My puppy only eats when handfed. How can I transition her to a bowl?

Question

I have a VERY STUBBORN puppy who refuses to eat by herself unless she is handfed. I have tried everything from putting food down for a certain amount of time & taking it away to trying several different bowls/plates nothing has worked. She is healthy and will eat random kibble bits she finds on the floor but not a full meal on her own. She will go without food & vomit on an empty stomach rather than eat on her own. What else can I do? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 4 months and 29 days old | 10.6 lbs

Lauren M. Jones, VMD · Accepted Answer

This can be a very frustrating problem, but is quite common among small and toy breed dogs. Since you've tried offering timed meal feedings and a variety of different bowls for Snowball, you may need to try a very slow, gradual process to wean her from hand feeding. Start by feeding her from your hand, as usual, but keep your hand over the top of her bowl. The next meal, move your hand closer to the bowl so that it is just above the bowl. Later, put your hand in the bowl while holding kibble. Eventually, move your hand to the edge of the bowl, then out of the bowl altogether. After awhile, try just sitting beside Snowball while she eats from the bowl. It may take days to weeks on each step to gradually wean her from hand feeding, but this typically is successful for most dogs. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

My puppy only eats when handfed. How can I transition her to a bowl?

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