she seems to have got fed up with it.
When i got her, she was only used to have one meal a day, which was just dried biscuits, which was at 9am.
I needed her to put on some weight as she was tragically majorly underweight, so i started her on 3 very small meals a day ( that coincided with the puppy ) and she absolutely lapped them ALL up at first. But now she seems to have got fed up with it.
Moo27 said:
But now she seems to have got fed up with it.
Could it be a protest about boring food? Do you vary her food? We have about 4 different flavours of the same make of dog food (which is a PITA storing 4-6 15kg bags of food in the utility room!) so that each day they get a different flavour........... Saves them getting bored of dry food - oh, we also add yoghurt, gravy etc now and agin too for a bit more variety....Moo27 said:
But now she seems to have got fed up with it.
We had this with our greyhound, so we started buying those chubb meats, cut his dry food down a bit and replaced that with about 1/4 of a chubb (Eddie has 2 meals a day) ASDA do them for about £3.60 for 8 of them in assorted flavours,it seems to have done the trick as he now eats is so quickly that he vcan sometimes choke a bit on it!It could be her body has now caught up with its needs and so you don't need to feed her three meals a day anymore.
Try reducing the to two meals. Normally larger portion am smaller pm but if she eats better pm swap it around.
10 min rule. If not eaten in 10mins take away and try again later. Act calm around her dinner time. To start with just put couple mouthfuls of food in her dish or on floor next to it.
Not knowing her history means it may be an issue for a while yet but try your best not to encourage bad habits.
Chopping and changing food too much could make her fussier but may be a necessity for a while.
Try reducing the to two meals. Normally larger portion am smaller pm but if she eats better pm swap it around.
10 min rule. If not eaten in 10mins take away and try again later. Act calm around her dinner time. To start with just put couple mouthfuls of food in her dish or on floor next to it.
Not knowing her history means it may be an issue for a while yet but try your best not to encourage bad habits.
Chopping and changing food too much could make her fussier but may be a necessity for a while.
Hahahaha!!
Well, she has Royal Canin Bulldog Kibble. And then i vary her meat every day, between Chicken, Beef and Lamb. Even if i pour Gravy on it, not interested, cheese.. not interested... ketchup... not interested... i think you get the idea! BUT i could smother it in Cat Crap, and as long as i hand fed it to her she would eat it!
Maybe she is just Lazy?
Ive tried spreading it on the floor, in her bowl, on a plate, even bought a friggin dog bowl that sits off the floor as i thought she might not like reaching down! lol
Well, she has Royal Canin Bulldog Kibble. And then i vary her meat every day, between Chicken, Beef and Lamb. Even if i pour Gravy on it, not interested, cheese.. not interested... ketchup... not interested... i think you get the idea! BUT i could smother it in Cat Crap, and as long as i hand fed it to her she would eat it!
Maybe she is just Lazy?
Ive tried spreading it on the floor, in her bowl, on a plate, even bought a friggin dog bowl that sits off the floor as i thought she might not like reaching down! lol
One of my Dachshunds is very picky and funny about food. He also has an overshot jaw, making eating a little more challenging for him. We have the same issue particularly at breakfast where he is reluctant to eat. The problem is that when I go to work the other one capitalises on the available extra dish of food.
So to make sure he has eaten before I leave I sometimes have to feed him by hand. Although he is slowly getting better, I don't see it as a massive problem. I am sure if he was really hungry he would eat, particularly as he's more inclined to eat later in the day too.
So to make sure he has eaten before I leave I sometimes have to feed him by hand. Although he is slowly getting better, I don't see it as a massive problem. I am sure if he was really hungry he would eat, particularly as he's more inclined to eat later in the day too.
It might not be anything to do with food but the fact that you have had her for about six weeks.
My mums bull terrier of insanity was initially fine but then got a bit anxious and clingy about two months after being rescued.
When she realised that she wasn't going to be rehomed yet again and was in her forever home she re-engaged stupid mode and has been as normal as a bull terrier ever gets.
My mums bull terrier of insanity was initially fine but then got a bit anxious and clingy about two months after being rescued.
When she realised that she wasn't going to be rehomed yet again and was in her forever home she re-engaged stupid mode and has been as normal as a bull terrier ever gets.
Jasandjules said:
nick_j007 said:
Also, try a moist food called Nature Diet. Most dogs I get on this really enjoy it, plus its free from additives.
Yes, this is something we add in now and again to our dog's dinners. parakitaMol. said:
Jasandjules said:
nick_j007 said:
Also, try a moist food called Nature Diet. Most dogs I get on this really enjoy it, plus its free from additives.
Yes, this is something we add in now and again to our dog's dinners. I strongly advise you to stop hand feeding. I understand your intentions, but this a rod that you may regret
Just be close by but quiet.Trust me I'm a doctor. Well not really but I am right
Nick
Probably just settling in.
She will eat when she wants to. Maybe rather than giving such a varied diet perhaps start off with something relatively and go from there. Raw chicken wings is a favourite with noobs in my home. Dogs are creatures of habit.
Like me! I have pasta on a Monday night :-)
She will eat when she wants to. Maybe rather than giving such a varied diet perhaps start off with something relatively and go from there. Raw chicken wings is a favourite with noobs in my home. Dogs are creatures of habit.
Like me! I have pasta on a Monday night :-)
Oh yes. I have sat on the floor many times hand feeding them all.
Some of the due to being rescues and too scared to eat (or too weak).
Some of them too ill to stand and eat.
Some of them that are such picky little buggers that they will NOT eat. 'Leave the food and they will eat' I hear people say. Yeah, right!
Some of the due to being rescues and too scared to eat (or too weak).
Some of them too ill to stand and eat.
Some of them that are such picky little buggers that they will NOT eat. 'Leave the food and they will eat' I hear people say. Yeah, right!
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