DDog (a rescue) and her weird eating habits

[Harumff]

Hi, just looking for any words of wisdom from you experienced dog owners.
We brought home a gorgeous 4-5 year old is Collie X a week ago and she has settled in so much easier than i feared (especially as we have two cats). She's so loving and generally easy going, we've had no toilet accidents, her and the cats tolerate each other and are getting less jumpy of each other everyday, she sleeps at night without hearing a peep from her and when she's left for a couple of hours she shows no evidence of being distressed.... all good. We do have a couple of minor issues as she seems to get scared of load noises when we're out walking her and is hitty-missy whether she likes dogs she sees when we're out and about but both of those things seem to be improving slowly day by day.

The issue that is stressing me is food! She will only eat out of our hands! I was keen to get her to just eat anything the first couple of days so made the mistake of doing this but now she won't eat out of her bowl at all (and she's probably only eating 1/3-1/2 of her daily requirements even from our hands). The rescue centre did say she liked to tip up her food bowl and hide her food and we've found that she likes to push her bowl under her bed as if she doesn't want to see it! She does sometimes go to her bowl as if she is about to eat but then does weird circles with her nose around it and walks off looking stressed. I think i have a doggy with an eating disorder!

Any ideas?

It's still very early days. It can take a while for a dog to start eating properly when in a new environment, so I wouldn't be too worried about that after a week.

What sort of bowl are you feed her from? Could there be something about it that is putting her off. My dog get really freaked out if the tag on her collar hits the bowl while she eating.

Would she be happier if her food was given to her in something like a Kong so that she has to work to get the food out. I think there are other things on the market that make them work for their food, might be worthwhile having a look for something like that. Maybe she'd just prefer it hidden around the room so she has to find it, or maybe she just wants it directly on the floor.

You have my sympathy with the hand feeding. My dog was quite ill recently, and in an effort to get her to eat I started hand feeding her. I'm now in a position where I'm going to have to ween her onto eating from a bowl. She's never been keen on bowls either.

Collies are the weirdest creatures ever @jay dog they can be skittish sensitive little flowers and take a while to trust their surroundings because of their aloofness, you feeding her feels safe for now soo what to doimo is get her bowl and feed her from that put it beside you and then feed her then put it down and sit beside her and see if she will eat it don't panic

I agree it may be worth changing the bowl. Is she on dry food? You can warm the biscuits in the microwave first for 10-20 seconds (it increases the smell) or add grated cheese parmesan not necessary, a bit of yoghurt, or some sardines, either at the very bottom or mixed in well.

Our ddog refuses to eat or drink from plastic. He doesn't much like china rather. Old fashioned enamel is what he likes.

But I'd guess it's security at the moment. Similarly, ddog will usually only eat if we are there. My guess is that he is afraid there will be no more food and needs to keep it against starvation if we are not there.

Dogs are right weirdos i had a fancy pants metal bowls on stand set up he used to knock his dinner out and eat off the floor ibought shallow plastic ones from £shop he eats better i still need to sprinkle some cheese over it now and again

Put a moderate amount of good quality food into a non-slipping dog bowl on a non-slip surface in a peaceful environment twice a day, and leave her to eat it or not. After half an hour, remove any uneaten food. Repeat. Do not hand feed or anxiously embellish the food of a healthy dog.

I grew up with working collies and they are unique creatures! Normal dogs rules need not apply!
When I first got my rescue he was a very fussy eater. I found he preferred wet food so that might be worth a try? Collies love to use their brains so you could turn meal time into a game. Put his biscuits into a small cardboard box so he has to hunt for his dinner. Good luck though, rescues are so rewarding

Hi there.. Another owner of a rescued border collie cross here! You could try a dog food puzzle.. make eating a game vs. something she's come to fear for whatever reason.. The ones by Nina Ottosson are indestructible and loved by my (quirky) collie.. good luck .. sounds like you're doing great so early on!

The 'weird circling' is the action of burying the food for later without actually going through with it. Maybe she doesn't like to be watched, or have other people/animals in the room. Perhaps you could find a 'secret' corner where she feels safer?

Also check if her teeth are okay and if she's 'gone off' her usual food, or if it upsets her digestion (try a small amount of food with different ingredients).

Thanks for all your suggestions! Will definitely try different bowls/Kong/private areas for her to eat etc. Sounds like being a weirdo can be normal for collies/rescue dogs and it is early days...

Feed wet food that she can't resist. Get her eating that and when she's more settled, gradually re-introduce kibble.

I've looked after a friend's collie a few times and she gets skittish around a metal bowl. I think she doesn't like the reflections! They are a little neurotic...

We actually had some success tonight with the bowl wedged in a corner so she couldn't move it. We'll get there!

She's bloody lush though!

Gorgeous. I have a collie lapdog!!

Beautiful dog!
Rescues can be weird - we had a rescue who had been starved/stray so she hoarded food, stole anything even vaguely edible, would go through the bin etc. She never stopped it and we learned to be careful, it was just one of her many quirks.
I agree with the people saying put good food down, pick it up again later, she will settle and eat when she is more confident.

Could you feed her next to the bowl so one tasty morsel goes straight to her and the alternating one gets placed in her bowl, which you then pick up and hold out to her and fish it from her bowl to mouth with your hand. Alternating so she gets the reward of eating from your hand as well as learning to eat from her bowl. I'd also find a way to fix the bowl so she can't move it!

Aww look at her face she is lovely ☺glad she ate her tea

Our first rescue took a good six months to properly settle in (he had been knocked about by previous owners) so this is very early days.

We use dry food as training treats and DDog1 can sometimes get his whole dinner that way. It helps reduce stress as well as boredom.

I had a rescue collie cross once who used to eat bars of soap. We had several weeks of going to wash our hands only to find there was no soap. He used to eat the entire bar and it never made him ill in any way so it wasn't until we finally caught him pinching a bar that we actually knew what was going on.