# Lucy wont eat in front of me..



## lucybabyy (Dec 31, 2008)

I feed her california natural hard food. She doesnt seem to like it that much, but she eats it. She wont eat in front of me, it takes her a half hour to start to eat so she cant have set meal times. I dont feed her canned because it gets all over her face. She will eat canned and treats in front of me, but not her california natural. How can I get her to eat at set meal times? I've tried to only leave food out for 20minutes but she wont eat it. She needs 2 hours to eat a 1/4 cup. Its quite odd. Anyone else have this problem?


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

You might try making the food smaller, especially if she might be teething. Soaking it in warm water for 5 minutes before feeding can help. You can also try a small bites formula.


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## dwerten (Oct 6, 2007)

I agree as california natural is a big kibble i found when i got a tester of it and demi would not eat it - you may want to go with a smaller kibble for her as it might hurt her to eat it 


QUOTE (JMM @ Jan 3 2009, 12:41 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=697893


> You might try making the food smaller, especially if she might be teething. Soaking it in warm water for 5 minutes before feeding can help. You can also try a small bites formula.[/B]


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## allheart (Oct 3, 2008)

I agree, they just seem to like the little kibble much better and have an easier time with it.

From what I remember you sweet Lucy, is a little one. So be careful not to fill her little belly with treats, as she won't be hungry for her meals.

She sure is a cutie!! :wub: :wub:


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## lucybabyy (Dec 31, 2008)

QUOTE (JMM @ Jan 2 2009, 11:41 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=697893


> You might try making the food smaller, especially if she might be teething. Soaking it in warm water for 5 minutes before feeding can help. You can also try a small bites formula.[/B]



Oh my gosh! Thank you! It worked! Shes eating at set meal times now!


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## drclee (Jul 16, 2008)

My Jill also has very bad eating habits. I feed Jack n Jill twice a day. Jack will typically start eating 10-15 minutes after the food is out. But Jill won't go near it for ages - like 30-45 minutes! Then, she takes one piece of kibble, walks away, comes back for another, so on, etc. It takes her sooo long! It's hard in the mornings because I have to go to work, so I leave the food out in two bowls for them, but can't be sure she's eating her share. When I get home and feed them dinner, she does the same thing! Last night she didn't eat at all, so I thought for sure she'd be starving for breakfast, but nope! I just hope she ate after I left. She does eat treats - when we trained last night, she ate fine!

I tried putting her bowl in the crate - she loves her crate - but she just backed away from it and wouldn't even look at it! Then she looks at me through the crate with those sad eyes. Of course I only lasted for like 3 minutes. I took her out and put away the food. If I leave it out, Jack gobbles it up - I don't want him to overeat!

On the weekends, I literally sit there begging her to eat. It really is quite exhausting. I just don't have the time to do it on the weekdays. 

I'm at a loss. Any tips?

FYI - they eat a mix of Nature's Variety Prairie and Instinct - so they're small kibbles!


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