# Fussy Eaters



## Butters (Nov 18, 2013)

My pup was a good eater since we brought him home at 8 weeks up until he got his second set of shots at 10 weeks. After his shots, he was off food for a few days, which I thought was due to the vaccination. However, he continued to eat very little unless we actually fed him out of our hands. Probably, the wrong thing to do, but we were worried he wasn't eating enough. Anyway, now he won't eat unless it is out of our hands or on his puppy mat next to the bowl, but won't eat his food (dry) if it's actually in the bowl. How do we break this habit? He absolutely refuses to eat his food out of the bowl.


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Molly was a great eater when we first got her and then one day she started to be picky. We would sit on the floor and feed her from our hands and she would eat it all. She still does this sometimes but feeding her from our hand had it's benefits it made her have no food agression at all. Anyone can put their hand in her food and she doesn't care. The thing that made her stop eating was because her bowl would move and for some reason this freaked her out so we had to get some non slip bowls for her this helped a lot

Some days she eats all her food and on other days she only has half. She is not a pig for sure! I guess she eats what she needs. The vet says her weight is ok and that she is healthy so it's not really a concern. Some dogs would eat and eat and others just eat what they need. 

You can always try switching him to a different food we switched Molly to Acana after a few months that we had her. Let him adjust for now before switching him to another brand and also if you do switch him do it gradually so his tummy doesn't get upset! Good luck I'm sure he will bounce back. Have you talked to your vet about this?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Beemer was this way until I found a bowl that worked for him. He won't eat out of plastic bowls and he won't eat out of bowls that move. I got him a low shallow bowl that had rubber ring in the bottom to keep it from slipping. 


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Lexi&Beemer said:


> Beemer was this way until I found a bowl that worked for him. He won't eat out of plastic bowls and he won't eat out of bowls that move. I got him a low shallow bowl that had rubber ring in the bottom to keep it from slipping.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


OMG he is like Molly she has this thing for moving beds, carpets, bowls etc..it just freaks her out! i just don't get it but it scares her for some reason Poo's can be weird sometimes I guess Before she got her Diva bed we had a normal dog bed for her. One day it moved and never again did she want to go on it That is why we got her that dog couch it's heavy so it won't move ha!


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Does Butters wear a collar with an ID tag? I've known dogs that don't like the noise of the tags hitting the side of their dish...
Others have already suggested changing bowls and I'm sure that you will give that a try.
Dogs are creatures of habit - once formed the habit of hand feeding needs to be gently broken. Give him one piece from your hand, then drop 3 bits into his bowl, don't give more from your hand until he has eaten from his bowl. Give the praise when he eats from the bowl, ignore him when he takes from your hand.
My three are all piglets and hoover up their food in seconds. I'm lucky... I would say don't panic, take time and try not to fall into the trap of adding extras or changing his food to entice him to eat as I think that just teaches them to be increasingly selective in their eating habits. 
Ask your vet if it is ok to pop in regularly to weigh Butters, some vets have a puppy weigh in time. That way you'll be able to ensure that he isn't loosing weight, which Im sure he isn't.
It might be that his gums are a bit tender - it won't be long before he starts loosing his first puppy teeth.


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

Mine have given me no end of trouble with food and I have been through all that hand feeding stuff, thinking what am I doing here?! Lots of cockapoos are fussy eaters. Try him on wet food or a raw chicken wing, some just don't enjoy dry food.


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## AliAlfie (Jul 29, 2013)

One of our poos doesn't like the reflection of himself in the bottom of his metal bowl, and barks like crazy at it!  That said, they are also becoming more fussy about their food, we also cut down their meals to 2 from 3, but they still aren't eating as much as they used to (they used to be real gannets!!!) That said, they are a good weight for their size, so we've relaxed a lot and assume they are eating what they need.


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Just on a side note, eating out of your hands is actually a really good training technique. It makes them more understand that the food comes from you and not some magical bowl that just fills its self with food....so I wouldnt look at that as a bad thing at all. it was actually recommended by our trainer and to do it for two weeks


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## Butters (Nov 18, 2013)

Thanks everyone. We are gradually get him to eat out of his bowl. Some days are better than others. Although he's still on the thin side, he's growing and the vet is not too concerned. I'm going to try changing his bowl..

Come to think of it, we had just got him a tag for his collar and it does click around on the bowl. I'm wondering if this could be the problem. Should I take off his tag?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I'd take the tag off. Also, do you feed him near spots he's had accidents. It may be that they still have some residual odor that may be off putting if that is the case. 


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## Butters (Nov 18, 2013)

Just thought I would post an update on our situation....

Butters has still been fussy not wanting to eat out of his bowl. Will eat out of our hands or on the puppy mat. We tried removing his tag, but it made no difference.

He had a vet appointment yesterday and we mentioned it again to his vet. Weight wise he's doing well....5kg at 16 weeks! The vet suggested we switch to a ceramic bowl as some dogs don't like the smell of the plastic bowls and they like to play with the metal bowls. We're currently using plastic bowls. I went out this morning and bought a very cute set of ceramic bowls and he's eaten both meals today out of them with no fuss at all. Can't believe it was the bowl! Never thought dogs were so picky. At least he's not asking for a china bowl


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Butters said:


> Just thought I would post an update on our situation....
> 
> Butters has still been fussy not wanting to eat out of his bowl. Will eat out of our hands or on the puppy mat. We tried removing his tag, but it made no difference.
> 
> He had a vet appointment yesterday and we mentioned it again to his vet. Weight wise he's doing well....5kg at 16 weeks! The vet suggested we switch to a ceramic bowl as some dogs don't like the smell of the plastic bowls and they like to play with the metal bowls. We're currently using plastic bowls. I went out this morning and bought a very cute set of ceramic bowls and he's eaten both meals today out of them with no fuss at all. Can't believe it was the bowl! Never thought dogs were so picky. At least he's not asking for a china bowl


Yet 

It sounds as if Butters is doing really well. Can we have a photo update?


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Butters said:


> Just thought I would post an update on our situation....
> 
> Butters has still been fussy not wanting to eat out of his bowl. Will eat out of our hands or on the puppy mat. We tried removing his tag, but it made no difference.
> 
> He had a vet appointment yesterday and we mentioned it again to his vet. Weight wise he's doing well....5kg at 16 weeks! The vet suggested we switch to a ceramic bowl as some dogs don't like the smell of the plastic bowls and they like to play with the metal bowls. We're currently using plastic bowls. I went out this morning and bought a very cute set of ceramic bowls and he's eaten both meals today out of them with no fuss at all. Can't believe it was the bowl! Never thought dogs were so picky. At least he's not asking for a china bowl


Just like Molly she wouldn't eat in the metal bowls cause she would see her reflection in it then I got ceramic and she didn't mind them at all.


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