problems with feeding times.

[juju]

wasnt sure were this needed to be posted, I have 2 dogs male and female, the male eats beautiful,now the female I have only had 8 weeks and I am having trouble with feeding times, I feed both together in the same room, separate bowls, now lulu will sit and watch charlie eat not touching her meal when charlie has finished she will wait for him to go near her bowl and then she will eat a little, charlie and I are not in the room but she doesnt eat anymore when I go to take the bowl away after 20 minutes she then decides she wants some more so I take the bowl as this is not a game for me, I have tried putting her in a room of her own and she doesnt eat at all, so she has to wait till evening feed, which 90% of the time she eats, can anyone explain this behaviour please and give me any suggestions I feed twice daily as they are only small dogs.




Thanks.

[lizbud]

Is the female dog a puppy or older dog? If she is a older dog,
maybe she doesn't like the food given, or is not used to eating
two meals in a day.

[ginagt]

It's hard to say why she watches the older dog eat and then barely eats when he is finished. Are you feeding the same food she has was eating before you got her? What was her eating schedule before you got her, maybe she needs a little adjustment. Dogs are creatures of habit.
Do you crate train? I feed my puppy in crate, it worked out great, she would eat and then when she was finished I knew exactly where she was when it was time to go outside and potty. I would take up her food after 10 minutes (actually probably 5) and not feed her again until the next feeding time. I would first try and find out about her feeding schedule before you got her and make some adjustments from there. If she was being fed twice a day then try feeding her in her crate and only giving the food for 5 minutes. Good luck

[juju]

Thanks for your replys,LuLu is 2 she was on 2 meals a day before we got her, I have tried feeding her in crate and she just ignored it, I have changed her food just recently to a better quality, but she does eat it at night, so surely she must like it, or am I wrong.

[lizbud]

It's really hard to guess why she'll eat a later meal but not eat
the first meal, but if she's healthy & gains weight and happy, I
wouldn't worry about it. I adopted a 2nd dog (Maggie) at 4mos
old and she prefers to eat only one meal a day, in the evenings.
My other dog, Smokey, wants to eat once in the morning & then
again at night. They both weight about the same now, so they
must be eating enough. When Maggie was younger she did eat
two meals, but stopped doing that months ago. She's happy and
healthy & so is Smokey. Go figure.

[lv4dogs]

It may be the weather too. My dogs are not too keen on eating their breakfast when it gets warmer out.

Or maybe although she was fed twice a day, maybe it was at a different time in the morning?

She's probably still adjusting to everyhtin too.

As long as she is not loosing any weight or has any other ill affects I'd just keep doing what you're doing & I'm sure she'll be fine.

[juju]

She has lost a little weight, but she does get a lot of exercise and I feel she looks better for it, going to change her food back to the old one to see if that works as I am concerned. so well see what happens.

[lv4dogs]

If she looks better with the lost weight I wouldn't worry about it. You said her new food is a lot better for her so she won't need as much of it as her old food. If this is the case I'd just keep on doing what your doing & give her another month or so to adjust.

Unless I misunderstood your reply then I'm sorry & forget this post.

[cali]

something that worked in a book i read lol , prepare the food VERY slowly in front of hereven if nothing needs prepared, then slowly hold the bowl under her nose, take it away, later in the day repeat, by the 3rd time she will likley be jumping up and down for that food, repeat the pulling away thing, but this time give her the food rather then taking it away., it works because ther is nothing a dog wants more then what they cant have.