Why are my dogs not eating?

Question

I have 2 dogs and they wont eat dry food no matter what. well if they starve for like 4 days then they'll eat. But the problem is that i have to hand feed them. It seems like they're allergic to the bowl the food is in. I either have to hand feed them or sit by them and pour the food out little by little on the floor for it to eat. I tried everything i could think of. I tried pouring the food in another clean bowl and giving it to them and they still wont eat out of it. Everytime when i give them food without hand feeding them they back away and act like im giving them poison. I go to work from 8am and dont get home until 5pm so i am not home 24 hours with them except on the weekends. The food that is in their bowl right now has not been touch since yesterday morning and it's now 9:30 am where i am at right now. And yes i tried new food too but that did'nt work out. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP.

Answer 1

They are spoiling you...it's just like a baby uses crying to get what it wants. You're not being firm enough with them. What you need to do is put their food down at the same time each day (or 2 times if you feed them twice) Call them to it, show it to them, encourage them to eat from the bowl, but don't feed them. Give them a reasonable time to eat, then take the food up.Wait until the next feeding time and do the same thing. After a couple of days, they'll start eating from the bowl. They will soon come to realize feeding time is while the bowl is down, and at no other time..The problem with them not eating is not them, it's you and your soft touch. Be firm with them. Otherwise, they will control you, will never learn well, and will become discipline problems. YOU MUST BE STRONG and not give in to them. It WILL work if you do it right. Otherwise you're in for a lot of disciplinary and control miseries.

Answer 2

maybe they dont like that food.. or they've gotten tired of it

even though they are dogs.. just like us they probably dont wanna eat the same thing everyday.. it's as if I must eat a plain bowl of rice everyday.. bleehh

or it may be that the food gives them an upset stomach

you should really call your vet and have a checkup.

you should try mixing some wet food? or buy another bag and see if they'd like that if they dont return it for something else!  

Answer 3

Hmmm... well it takes 18 days to start/create a habit and I'm thinking you need to put aliitle canned food with the dry and see if they like that. and stop feeding them by hand you may have spoiled them!!  lol its easy to do. i have 3 dogs and i spoiled them to death. also they might just miss you and want your attention, so try the canned food with dry and praise them while they eat it!

hope this helps

good luck

Answer 4

maybe they're just not hungry? like us, we don't feel like eating in the summer, but usually we tend to want to eat more in the winter. but if you feel that they really seek some medical attention, call your veterinarian.

Answer 5

Try California natural supplemented with fish oil,yogurt,and raw egg yolks(no whites)

California natural such a good brand and my dog loves it.

http://www.californianaturalpet.com/

Answer 6

Stop hand feeding them! Give them their bowl for 20 minutes. If they eat- great. If not-take it away until the next feeding. Repeat until they get that they won't be babied for not eating. Start with 4 tries a day and let them go 48 hours at a time without eating before you force a meal by hand feeding.  

Answer 7

A way I lure my pups into eating when they won't initially is that I often use something to flavor the food a bit. My mom almost always has soup in the fridge, so I often take a couple of spoonfuls of the soup and put it on their food and mix it up. The pups jump right on that stuff.

Answer 8

It sounds like you may have inadvertently trained them to eat only out of your hands.  In short, they are spoiled!!  You need to figure out how to reverse the behavior.  Make sure they have new, clean bowls, away from the wall to eat out of, and that their ear-fur doesn't get caught on it (if that applies)!  Then offer them their food, and make it a positive experience.  Praise them for eating out of the bowl.  Also, have you tried a different brand of kibble?

Answer 9

get a couple cans of alpo,ect and mix it in with the dry food they will eat it then or try some gravy...

Answer 10

you are being conned by two dogs if you hand feed them they will wait for that. they are not stupid they have you by a string. they will no way starve themselves and you can bet if you don't' hand feed them they will eat give them couple days to get it and then they will eat.