Food bowl shenanigans

[Josh Adams]

I posted this issue in another post on the general forum but thought it was best to follow-up on a new post in the Food Group.

Our puppy has become disinterested in his food, so we thought. He eats maybe a 1/3 of it, then walks away. We offer the bowl again to him after 10 minutes. He takes a few more nibbles, then walks away again. For a while, we accepted it as normal behavior. He's just bored with his food, we thought. He began scavenging for food at our neighbor's house last week. He almost their dog's entire bowl before I pulled him away. This weekend, he only took a few bites of his breakfast. I decided to offer the remaining food in a Kong. He went nuts! He immediately became interested in the food. He even begged for more. He also takes it when we hand feed him. He's done this several times now since Saturday. 

Our vet suspects he's playing tricks on us and this will pass (he's five months old). Has anyone else experienced this? Is this developing a bad habit? Is he just being a punk? :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This actually would not be a bad discussion to post in the Training Group, lol, because what he's doing is controlling resources, the resource in this case being the food bowl and the food. My Jasper is the same age and has started doing this the past week, too. 

To avoid problems down the line, you never want any dog to think that he is in charge of anything, including food. This is one reason I advise against free feeding. So as hard as it is, especially with a puppy who has had digestive issues, you must teach him that you controll the food, that food is not available any time he feels like having a mouthful, and that if he wants to eat, he either needs to do it when the food is given to him or wait until the next opportunity, i.e. the next meal. 

Give him his food in his bowl at his regular mealtime, sit down nearby to keep him company, and eliminate all distractions: nobody coming in and out of the room, nobody calling out from another room, no kids playing nearby, etc. After 10 minutes, pick up the food and do not offer any food again until the next scheduled meal tme. It will not take more than a day or two for him to "get it". And don;t worry, a normal healthy dog will not starve himself. 

[Josh Adams]

I knew he was being a punk! LOL (a very cute and sweet punk at that).

I'm now wondering if this behavior was accelerated because we scaled back on his treats due to his digestive issues. He's not very happy that we hung up the beef liver towel. It sounds like he's trying to take control, as you suggested above. I'm also against free feeding. We take it away after 10-15 minutes but we've been forcing him to eat it through the Kong or our hand during that time. I didn't realize this was going along with his scheme. Tomorrow, we'll stay firm and gain control again. 

(Is there a way to transfer this post to the training group?). 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I was kind of joking about the Training Group, but if you wanted to repost it there, you could just copy and paste it in a new discussion there. You can't move or delete this one though. :) 

[Alex]

My seven month old puppy takes a similar approach to eating. She likes to eat a few bites, take a lap around the kitchen, wait for our older dog to finish eating, lick his empty bowl and then finish hers. If this whole process takes longer than 15-20 minutes we just pick her bowl up and offer it to her again an hour or so later.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would not offer it again in an hour. I'd wait til the next meal.