Dog will not eat out of food bowls, at all.

[Nicker]

We recently adopted our latest foster, a young(10 month old?) medium sized mix breed. He was practically feral when he came into the shelter with his sister. At first glance, she was often mistaken for a coyote! She was more confident, and after a week in foster care found a great home. He is more submissive and since my dog and DD both absolutely love him(and I didn’t have the heart to send him back) we kept him. He is very food driven, but will not eat from a food bowl, no matter what it is made out of. We’ve tried feeding him in different areas, kitchen with no one else around, crated, etc. It doesn’t matter, he circles the bowl like it’s a venomous snake. If you hand feed him, he eats like it’s his last meal. I’ve tried plastic tupperware containers, porcelain, metal, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been unsuccessful for 3 months now, and really out of ideas. I would really like to get him eating out of a bowl and on a regular schedule. Can’t free feed with my other dog being a hoover with anything edible. My DD also noticed when he drinks from the water bowl it’s quick, short snatches.

WTA- we no longer feed him anything other then his dog food. No treats, people food, etc other then his rawhides to keep him from chewing my couch. When training we use kibble to reward.

[Big_Grey_hunter]

Does he wear a collar with tags? Some dogs don’t like the clanging of the tags on bowls.

Otherwise, if he’s crate trained, I’d leave him in his crate (or a closed off room with no distractions) and just wait it out. He won’t starve himself to death, he’ll figure it out eventually! Give him an hour or so, then remove the food until the next meal. Don’t hand feed him at all during that time (he’ll survive not training for a few days). Once he is eating out of a bowl, you can resume training but put all rewards into a bowl for him, until he’s solid about eating out of it.

[Chall]

Id look at :
-doesn’t like the feel of whiskers/ muzzle touching the sides of bowls (try fedding on plastic pet mat with edges)
-his collar or ties bang against bowl and hit his mouth (try w/o his collar on)
-training ( someone trained him with aversion therapy)
Lastly (and to me most likely)
-he may have a mechanical problem taking food up (from the ground) into his mouth. When you hand feed him is his he reaching up to your hand, thus food more easily sliding down to his throat. If so, he might be a candidate for a good oral exam.
try placing food (easily reachable)on a platform slightly higher than his head.
The fact that he has problems drinking water as well seems significant and made me thing it’s not behavioral.

[RackNRoll]

I’ve had a few dogs that didn’t like bowls made out of metal, porcelain, or plastic… probably because of rattling dog tags. All of them were fine with the large but shallow black rubber fortiflex feed pans, though. You might give one of those a try if you haven’t already.

[Horsegal984]

Rule out physical issues (neck pain is a biggie for this).

Then put his food in the bowl. Pick up bowl and whatever is in it after 30 min. Repeat until he starts eating consistently.

Cats and people will starve themselves. Healthy dogs will not.

[SquishTheBunny]

Try a plate?

[KLS]

^ This. For some reason, my dog also prefers to eat from a plate, though being a Shih-Tzu, her plate is technically a saucer/bread plate.

Good luck, and kudos to you for taking him in.

[S1969]

I’d definitely feed in the crate if you can; if the dog is anxious about eating, it may give him time and “protection” to eat if he is closed in (and not anxious about that).

Nothing wrong with feeding on a plate or a tray though. Or just a placemat. I’d leave it off the “training list” for now - figure out what will work, and just go with that for now. Sounds like there are lots of things to work on and this one can wait.

[Countrywood]

IS it possible he had a traumatic experience with a bowl? Maybe when he was feral someone threw a bowl at him, or he tried to eat from a dog bowl outside and dog attacked him.

Perhaps take an empty bowl, rub it with your scent, and leave it with him in a crate or small space and see how he is with it?

Also is he just eating dry food or does he get a little wet dog food? Most dogs can ignore dry food but can’t resists wet food, can put a little in to tempt him bowl wise. I agree worth a medical check as well. AFTER ruling that out, and making sure he does not have a bowl phobia, aka let him spend time around empty bowl, I’d do what the others said, leave food in bowl or dish, after he has a chance to eat, remove it, then try again next day till he eats.

Best of luck!

[Nezzy]

i was also going to say the tags are the problem if he’s wearing them. maybe try a more shallow bowl.

[Countrywood]

I have never tried it, but have heard that the Thunder Shirt works well for dogs with anxiety. Maybe he has anxiety around feeding time if he was feral/starved, and bowls just contribute to the anxiety. Perhaps try feeding him in a Thunder Shirt and see what happens? If it works, then after a period of time when he is more relaxed and in a routine can remove the shirt.

[andreab]

[QUOTE=Chall;7525371]
Id look at :
-he may have a mechanical problem taking food up (from the ground) into his mouth. When you hand feed him is his he reaching up to your hand, thus food more easily sliding down to his throat. If so, he might be a candidate for a good oral exam.
try placing food (easily reachable)on a platform slightly higher than his head.
The fact that he has problems drinking water as well seems significant and made me thing it’s not behavioral.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this… Look into whether there is a physical problem (not just oral, but maybe an issue with his neck or spine) before you force him to starve or be in pain. You can try a raised feeding/water station to see if it helps.

There could also be some psychological issues here too–you don’t know what may have happened to him before he got to the shelter. I am pretty sure one of my rescue dogs was given food, and when he got near his food bowl, was beaten. It is a guess, but it is based on how he acted around mealtimes for… a VERY long time.

[In1]

I had a foster like this. Fought it for months - and then eventually went to Target and purchased him his own set of four plates. Heavy-duty plastic. Went in the dishwasher.

Worked beautifully. Plates went with him to his new home.

[Chall]

[QUOTE=andreab;7525763]
I am pretty sure one of my rescue dogs was given food, and when he got near his food bowl, was beaten. It is a guess, but it is based on how he acted around mealtimes for… a VERY long time.[/QUOTE]

Or went around the neighborhood looking for food and neighbors beat him off their pet’s bowl.

[csaper58]

Have a dog with the same issue, I got a large clear glass (pyrex?) pie plate, $5.99 @ Big Lots store.

[JanM]

There are rather flat Correlle bowls, with only a inch or so lip. That might work.

[Nicker]

Thanks for the suggestions. There are tags on his collar, but they are taped down to prevent jingling. He will eat both from your hand or off the floor, table, bed, anywhere but from a bowl. I did try a pie plate and he wasn’t much better with that. He will eat our food off our plates if he gets the chance. So I think I will try that tomorrow. I just don’t want him to start thinking that eating off plates is ok! He knows the food is in the bowl and wants it. He will circle the bowl, snatch a bite and run a few feet away to eat it. But if there is any sound in the house he darts away and is done. My daughter put his food in a long trail on the kitchen floor tonight and he walked the trail of food eating. He will drink from the water bowl, better then eating his food, but he doesn’t stand there and drink his fill. He goes in spurts, make sense? He will also drink out of the bathtub while you’re in it and directly out of the hose. I’m starting to lean towards a bad experience at some point in his past, maybe he doesn’t like not being able to see around him or feels vulnerable while eating? I do know his sister bullied him off food at the shelter, so until their stray hold was up they were seperated. Never saw anything more then a look from her to him, and when seperated she freaked and he seemed to not care.
So tomorrow I will try a plate. If that doesn’t work he will just eat straight off the floor for now. The only training we are doing is his recall, a dog that won’t come when called worries me.

[Sswor]

He may just have a seriously deep seated neurosis. Harmless, but annoying. I have a dog I’ve had since she was a puppy who is neurotic. For example, she refuses to enter my parents house through the dog door. She will exit the house no problem but I think she would die of exposure before coming back in. She looks like she wants to come in but skitters around with her head down and tailed tucked between her legs in a wide berth back and forth past the door. She will not come near it. You have to open the whole door for her to come in and then she will hesitate before bolting through looking terrified. Once inside she is fine, and will happily turn right back around and run out the dog door again. Nothing has ever happened to her, no bad experience coming in the door, and it should be noted that I have the exact same brand and size dog door at home which she happily and freely uses to go in and out daily.

So, who knows. But she is irrationally afraid of a lot of things and I have had her since she was 7 weeks old and she has just always been this way. She’s been raised and treated in the same manner as all my other dogs, if not more effort made to socialize her and build her confidence, and this is just who she is. I always think if she were ever picked up as a stray, anyone would assume she had been abused but nope, she’s lived the life of a princess. She just has mental problems and is extremely fearful by nature.

[LauraKY]

My rescue collie will not drink from a shiny metal bowl. I have ceramic bowls for water. I would go with the plates for food.

[JanM]

My boy didn’t like bowls either, and I always used the little Correlle saucers for him. When I premeasured dry food I kept it in a regular bowl, or plastic refrigerator storage container, and dumped it on the saucer for him to eat. For water maybe a shallow, wide plastic dish, like the ones you use under plant pots to prevent leaks. Or the dark plastic ones. Even when the tags were taped together my dog didn’t like the vibration or noise when they hit the metal bowls. For water I used the small Pyrex bowls (the quart or bigger size that come with lids-I think they were one quart size, my dog seemed to like being able to see everything even when drinking. I used the hard rubber bottom, nylon pile 2x3 door mats under it and the food bowl to prevent floor puddles, and it keeps the bowls in place.