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Originally Posted by marcerella02  i know what your breeder is getting at... you physically placing his food on the ground is a way of telling him you are in charge. however, you don't know if he is getting what he needs. If you can't home cook, make sure you are feeding a food that is not available at a store like PetSmart.. you want to look for a store that carries brands such as Solid Gold, Wellness, Fromm, and so on... Layla is free fed her kibble.. it is always on the ground.. however, i home cook and i give her 3 meals a day... so what you can do.. is free feed the kibble so he knows he can eat when he wants (these little ones are SO picky about when they eat and how much) but you can be the person that gives him something "special" like a bit of boiled chicken.. or yogurt, cottage cheese, some apple sliced up.. those things.. i think that whitholding food might work for a bigger dog.. but not our yorkies 
OH AND WELCOME!!! |
HAHA!! Sorry it's funny because Loki will eat anything and everything I put in front of him. He would eat all the kibble and then still try to go for anything home cooked! There's no need to entice him to eat. Sammy either - she doesn't inhale her food but she does eat it when I give it to her.
We feed them twice a day. Loki's had advanced obedience classes so I make him do a down-stay while I prepare the food. Then they come over and both have to sit while I set the food down and then they can eat when I say "OK"
I'm not sure what they mean by "withholding" food? Sometimes when I'm doing lots of training and I don't want Loki to fill up on treats I will give him his dinner piece by piece instead. But sometimes I also put it in a puzzle toy or whatever to keep him busy. It's great to have them "earn" their food - but if this is some cowboy trainer that thinks you need to starve your dog to show him who is boss, I'd get a new trainer.
What kind of dominance issues are you having? I don't really like that word. Does your dog just not have any boundaries or rules? If he is aggressive/reactive are you sure it is not due to fear or something else, not dominance?