My new dog only eats when hand-fed. How can I get her to eat?

Question

We just got her Saturday and she has barely eaten. I have tried changing her food, I have taken it out of the bowl in case the bowl was a problem. The only way dhe will eat is when I use her food for training. Meaning I feed her by hand. I dont know what to do. Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Female | unspayed | 6 months and 24 days old | 4 lbs

Debi Matlack · Accepted Answer

The good thing about dogs is that a healthy dog won't suffer any detrimental effects from going without food for a few days. If you still have some of the food she was eating before you got her or can get some, try that to get her eating. You can dd a bit of wet food, moisten it with low-sodium chicken broth, and/or warm the food to make it more appealing. Determine how much food she should have per day, divide that up into however many meals you want to feed her daily (most people do morning and evening), and put the food down at her mealtime. Give her 20-30 minutes to eat then take the food up and put it away. Don't give treats except as training rewards. When mealtime comes again, give her her meal and another 20-30 minutes to eat. It usually takes a day or two for dogs to figure out that they need to eat their food when it is available.

My new dog only eats when hand-fed. How can I get her to eat?

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