i have a shih tzu who is 18 months old. she seems to be scared of her food bowl. i don't know what's wrong! she's been fed the same type of dog food, i forget the name, for a while, and she has eaten it just fine. but all of a sudden, one day, she just wouldn't eat out of it, not even when i put other food, like hamburger, in with it. she just picked the hamburger out really fast, and backed away. now she won't even go near her bowl, and i don't know why! please help!
2007-02-03 13:52:41 · 13 answers · asked by wowbby. 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
also, i haven't taken her to the vet. should i?
2007-02-03 13:53:26 · update #1
i tried once changing bowls. i noticed she wasn't eating it, and put some in a different bowl. i also put some food on a plate, but she wouldn't go near either one of them.
2007-02-03 14:23:19 · update #2
I assume that you have washed the bowl. Is it plastic? Did you use bleach? That will leave a smell. Or my guess would be that maybe you have ants. Or some other critter that comes out to munch on her food. Why don't you get her a new bowl. Wash it by hand and not the dishwasher and put down some clean paper towel under it and put it in a different spot. Do you have mice? Also I have seen people who buy those really big bags of dog food and the foods gets some sort of creepy bugs in it. So first look for bugs. Then roaches, then mice. If none of that. Get a new bowl and put it in a new spot and use different type of food. And yes, she should see a Vet on a regular basis, she could have worms. That would make her not hungry, I think. I hope she is OK soon. I love dogs.
2007-02-03 14:06:06 · answer #1 · answered by tonks_op 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something frightening might have happend in the area where she's being fed. Try feeding her in another spot away from the original place.
Does her bowl move around a lot when she eats? That might be spooking her. Put a rubber mat or something under her bowl. Or buy one with rubber on the bottom so it doesn't move.
Do not bother her when she's eating. Sometimes just talking to a skittish dog while its eating is enough to scare it. Give her some space and a different feeding place. Should help. If not, bring her to the vet. A little dog shouldn't be off her food for too long.
2007-02-03 14:37:50 · answer #2 · answered by heathen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Something may have frightened her while she was eating, a spider could have been in the bowl or any little thing to us, but a big thing to her. My dog won't eat out of a bowl either (Don't ask, because I don't know why) but, I switched to a bread plate. She has no problem with it, but she won't go near a bowl no matter what's in it. Good Luck...if only she could talk!!!!! Taking her to the Vet wouldn't hurt just in case it is more than that.
By the way I have a Papallon..a furry little thing too
2007-02-03 15:14:20 · answer #3 · answered by Dorothy C 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Someone has done something to her bowl to cause her to dislike it. Maybe the kids washed it out with bleach or some other chemical. Or maybe you washed it with a new diswashing detergent that she can't stand the smell of. Or maybe the bowl wasn't rinsed out well. Or maybe the bowl is pourous, and the diswashing deterget you've been using all along has been absorbed into the bowl to the point where your dog can't stand it anymore. The smell of it is too much for her. The solution might be a new bowl. The one she has doesn't smell right to her anymore. Dogs have a keen sense of smell.
I could, of course be all wrong about this, but it's worth a try. Doggie bowls don't cost much.
2007-02-03 14:08:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check for ants if you live in a warm climate. l live in this old fram house awhile back and we also had mice.The mice was getting in the food bowl and carry the food away. the dog smell the mice and did not want to eat out of it.Buy a second bowl and trade off and on with the bowl.One can be washing and your pet will always have a clean dish.Dogs like clean plates and bowls .So keep it clean .
2007-02-03 14:00:20 · answer #5 · answered by Star-Dust 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Get another dog food. In December of 2006 when Diamond dog food was contaminated, many owners reported that their dogs would not eat the dog food. Some of the owners did as you did and added and or gravey, and the dogs died.
I would get a new food (especially if you are using Beneful it has caused some deaths from mold in the dog food).
I would also follow it up with a visit to the vet. If she is eating the meat she is not afraid of the dish, it's the food.
Good Luck
Gayle
2007-02-03 14:08:25 · answer #6 · answered by trishnh 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like something somehow scared her while she was eating. Have you tried putting her food in a different bowl? Maybe just put it on a flat plate so she can see it better, so that she can see that nothing is in or around it and nothing is gonna get her.
2007-02-03 14:00:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is it place near anything that may seem threatening or makes a noise? If it is, perhaps you should place it somewhere else. Sorry I can't help you out more, that is very strange. I don't think you should call the vet though. But anyway, good luck with her (shih tzu's are VERY cute :D)
2007-02-03 14:03:43 · answer #8 · answered by Julia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
found it
your dog has 3 possibilities
1. She has recently had an alergic reaction.
2. She has got food poisining... probibly not from the food you fed her
3. you or someone else did something to the dog that has made it afraid to eat while you are watching
2007-02-03 13:59:41 · answer #9 · answered by colliflower 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there might have been a bug in it or she might have hit her nose on it before. she might also have hurt her eye and it makes the food bowl seem weird. is it the same bowl you always feed her in? try feeding her in a different bowl.
2007-02-03 14:02:35 · answer #10 · answered by doglover.1993 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋