pup only eats leftover on floor

[sharon]

my shih tzu used to have no problems with eating from his bowl but since my new pup came, things have changed!!!! My 2month old pug can get so obsessed with his food that he literally puts his whole head into the bowl, making parcels of food spill off. When my shih tzu noticed this, he started eating off the leftovers on the floor and since then, it's been difficult for him to eat from his bowl! Sometimes he'd literally not touch his food. I started spilling off bits of his food at the edge of his bowl and he'd eat it! And even if his bowl is still full, he'd still settle for the spills of my pug or our bulldog! I know allowing this to go on aint good at all but if i dont spill off his food, he literally will not touch it! Could this be a submissive issue? Know how i can correct this? Thanks!

[erdog3]

I don't think this is a submissive issue, if so, he would not eat at all till the others had finished, when you think about it, naturally, dogs in the wild do not get fed in bowls, I even have my cats take their food out of the bowl, place it on the floor, then eat it. Sometimes it is a natural instinct comming into force, and when you introduce a new animal, this instinct comes into play, even though our pets have been domesticated, nature can play some funny tricks.
I would feed your floor eater, alone for a while, where there is not any need for survival instincts,to rear it's head. He will realize in the end that he doesn't need to scavange, that his/hers bowl is HIS/HERS alone.

[Darth_Vaders_Mom]

Try using a baby gate. That way when you are feeding your older dog the baby has to stay in the other room. But he can still see him eating too! Good luck

Bow Wow Beds

[sharon]

believe me, i've tried feeding them seperately and he still wont eat! when i shout feeding time, he immediately wags his tail and runs up to me but once the bowl is laid down, he just gives it a smell then moves away, staring at it like nothing! well, i bought him a plate, thinking thats the nearest thing to a flat surface like the floor, right? well, to my surprise, he ate from the plate. it's amazing how these pups challenge you to think about the most trivial solutions! [img]tongue.gif[/img]