My dog seems scared of his bowl, what should I do?

Question

I know that some other members asked this question, but there's something strange about this one...

Well, we just got our greyhound two days ago. He's an adult, and we have these stainless steel bowls that we feed him from. It's the same food that he ate before, but he wouldn't eat it. For two days he only ate about a cup of food. We thought at first that it was because he needed wet food with it, because that's what they fed him with before. Also, he didn't seem unhappy or anything, or especially unhungry or hungry. Today, we gave him some wet food with his kibble.

At first, he loved it, finishing almost the whole 1 1/2 cups. But he left about a handful and started eating the food on the floor. He shouldn't have been full because he usually eats 2 1/2 cups a day. I tried a bunch of things, but in the end he would only eat from my hand. If I tried pushing his bowl closer to him to tell him I wanted him to eat, he would look at it nervously.

Do you think he's scared of his bowl? He drinks water from the same type fine enough. Suggestions, etc?

Thanks :]

Answer 1

Hi,

If you've only had him a couple of days then he is still settling in - in ALL aspects of his new life. For now, if he will eat from your hand, the floor, wherever I woud go with it.

He may be a bit scared of where the bowl actually is - is it near a busy part of the house? do things happen behind him that he can't see? near a window where he can see refelections? Get down on your knees and have a look at his level. What can you see? Maybe try a ceramic bowl for now and see what happens. But, as I said give him time, it is all new for him!

Good luck!

Answer 2

all i can suggest is as he is eating from your hand lower your hand into the bowl slowly and he may start slowly after a few days getting used to eating from the bowl

but i have no idea why he should be scared of it.

Answer 3

Maybe the noise of the clanking of the kibble against the stainless bothers him.  Find out what kind of bowl he ate out of before. Do his tags clang up against the bowl?  My dog gets the creeps when his tags touch the bowl and make noises.  I'd hand feed him or use plastic til you find out what kind of bowl he ate out of before.  Dogs....go figure.

Answer 4

the same happened with my dog when we first brought him home. we bought him the same kind of metal/stainless steel bowls they had at the pet store where we got him, and he refused to eat out of them. i got him new ceramic bowls, and he eats out of them now.

Answer 5

When he drinks water, he doesn't move the bowl.  He probably heard the sound it makes when it bumps against the floor as it gets near empty and is afraid of it.  If you want to keep using the stainless steel bowls, try putting a place mat under it.  I use ceramic bowls to feed our dogs though because I don't like how food tastes or smells out of metal and dogs senses are much more acute than ours.  I don't like plastic because it isn't good for them because as it gets scratched and if it sits, chemicals leech off and get into the food.

Answer 6

Have you tried switching the bowls? Just to see if he's just being goofy and trying to be the boss. If he's a grown doggy; and the owners before fed him with different types of bowls; he might just need some time to get use to it. Dogs get very set in their ways, so he might just need some reassuring that he's a good boy and you're very happy that he's home with you now. Good Luck!

Answer 7

He might be scared of the bowl. I have a great training method for that.

#1 Put the bowl near him.

#2 Feed him 2 small treats

#3 Take the bowl away

#4 Give him no treats.

Keep on repeating this cycle. By doing this, it will mean that he will like the bowl being around, and he won't be scared. If this does not help, feed him off of a paper/plastic bowl/plate.

Good luck!

Answer 8

maybe either try hand feeding him or plastic bowls??!! hope that helps!