# not eating out of bowl



## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Hi folks. I'm having problems with little Bonnie. She is refusing to eat out of her little bowl. She acts afraid of it??? Twice I have held the bowl and given her one kibble at a time. The kibble is soaked and soft. At treat time this dog will eat these hard!?? This is sort of a large kibble, and I plan to get her a smaller kibble soon. This is the dog with no lower canines (fangs?) There is one factor: my roommate has been in the hospital for almost a month with blood poisoning, and I have been going to the hospital every day. This dog is the genetically shy dog that doesn't interact with us, but notices everything. I guess I will try a saucer tomorrow?


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## CheetoTheChi (Oct 4, 2016)

I'd try a saucer or plate for sure if she won't eat out of the bowl. If it's steel or offers a reflection it could be that or something else to make her fear it. If it's only the bowl causing her not to eat from it then that's an easy fix. If it's the food she won't eat then that's a different issue (but you said she was eating it at treat time no?) but maybe she doesn't care for it mushed. I know some dogs that don't have half their teeth and they will still eat hard kibble. Let us know if she will eat off the saucer or not  I hope everything works out well


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Well, this am she actually ran out of her pen, into the dining room and hid! She ate hard treats at 4 pm, but not her dish?? Last night I had to go get her and put her in her pen 'cause there was crushed up hard treats in the bowl?? She did eat them finally. I am going to give her just hard kibble tomorrow on a small plate/saucer.


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## CheetoTheChi (Oct 4, 2016)

Let me know if she takes better to the plate/saucer. Is she a Rescue? There must be a reason she's fearful of the bowl


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

This just is confusing! She drank some milk with her kibble this am. No kibble, just the milk. I am going to buy some smaller kibble today. I used a different bowl (they are china, small bowls) and it didn't seem to make any difference. I don't know why she will eat these exact same kibbles at 'treat' time? Oh well, her choice I guess. She has always been a picky eater, but always eats before bedtime. Not this time. I sprinkled some kibble on the pad, not in a dish, and they were there at breakfast.


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## CheetoTheChi (Oct 4, 2016)

Have you tried mixing the kibble with a wet food? Whenever mine wanted to be picky I would just do that and slowly lessen the amount of wet food mixed in. I guess you'll just have to play around to see what works for her. 


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## Tink (Oct 14, 2009)

The first thing I thought of is that she'll eat them as a treat, because you're hand feeding her (I assume you are anyway, when I give mine treats, they just take the individual pieces from my fingers.) 

Which, if that is the case, it does tend to make the situation a bit more complex.  

I will say, my dogs will eat large kibble as a treat but they have trouble eating kibble of a similar size from their food bowls....and they're not picky eaters in the least! I don't know what goes on in their little brains, but somehow, in their heads, eating that same kibble from the bowl is an entirely different experience, with its own set of "rules" than me offering them a piece of the large kibble from my fingers!


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I think I have resolved the problem. This am I thawed out some frozen turkey and gave that to Bonnie, and divided the rest between the other dogs. Oh My Goodness, NO problem, she gobbled that turkey right down! I had it in her bowl too! There is sun here today after weeks of rain, gloom, and grey! She and the others are basking in it. So good to see it. I think you are right on Ronni!


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## Courage's Mommy (Aug 23, 2016)

*Having the very same problem!!*

Susan, I am having the very same problem; mine has been going on for several weeks now, and I'm sure I've tried everything you have. (and probably some things you haven't! LOL) 

Courage started out eating dry puppy kibbles most of the time, and once a day I'd give him wet food. His treats were completely different from his food. He moved from that to a combination of wet food and plain chicken and rice. (There's a Chi mix who also lives here, and Courage was sneaking and eating her food when he could. She's older and overweight, so she needed a diet like that.) After a while, Courage wouldn't eat the chicken and rice anymore; not out of a bowl, not on a saucer, but he would eat a piece of the chicken if I either dropped it or placed it on the floor in front of him. Since he went off the chicken completely it's been very difficult to get him to eat anything. He was on a loose feeding schedule, but not any more. I've tried everything, including letting him go hungry all day, giving no treats unless he eats his food. Nothing is working, and I'm about at the end of my rope. Wet food or Kibbles, he'll eat out of my hand or off a spoon (yes, like a toddler!) and he'll eat treats till they're coming out of his ears, but he will not eat food out of his bowl. What do I do?

Oh, and I've already tried changing to another dog food, as well as switching to human food (he absolutely LOVES vegetables!)


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I have really no advice. Bonnie, this morning didn't eat her small kibble until I took it out of the bowl, and scattered it on her pad. Then she ate it. She did lick up the chicken broth I put in the kibble out of the bowl. I don't give her anything at night any more, just later I sprinkle some soft treats on the pad, and she eats those.


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## Courage's Mommy (Aug 23, 2016)

*This is driving me crazy!!*

I'm sure that *someone*, *somewhere*, has run into this problem and has figured out *something*! I've gone to so many different sites and forums, and no one seems to know anymore about this than we do. It worries me, I'm afraid of him not getting enough of what's good for him to eat but I"m also worried about the timing of this. He's _already_ 10 months old and spoiled, soon it will become more and more difficult to get him into any kind of routine.:foxes15:


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Wanda, I think you just have to be the 'hard headed' one in this relationship. If he will eat kibble off the floor/mat/whatever, then feed him that way. After a week or so of this, then try a bowl/saucer that he has never used before and put 1/8th of whatever he is eating into it, and the rest on the floor. Slowly transfer it to the new item. If at any time he refuses to eat, wait 15-20 minutes, and pick it up. Nothing more, including treats until 3-4 hours later. Offer it again. Same routine. Yes it will be hard, but that's what I do with Bonnie. If he adores vegetables cut up some tiny pieces and add it to what he is eating. 

Today I defrosted some left over Turkey, and she immediately ate that mixed with a tiny amount of kibble OUT OF HER BOWL.!! Yesterday she ate kibble off the mat in her crate. So I think part of this is what she is eating, and not so much the bowl???


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## Courage's Mommy (Aug 23, 2016)

*A Cry For Help; Sorry It's So Long!! LOL*



susan davis said:


> Wanda, I think you just have to be the 'hard headed' one in this relationship. If he will eat kibble off the floor/mat/whatever, then feed him that way. After a week or so of this, then try a bowl/saucer that he has never used before and put 1/8th of whatever he is eating into it, and the rest on the floor. Slowly transfer it to the new item. If at any time he refuses to eat, wait 15-20 minutes, and pick it up. Nothing more, including treats until 3-4 hours later. Offer it again. Same routine. Yes it will be hard, but that's what I do with Bonnie. If he adores vegetables cut up some tiny pieces and add it to what he is eating.


Well, I'm REALLY going to be the "hard headed one" now!! LOL I've spent the last few weeks trying any and all suggestions I could find to get Courage to eat normally, all to no avail. He refuses to eat dog food out of ANYTHING, anything that is but the remnants left in the other dog's (a 4 yr old Chi mix female) bowl; and that's only if he can do it quickly while I'm in the bathroom or somewhere that he can't see me, because if he sees me he's right under my feet. I've tried putting the food in her bowl, I've put it in a bowl for him by hers, I've set it on the floor by my feet when I'm in the kitchen, or in its regular spot with his water when I'm in my room, none of it has worked. The last two or three days I've been setting the bowl food at what should be meal times, and when he doesn't eat it I take it up shortly after. There has only been one way I've discovered that he will eat it, and that's (and maybe it's crazy, I don't know) if I spoon feed it to him!! He actually licks it from the spoon I use to put the food in his bowl!! From day one I've always kept a fresh bowl of puppy kibble out so that he could snack if he wanted; at first he never touched it, but he's begun to now. He doesn't actually eat a lot of it, but he will pick at it till he's tired of it, then he comes to me begging. For his evening meal, I share mine with him. Now before anyone screams, I've been a vegan for years, most of what I eat is veggies, potatoes, pasta, rice, beans, etc. Sometimes I will add non-meat substitutes also, like Morning Star burgers. Courage loves veggies, and he loves rice if it's flavored with some kind of sauce. He doesn't do plain rice. He sometimes likes chicken, and he loves having bits of my burgers. He also likes lettuce, carrots, and red cabbage out of my salads. He likes broiled Tilapia too, but he doesn't do salmon!

I went through all that to ask a question: is it wrong for me to just let him what he wants of the kibbles during the day and later when he's good and hungry give him the people food? Or I could feed him some dog food like for lunch, and then give him the dinner he likes with me?  I'm just so confused, he's the first dog I've ever completely owned myself, but I've been around plenty of people who had dogs, even had partners who had them, and I've never seen this issue before. I don't want to do something that is like a super huge no-no, so that's why I come and ask here. Hopefully I can learn something from you Chi owners that have been around them for years, and I won't cause Courage any serious harm....


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## Tink (Oct 14, 2009)

When I first rescued Tango, he was a mess. He'd been kept in a rabbit cage for the first 7 months of his life, to "protect" him from the 4 big dogs he lived with. He'd never been on grass, never been allowed to run around, never interacted with other dogs, or many humans. And he'd never been fed normally. What he ate was a very inferior kibble, and he was hand fed through the bars of the rabbit cage. So he was also malnourished and very sick, infections, bald patches, hot spots, thin, dry and little coat, numerous issues.

For the first week or two I babied him, got him to eat any way that I could so that I could give him his meds with his food. After that though, I realized that he wasn't going to eat if he wasn't hand fed, because that was all he'd ever known. And that was just not gonna fly with me! 

I had to teach him how to eat. I know that dogs won't starve themselves, not unless they're sick. If they get hungry enough, they will eat whatever is put in front of them, whatever they can find....which is why dogs in the wild will eat everything from road kill to berries off trees. Knowing that, I knew that when Tango got hungry enough, he would eat normally. 

I was feeding him twice a day, so day one, morning. Put food down in bowl. Left it for half an hour. He wouldn't touch it. Picked it back up and gave him a few licks of Nutri-Cal from my finger (to guard against hypoglycemia) Day one evening. Put food back down, waited half an hour. He wouldn't touch it. Picked it back up and gave him a few more licks of Nutri-Cal. 

Day two, morning. Put food down, waited half an hour. He wouldn't touch it. Picked it back up and gave him a few more licks of Nutri-Cal. Day two evening. Put food down....and hallelujah!! He inched his way towards the bowl, sniffed, picked up a kibble and crunched it...and then just dived in! He finally got hungry enough to eat. 

That may sound cruel, but knowing canine behavior I knew that he wasn't going to starve himself. And I also knew that I absolutely was NOT going to create or perpetuate him being a picky eater! I knew that when he was hungry enough, he'd eat. And that giving him bits of this and that to tempt him to eat was just shooting myself in the foot and sabotaging my own efforts to get him to eat. 

My dogs get fed twice a day. They're each just under 4 pounds and they get a quarter cup kibble total, 1/8 cup morning and night. I keep them on the lean side because that's better for them health wise..their joints, their little hearts, their overall health. When it's food time, they're HUNGRY, and they dive right in to whatever I feed them. I've never had a problem with Tango's eating habits since. He's a little pig, if I left food down for him he'd never stop! Jazz on the other hand would eat till she were full and then walk away. 

Anyway, hope that helps you some. You're not doing your dog or yourself any favors catering to his weird eating habits.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I agree with Ronnie. Get some Nutri-Cal and let him lick that IF he doesn't eat. You are just going to have to get stone cold hearted! He WILL eat. IF you have other dogs, you should give Courage his dish in his pen/crate. Make sure that he doesn't get ANYTHING from you or the other dog's dish. IF you continue to feed him vegies etc he is going to hold out for something he likes. You can integrate some vegies into his kibble if you wish.


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## Courage's Mommy (Aug 23, 2016)

Tink said:


> You're not doing your dog or yourself any favors catering to his weird eating habits.


Tink,

That right there is what I have been seriously afraid of, thank you so much! I was worried that giving in to him was in some way actually hurting him... I know that his spoiled brat behavior has been irritating me, and while I try very hard to keep it in check, once in a while I will snap (verbally, like "Will you get out from under my feet!") at him; then he looks so frightened and sad that after a few minutes I just have to pick him up and cuddle him, and I *know* that's wrong! I see what I have to do now, I just *have* to steel myself to his begging and teach him how it's going to be!

Susan, thank you also. I'd never thought about the veggies like that; I see now he knows that holding out will get him something better, so why would he eat his food??? And he does have weird eating habits!!  I guess I'm being too softhearted with him. 

Just to make sure I've got it clear, when you all say kibbles you're talking about the dry food in the bag right? And that's all you feed your chis? You _never_ give them any wet food? 

Thank you both, starting tomorrow it's gonna be a brand new day! I'll keep you posted!!


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I don't give 'wet' food. I use 5 star kibble from a pet shop. Fromm, American Standard, Blue Buffalo and others you can find with the Whole Dog Journal letter. My dogs also get 'plate lickies' with a little amount of table food, and some plain cheerios as treats. They are holding their weight. I have one dog on phenobarbital, who the vet says nothing can be done with her weight, which is about 2 pounds heavier than she should be. She gets 1/8th of a cup of kibble in the am, and about 6-8 pieces of kibble at bedtime.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Bonnie is the pup who had/has problems with eating out of the bowl. I now have switched her back to her 'normal' dish and she is doing fine. She 'stretches' to eat, with her back legs way back. Funny to watch.


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## rosevillegirl (Apr 8, 2016)

What is the very best food for chi who's very picky??


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Any of the premade raw foods (stella and chewies, and others) and a 4-5 star dry kibble. A lot of people on the forum use raw and could help you more than I can. Canned is another option, as some dogs prefer a wet food. Again, make sure it is a premium canned. Some of these listed in the Whole Dog Journal are: blue buffalo, natural balance, neura meats, and prairie (nature's variety). Some 'finicky' eaters need to be trained. Put the food down,(in the am) tell her 'time to eat'. Don't stand over her and urge her. After 15-20 minutes I pick up the bowl. Didn't eat? Too bad. I offer the bowl again at 2-3 pm. Again same thing. Didn't eat, too bad. Then by bedtime they almost always eat. The only time I 'urge' a dog to eat, is one that is old, or sick.


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

Not the same problem but my experience: 
Buddy Bear lived with dogs in a backyard ( to my understanding he was the smallest) 
When I first got him he would eat his kibble in a "funny" way. I would give him his bowl of kibble and he would take one piece of kibble and run to the other side of the room or yard, depending where I fed him. And he would continue to do it for all his kibble in the bowl. I was like oh no this isn't happening. So I would feed him with a leash on and I would hold the leash as he was eating and he was only allowed to go as far as the leash let him. 
Eventually he learned to eat like a "normal" dog. 
Buddy Bear has always been on the slim side. He's just naturally skinny. He's near 5 pounds. 
What are some foods that can pack on calories on my little guy? He currently gets kibble twice a day and added can food at night. Is there anything you know of with high calories?
I'm not trying to get him fat or over weight. He's just on the slender side. I know it's a good thing for joints. But he's a bit too skinny.


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## jan896 (Dec 9, 2009)

neither of mine like bowls or saucers... they gotta eat out of a dinner sized plate like mine....lol....and the plate needs to be set on a blanket... they hate the hardwood floors...


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