Feeding Dogs Advice

I am mainly seeking for advice regarding how to readjust my dog's feeding habits.

Chika, Lhasa-poodle mix, use to be able to eat on her own. I leave her dry food out all the time and from time to time she would eat on her own. One day, I realized she did not touch her food for days, so i felt bad and started to hand feed her. (Hand feed= I would sit on the floor and make her catch the food not stuffing it in her mouth). You have to admit, hand feeding can be very time consuming too. :(

I want her to eat on her own. But for me, it is heart breaking to see her not touch her bowl. Health wise, Chika is in perfect shape. I just want her to be able to eat her own food without me playing with her. If i put a little Caesar, or Raw Grounded chiken, she can gulp it. In otherwords, anything beyond her hard food, she will finish it like there is not tomorrow.

This is what i have done so far, we are playing the game "let's see how long you can last". P:P Basically what I do is told everyone in the house NO TREATS, NO TABLE FOOD, NO WET FOOD, NO SPECIAL FOOD and NO FLOSSIES/Greenies, till she finishes her bowl of hard food. Progress: She has not touched her food bowl yet. Yet she is able to sleep through 3 days without food. She drinks normal. I feel like i am going to loose the game here. ::rolleyes:

Another method I tried was by putting the "yummier" food at the bottom, hoping she'll eat the hard stuff on the top and bottom will be her reward. Well she managed to find her way out, by digging all the hard food out and ate all the yummies. Leaving all the pellets all over the floor. I know Chika is a brat. But unfortunately a SMART BRAT!! :(

Before I start hand feeding her, do any of you have any advice on what to do with my Chika. Must I be more strict, or am I already an evil mother to her. I I am OPEN TO ALL ADVICE!!:cool::confused: :confused: