Every time we eat dinner, he climbs up on our laps and begs for human food. We try to make him eat his dog food but he doesn’t. The only time he would eat dog food is when we hand feed it to him but most of the time he wouldn’t. We try to hand feed him his hard food but he never takes it.
What can i do to make him eat his dog food again without hand feeding him?
Tara
Comments
Well – take one pound of dog ears……………
I know that this may seem cruel, but you are going to have to starve him into it. Dogs aren’t stupid, so they are going to eat when they are hungry. Just quit feeding him table scraps, and quit feeding him by hand. Put his bowl down for food only at meal and snack times and he will eventually learn that if he doesn’t eat his dog food, then he won’t get anything, so he will start eating dog food again.
1) Shut him in another room when you are eating dinner.
2) Don’t give him any people food and don’t hand feed him.
Get him his own food bowl, put it in a specific area and every day put his dry food, maybe mixed with some canned food in his bowl and allow him time to eat. If he doesn’t eat, remove the food and don’t give him anything to eat until feeding time again. Dogs will all eventually eat their dog food if you withhold human food from them. They will not starve and it won’t hurt them to go a day or two without eating. The key to success is to not let the dog around you when you eat and do not give him any human food.
There is dog gravy that makes dry food wet, tasty, and slightly less hard. We occasionally put Iams Savory Sauce in our dog’s food. It comes in several flavors and is suppose to have nutrients and digestive aids. You can of course try different dry food or try wet food. You can make a game out of it by putting it in kongs, which would take a while to get them to eat enough, or possibly scattering the bits around. You could try making homemade food, there are tons of recipes, so you can either google it or search it on Y!A.
Stop feeding him anything but dog food, and no treats, either. No more hand feeding. No more sitting in laps at the table. Put him outside, in his crate, or in another room so he won’t pester you when you’re eating. Set out a bowl of nutritious dog food and a bowl of clean fresh water where he can easily reach it.
It will take about 3 days but I guarantee you that when he gets hungry enough, he WILL eat the dog food and he’ll think it tastes pretty darned good, too! I know you meant to be kind but you ended up with a horribly spoiled dog. This is the only way to UN-spoil him. Rare is the dog who will go without eating for 4 days. Most eat by or on the third day. Remember, you aren’t starving him because he has a whole bowl of food waiting for him to eat it Please know that you are doing him a great big favor by getting him back on a nutritious diet made specially for dogs.
