Once when I was giving my dog too many snacks and he didn't want to eat his regular food the vet told me to talk away the snacks altogether for awhile. I said what if he still want eat. The Vet said a dog WILL NOT starve his self if there's food and if he's not sick. And guess what, once he saw he wasn't getting any snack, he ate that food up...lol
So I would leave it where you want his eating spot to be and if he gets hungry enough he will eat |