So, after reading Judy's blog post and then reading all the comments, I changed out Katie's metal bowl with a plastic one. She still wasn't interested. I reduced the size of the treats she gets so she would be hungrier, but she still didn't eat much from her bowl. Usually by the end of the day she finished the 1/2 cup of food, nibbling all day long, but not always, and when we travel, she often didn't eat anything. When we were in San Diego, she went three days without eating any of her food. She got some treats, but didn't eat her food.
Well... when Katie gets a treat or a cookie or a rawhide chew toy, she always jumps up on the couch and puts it on her blanket and eats it from there. So a couple of weeks ago, I decided to put her new plastic bowl on her blanket. She ate a little....
Then looked at me... "Mom, you STILL don't get it!" Jeez, look at that face!
Since then I put the half of her food on her blanket in the morning, and she finishes it all, and the other half in her bowl on the kitchen floor. She won't touch anything in the bowl all day. When I have my dinner, I pour her food out of her bowl onto her blanket, she jumps up and eats it all.
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| My work is done. |
We've been doing this for weeks now, and she eats every bit, every time. I have to say, Katie is very patient with me. LOL
I thought I'd post this just in case any of you are having the same issue with your pet. I know most dogs scarf up everything in their bowls as soon as it is served and then want more, but there are those dainty eaters out here that are different. I'm so glad I finally figured this out - and now I compliment myself every time she finishes her breakfast and dinner. LOL Really.
From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everybody! :)
PS - Katie has a sensitive tummy and this is the only food I can give her that doesn't upset her stomach. I never know what's going to happen with other brands/kinds of food. Sometimes she vomits, sometimes she has diarrhea - other times not. I just never know, so this food was recommended by a co-worker who had the same issues with his Chihuahuas, and it's never caused her a problem, so that's all I give her. It's expensive, but worth it. And she DOES like it. Just not from a bowl on the floor, I guess.
NOTE: 5/24/15 - You guys are cracking me up with your comments - some of you have pups who are even more picky than Katie. What a hoot! It's nice that I'm not alone. LOL
That is just too funny. It may take awhile but they finally get their point across. Our girls are the gulpers. Put it down and it's gone. We can't switch their food either. We made the mistake of trying something different and it was a disaster. Never again. Give Katie a hug from us.
ReplyDeleteNow, that is interesting. Oliver and Olivia share a shiny, metal bowl. Olivia chows down, no matter what! Oliver is so funny. If any shiny, silver is showing he yaps at us and we must cover the shiny spot with more food. Olivia is a gulper, Oliver is a graizer. But, like Katie, they do not eat as we are driving. Aren't our fur kids funny?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this! I have a very picky eater too :) I will give this a try and see if that helps out!! Thanks again for the info!
ReplyDeleteMy bloodhound eats his food in less than one minute. She has been that way for almost 7 years. I use to fear the way she eats due to the possibility of bloat, but never a problem. That habit of hers would be hard to break. Glad to see you were open minded enough to try what you did. Katie is probably a really happy dog that you figured it out.
ReplyDeleteThat is a really cute story. Dogs tend to be long on patience with our perceived denseness! It's probably a good thing that they can't talk! ;->
ReplyDeleteVirtual hugs,
Judie
Crikey ... It sure takes you peeps a while to work things out, aye? Just shows who the smart one is in your family, aye? Well done for finaly getting it! I'm like Katie. I savour my food! Oh and I'm a whippet not a greyhound but like our dear Hazel I like ALL dogs and MOST peeps. THANKYOU for contacting Mum and me about Hazel. We really loved her, Power, Hera and the CAT and will miss her and them. Well Mum will miss the cat. I won't. They scare me a bit those cats. They hiss at me.
ReplyDeleteHahahaha, well it took some time but you learned. We have some similar issues with Fraser, but mostly he just wants to see what we are eating (or sharing) before he will touch his food. Sometimes he just changes his mind on the brand we use so we have to change it up. I suppose we are still in the guessing game with him!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that just crazy?
ReplyDeleteThat is hilarious! Bless her patient little heart.
ReplyDeleteCute story. Can you get her to eat whole foods as Royal Canin is one of the worst dog foods out there. Veterinarians sell that and Science Diet another crappy dog food,because they get a big, fat kick back http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog-food-index-a.html Anyhoo, Royal Canin has very little nutritional value , kinda like eating potato chips every day ;-(
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute story! Did Katie give you a treat for learning a new trick? That's an adorable picture of her with her little paws crossed.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a cute and funny story. I'm glad she finally got you trained. Wonder what it was about the bowl?
ReplyDeleteMy Siamese cat likes to try a different diner each meal. One time, I'll put his food bowl at the top of our two stairs, other times he likes to eat next to the dry food bowl, and other times by the dining room table. If he won't eat it in one place, I'll try another location. Talk about persnickety!
ReplyDeleteOur furry friends are smarter than we think. Love that picture of Katie with her crossed paws. CUTE!
ReplyDeleteOh, tht is funny!!! our pets, I swear, they all have their little quirks!! Glad Katie is eating good now.. all of my pets have had weird eating habits...
ReplyDeleteVery interesting...Skruffy will goes days not eating her food when she is alone when we are at the condo...but when Bubba is with us she eats every day due to the competition.
ReplyDeleteSometimes its the humans that need training now the animals. Always something to learn from our pets.
ReplyDeleteSometimes our fur kids are just so silly...but I"m glad you finally figured it out.
ReplyDeleteOur fur babies are sure patient with us, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteFunny pooches! Emmi is not a big eater, I put a cup of food in her bowl and she may or may not eat all of it in a day, usually she leaves leftovers and like Katie, sometimes she doesn't eat for a day or two.
ReplyDeleteSammy has me trained well. He doesn't like bones, or any treats other than "duck treats" and marrow bones (we call them cookies). He also is very picky about his dry food, he would only eat out the parts that were soft (the meaty parts). The crunchy parts were usually pushed out of his bowl and end up on the floor. I finally figured out that he doesn't like crunchy food! So now he gets soft food twice a day (lucky guy) but at least he's happy and eats it all.
ReplyDeleteTook him a long time to train me on that one too. I often say it's too bad he can't talk!
Barbara, That's hysterical. Glad Katy trained you so she could enjoy her meals. Our boys scoff anything but Lola needs to have cheese sprinkles added to her Acana Pacifica. Fussy kids!! lol
ReplyDeleteSheila
Barbara, That's hysterical. Glad Katy trained you so she could enjoy her meals. Our boys scoff anything but Lola needs to have cheese sprinkles added to her Acana Pacifica. Fussy kids!! lol
ReplyDeleteSheila
I have two chihuahua females. Since six weeks old they will only eat dry food off the bed by me or on the carpet. Small handfuls only. Very small and if they want more another small handful. I know it sounds crazy but it works. They are 14 and 9 now and its still the same. Happy for Katy. We do love our babies don't we?
ReplyDeleteI volunteer at a greyhound rescue - all the dogs get their kibble in a bowl in the middle of their dog run. Except for Amy. If her food is left there, she picks up the bowl in her teeth and moves it into the center of her dog bed (through a dog flap into a heated dog box).
ReplyDeleteOk - we thought, we can accomodate that and started putting her bowl in the corner of her dog box (thinking that this would give her more room to move around and less chance of knocking her food over into her bed.
But, no, Amy disagreed. Again, she picks up her food bowl and puts it in the middle of her bed. Only there will she eat.
She now has us trained!