hand feeding
 

When I got Duffy at 3 months old, the breeder told me I had to hand feed him his wet food until he is 4 - 5 months old to be sure he didn't get hypoglycimic. So, he is 5 months old now and I can't get him to eat out of a dog bowl. If I don't give him the wet food from my finger, he won't eat it. Also, he will only eat dry food if he thinks he is stealing it from my bloodhound's bowl. Any tips on getting him to eat his wet food from a dish? I am really really not wanting to be hand feeding him for the next 15 years. Does he have to have wet food or would he be ok on dry food only? My bloodhound gets a premium salmon & sweet potato mix dry food. would that be ok for Duffy too?

I dont have any suggestions on how to get him to eat out of a bowl. Some people have put the food on a paper plate and their dog ate it. He doesnt need wet food at all though. Dry food is all he needs. I do feed mine a little wet but it is more of a snack

thanks, but I have tried that. Also tried napkins, regular plates, etc. even tried to put the food in the bloodhound's bowl (when she was outside). nothing worked. I think maybe I will just leave dry food out and hope he eats enough.

If he will eat his kibbles I would stick with that..wet food isn't good for their teeth...maybe he doesn't care for the brand of kibbles you are feeding him.

I feed the girls 3 little chunks each with their kibbles in the morning..kinda like a treat to start the day...

What brand are you feeding him?

Try to mix wet and dry. That's what I did because Piccolo didn't want to eat his dry food. I had to hand feed him,too. He doesn't like to eat from his bawl but he would eat from a saucer.So in the morning I give him wet/dry food and leave dry in a bawl. During the day he would take a few kibles and after playing with them for a while - he ends up consuming them.

I feed mine wet food mixed with their dry about once a week, maybe twice if I'm in the mood...LOL! Otherwise, they are strickly on dry kibble. Best of luck to you!

When I got Venus, the lady told me she ate kibble. She also gave me a lot of kibble, and some canned food.

Well, Venus wasn't eating kibble, so I opened the canned. She wouldn't eat that unless it was on my finger. I put some in a bowl, then some on my finger, and moved my finger closer to the bowl as she licked. Following my finger, she started eating out of the bowl then.

I did the same with water.

Seems some breeders can tell us stuff thats really not true, or maybe they aren't around the puppies enough to know who's eating what.

Hand feeding wet food till 4-5 months is a little rediculous if you ask me. Maybe the breeder wanted to make damn good and sure she ate, dunno. They can get hypoglycemic if they don't eat, but thats what Neutra-Cal is for.

When Venus wasn't eating well that first week or so, I'd put a dab of it on my finger 3-4 times a day. Seems that would stimulate her appetite. But when I got her, she was about 10 weeks old.

I also started mixing the kibble with the canned when I wanted to get her off the canned food. Seems she ate the canned and around the kibble till I really reduiced the canned to almost nothing. Then she started eating the kibble, when there was no canned food available.

But you don't want to do all of this at once. One thing at a time. Get your baby eating out of the bowl first, then maybe a week later, add some kibble, and reduice the canned.

you got some good advice here. i work with a lady who started hand feeding her dog when it was a pup and now the dog is 7 years old and she won't eat unless the lady hand feeds her!

so, don't give up trying to get her to eat out of anything but your hand!!!

good luck,
omega

I had to hand feed Gucci at the beginning. She uses her bowl now. I dont feed her wet food, rarely. She eats her kibbles on her bowl with no problems. She wil only eats her kibble on a ceramic bowl thou. I had a metal one, she didnt like it. I agreed that you need to let him eat from his bowl or you will be hand feeding him forever. Good luck.

Hope too... now, I refuse to feed her by hand... she will not eat out of a bowl or a plate. I put it straight on the floor and she gobbles it up.
d

Just wanted to say welcome and that my first and only childhood dogs name was Duffy..he was a miniature shnauzer!!

Dawn

Haha....That's Piccolo's favourite place, too !

Thanks for all of your advise. I started mixing the wet and dry food last week and have now got him on the kibbles. have been giving him dog food that comes in what looks like a sausage container (it is a moist food, but not wet) and banana (which he loves) as treats occasionally, in addition to the dry food. He seems to be doing ok so far.

I also have to say, this is a great website.

I can't get my Cupie(3 pound range) to eat out of a bowl. She has to have it on a folded towel next to the bowl. She acts like she is afraid of the bowl. When Cupie drinks water she seems to throw it up into her nose and snorts and snorts. She is a tiny little six year old so I don't think this will ever change. The other four yorkies do just fine. We did have a yorkie with no teeth a few years ago and she still only wanted dry food. She would crunch it with her gums.