Eating

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delladooo
Posts: 763
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:53 am
Location: Blackpool, UK

Eating

Post by delladooo »

I'm not sure where this really belongs but as it's a training issue it can go here. Please feel free to move :)

I want to preface this by saying I know this is our fault and I know she's not really being difficult but it really is frustrating.

MiMi is hand fed. Every meal. How on earth do I get her eating out / off of something?

When we got her at 4 months, she was food aggressive and obviously very little. She seemed to have trouble eating out of a bowl as even shallow cat bowls seemed to be too high in the sides and it was helping with the aggression so we were hand feeding her. It was going brilliantly for solving that problem but we now have the unfortunate situation where even though the dogs are fed in separate rooms, MiMi has to sit and watch Laufey eat before coming and starting the fiasco that is feeding her. She's not very food motivated at all so the food in itself isn't much of a reward. She won't eat until Laufey is sat next to the human feeding her and if he goes off to lie down in the other room she will follow him to stand and stare at him instead. The actual eating is prefaced with a lot of play bowing and woo-ing (she does this all the time whenever she is excited or wants to play etc.). She won't eat out of a bowl and it is hit and miss as to if she will eat it off the floor. She generally is picky about the bits she wants and will wander off if what you're offering isn't what she wants to eat (think "oh this mouthful is tripe but I want the chicken in my bowl" so she gets all the chicken and still doesn't want the tripe). I know she's not a big bone cruncher and doesn't like large mouthfuls because of her small, flat face.

There are a few raw feeding groups I'm on and the general advice is (provided the dog is healthy, which she is) then just leave them too it as they won't starve themselves. We got to the day two mark trying this with her not eating her meals but not sure this can really be productive if she's still getting treats (which she is quite motivated for, pain in the butt) when we're walking to counter condition to dogs.
WufWuf
Posts: 1371
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 7:53 am

Re: Eating

Post by WufWuf »

When you did this how did you go about it? As in where was Mimi, where were you, where was Laufey, how long did you give her, what food did you offer?
Operant conditioning rocks but classical conditioning rules
delladooo
Posts: 763
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:53 am
Location: Blackpool, UK

Re: Eating

Post by delladooo »

She's always in the kitchen and Laufey is fed in the back room / garden (out of sight).

When leaving her to it, we tried being in there with her and completely leaving her to it. When we left her in the kitchen and left, she completely panicked and ended up wetting herself :( needless to say we only did that the once, so when leaving her to it we are next to her in the kitchen - either sat on the floor like we are for feeding her or wash the pots (washing pots worked once or twice for her to investigate her bowl on her own).

We give it about 15/20 mins. Laufey is kept out of the kitchen and he will either go in the front room or sit just outside the kitchen depending on if there is someone to occupy him.

We were feeding her on whatever she was having from the freezer that day including, but not limited to, her favourites of pork and chicken :)
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: Eating

Post by JudyN »

This is a long shot, but may be worth a try (it sometimes works for getting Jasper in the car or off the bed). Show her her meal, and say 'wait'. Hold her in the wait for as long as you feel is right for her, then say 'OK'. Just sometimes, being told you can't have something yet increases your desire for it, so you're more keen when you finally get the go-ahead.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
delladooo
Posts: 763
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:53 am
Location: Blackpool, UK

Re: Eating

Post by delladooo »

I love that idea but her wait is almost non-existant unfortunately - I'm still trying to teach it. I did also try using meal times as a training session asking for easy stuff she knows but not being very food motivated it didn't take long for her to just decide it wasn't worth the effort.

It makes me so glad Laufey loves food though
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