My dog won't eat from his bowl. How do I get him to self-feed?

Add warm water or a couple teaspoons of baby food to his food to stimulate his appetite. Check his mouth and gums for injury or signs of periodontal disease (redness, swollen gums, bad breath, visible plaque/tartar build up). Discontinue hand feeding. This may worsen his being finicky. Changing the food bowl may reignite interest. Prepare his food at mealtimes and leave it down for 20-30 minutes. Pick it up afterwards whether he has eaten or not. Repeat this at the next mealtime. Do not offer any other food or treats between meals. Zeus will not starve. He will eat when he is hungry as long as you are firm with him. Regular mealtimes are recommended since dogs thrive on routine. If he develops any other symptoms (lethargy, vomiting,diarrhea, loss of appetite), then have him examined by your veterinarian.

This can be a very frustrating problem, but is quite common among small and toy breed dogs. Since you've tried offering timed meal feedings and a variety of different bowls for Snowball, you may need to try a very slow, gradual process to wean her from hand feeding. Start by feeding her from your hand, as usual, but keep your hand over the top of her bowl. The next meal, move your hand closer to the bowl so that it is just above the bowl. Later, put your hand in the bowl while holding kibble. Eventually, move your hand to the edge of the bowl, then out of the bowl altogether. After awhile, try just sitting beside Snowball while she eats from the bowl. It may take days to weeks on each step to gradually wean her from hand feeding, but this typically is successful for most dogs. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

There are a few things you can try: One is trying a different type of bowl such as ceramic or plastic, or one that is wider or flatter, as sometimes the feel or sides of the bowl can be scary or irritating, especially if Simba is interested in eating still. The other is to start offering a piece of kibble from your hand with the bowl in your lap, and alternate one piece of kibble in hand, one dropped in bowl, back and forth, while praising each time he eats from the bowl. You can also sneak in a few tasty treats to make it extra fun for him. As he gets used to "eating" from the bowl with you there, you can gradually add more to it and then distance yourself from the bowl to encourage him to eat more on his own.

I would first encourage you to consider whether Norik is actually having appetite issues and not bowl issues. If you're sure that he has a strong/normal appetite, that's good, but remember that sometimes reluctant eaters actually have gastrointestinal issues - for example, intestinal parasites are very common in puppies - and make sure that you and your vet have ruled out potential medical issues first, especially if there are other concerning signs such as vomiting and/or diarrhea. Also think about whether he might have neck pain that is keeping him from wanting to lower his head all the way to the floor. If Norik has a great/normal appetite, and you've made sure that any potential health problems are ruled out, but he truly doesn't like bowls, then I would recommend trying to feed him on something extremely shallow, such as a plate or cookie sheet. You might also consider an elevated feeding bowl to see if getting the bowl up higher is more appropriate for him.

Thank you for your question. It looks like Elvis is a good size puppy, already 20 lbs, which means I am less concerned about him going a day without food. I recommend putting the food in the dish, and offering the dish every few hours. Don't feed him anything else by hand. If he goes 24 hours and still refuses to eat out of the dish, then we will move to plan B. This would involve holding the dish, and picking out one kibble at the time to feed to him. The goal is to have him take the kibble from your hand, and with every few pieces move your hand closer and closer to the dish or bowl eventually having your hand in the bowl if possible. I'm sure Elvis will get the hang of it soon. Some puppies are just not very food motivated, but he will eat when he is hungry. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Stop hand feeding your puppy, as he might get used to it and then generally refuse any food that is not being fed to him by hand. Depending on what type of bowl you are using, there may be an odor that he does not like. Plastic bowls often emit chemicals which could be uncomfortable for the dog (and also can cause skin problems). Change his food bowl to either ceramics or metal and keep it meticulously clean, ie wash it and rinse it well after each meal. Make sure he is hungry when you feed him, ie feed small amounts more often. Take away any food he has not eaten within ten minutes.

Some dogs stop eating from a bowl and it's fine as long as you are fine with it, feeding directly on the floor would be the preferred alternative method, make sure you clean that floor area after each meal. If you would like to try the bowl again, change the type of bowl and it's size as well, those changes might work.