Dog Won't Eat from his Bowl, he'll eat from my hand or the floor but that's it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

If you are worried he won't eat at all you needn't be. A healthy dog will not go hungry. You are setting an unhealthy precedent by hand feeding. He will want this attention all the time if you don't stop now. Put his food in his bowl, dry food I assume, and when he sees you are not going to feed by hand, he will eventually get the picture. There is an old saying that you are not doing your dog any favours by not training him properly. You might say it is "tough love".

I wish you luck, I know you you love him, but hand feeding is just not good.

If you are worried he won't eat at all you needn't be. A healthy dog will not go hungry. You are setting an unhealthy precedent by hand feeding. He will want this attention all the time if you don't stop now. Put his food in his bowl, dry food I assume, and when he sees you are not going to feed by hand, he will eventually get the picture. There is an old saying that you are not doing your dog any favours by not training him properly. You might say it is "tough love".

I wish you luck, I know you you love him, but hand feeding is just not good.

PS I use a stainless steel bowl that I wash after each use. He may not like the smell of his receptacle.

He might want attention or just prefer the texture. At least he's eating! Try changing the bowl material and see what happens

he might want attention or just prefer the texture. at least he's eating!! try changing the bowl material and see what happens

Sure he wants attention, but he is eating out of hand, not a god habit to start!

My GSD will not eat out of bowl, never has, not since she was a puppy. She will eat off a flat dish, and that's her food dish.

My Vet said it's the way her eyes are placed in her face as well as the shape of her head.

It's never been an issue. She will drink out of a very large bowl but not a small one.

@Judy, that makes a lot of sense. I never considered the eye placement. That was a very astute vet.

I help my mom run a rescue.. When we get a dog in that is being odd about eating, we usually just continue to offer the same thing over and over again without any substitute. The dog will eventually get hungry enough to eat our food from our food bowls. I don't quite understand why and how people get dogs that won't eat from food bowls and only from the hand.. in my opinion, that's the dog training the owner how it wants its food served. I'm sure some behaviorist somewhere would come up with an explanation for this type of behavior.

Bottom line, if you don't want to hand feed your dog and have it eat out of a bowl or off a plate, stop hand feeding the dog and present the food to it on a schedule (Morning and evening) and don't give in. Healthy dogs rarely starve themselves.

I help my mom run a rescue.. When we get a dog in that is being odd about eating, we usually just continue to offer the same thing over and over again without any substitute. The dog will eventually get hungry enough to eat our food from our food bowls. I dont quite understand why and how people get dogs that won't eat from food bowls and only from the hand.. in my opinion, that's the dog training the owner how it wants its food served. I'm sure some behaviorist somewhere would come up with an explanation for this type of behavior.

Bottom line, if you dont want to hand feed your dog and have it eat out of a bowl or off a plate, stop hand feeding the dog and present the food to it on a schedule (Morning and evening) and don't give in. Healthy dogs rarely starve themselves.

I think you said exactly same thing I did almost. Bad idea, hand feeding, a dog will always play off in that.