How can I stop my dog from refusing his food for human food?

It sounds like he has you trained just the way he wants you. The good news is a dog can go without eating for days if they are otherwise healthy. If he hasn't seen the vet lately, get him an appointment to make sure there isn't another reason for his inappetence. If he is cleared medically, determine how much and what kind of food he is supposed to have (feed the best quality diet you can afford to avoid future nutrition-based medical issues) and decide how many meals you want him to have during that day. Put the food for his morning meal down, give him twenty minutes or so to eat and then take it up and put it away. Don't give him treats unless it is for training or for performing something you've taught him to do correctly and not too many. When it is time for his next meal, put his food back down and give him another twenty minutes to eat. Whatever food is still in his bowl at the end of that time gets put away until the next meal time. It may take a few days, he may make you feel incredibly guilty with pitiful stares and whining, but he will get the idea and eventually eat what he is supposed to.

Yes, most dogs once hungry enough will eat their own food as long as you aren't giving in and giving them people food and treats in between meals. You can use a little low sodium chicken broth with dog kibble to help entice eating and then gradually reduce it over time as Hercules gets used to his food again. As for barking and begging, looking up some YouTube videos on begging behavior can help you. In most cases, begging is something that is worked with via "extinction" which means you basically have to ignore it until he gives up when he realizes he's not getting a reward. This can be hard because with any extinction behavior, a dog will ramp up (IE barking more, begging harder) for a time in an attempt to get you to give in, before they gradually decrease the behavior. The key to getting past this is patience, and knowing it gets worse before it gets better! Distracting Hercules with a favorite chew toy or even something such as a Kong stuffed with his kibble may redirect the behavior as well while you work on it.

It's probably because she likes human food more than she likes her dog food. She should only be eating dog food, as too much human food isn't healthy for her. To get her back to eating her dog food only, I would mix the dog food and human food together, and over time, slowly decrease the amount of human food and increase the amount of dog food until she is eating dog food only. Do not give her any treats during this time, and once she is eating only dog food, do not give her any more human food.

Dogs tend to try and hold out on the "healthy" stuff especially if more interesting things such as treats are available. If he is refusing to eat it is best to stop all people food and treats for a day to encourage him to eat his food instead. Most dogs will get hungry enough after a day to give their regular food a try.

That is very common and unfortunately the only way to resolve this problem is not to give anymore human food but only his own. In the meantime you can try different flavor of dog food. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

You need to be strong and stop giving in. Knight is training you, instead of the other way around. He will not starve. If all you offer is dog food, eventually he will eat it. Table food is VERY bad fro them. He is very young still so I would recommend using Royal Canin puppy mousse and also keep some dry food out for him as well. ( https://www.royalcanin.com/us/dogs/products/retail-products/starter-mousse-tray-dog-food )

It is best not give him human food at all. If he begs while you are eating put him in a different room or outside so he can't beg. Remove the opportunity. Feed him at the same time you are eating but in a different room or outside as stated above. Once you are done eating you can let him in and if he hasn't eaten his food then pick it up and then give it to him again at his next meal. He will not starve himself to death. Eventually he will eat his food once he realizes you are not going to give in. He is training you instead of the other way around. Coco is very young to be already starting this behavior. You need to stop it now before it becomes a habit that going to be even more difficult to break. Dogs do not need to eat human food ever. They should only be eating dog food.