jzdrojowy Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Hi guys, I don't post much but I read the boards every day. I have a question about some strange food behavior that my Lindee is presenting. It seems that she's decided that she does not like eating from a container anymore. We're not sure what's going on but it started in the middle of last week. Her appetite has not changed. We have not changed her diet at all and she still likes her food and will eat it....off the floor or from my hand. If the food is in my hand, she'll devour it all. If I dump it on the floor she has no problem gulping it up. If she gets it out of her Buster Cube (good god she loves that thing ) and the food goes onto the floor...gobbles it up. It's only if it's in a container (any bowl, we've tried multiple) that's she's decided that she doesn't want it. If it matters, she's 13 weeks old, and boy is she a cutie! I need to upload some pics soon. Thanks for any and all input you guys may be able to provide me, I love this community almost as much as I love my Lindee girl...almost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Does she have a collar on that might be banging the bowls? Have you tried a plate? Personally, I would leave the food in the bowl and she will eat when she is hungry enough. Take it up after 15-20 minutes and try again at the next meal. I don't like to let dogs decide when, what or how they will eat... just my preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Freckles LaLa Mom Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 I dont know. I'm curious as to the answer on this one as well. I've seen freckles dump her bowl out and then eat off the ground. No clue why she does this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 What kind of a bowl do you feed her out of? Do you wash it out often? Plastic can absorb flavors/odors. If she's got a plastic bowl, you might try changing it to a stainless steel or ceramic and wash it everyday. Otherwise I'd just follow Kim's suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha J Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Holly did exactly the same thing. When she was a pup and we first brought her home she used to eat ok. We did change her food a few times to get a brand that suited but she did eat ok to start with. Then she didn't use to eat unless we tipped food out of her bowl onto the floor. I know that is not the best thing to do but we had a growing puppy and i know there is the they will eat when they are hungry theory but i wanted to make sure that she ate. So after her food had been down some time i would tip some on the floor and she would gobble it straight up. I have not a clue why she did this and her bowls were cleaned after every meal and were always stainless steel. Anyway we didn't always do it and sometimes she would eat ok but i did the hold the kibble in the hand thing whilst she ate it on occasion too. Wrong to do perhaps but i fealt better knowing she had eaten. Once we got her spayed though she has gone the other way she will eat her food the minute it is put down and seems hungry more now. Just adding that Holly did it too and we never did know why but she is better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzdrojowy Posted May 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 What kind of a bowl do you feed her out of? Do you wash it out often? Plastic can absorb flavors/odors. If she's got a plastic bowl, you might try changing it to a stainless steel or ceramic and wash it everyday. Otherwise I'd just follow Kim's suggestion. Her bowl is a heavy, glazed ceramic bowl that's kept clean when there's no food in it. It's identical to her water bowl that she has no problem drinking out of. We've tried a stainless steel bowl but that didn't work at all! All she wanted to do with that was dump the food out and paw at it to get at the puppy that hides inside it! (Her reflection, it's hilarious but doesn't get her to eat ). We've tried a white dinnerware type bowl, brown stonewear bowl and those didn't work either. We may just have to go with Kims suggestion and just set it out and take it away after 15-20 mins, then try again next meal time. I feel bad about that though...probably shouldn't since she's keeping the food from herself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzdrojowy Posted May 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Does she have a collar on that might be banging the bowls? Have you tried a plate? Personally, I would leave the food in the bowl and she will eat when she is hungry enough. Take it up after 15-20 minutes and try again at the next meal. I don't like to let dogs decide when, what or how they will eat... just my preference. Missed the first question. Actually, she DOES have a collar that bangs the bowl. Would that keep her from eating? She certainly has no problem slurping up gallons of water from her identical water bowl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 You never know what will make a dog act weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 We had a foster dog who acted the same way. He would eat off a plate, which clued us in to the fact that his tags were banging on the bowl when he ate. We taped his tags to his collar and all was well. Sometimes you have to experiment....Good luck. Kathy Robbins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rescue Nut Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 I have a rescue that does the same thing. Dumps the food right out the bowl, ALL OVER THE PLACE!!! OMG What a mess!! (Though in all fairness, the cats sure love it...) Even the so called "non-tippable-no-skid" bowls. (Also took the rubber no skid off the bottom of the bowl and destroyed it.)Wouldn't go near ceramic. Resorted to a homemade weighted 6 x 9 stainless steel baking pan. So far, so good. Also got the rubber tag guards for her tags. (Work great until her sister rips them off...) Tag guards are similar to the edge-covers to tell you car keys apart. Still haven't figured out why she does this. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Ouzo did that as a pup. For a looong time. Because I was too weak each time to just let him be hungry and eat on its own. So he trained me to feed him by hand. He loved it, of course! I almost got "Good girl!"s from him! He's still a picky eater, but as a pup, he was unbeliveble, he wouldn't eat his food for more than 24 hrs, but would gladly accept treats (and napkins ). It was his way of seeking attention. Probably your pup does the same thing. Learn from our mistakes: Toughen up for a week and take away the food bowl after 20-30 minutes, and present it back after a few hours. She will eventualy get the hang of it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 I had a huskie mix (RIP) who, I noticed one winter, was eating TONS of snow, and drinking out of every stream and pond. I was afraid she had diabetes. But then I realized that her water dish was never going down. She had gotten a new, large, stainless steel dish for Christmas, and something about that dish (her reflection, maybe?) scared her so much that she stopped drinking water in the house. A quick switch of the dish, and she was back to normal. Dogs are weird. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet_ceana Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Ceana would knock her food out of the bowl when she was younger, we tried to take it away but nothing changed. Then we ignored her and we learned her food issues were more of a tantrum then anything else....she just liked the attention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Ouzo did that as a pup. For a looong time. Because I was too weak each time to just let him be hungry and eat on its own. So he trained me to feed him by hand. He loved it, of course! I almost got "Good girl!"s from him! He's still a picky eater, but as a pup, he was unbeliveble, he wouldn't eat his food for more than 24 hrs, but would gladly accept treats (and napkins ). It was his way of seeking attention. Probably your pup does the same thing. Learn from our mistakes: Toughen up for a week and take away the food bowl after 20-30 minutes, and present it back after a few hours. She will eventualy get the hang of it.... Arn't these smart little guys fun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha J Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Ouzo did that as a pup. For a looong time. Because I was too weak each time to just let him be hungry and eat on its own. So he trained me to feed him by hand. He loved it, of course! I almost got "Good girl!"s from him! Learn from our mistakes: Toughen up for a week and take away the food bowl after 20-30 minutes, and present it back after a few hours. She will eventualy get the hang of it.... LoL i love that perhaps that was what Holly was doing! who knows what these bcs are thinking they are way to smart!! hehe. I agree with the suggestion of what you should do re - take food away, but maybe like Anda put it down again a few hours later rather than miss a meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzdrojowy Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Thanks for all of the input, guys. Definately going to take some of your suggestions and put them into action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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