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keeps pushing food bowl away

7K views 42 replies 9 participants last post by  hvtopiwala 
#1 ·
i dnuo what my pups deal is, but since yesterday evening when i try to feed him he keeps trying to push his food bowl away when his food is in there...he keeps nudging it away with his head. if i take small amounts of food and put it on the floor he eats it just fine! ive tried changing bowls same problem. if i put all the food on the floor, he nudges that away. any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Use his food while you train him...that way it is utilized in the best way possible. What are you feeding? It may be rancid. Dogs have much better instinctive olfactory senses and do know if something is off.
Or if he's teething and in pain, the food is relative to the pain. Maybe soak the kibble so it is easier on his gums.
 
#4 ·
He'll eat it from your hand or on the floor, just not from the dish? I don't feed kibble but would think it is hard on the nose to eat from a bowl, vs picking it up from a flat 'lick'. Odd that he just started it...and yes, teething isn't an issue at this age.
 
#6 ·
Sage almost always dumps her food in the floor when she eats. It's aggravating to have kibble skitter all over the place, but that's just her. Maybe your guy just doesn't like bowls!
 
#7 ·
I had the exact same problem with my 8month old. Turned out it was a massive attention thing and her trying to see if she could get something else to eat if she refused. I left her in her pen with the food for 15minutes, when I returned she ate only a small amount. So I would take it off her. I did this everyday for a week. I feed her raw food and high quality dog biscuits.
But I just let her go hungry, and I tell you what, she eats every last bit now, because she knows if she doesn't eat it, she won't be offered anything else. Also we have 3 outdoor dogs, so they all have individual pens and are fed side by side, it really encouraged her too eat. Seeing the others eat convinced her she has too :)


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#9 ·
he won't starve. I'm not a fan of tough-love when it comes to food, but I feed raw, and my dogs seldom, if ever, pass up a meal.
My thing with kibble is knowing a dogs instinct and trusting if there may be an issue with the food. Though they'll eat gamey green raw with out hesitation! Go figure.
 
#12 ·
Yes.. tough love is the way to go.. Dogs won't starve themselves but since he's acting pricey, I think that's the best option.. I did it with my boy yesterday.. no other treats/food except his meal.. only if he finishes his meal give him a treat (if u do infact give him a treat).. All the best, it'll take some time but he'll know that if he doesn't eat, he ain't getting squat!
 
#11 ·
Use a different bowl, different material in a different area. Before you put it down put something edible for you to eat in it and let him see that you eat something from the bowl. Then make him sit and wait before you allow him to eat to make him eager. Give it and leave him alone and do something to distract yourself, no attention for him whatsoever. Give him about 15 minutes to eat and remove everything after that.
I had a brief issue with WD after using an interactive feeding cube (to keep him busy) so he had learned that by pushing the cube around it would release kibble. Then he started it with his full regular bowl as well. I took it away a few times and he hasn't done it since, nor has he had the cube again. That whole thing kept me busier than him.
 
#13 ·
yeah this morning i gave him a chance, he ate liek 1/8 of a cup and then started pushing his bowl around...i told him no, picked it up and left it on the table for a bit then put it back down, and he pushed it away again...now hes gonna have to wait till dinner. i am just hoping hes not sick or something lol
 
#14 ·
Just give it a bit of time, if there are no obvious signs of him being sick (vomiting, excessive drooling etc) I wouldnt worry too much. I was the same when my dog started refusing food, I must admitt, she did find it difficult to pick up wet food out of her deep bowl, so I don't feed it anymore, just biscuits and raw.
Give him a little bit of time, and after a few days if he still isn't eating, I suggest vet, and trying a different food.
Just make sure he has plenty of fresh water available, and keep an eye on how much he is drinking also :)


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#15 ·
I am going through pretty much the same thing as you...like even to the same age dog. My dog turned 8 months two days ago. This has been happening with us since right around Xmas time. I've posted a couple different threads and really got about the same feedback as this one...tough love, take bowl away, etc. The only medical thing suggested was that it might be digestion issues but he will eat his treats in a heartbeat. My dog was on the same kibble his whole life until just last weekend when I switched to Orijen (I was feeding Natural Balance), so I think it's just a battle of wills really.
 
#16 ·
One thing about the age...the dog is no longer having growth spurts as previously and the teething stage has ended. So the dog doesn't necessarily have the appetite as when growing on a daily basis.
I personally think a dog should have a rotation of good kibble, and not eat the same ol' same ol' day in and day out. That includes different proteins.
And it should start early, so the digestive system gets use to changing up.
I feed raw, though, so my opinion is probably not worth reading.
 
#18 ·
That's interesting Onyx, thanks for pointing that out! That had never occurred to me. I am currently giving him 1 cup orijen and 1 cup NB twice a day, but all in all he probably eats only 1/2 to 3/4 of that amount. He is definitely not underweight but was always going to be on the smaller side of the GSD scale. I am seriously considering switching to raw, looking at options there too. Needs to make sense financially, as well as logistically though. If that decision is made I'll be blowing up that particular forum ;)
 
#17 ·
Totally agree about the growth and teeth, definetly a battle of wills..
I mix my biscuits up, she gets a working dog mix, as well as puppy large breed mix with the biscuits. And with my raw, she gets kangaroo, beef, chicken.
It keeps her interested. She refuses too eat twice a day now, so has one big meal a day. I have tried giving her raw morning and biscuits afternoon, she will even turn her nose up at meat of a morning. So now I just give it to her in one go of an afternoon and she eats the lot. I guess all dogs are individuals.


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#19 ·
as of right now hes only eating at dinner time and not breakfast time..he is on the underweight side too which is why i want him to gobble it all down! lol, i rotate his foods monthly between different Acana proteins (Grasslands, Ranchlands, Pacifica)....for now i will keep picking up his food if he doesnt eat it, but hopefully after a week he eats it all up, or hes really going to be under weight more!
 
#21 ·
Our guy tends to be a picky eater sometimes. Some mornings he is all about his breakfast and other mornings he just sniffs it and looks at us with a "really??" look :). We actually don't pick his food up so if he eats it at lunch or any other time during the day it's fine with us. If he eats both portions with dinner - which he sometimes does - that is fine too.

For awhile we were adding things to his food to get him to eat but figured it real quick that was a very bad idea - plus it was making him chunky :). We have cut out all of that stuff and he only gets a few treats now.

I don't see an issue with your dog eating both meals at once as long as he doesn't eat too much at once and make himself ill.


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#22 ·
tried to give him his entire days worth of food for dinner....ate half of it and left the rest and starting pushing the bowl around....whats his problem lol. he only wants to eat half a days worth of food!!! what should i do because he is underweight as well..
 
#23 ·
How underweight is your pup? I looked at some of your pasts posts and it does seem like this is an on going issue? Are we talking 5 lbs or 15 lbs?

An idea did come to me - maybe feeding your pup several meals throughout the day instead if just twice - maybe it is just that he can't eat a bunch at once. I would also exercise him prior to each to feeding too.


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#24 ·
hes about 10 pounds underweight...yeah i always play/exercise him prior to feeding him...in the past he always had diarrhea issues but nothing like this..normally he gobbles up his food before i can even close his food container lol

ill try and do small portions and see what happens!
 
#28 ·
I would not let him go without eating any longer. Change the food out. Or top it with sardines, cooked scrambled egg to jumpstart him.
 
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