Starting about a week ago my 4 month old golden retriever will not eat unless I am within a couple feet of him. His routine has not changed or his food - he gets a lot of attention and exercise from my husband and I. Previously he would eat even if we weren't in the house - now he won't eat unless we're right by him - even if he can see us but we're further than a few feet he won't eat. Any ideas what would cause this? We have tried leaving him and seeing if he goes back later to eat but he doesn't.
Answers:
By doing this he's getting your undivided attention and this is what he wants. Puppies are very crafty and once you give in to them you have set a pattern almost for life Has anyone in the family sat near him while he has been eating and offered him food from his dish? This could be a contributory factor.
I would just put his dish of food down on the floor and leave the room for about ten minutes, no peeping to see if he's eaten it! If he hasn't eaten it when you return just pick it up and offer it to him at his next meal time. Repeat this throughout the day. Believe me he will eat when he is hungry.
Don't give in to him or you will allow him to rule you.
One of the puppies I kept from my last litter went through exactly the same phase and if she decided she wasn't going to eat it until I stood near her I would just pick up her dish and walk away. When it came to her next meal she was really hungry and would devour it immediately. She soon got the message that if she didn't eat when it was put down to her
she would have to wait until the next meal. She soon fell back into the old routine.
I hope this helps. Don't let him get the better of you or you'll rue the day.
Well, when he gets hungry, he will eventually eat, my dog used to only eat when we were eating, but now she will eat whenever. Its just a puppy phase.
He'll eat when he gets hungry. Don't let him train you.
very cute. dont worry its just a phase and your doin nothin wrong ;]
It's become a habit and you need to break it. Put him in a quiet room with no distractions, give him his food and leave the room. After 15 minutes, pick up anything he didn't eat (even if he didn't eat anything). Then don't offer food again until the next scheduled feeding time. A hungry dog will eventually eat. A dog will not starve itself to death.
Now that your pup is older he has become alot more attached to you. You may not like my response but if he doesn't eat, he doesn't eat. He will eat when hes hungry! Dogs will not starve themselves unless they are not healthy. I feed my dogs and if they walk away, they have there food picked up and no more till tomorrow. They learned quickly they better eat if they want it. If you don't like this alternative then sit there while he eats. Its not like it takes him to long eat anyway right?
He'll eat when he is hungry. I leave my dog's food out always. They don't have "stupid human" schedules, they are dogs, don'g assign human characteristics to them.
Hope you are training him in the basic commands. My golden is 85#, yours has the same weight potential, manners are paramount with big dogs.
some dogs like company when they eat... but if you just leave out his dinner he will eat when he gets hungry enough. feed him around the same time every day %26 let him have access to the food. if you stay around to watch that's what he will get used to.
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