Dog feeding high maintenance dog stress

[stargazerlil]

Anyone have any advice on protocols to introduce to get my dog -a terrier, poodle, bichon , chihuahua cross nearly. 3 years old to eat on her own.
from puppy she was very difficult with eating on her own
feeding time is very stressful. She still likes to be hand fed.
I don’t have time for it.
I've tried many times to break this habit, have had some success sometimes.
any ideas? Looking for suggestions thanks.

You need to just stop giving in to her - if she's hungry, she'll eat.

Have you tried a flat plate? Some dogs (and cats) don't like their whiskers touching the sides of a bowl, its too sensitive. This was a huge breakthrough for me with one dog and one cat.

@stargazerlil My Whippet could be a right nightmare to feed..here is an old pic of her refusing warm chicken {Part of my meal} - she got over being a fussy feeder, thank goodness.
The Vet said to not feed by hand and that she would eat eventually.
I bought SO many types of food, it was unbelievable.

She likes Lily's Kitchen {expensive} and raw minced organic beef { once a week,} and chicken.

You mention Kibble, Josera , a German brand, do high grade kibbles that a lot of Dog Show people use.

Here's a pic of me trying to coax her to eat, by hand, not long after she first arrived.
Now, she eats freely, thank goodness and is eyeing up the peanuts I'm eating now.

Ah bless her, thanks for this, I do think mine will get over it, at the moment I am getting so frustrated especially when I know she’s really hungry, today after I started this thread we tried again with lunch - her raw beef and she comes and sits next to my feet waiting for me to hand feed, she is so cute, I feel so guilty, but it has to stop, I can’t spend the next 10 years doing it! I’ll look at that kibble, thanks.

Wow thanks sometimes she’ll have left over chicken on a big plate, but I never thought of trying it everyday. I’m gonna try that tomorrow with her usual meal thanks.

I know I’m trained she looks at me with big eyes and shakes to get what she wants she’s worked out the shaking makes me worry if she’s ok.

I use the same, its been life changing 🤣 only dog food that doesn't give my dog the runs/horrific gas

Small bits, she likes minuscule amounts, sometimes she’ll eat from her bowl, sometimes she wants me to help. Sometimes she’ll eat it if I put small amounts into bowl while she eats from bowl. It’s all pretty time consuming.

You’ve said she looks frightened. Then you’ve mentioned how stressed you are getting at mealtimes.
almost certainly, the two are linked. She has no idea why you are stressed every time she has a bowl of food, but that doesn’t mean she won’t feel it.
Flat plate down, go about your business for 30 minutes. Ignore her completely - thus bit is vital. Pick up plate at end of half hour without comment. No more food until the next meal. Repeat. Do not give in , comment or show any interest in whatever antics she throws at you

yeah I know, I started today, so she’s hardly eaten anything hopefully tomorrow we move forward without glitches.
we do use boxes and things like rolled up socks for dehydrated treats.

Great thanks I will look

Good quality dry food
Put small amount in bowl on floor , leave dog. Do not cajole or hover or stress.
I absolutely promise you the dog will not starve.
I'm a vet and it drives me insane when someone comes in with a fat dog ( not saying yours is but it's an example ) and tells me how fussy they are and how stressful it is to find something they will eat !
Have been doing this for a long time and genuinely never seen a healthy dog become below a healthy weight , when left to its own devices.
Possibly a really active hyper young dog might be hard to feed enough , but that's usually a food volume thing rather than it being fussy.
So stress less !

They are sooo clever! They do know what gets us going.
My girl does 'pathetic' barely audible quivery whimpers to get my attention.

Dogs are incredibly skilled at training their humans to do what they want.

My Whippet was a 'nightmare' to feed as a pup, I literally dreaded mealtimes.

But I realise my stress was affecting her.

I'd play her videos of puppies eating, hoping to encourage her.. but It was just the stress of a new home, and leaving her siblings at 9 weeks.

When her sister came round for a play, she ate then.

I bet within a week, she will be eating out of a bowl.

While you are hand feeding her, she has your undivided attention...and she's going to LOVE that.

Just be sure to spend quality time with her and she'll be fine.

It will probably be a battle of wills initially...But don't give in!