Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys.
My cocker Simran, Simi for short, has to be coaxed and cajoled to eat her food. It has become a ritual. Here is how it works everyday...
I feed her once a day. When I call her to eat she runs and hides behind her dad. Then he has to walk with her to the kitchen. But she stops at the entrance and wont budge and digs her feet in. Then she has to be brought over to the bowl and asked to stay or she will run away. Then we have to force a morsel between her molars. Then the next bite she'll usually accept from the hand. The next bite has to be nearer the bowl, all the time encouraging her. After this she will first take a few experimental licks from the bowl. AND THEN she'll begin eating rapidly and finish everything in 2 minutes. She'll lick the bowl clean. SO its not like she does like it!!
Simi is 2 years old. I began to feed her normal food at the beginning of last year because she was having problems with the store bought food and had stoppped eating. When I first started her on this diet she absolutely loved it and would eat without making any fuss. Then gradually things started to change and this is where we stand now.
Does anyone know why this could be happening and what can be done about this?
Help please!!
Shobita

>>Hey guys.
>>My cocker Simran, Simi for short, has to be coaxed and cajoled to eat her food. It has become a ritual. Here is how it works everyday...
>>I feed her once a day. When I call her to eat she runs and hides behind her dad. Then he has to walk with her to the kitchen. But she stops at the entrance and wont budge and digs her feet in. Then she has to be brought over to the bowl and asked to stay or she will run away. Then we have to force a morsel between her molars. Then the next bite she'll usually accept from the hand. The next bite has to be nearer the bowl, all the time encouraging her. After this she will first take a few experimental licks from the bowl. AND THEN she'll begin eating rapidly and finish everything in 2 minutes. She'll lick the bowl clean. SO its not like she does like it!!
>>Simi is 2 years old. I began to feed her normal food at the beginning of last year because she was having problems with the store bought food and had stoppped eating. When I first started her on this diet she absolutely loved it and would eat without making any fuss. Then gradually things started to change and this is where we stand now.
>>Does anyone know why this could be happening and what can be done about this?
>>Help please!!
>>Shobita

>>>>>>>>>

Start with a veterinary check up. Until you get her eating well, stop feeding in the kitchen or on any other smooth floor, because fear of the floor could be the proble. If the vet says the dog is healthy enough, "wean" her onto eating under her own steam. This means you put the food dish down for her in a quiet, comfortable setting (thus no smooth floor), give her about 20 minutes to eat without any coaxing, and then pick up the dish.

Feed any dog at least twice a day. I prefer three or four feedings myself. Whatever the schedule (always more than once a day, though, for health reasons we now know), offer a fresh meal at the next scheduled time. A healthy dog will start eating on her own rather than starve. But that's why you have to start with a vet visit, so that if she's not healthy you won't harm her with this weaning process.

When dogs get sick or old, you often have to coax them to eat. If you haven't gotten them used to eating without coaxing as a normal habit, the dog may not survive and illness, because you have nothing to fall back on to entice the dog to eat. It is important to teach every dog to eat the food independently. At some point the dog's life may depend on it.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Another thing could be happening here due to feeding only once a day. That makes some dogs feel ill. It's possible she's too nauseated to start eating on her own, and feels enough better after a couple of bites to start eating. Definitely step those feedings up to at least two per day. Once a day used to be the norm, but now most veterinarians recommend dogs be fed at least twice daily. A dog's metabolism is much faster than a human's, and that long an interval between meals is awfully long for them. I only eat once a day myself, but my dogs eat four times! I'm planning to move down to three meals a day for them in the near future due to a change in our family schedule, but not until my oldest one passes on.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47