Puppy won't eat out of bowl

[russedwards]

Hi all

A bit of advice needed please 

Ozzy, who is now 5 months old has developed a strange eating habit. He will not eat his food out of his bowl. If we scatter his food around then he eats the lot directly off the floor.

Anyone have any ideas why this is?
Thanks

[supergirl]

Could be that he has sensitive whiskers and doesn't like that they touch the side of the bowl.  You could try a flat saucer for his food.  Only a thought as I know some cats don't like their whiskers touching the side of the bowl.

[Sarah1985]

I seem to remember my oldest going through this. He wouldnt eat unless his food was in some sort of trat ball so he could roll it round and collect his prize from the floor. We did it for a while but it was too time consuming to faff about when i needed to get to work so I just kept putting his bowl down. If he didnt eat, i just left him and after a day he realised i wasnt going to indulge him and he started eating from his bowl again. He still prefers to eat out his treat ball but we keep this as a treat rather than the norm.

[Mudmagnets]

Peculiar what some of these critters get into their heads.  Think I would try a shallower bowl, but the question is will he have another whim and are you prepared to accommodate this if he does. (like not sleeping in his bed) - maybe a good idea to be firm but kind at the start.

They will test the boundaries (and us), the little darlings 

[Ali R]

My little cocker wouldn't eat out of her beautiful ceramic bowl because it sometimes moved when she was eating and this used to terrify her!! She now has a very boring plastic bowl with an anti slip rubber ring under the bottom so it can't move on the kitchen floor. I think it was the noise she didn't like, she would have hated a metal one.  They are quite common to find in most pet shops.

[aliceandlouis]

Louis would only eat his food off a knife    This was driving us nuts and it wasn't until I reduced the number of meals he was having (same total amount of food tho') that he seemed to develop an appetite - and once hungry he didn't mind where the food was    Once I got my head around the fact that he was old enough to 'miss' a meal if he didn't cooperate it made life much easier - just removed what he hadn't eaten and start again at the next meal, but when they are so small it is hard to just take food away from them without feeling that you are neglecting them in some way!
We had tried feeding him both separately from Alice and with her (for competition) - but nothing seemed to work.  I have lost count of the number of hours I spent sitting on the utility room floor, knife in hand trying to encourage him to eat and sobbing gently as he turned his snubby little nose up at any offering so I know how deeply frustrating and puzzling these little foibles can be.
Watching him wolf down his food now in a matter of milliseconds it is hard to remember how it used to be - guess it was just a phase, but at the time it seemed never-ending.
Good Luck - I am sure it will change as he matures......