Dog will not eat his food!

One of my dogs, a 1.5 yr old toy poodle, sometimes just would not eat his food. This is food he likes, and have eaten many times before. So today I put him in his crate with the food. It's been several hours and he still hasn't touched it. While my other dogs finished their's right away and are playing now. I don't know if I'm doing this right... never had a dog that wouldn't eat their first meal of the day. I'm trying to get through to him that I will let him out when he eats his food. What do???

Others may have additional suggestions but, provided the dog is not sick, here's what I would do.

First off, why is he eating his food in his crate? and how many hours is he in that crate per day?

Crate issues aside, here's what I would do.

Put food out for 15 minutes. If dooger doesn't eat it, put it away out of sight until the next mealtime. After 1 or 2 missed meals, dooger will get the message and this behaviour will likely change.

Be curious to hear any other suggestions and good luck!

Thanks for the reply Marko. he wasn't in the crate at first. but he's easily distracted with my other dogs around, so I put him in there so its just him and his food. but he just sniffs it and turn away. After a while, he would make whiney sounds and look at me, and I would point to his food and tell him to eat up. But he just lays their, and wags his tail. I don't know if I'm doing more harm than good, so I'm eagerly waiting for more opinions :fingerscr

He might find the other dogs intimidating or too distracting so the crate is a good idea and even better if it's in another room so the dogs can't see each other. But I agree with Marko, 15 or 20 minutes and the food is not eaten take it up and present a new meal at his next feeding time.

How often does this happen? Once in a while, say maybe once a week, a missed meal is not something I would worry about. Are you still feeding the same amount he got as a puppy? After finished growing they don't need as much food.

I lie, I would worry but my dog is a Lab and he'd eat till he burst. Some dogs are smart and self regulate their intake, maybe your little boy is one.

If my dog has not eaten for awhile and is being picky I will give a couple of small cookies to try and to simulate his appetite and this will help most the time. After Marty eaten his cookies his appetite is awaken and he eat his food. If I have no cookies I give a little of my food . But if your dog does not eat any food for 3 days in a row he needs to see the vet., Did you check his mouth to see if he has any bad teeth or something stuck his gums , if like to chew on sticks he may have a splinter in his mouth.

Just wondering if your dog is drinking water as usual?
Could it be he is associating the food with being in his crate? Several hours in a crate seems like a long time IMO.
Perhaps your other dogs could be removed to another room and the picky eater left to roam the house with access to his food for say 20 minutes? Then take the food away and repeat at next meal time :fingerscr. He'll eventually be hungry. With him being a toy breed I would offer meals 3 times a day until he's actually eating 2 times a day.

I agree with Barkingdog, sometimes when our dog won't eat, if we give her something small like a snack it stimulates her appetite.

He might find the other dogs intimidating or too distracting so the crate is a good idea and even better if it's in another room so the dogs can't see each other. But I agree with Marko, 15 or 20 minutes and the food is not eaten take it up and present a new meal at his next feeding time.

How often does this happen? Once in a while, say maybe once a week, a missed meal is not something I would worry about. Are you still feeding the same amount he got as a puppy? After finished growing they don't need as much food.

I lie, I would worry but my dog is a Lab and he'd eat till he burst. Some dogs are smart and self regulate their intake, maybe your little boy is one.

only happens once in a while, maybe twice a week. today he was good though.

he's a bit on the skinny side, so I'm feeding a little more than usual.

If my dog has not eaten for awhile and is being picky I will give a couple of small cookies to try and to simulate his appetite and this will help most the time. After Marty eaten his cookies his appetite is awaken and he eat his food. If I have no cookies I give a little of my food . But if your dog does not eat any food for 3 days in a row he needs to see the vet., Did you check his mouth to see if he has any bad teeth or something stuck his gums , if like to chew on sticks he may have a splinter in his mouth.

hmmm... that might be it... it usually happens when my wife is not around. She usually gives them treats. I only give treats when they do something right. Will experiment with this some more!

Just wondering if your dog is drinking water as usual?
Could it be he is associating the food with being in his crate? Several hours in a crate seems like a long time IMO.
Perhaps your other dogs could be removed to another room and the picky eater left to roam the house with access to his food for say 20 minutes? Then take the food away and repeat at next meal time :fingerscr. He'll eventually be hungry. With him being a toy breed I would offer meals 3 times a day until he's actually eating 2 times a day.

He gets 2 meals a day now. Water intake is normal. But he does get distracted very easily. Even when out for a walk and he gets in position to poo, he gets distracted and abandons poo mission. I've never fed him without other dogs around, as he is the youngest and latest addition to the family. Will give that a go if this persists.

hmmm... that might be it... it usually happens when my wife is not around. She usually gives them treats. I only give treats when they do something right. Will experiment with this some more!

My dog will not eat when I bring him to doggie playgroup for the day , I bring food for him and he does not touch it. When he get home he is hungry as hell. It would not hurt to check your mouth too , I heard of dogs not eating b/c their mouth hurt .

I found that dogs are like people in the sense that some prefer to eat more in the morning and some later in the day.
So because your other dogs prefer to eat in the morning, doesn't mean that this other dog that you have prefers also.
Mine for instance, never likes to eat in the morning although there's plenty of food in her plate.
She usually goes for it at night.

Another thing is that your dog might just not be hungry enough.
Mine sometimes can go through a whole day with no eating if she doesn't feel like it.
Then the other day she will eat.

So, I'd say giving your dog not sick and has a place to have a calm meal (no bother from other dogs), just wait that when she's hungry she will get to it. :thumbs up

My last dog all of a sudden refused to eat her food. It was a new bag and she was a real chow hound so this was way different for her. She would sniff it and turn away. Couple of days later their was a recall on this food and that bag was affected. We think she some how knew. Exchanged bags for a good and she again ate like the chow hound she was.

My dog will want to eat what I am having all the time , I will give him a taste of it. Marty will beg for more and if he can't get all of my food he eat his own. Maybe you could pretend to be eating your dog food and see if that get him worried about you eating all his food. Dogs are like kids and have trick them into eating sometime.

You should try warming the food, make sure its not too hot to the extend of burning the dog. Warming brings out the aroma in the food and might entice your dog to feed.