[froggy7]

When I first got Trinkett, I set up her food in the bedroom because I was thinking that she would be shut up in there during the day. Now I leave her out during the day, and would like to move her food out of my bedroom. My problem? She won't eat out of the bedroom. To clarify, she prefers to eat in the bedroom if I am in there. Not too close to the food, or she will shy away. And if she is startled at all, she will back away from the food. All of which means that she isn't eating her dinner until after 10 pm, which means that she needs to go out in the middle of the night to potty. I'm trying to get her to eat earlier, but don't really want to hang out in my bedroom at 7 while she does so.

I was hoping that moving the food out into the great room would help, since that way she could eat when I was out there, but she will look at me, look at the food, and then go stand in the bedroom where the food dishes were. My next plan is to slowly start edging the dish out of the bedroom (move it closer to the door for a few days, then in the hall, then down the hall, etc.)

Does this seem like the most reasonable path to take, or is there something else you would recommend? And should I be concerned that her eating changed after her dental treatment? Before I got her teeth cleaned, she would eat in the morning and evening just fine. After that, she is refusing to eat in the morning and doesn't eat her dinner except as described above. I admit that I gave her hot dogs after her dental so that she would take her pills, and I'm not sure if she is holding out for treats over her food, or if she associates the food with her mouth being sore, or if it's entirely coincidental with her settling down more in my house (I've had her a bit over 6 weeks now, and she is coming out of her shell).

[labman]

My first though is my usual get tough - Put down the dish with what the dog should eat, and give it 15 minutes to eat. Then take it up. Do not give it anything to eat until its next scheduled meal. In a few days, it should be eating what it needs. Continue to check its ribs and adjust the food as needed.

That may be what you need to do putting it where you want it to eat.

I am concerned about the change after the dental cleaning. That is the sort of sudden change caused by a physical problem. Check her mouth, and maybe have the vet check it. If there is a physical problem, getting tough is the wrong thing.

[froggy7]

I would generally agree with the "get tough" advice, but this dog is the least food interested dog I have ever seen. She'll stop eating if I or the cats walk by (not even in the same room), if she hears noise, if you say her name, etc. If I have a treat that she really really wants, she will nose it and look at me, but you have to actually put it in her mouth before she will take and eat it. And apparently she had to be fed separately in her foster home, since she would let the other dogs take her food.

And if she is stressed at all, she will totally ignore food, which makes training much harder since you can't lure her into behavior with it. (In other words, if I want to work on "sit", for example, I can't do the move a treat over her head until she sits and then reward her with the treat, since she ignores the treat.)

But I think I will talk to the vet, since I also need to do a fecal follow-up to see if the worms are gone.

[froggy7]

Well, I managed to figure out why she's not been eating. It appears that the food at the end of the bag is just not as tasty as the fresh food. Got a new bag, and she is back to scarfing down her food when it's put out. :-)

[labman]

Thanks for letting us know. I think I have heard of that before, or at least warning not to let it happen. The 35-40 pound bags of chow I buy last my Labs about a month. Never a problem with the bottom of the bag. If they don't eat, I call the vet immediately.