Puppy wont eat his food unless Im there?!?

Question

hiya, my dog for the past 2 weeks wont eat his food unless i am there standing right nxt to him, constantly telling him to eat!! ive asked my parents and brother to feed him and he will eat totally fine, ignoring them. when its me, he'll follow me out of the room, wont eat unless i go with him to his bowl etc. past few days i thought i wud ignore it, so i closed the door on him, but he wouldnt touch his food, just stayed at the door, waiting. so didnt close the door, so he just sat near me. hes never been totally attached 2 me or anything. i do care for him the most, but he only shows this sort of affection, if thats wat it is, during meal times. any ideas why, and what i should do? im the one whos around most of the time looking after him, so i cant leave it to other people to do! thanks
p.s hes 9 months old, labrador, n has never shown any favouritism in the family!

Answer 1

My black lab did the same thing. He got over it. he was the same age as yours too. I think he knows that you're the owner of him. Just make sure you tell him who's boss. Dont' give in too much. And DON'T feed him the same time as you! That is telling him that you guys are equal. You want to be the alpha, not him. Have fun watching him grow. If you need help training it you can email me. I've been trying to write a book. This would help me a lot.
P.S I've been showing my dog for 3 years in the UKC and 4-H!
P.S.S I have Border training instructions so he won't run away. I used the same thing on my dog!

Answer 2

Try to think what actions you do just before feeding him and after. He may have associated something else that possibly you're going to do that is more of a 'treat' and it matters more than the food. Check that what you do and the rest of the family is consistent - only feed when you and family finished eating, use same bowl in same place, similar time, etc.

Dogs watch you all the time. One of my dogs started to get excited whenever I poured a glass of water. Someone had to tell me that it was because I always do this before taking the dogs out for a walk. I didn't realise that I did that but the dog did. Anytime I wanted a glass of water when it wasn't time to walk, I had to keep the glass out of view!

I think you're right to try putting down the food, telling him it's for him and then taking no notice of him for some time. He will eat when he's hungry. Whatever you do, don't resort to feeding him by hand. BIG MISTAKE. This is a major treat for the dog and they will not relinquish it easily.

Answer 3

Search the web for info on 'seperation anxiety'; this lad needs to learn to feel ok whether you're there or not!
Try taking one small step away from the bowl, the next day another and so on until you can stand near the door. Never go so far that he feels the need to stop eating and follow you. Take it slowly.
Also, when you're watching telly and settled for the evening, put him in a dog bed on the floor, not right next to you. Settle him in with a chew then ignore him for a while. Don't let him crowd you or sit on your feet.
At least he's not growling at you and guarding his food bowl so it could be worse!

Answer 4

Put something yummy in his bowl like wet canned food or something and ignore him he will eat if hungry. The reason he is doing this is that now that it is winter he doesnt get to burn alot of energy off so he doesnt need to eat anything to replace the food lost by playing... Take him for a 30 min walk sometime during the day HE will eat if he is hungry!! Remember this!! And if he doesnt eat even with his yummy canned food and walks then take him to the vet there could be something wrong with him internally that you dont know about =)

Answer 5

I have a dog like that. He follows my mom everywhere. What she did was every time he would follow her she would say "Name of pet...No!!! Go eat" then walk him back to the food bowl and tell him to eat and stay. Then she would walk away. If he stayed she would come back and pat his head and said good boy eat. She did this for about a week and it worked but he still follows her when he's supposed to eat so she tells him to go eat and he does it.
It's just basically showing him that he doesn't have to have you by his side at all times to eat his food.

Answer 6

You are probably doing something that draws his attention from his food. Put the food down and walk away. Give him a reasonable amount of time to eat and if he doesn't, pick the food up. After a couple of days, he will be hungry enough to eat without paying attention to you.

Answer 7

Well he is showing favoritisum now! Since you are the main care giver he has attached to you. It sounds like he likes you better than his food. Don't worry, he will eat when he gets hungry enough.

Answer 8

My yorkie is the same.She won't eat unless we are both at home.My sister looked after her for us when we went on holiday,when she was about 18months old,she nearly starved to death.Since then we holiday in the uk,so we can take her with us.She is 10yrs old now,i doubt she will ever be any different.

Answer 9

They're pack animals so maybe he's waiting for you to have your share??? Perhaps he doesn't like the area where he's fed. One of my dogs used to be a fussy eater until I started putting her bowl up on the settee, now she wolfs it down! I know that's not ideal, but it works. I'm not suggesting you go that far though.

Answer 10

Im sorry, but thats cute, my cat did that for awhile, i was single and left her home alone all the time and once she might my fience, she would direct him over to her food and he would have to sit there while she ate, i thought i was funny then she started to it to me.. it thier way of telling you "look i ate all my food" can we play" its a way of asking for attention, they want you to know that they saw you give them the food and now want youto make sure you see that he ate it.. just do it for awhile and they will get over it, not completely, my cat still does it once and awhile..