Well my dog roman will not eat out of his bowl! He is a German sheperd/rotweiller mix (very nice dog). We rescued him from a shelter and from the beginning he was very skittish but has warmed up. THe only thing is that he got scared of his bowls I guess it moved a little and it scared him and know he is too scared to eat out of it. This has happened before but we started putting the food on a mat and he would eat it, but were tired of the mess and bought bowls but he won't eat out of them. We have tried the feeding out of the hand thing but are tired. Please help!

Maybe it's the type of bowl. Maybe try plastic or ceramic. They don't make strange noises if the bowl moves.

Also, raised bowls might work better for him. They're stationairy and cannot move. And they are high up, he won't have to bend down to eat.

You could also put really yummy treats in his bowl, like a chunk of hamburger or cooked steak. Making the bowl someplace where something delicious comes out of an no where else may help him want to eat out of the bowl more.

Thank you so much! We will have to try the raised bowl thing I didn't think about that. And also the yummy treats! I will post something to see if he made progress. Thank you again

That's great! Good luck!

I have a rescue. She is also afraid of anything with sides, such as bowls. She WILL drink out of bowl, however.

I feed her on a flat plate. She simply would starve and panic rather than eat out of a dish with raised sides. I put the flat dish on a mat, she eats, she eats anything she drops and then I clean up the mat.

She is a VERY picky eater. Has nothing to do with your question but she is not a dog who has ever rushed over to eat her food. In fact, she prefers (after 5 years) to eat at night when no one is around (including our other dog).

Thanks to all! He is eating out of his bowls now!! It took a lot of patience and baby steps but he is now eating!