Puppy not eating out of food bowl

[The Food Group]

Hi everyone.  I know this may be a really weird question, but my 4 month of goldendoodle will not eat out of his food bowl.  He'll take a few bites, and then lose interest, but when I put the food on the floor, he goes crazy for it.  I thought that maybe he smelled his old food in the bowl (last week we switched him from Blue Buffalo to Orijen) and he didn't like that, but we have put the bowl through the dishwasher a few times.  We have regular stainless bowls, and he has no problem drinking his water out of them.  Did anyone else have a problem with this, or is my crazy doodle alone?

 

 

[Kim]

Allie doesn't ever eat out of her food bowl, and she will not eat on anything other than carpet. I have wood floors, if I give her a piece of food - she runs over to my area rug and eats it! So, I started dumping her food onto the area rug to eat. That stopped once I started adding Salmon Oil to her food! Now - she eats like we do, of course. She eats from a plate, but still on the area rug. LOL. She is spoiled rotten.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's very common for dogs to take a mouthful of food from their bowls, spit it out onto the floor (or even carry it over to a carpeted area and spit it out there), and then proceed to eat it from the floor. I have no idea why they do this, but every dog I've ever had has done this. Jack usually does it with the first mouthful, and then eats the rest out of the bowl. Don't ask me why.
Some dogs also prefer to eat lying down. I have fostered German Shepherds who did this. If the bowl was in a location where they didn't have room to lie down and eat from it, they would take the food somewhere else, lol.
Stainless steel bowls are preferable because they do not retain any scent, germs, etc. after they're washed, so you can be sure he isn't doing this because of any lingering scents in the bowl. I assume the bowl itself is on the floor and not in a raised feeder?
It's also possible your breeder fed the puppies from a flat dish, or even a paper plate.
I would not cater to the puppy by transferring the food from the bowl to the floor for him, if you want him to eat from a bowl. He won't starve himself. (If you don't care, I'd try Kim's suggestion of feeding him from a plate). Either way, unless it bothers you, there's no harm in it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

My two bring all big treats to the shag rug in the living room. ,That rugs got to go, all manner of things reside in it I'm sure although I have tried to clean up transgressions thoroughly. Otherwise, they'll sometimes run upstairs to eat certain treats on their beds. Calla always eats lying down, Luca standing up. Calla doesn't scatter her food when eating, Luca does. Go figure.

[Michele Follger]

Sunny always takes a mouthful of food to the area rug and drops it and eats a piece at a time. She does this 2 or times and then eats the rest of her food out of the bowl.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's exactly what my dogs have always done!

[Adina P]

Some dogs don't like the clanging sound of food against the metal bowl. My dogs didn't mind but I've heard a couple other doodle owners whose dogs were okay with bowls made of different material. Somehow something about the METAL bowl was disconcerting to them. So maybe try a different bowl for a bit: ceramic or plastic.

[Carol and Banjo]

Banjo is almost 8 months old now and up until 6 months or so he would systematically spread his kibble around the kitchen floor and eat some from the bowl and then go around and eat what he'd sown. It was interesting to watch the whole process and try to figure out what was going on in the doodle brain of his. He still does it now and then but with only a few bits of food. He's a very good eater, but occasionally ignores his food - if I happen to be in a hurry and we need to get feeding time over with - I've found if I bring his food out to the front porch he gets right down to business and eats in up lickity split! DH thinks this is his primal tendency kicking in.......eat the food before the competition gets it.

[Laura & Chewie]

I agree with trying a plate that he doesn't have to reach "into" for the food. I don't speak from experience though...Chewie is so eager to eat his food, it doesn't matter how we give it to him...LOL.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Taquito sits on his bed next to his food and pulls each piece out of the bowl 1 by 1, spits it out, then eats it off his bed. Go figure. I wouldn't worry about it - try a plate like others suggest!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I bet he will like the antlers. Mine go crazy for them :)