Help! Jayci is turning into a begger

[chrissy4767]

My Jayci 11 mo will not eat his dog food. I have tried every kind. I put his food out and he sniffs and walks away. Then if I am eating he will sit here and stare me down. He wants people food. I do not give him our food on a reg basis, maybe some chicken or egg once in awhile. Sometimes the food will sit there all day w/o being touched. And his kibble he only eats one piece at a time. Takes it into the livingroom and eats it off the carpet, one piece at a time. When he does eat, I must stay right beside him in the kitchen, if I leave he follows me and forgets all about eating. Noone in our house is giving him ppl food eaither. My mom said leave the food out and he will eat when hungry. I end up throwing it away bc it sat out too long. Any suggestions? I leave food and water out for him all day If I am making dinner, he is right there staring at me and sometimes whimpering. We have to put him in another room when we eat bc he stands there looking at us. {and he looks so cute} he does all this with a plate full of his own food waiting for him.

[Ladylavender]

Millie started doing this also, but I know it was my fault. She perferred her treats and people food over her own. This is what I did. I found dry food that she was Ok with. She would occasionally eat Nutro Natural Choice Small bits. So I put that out in her bowl and left it there for 2-3 days. I gave her no other dog food or other food and because it was dry, it was ok sitting out there all day long and into the next day. About the 2nd day, at around 8pm (after she figured out she wasn't getting anything else) she started eating her food and she ate it all up in one sitting. I haven't had any problems with her since.

I will still feed wet food occasionally, but her kibble is the main food that she has out. She will eat it now, when she knows she is not getting her wet food.

She still begs for our food when we are eating it, but she never gets any. (We never did feed her off our plates, so I'm not sure where she picked up that habit)

Basically, you just have to tough it out and be strong. Don't cave and they will eventually eat.

[VickiG]

My vet told me not to give Peanut any table food. She said that yorkies will go on hungry stike and not eat the kibble. I take half of Peanut's kibble and wet it and warm it, he love it and eats it up then he eats the rest dry. Peanut still begs.

[AngeliFlad]

I would definitely not give in or start switching food back and forth because all that will do it to make Jayci even more picky. Don't worry, she will eat when she is hungry and if nothing else is around, she will eat her kibble. You have to stay firm with her. Another options it to wet the food like Ladylavender said, maybe even with a tiny bit of chicken/vegetable broth to make it more inviting. You could also start a feeding schedule: 2-3 times a day take the food out for fifteen minutes, if she hasn't eating it take it away and repeat. This is a suggestion of the Yorkie Club owner in Germany...I personally never had any feeding trouble but this way at least your food won't go to waste. Good luck.

Originally Posted by chrissy4767

My Jayci 11 mo will not eat his dog food. I have tried every kind. I put his food out and he sniffs and walks away. Then if I am eating he will sit here and stare me down. He wants people food. I do not give him our food on a reg basis, maybe some chicken or egg once in awhile. Sometimes the food will sit there all day w/o being touched. And his kibble he only eats one piece at a time. Takes it into the livingroom and eats it off the carpet, one piece at a time. When he does eat, I must stay right beside him in the kitchen, if I leave he follows me and forgets all about eating. Noone in our house is giving him ppl food eaither. My mom said leave the food out and he will eat when hungry. I end up throwing it away bc it sat out too long. Any suggestions? I leave food and water out for him all day If I am making dinner, he is right there staring at me and sometimes whimpering. We have to put him in another room when we eat bc he stands there looking at us. {and he looks so cute} he does all this with a plate full of his own food waiting for him.

[yougetthesmiles]

have you tried hand feeding him? I had to do this for awhile, but then she adjusted.
Lillie will go and get her kibble out of her bowl and carry it into her bed in the living room and eat it there and she will go back and forth and do this all the time.

What all foods have you tried? have your tried mixing some whole grain rice in with the food?

[Pattie]

LLavender is right, DOn't give in.......... I used to give CHloe boiled chicken (especially on heartworm day) then she would refuse to eat her kibbles too. She will go 3 days straight and eat nothing, just thinking I will give in. The beginning of the 3rd day, she eats all her dry. Meanwhile I worried myself sick over this period of time. It would make me want to never give her a taste of her favorites. I still warm one feeding a day, because Sissy is still a puppy and I feel I need to. I do not want to play favorites, so I heat hers & Chloes too at that feeding. When Chloe was younger, she used to take one kibble, throw it up in the air, play with it at least 5 minutes, then eat it, go to the dining room, get anohter and do the entire rountine over again. I thought it was so weird but now Chloe doesn't do that anymore and Sissy is doing it now, it must be a puppy thing that some of them do. I have heard of many Yorkies that play with it then eat one at a time. At the end of the night, the dish is near empty and they are no longer on the floor so I don't care. Chloe still goes on hunger strikes once she has a little bit of chicken, banana, peach or necterine. I give it still, then she won't eat a couple of days again but I know now, when she gets tired of being hungry - she will eat

[JESSY_RN2B]

My poodle did the same thing when she was a year. The vet told me to not feed her any human food and sure enough after 2 days of refusing to eat she gobbled her kibble right down. She was being hard headed but hunger pangs got her out of that mode quick! lol

She has never pulled that trick on me again.

[Peters]

maybe you can mix some chicken and egg with the dry food and that may help?

[Lila]

I used to worry about Kia, for when she was about seven-eight months old, she seemed to stop eating. What I realized, of course, is that her growth spurt had slowed, so she required less food than previously. I now feed her an organic kibble, and also a teaspoon of an organic canned food. I dampen the whole mix up with warm water, and she chows down like the porky Yorkie she is now. Sometimes I feed her chicken soup when I make a potful; I just add it to her kibble. There are times that she just ignores her meal-especially hot days-so I remove it after a few minutes-she generally wants the next meal.

Other times I add some raw meat; I buy it for my foster mama cat, and Kia has discovered it tastes good!

Be careful about what treats you may be handing out; it doesn't take much to fill a Yorkie tummy, and sometimes we feed more treats than we think we do.

As others have said, your dog will not starve himself; just ignore the begging and it will eventually disappear. Dogs begging at the meal are not pleasant.

[romeos mommy]

they are so picky. when i see romeo isn't eating well i spread kibble on the floor. he likes to eat it if he thinks he found it.