My puppy only eats when handfed. How can I transition her to a bowl?

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.

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.

This can become a very frustrating problem! You can try adding a very small amount of low sodium chicken broth (assure that it does not contain onions or garlic) or a tablespoon of canned food to Yahoo's kibble to tempt him to eat. He may simply be trained to eat from your hand and may require a bit of coaxing to eat from the bowl. Start by feeding him from your hand over the food bowl, then gradually move your hand down to the bowl, eventually removing your hand from the bowl altogether, but you may still need to sit with Yahoo while he eats. It may take a week or so to gradually leave Yahoo alone to eat. I hope this helps!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! He may be too young still so I would continue to hand feed him for now for at least 2 more weeks but I recommend that you leave the bowls available to him so that he can let you know when he is ready to make the transition. Best of luck!

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.

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.

The good thing about dogs is that they can go for a few days without eating and they'll just get hungry, whereas it can harm cats to not eat for a few days. It sounds like Ginger is trying to train you instead of the other way around. First of all, no more people food! Until she will eat her own food reliably, giving her people food will only reinforce her efforts. If you leave her kibble out all the time, stop doing that. Figure out how much dry food she should have per day (the label on the bag should give you feeding recommendations) and divide that into however many meals you want to feed her. I usually feed my dogs in the morning and evening. When it's time for her breakfast, put her bowl down and give her 15-20 minutes to eat. Whatever is left at the end of this time gets taken up and put away until the next meal. Don't give her treats unless it is for training rewards. When it's time for her evening meal, put that down and again, give her 15-20 minutes to eat. She may try to make you feel guilty by begging, don't fall for it. Don't feed her any people food and especially don't feed her off the table while you'ree eating. Make sure any family members or other residents in your home are aware of and are participating in the training, otherwise you're wasting your time. After a few days, she'll get the idea that her food it out at specific times and if she wants to eat, that's the time to do it. Good luck!