Should I hand feed my dog?

Question

I have a 10 month old Mini-Goldendoodle that will only eat every other day, unless she is hand fed. She will eat approximately 1 cup of food per day that she eats, if she is hand fed she will eat almost 2 cups. I will not hand feed her, it is my wife that does out of concern for her health. I am assuming that she eats from my wife hand to please..

Let me know your thoughts...

Answer 1

I have an American Mutt that I started hand feeding when I got her at about 1 1/2 years old. She is now 14 years old and twice a day when I feed her, I have to give her the first few bites by hand before she'll eat from her bowl...

It's become kind of a ritual for the two of us...something that I share only with her. (NOT a habit I started with my other two dogs...lol)

She is still a pup, but she will eat if she's hungry. Have you given any thought to the fact that she may not like her current food?? I have found that my picky dogs have eaten better when I changed the flavor of the food. There are many good quality brands available, but you'll want to change it gradually to prevent an upset digestive system.

Answer 2

A dog cannot "manipulate" someone. To suggest that he can is just plan freaking silly. The dog is spoiled, he is NOT manipulating the OP. Manipulation would be if the OP wanted to give the dog kibble and the dog decided he didn't want it, so PURPOSELY made himself look cute or something along such lines so he can get chicken. Dogs do NOT think like that. If you think they do, please read a freaking book about dogs. Dogs live in the moment. If you give a dog chicken and steak, he will eat chicken and steak. Plain and simple. If you give your dog chicken and steak every day, he will start to expect it every day. That is NOT manipulation and if you still think it is, open a dictionary. That is spoiled. This dog is obviously spoiled. A home cooked diet can be good for a dog IF you know what you are doing. It is not for the novice dog owner. Not just anyone can grill some chicken for their dog and call it dog food. A home prepared diet should consist of the right amount of meat, vegetables, supplements, etc. It is not just fruits, vegetables, peanut butter, and grilled meat. Is your Pomeranian getting some kind of supplement? Is his diet varied? Have you spoken to a nutritionist or at the very least your vet about this diet? (What do you mean "professional opinion" because I'm curious who would recommend feeding just chicken and steak. A GOOD home cooked diet is varied.) If not and if you can't be bothered to... then stop feeding him this diet. If you continue to, it will only spoil him further. Stop now. Feed him dog food. He will not eat it for a while, but a healthy dog won't starve himself. And also, stop hand feeding him. That seems a bit ridiculous. I hand feed my dogs sometimes but they will eat even if I don't. The hand feeding them is to prevent food aggression, not to spoil them rotten. ETA: @ the person who said Poms can't be over 7 lbs... get your facts straight. They used to be a much larger breed. They've been bred down in size. 7 lbs is standard, yes, but they can be much bigger and still not be overweight. I've known 14 lb Pomeranians. Not all of them are tiny dogs. They will sometimes "throw back" to their larger size. Seriously, don't assume her dog is overweight just because she said he's giant. She likely means he's just a larger Pom. It's incorrect to call them giants, but they do exist. Geeze idk why I come to YA sometimes.

Answer 3

i think that hand feeding your dog wont be beneficial to it in the long run. i would definitely advise your wife against this. remember that all dogs, no matter what breed are descendants of the wolf. a wolf only eats when it can, and that is not every day. a dog will not starve itself, it will eat eventually. if your dog wont eat anymore by herself, then dont feed her anymore. she will learn that she must eat when her food is available and only from her dish. she will learn that its either that or nothing.

i know you may feel cruel if you dont feed her and you think she needs it, i assure you its not cruel at all. i have an ex-cruelty case dog who wouldn't eat when i bought her home. i worked with her on that and now she eats without even a second thought.

a good tip would to be to put her food dish down for only 20 minutes. once the 20 minutes are up, take the dish away (unless of course she is still physically standing at it, eating from it!) she will learn that she has a certain time to eat and from her dish. if she doesn't eat in that time from that dish, she wont eat at all.
remember, dogs are very intelligent - they figure things out very quickly! it should only take 2 days or so for your pooch to learn to eat for her self!

2 books i would highly recommend are Dog Problems: The Gental Modern Cure and Dog Training: The Gentle Modern Method, both by David & Ruth Western. They are fantastic books! Very logical, easy to read and absolutey fasinating!

I hope I was able to help you out!

Answer 4

I have a poodle and he just loves being had fed. I have seen Chico refuse to eat his dog food until he is certain he will not have our food. I hide pieces of dry dog food or treats around the crease in his doggie bed every other day while he is outside. He just loves that. He'll play with his bed for quite a while. We have pieces of dry dog food under our pillow, where Chico has hid his find. This way he eats more, while having fun. Good luck, there are far worse habits your dog could have/or wife for that matter than hand feeding a puppy.

Answer 5

See a vet to rule out physical problems. These new "designer dogs" are being bred by irresponsible people out for a buck, with no thought to the quality of the dogs.
If there is no problems:
The dog is playing your wife.
She knows that if she holds out your wife will sit with her and feed her. That's what she wants.

You need to be strict with the dog. 2 meal times, morning and night. Put the food down for 15 minutes, then pick it up. NO FOOD UNTIL THE NEXT MEAL! No treats, no nothing.
Keep going like this until the dog wises up.

Tell your wife that if she continues this way with the dog, she will be facing behavior problems the dog's whole life. Your wife is not establishing herself as dominate to the dog, and the dog will (and is) taking advantage of that. Look forward to distructive behavior, possessive behavior and other problems.

Answer 6

That sounds like a bad habit.When the dog is really hungry it will eat.When the dog is older and you have any food in your hand it will try to take it from your hand.The dog amy be a small eater and hand feeding double the amount may not be good for it.They eat or leave their food it depends on them.Your wife may just want to feel needed.......

Answer 7

The dog will eat when its hungry. Your wife is enabling bad behavior. You ever watched The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Milan? Its a very infomative t.v. show about training animals. They have it on DVD also. Get it, it will teach you a lot about why dogs behave the way they do and how us humans tend to encourage bad behavior without even realizing it. You can buy Cesar Milan's DVD at the site I listed below.

Answer 8

Your wife is really making problems for the dog in the long run. This dog will grow to expect to be hand fed in order for her to eat. If you ever have to leave the dog at a kennel, it will starve itself because your wife will not be there to feed it. You need to discourge your wife from doing this.

Answer 9

A dog should not starve themselves - they will eat before then. Having said that, when I first got my chi puppy I had to hand feed her at first. I would try to slowly have her eat them on her own. Don't hand every kibble to her, instead move your hand slight closer to the dish and have her come to the dish. Slowly make the distance to the bowl closer. then see if you can put your hand in the bowl, and have her reach in and get it.

Also, I would be checking the brand of dog food you are feeding. Most brands you can get at the grocery store are not worth feeding. They have so many fillers. If you use a good brand dog food, even though they are more expensive, you feed less, they poop less, and apparently (I haven't tasted them) it tastes much better! Just a thought...

Answer 10

Well all I can say is tell her to STOP!!! She's got that puppy spoiled and I did the same thing.. Trust me you dont want to do that:( It took along time to break my rotti from thst.. If he dont eat its not your fault he'll eat when he gets hungry he would have no choice.. He would figure out if he dont eat it from a bowl then he just wont eat.. He'll catch on quickly:) Trust me now mine eats like 3 cups twice a day.. They are both 6 months old.. American Pitbull Terrier and German Rottweiler!! Good Luck!!