May 24, 2011
My dog was taught a release command when fed, but he will no longer eat anything unless he gets it from me. The problem is when I leave for a trip or on vacation he will go days without food. How do I retrain him to eat from others?
Full Question:
Hi Cindy,I have written you before and you have helped a great deal. I have a 2 1/2 year old GSD. We have a lot of children in the house. In order to keep him from taking food from them (and from strangers). He was taught a release command. Unless it was from one of four people he will not take food unless given the release command (this has worked well with my previous dogs). Some how, I am not sure when, something has went wrong. He will no longer eat anything unless he gets it from me. The problem is when I leave for a trip or on vacation he will go days without food. He is on a raw food diet and will even turn away from raw steak. How do I retrain him to eat from others? I don't want to completely destroy his training but I need to have this sorted out before I have to travel again. I can't leave him like this. I thank you in advance for any help. I have asked my vet as well as a few trainers and no way can give me any ideas.
Thank You,
Dina
Cindy's Answer:
I would have someone else feed him from here on and I’d probably use a word that he knows means it’s ok to eat (you would have to choose the word and help him make the association first). A healthy dog won’t starve to death, so you’ll have to play around with this until he’s eating better from others. Maybe only feed him in a crate or out of a specific type of bowl too?
Cindy Rhodes
Cindy Rhodes
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