Hand Feeding?

[Guest Crystal64]

I adopted my greyhound 3 days ago. I was told he is a finicky eater. I switched him slowly to another food that he seems to like. Problem is he will only eat if I hand feed him! I have tried plastic bowls, taking his collar off. I don't know what else to do! Forgive me if this is posted in the wrong forum - I'm new to this!

 

Thanks

[Nova]

Do you try and feed him his food on the floor or does he have a tall feeder?

 

Some people will feed their greys on the floor or they will feed it a foot or two off the floor. From my understanding there isn't any true medical difference other and really it boils down to owner/dog preference. He might like eating his food a little higher up, if you haven't tried it.

 

That's only my first guess though. I'm sure the more experienced members on here could offer more suggestions!

[Guest Crystal64]

He doesn't like the floor - my yorkie would eat it - I have a aised area for him.

he drinks his water fine

[Time4ANap]

Rocket will only eat from a metal (stainless steel) bowl. I guess that's what they had in the kennel.

[greysmom]

Keep the yorkie away from him when he's eating. Make sure the place you're feeding him is calm and not in the middle of activity. Some dogs will only eat in private, or while they're NOT being watched, so you may find he eats better in a crate or room by himself where he's comfortable.

 

As long as he's healthy, and keeps drinking to stay hydrated, it won't hurt him to miss a meal or two. Fix his food, call him to his eating spot, put the bowl down and walk away. Leave him alone for 10 minutes or so, then pick the food up, whether it's all of it or just a little left (though if he's actively eating wait a few more minutes). He will soon learn to eat when it's time to eat. A pepcid (or generic) 20 minutes before eating will probably help settle his stomach.

 

Caveat - if his stomach starts making horrible noises, he vomits yellow bile (or food), he wants to eat grass all the time, he starts picking up random stuff off the floor/ground to eat - he needs to have something in his stomach, so feed him whatever he'll eat and get him in to the vet. He could have hooks or giardia or something else pop up that needs to be addressed by a doctor.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm confused. You got the dog three days ago and you "switched him slowly" to another food? 3 days = six meals. That's not slow! Unless you meant three months?

 

There are two schools of thought regarding changing food. One is to just go ahead and switch, and deal with possibly loose stools for a few days, but then it's all over with. The other is to gradually, over the course of a week or two, change the food. If you just got this dog three days ago, I would consider keeping him on the food he is used to for now. Everything in his life changed. The same food might be a small comfort to him.

 

And yes, keep the Yorkie away from him while he's trying to eat.

[locket]

When I got Charlie, he wouldn't eat ANYTHING else than what he was being fed at the kennel. Not even liver treats. Then he went into a foster home and wouldn't eat ANYTHING else than the liver treats I had bought him. Den he began eating better and now he is a food hound. Everything changes for them, some needs to take it slow.

I agree with leaving the hound alone. I dogsit a lot of greys and most of them will not eat the first day in my house (or very little). They scarf down their bowl if I add in something yummy and new for a few meals or if I close them off in a room where they are alone with their food or if we go for a nice long walk beforehand to wake them up and get their system started

Good luck

[Fruitycake]

When we first adopted Allie (nongrey) she didn't eat for almost two days. We did as suggested above and put her food down when it was feeding time, then pulled up after our other dog was done and mealtime was over. The new house and new food was all so strange that she probably didn't have much of an appetite, and we knew she wasn't going to starve so we didn't want to train in bad behaviors or fussy eating by trying her on multiple types of food until she found one good enough. She started eating in her own time as she learned the scedule and routines here.

 

Good luck! Hope he settles in well.

[BatterseaBrindl]

When Nixon arrived here he would only eat if he was in the crate..with the door shut.

It took well over a week for us to be able to slowly leave the door slightly ajar, then fully open.

Then we started slowly moving the food bowl outside the crate...inch by inch.

It was probably 3 weeks before he was comfy eating outside the crate.

 

And all my dogs have their own eating space.... Nigel eats in the kitchen and Ruby and Nixon are at opposite ends of the 20' mud room.

 

And yes... stainless bowls. Plastic has an odour ...and it is very difficult to get clean.

[Jerilyn]

My Lila is scared of thunder and fireworks and she becomes hyper-sensitive to noise when there have been a lot of them - to the point she's afraid of the noise the kibbles make in her bowl. She will happily eat off a paper plate at those times. It's better than hand feeding....

[Fruitycake]

My Lila is scared of thunder and fireworks and she becomes hyper-sensitive to noise when there have been a lot of them - to the point she's afraid of the noise the kibbles make in her bowl. She will happily eat off a paper plate at those times. It's better than hand feeding....

We have found that adding a small amount - quarter cup at most - of water to the bottom of our dogs' bowls has drastically reduced the noise when food is dumped in. It has drastically reduced Al's reactivity, so it might help.

[sobesmom]

I would not hand-feed. Keep all distractions away. Feel in a calm, quiet place. Put the food down, leave the dog alone. Pick the food up in 15 minutes. Repeat in 12 hours. The dog will eat.