Wally doesn't like to eat
Hi all. It's been a bit since I've been back here but nice to "see" you. LOL
My little Wally, 3-months-old, doesn't like to eat is kibble. The only way I can get him to eat his meals is to put some in my hand, then I put a few on the floor and flick them over near him and he'll start playing with that piece. After he's done that a few times, he'll eat what I have in my hand. We do this a few times then he's done. It's like he won't eat unless he gets to play with his food first. Don't ask me why I started doing this - I suppose it was out of desperation to get some food in him any way I could. (I know, shame on me.) This morning I tried some Nutri-Stat and he ate a little more but even left some of that in his bowl! Sheesh!
I'm wondering if it's because we are doing treat-based training during the day and that's what he's waiting for. He'll eat carrots and apples. I've tried putting some cheese on his food and he might take a couple of bites, but that's all. He still seems to have plenty of energy, drinks water regularly, and has normal poops.
Is this a common puppy/corgi problem? Has anyone had this issue and been able to resolve it?
My little Wally, 3-months-old, doesn't like to eat is kibble. The only way I can get him to eat his meals is to put some in my hand, then I put a few on the floor and flick them over near him and he'll start playing with that piece. After he's done that a few times, he'll eat what I have in my hand. We do this a few times then he's done. It's like he won't eat unless he gets to play with his food first. Don't ask me why I started doing this - I suppose it was out of desperation to get some food in him any way I could. (I know, shame on me.) This morning I tried some Nutri-Stat and he ate a little more but even left some of that in his bowl! Sheesh!
I'm wondering if it's because we are doing treat-based training during the day and that's what he's waiting for. He'll eat carrots and apples. I've tried putting some cheese on his food and he might take a couple of bites, but that's all. He still seems to have plenty of energy, drinks water regularly, and has normal poops.
Is this a common puppy/corgi problem? Has anyone had this issue and been able to resolve it?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sarah C. on
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This is a common puppy problem. He's trying to train you to give him the good stuff, carrots, training treats, apples.
If you're feeding according to the bag, also, you may be feeding him more than he wants. Those measurements aren't really geared toward our corgi animals. I know many on the website who feed less.
The strategy? Put the bowl down for a set ammount of minutes and then bring it back up. If he doesn't eat, don't fuss over it.
No healthy dog has ever starved itself to death before, and I doubt yours will be the first.
If you're really worried, take him to the vet before you begin.
That actually didn't work with my puppy though. What I did was we did the 10 minutes, but I also wouldn't let her play, walk away from the bowl, lay down, or sit. All she was allowed to do during the 10 minutes was stand by the bowl. After two feedings she figured out that eating beats the heck out of being bored and nomnom'd all her food.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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He may just not like the food. What kind do you have him on? I went through about 3 different kinds of food before I found one that Dax would actually eat. He always just sniffed his food and walked away. Eventually when he got hungry enough, which was sometimes only once every other day, he would finally eat some, but I could tell he didn't like it. I have him on Blue Buffalo now and he loves it. I would try a different food, but maybe Sarah's method of making him stand by the bowl for 10 minutes would work. Waiting it out with Dax just didn't. He didn't care that he was hungry, he just didn't want the food.
Oh, and I was also at the same point you are -- feed a couple pieces out of my hand, put a few pieces on the floor. I'd even make a little trail up to his food bowl like I thought he didn't realize he would be eating out of his bowl. Lol. I tried putting cheese, yogurt, all that stuff on his food before and he would eat the yogurt or cheese off (and maybe a kibble or two that it was stuck to) and leave the rest. I'm thinking you just need to try some different foods until you find one that he likes, it worked for me. And a word of caution -- don't settle for the low quality foods just because the dog will eat them. When I got Dax, he was on Purina Puppy Chow, which he LOVED of course. All dogs love the stuff that's not good for them. I was tempted a couple times to just put him back on Purina just so he would be eating but I thought better of it and I'm glad I did.
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Sunni A. on
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I agree with Sarah. My puppy, Eddy, would do this, too. He would try to eat food on the floor. So we took the bowl after 10 minutes, and would try to feed him again, in an hour or so. If we had to go to work or something - oh well, he doesn't get the food bowl until we get home. It is a very stubborn puppy thing, they want to see how yummy their food will get while they "hold out" - don't give in!!! The most you should spoil him is by mixing some hot water with his kibble, it makes it smelly and warm and comforting. And it actually says on the back of my puppy food to mix the food with hot water until your puppy develops out of his tender puppy gums. And the amount may be a factor. When we brought out little newborn home, we fed him 1/3 cup 3X/day until he seemed to eat it fast and want more, about 2 weeks later. And as for the food-bowl kibble training, Eddy took probably 5 days of this stubborn, picky-eating before he would chow down on his whole bowl with gratitude.
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Permalink Reply by zoua & coco on
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Coco used to do the same thing when I first brought her home from the breeder. She would eat the kibbles from my hand, but not from the bowl. What I did was offered a handful of kibbles in my hand and while she is eating it, I would lower my hand into the bowl and drop the kibbles into the bowl with the rest leaving my hand by the bowl for a few seconds. If she stopped eating, I would remove the bowl and walked away with it then offered again to her. If she still refused to eat or finish her food after 15 mintues then I remove the bowl and she had to wait until the next feeding period. She started eating from the bowl about 3 days after doing this. Oh, and I also stayed in the room with her while she was eating. Now, I don't even have to be in the same room with her while she is eating and she finish all kibbles. Maybe you can try this with Wally. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda & Tuck on
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Tucker did the same thing when we got him home - and he was 10 months. I was feeding part from my hand and the rest from the bowl for a little while and he soon decided he was fine with eating from the bowl. When I started adding yogurt he got even mroe interested in his food - now instead I am working on slowing down his eating. He still prefers me to be in the room when he eats though. If I put his bowl down and go in the other room he will sometimes follow me with a mouth full of food to eat off the floor near me.
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Permalink Reply by Katie Huff on
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When Bella was a puppy, she had zero interest in food. I'd had Corgis before and I knew them to be voracious garbage guts, so I was totally puzzled by this. My breeder had told me to allow her only twenty minutes morning and night to eat, but if I did that, she didn't eat anything. Finally, I just decided that when she was hungry, she'd eat. She's now two years old and eats only when she wants to. Sometimes she'll go a couple of days only eating a few kernels and some days she eats it as soon as it gets put in her bowl. It's actually worked out really great because we don't have to watch her food intake. Our vet's amazed every time we go in because she doesn't have much weight fluctuation!
I would suggest maybe trying allowing him to eat when he wants to eat. If he gets hungry, he will eat his puppy food. Bella still gets little pieces of fruit and cheese as treats and it doesn't seem to make a difference on her appetite. She is a very weird dog in general, but food just really doesn't seem to interest her all that much.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Sparty did this when he was a puppy too. We did the same thing you did with flicking the food etc. by the time he was two he was food aggressive. The trainer said we should have just put the food down for 15-20 minutes twice a day and then just pick it up. A healthy puppy will eat what they need. We have done that with our other two corgis since then and neither was at all food aggressive. To break the food aggression we were told to bring half his food and once he started to eat, bring the rest in our hands to drop into the bowl. If there was a growl etc we were supposed to put it back in the bag until the next meal. The trainer said she never had a dog go more than three days before they lost their food aggression. Sparty lasted one day and he is ten now and not at all food aggressive. Not all dogs are food focused especially when you're training with yummy treats so don't worry about the amounts he is eating.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Well, we were downstairs watching Jeopardy and Jack was online, reading the forums, the way Corgis like to do. He tried to type an answer, but had trouble managing the shift key, so he wanted me to let you know that he doesn't have any tips on making a picky eater finish his or her kibble. However, he would like you to know that if any dog doesn't want to finish his supper, Jack will gladly volunteer himself to pop around and help empty the bowl, because we are clearly starving him.
Also, he wants to know if Wally has read the famous Corgi Writ of 1927, that said, in part "....and since, as has already been determined in Section 6 Paragraph 3, all Corgis are Starving Half to Death, every Corgi from this day forth shall make a valiant effort to finish his food in under 90 seconds flat, and shall lick pathetically at the bowl afterwords, to convey to his owners the empty state of his tummy. Moreover, all Corgis shall shuffle their front feet and grumble whilst their owners are eating their own meals, to remind said owners of formerly declared state of Near Starvation.
Droosicles help."
He just wanted me to pass that on.
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Permalink Reply by Marti & Toki on
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Lol Beth, Toki says "Here here!"
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Permalink Reply by Marion and Vern on
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Sami was that way a little but we started feeding her a small teaspoon of cottage cheese every morning--it is suppose to help stimulate the appetite. She has days were she will not eat all of her food but will eat it all the next day. Also I have started taking her breakfast out on the patio in the morning while I have my coffee she gobbles it all down, so started putting bowl down by our feet for dinner and she eats what she wants of it. We eat in the den so she is not learning to beg or anything. Funny how they will train us as to where and what they want to eat. Good luck.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy & Keke on
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Smart dog will try ways n means to train us :( Mine will not eat just kibbles. She want something nice eg. chicken, scarmbled egg, carrots etc together with her kibbles.
If I do not comply, I will have to worry the whole day about her starving herself to bones. I know I am not supposed to give in. But on the other hand, she won't get to live as long as we do. What's so bad about spoiling her? We all wants good food and the good food to them is nothing to us. Tasteless chicken soup but to them is heavenly.
If I waste my time training her to just eat her kibbles, I might regret it one day.
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