Dog acting weird, not eating like he normally does
I've owned my dog for over a month now. In the very beginning he wouldn't eat out of his bowl.. We had to hand feed him twice because of it. Come to find out he didn't like his reflection in his bowl ( I don't like plastic or ceramic it holds bacteria) To remedy that we put a face cloth in the bottom of his bowl and he would eat out of it. The face cloth gets washed every second day as I don't want it getting infested with bacteria too. So we know its clean. He also gets the same face cloth every time. Up until yesterday he was eating normally and drinking normally. He is still drinking the same amount he normally does but he is bairley eating. If you take some out of his bowl and give it to him a couple pieces at a time he will eat or if you take a treat in the shape of a sausage and cut it up into TINY pieces and mix it with his food he would eat it until he has eaten every piece of treat (and the dog food that gets in his mouth along with it LOL) but other than that he completely ignores it.
His previous owner used to switch dog food brands constantly (he owned five dogs and some of them were picky) and he told us that occasionally he would buy the beniful soft dog food and mix it with his food (the one that looks like real people food, with rice and stuff in it) but not often.
He Ate a edible chewie bone last night after holding on to it in his mouth for almost an hour (he usually chomps them down right away since he only gets one a week) I have checked his teeth, none are cracked or discolored, his gums are a normal color (I think) its hard to tell somewhat because his gums are naturally black and pink (spotted ) he has good elasticity to his skin and is not losing any weight (he is steady at 34.5 pounds)
At the same time though he seems a bit moody. He is not fixed and is Six years old. He will be seven in June.
This morning he ate a few mouthfuls but that is it. He gets one cup of food in the morning and one at night.
His bowls are not constricted or blocked in any way I don't think because he is pooping normally and does not seem to strain or have any difficulties.
I did have to clean out his ears the other day with Avena Sativa which is a Dermatologist recommended all natural ear cleaner for dogs and cats with Natural Colloidal Oat Extract in it (its a vet recommended product) because he had quite the buildup of wax in his ears (but no mites we got him checked at the vet 2 weeks ago) He was mad at me for doing it I think and was a bit moody. Could this be why he wasn't eating? Because he was mad at me? Or could it be something else. I know he didn't eat anything he shouldn't because our house is Dog and chinchilla proofed (as I own four chins too) He stays out of their room because he knows he is not allowed in there unless one of us is there too. And when he goes outside in the yard I am always with him because even though he is offleash in the fenced in area he was never offleash in his life before we got him and I worry about him believeing he could jump the fence for some silly reason though I don't think he would now.
There is nothing in the back yard that could hurt him because he dog proofed it wayyy before we got him (we also have a golden retriever in the house too ) we live in a converted garage at my bf's parents house..
Does anyone know what I can do to get him to eat