A few questions on peekapoos

Hello, my name is Tiffany and I just joined this morning. I have a peekapoo who is now 4 months. His name is Kirby. We bought Kirby when he was almost 3 months of age. I'm following the potty training as close to the T as possible, the problem I'm having is that he isn't eating when he's supposed to, therefore he's not going on a regular schedule. Is there some information I could get to try to get him to eat when he's supposed to so the potty training will go easier?

 

I never followed a strict schedule with feeding - I just took my puppies out a lot. But if you want to get him on a schedule, then just offer the food when you want him to eat. After 20-30 minutes, pick up whatever he didn't eat. Don't offer more food until the next scheduled feeding. He will learn that he needs to eat when the bowl is down if he wants to eat.

That being said, he's a puppy so don't let him go too long without eating. Talk to your vet if you have concerns about the amount he is eating.

 

I did something very simular. Well actually maybe not. When I first got my first dog Milo, I couldn't understand not leaving the food out for him while I was at work. So i left it for him all day. This led to very random washroom breaks, and there was no way for us to know when he had to go. Plus we were living on the top floor of an appartment at the time, by the time i got him outside he didn't even know what he was sapposed to do. Anyways, when we moved from the appartment to my parents Milo was living life to the fullest. Bones every day, meat, sausages, everything but dog food. There was nothing I could do, I told everyone not to feed him but of course they still did. I still left his food out thinking he would eat but he never did. When we left my parents into our house Milo (Now 2 1/2) would never eat his dog food and sit and the dinner table and beg. No Way. I put him on the same schedule as our other dog (Coal now almost 7 months) 6am and 6pm I left the food out for about 5 minutes, if he wasn't hungry then it got taken away. Believe it or not Milo put up a fight, this wen't on for 1 week. I was almost at my breaking point but Milo broke first and he ate. He would ask for his dog food later on durring the day but we stuck with the schedule and now he is on it, and Never begs for table scraps (Thank God!)

I dunno if this is because he is a small breed (Shih-Poo) but he dosn't eat every time. He normally only eats about 1 cup in the morning and thats it.

Anywho, hope this helps you.

 

I consulted a behaviorist just last night on some Molly issues eating being one of them - she doesn't
He said put her food down the normal feeding times and if she doesn't eat within 20 minutes pick the food up, put it away (I put in fridge) and don't feed again until next feeding time - if not eating do the same thing.
The key is for the dog to see YOU as the giver of food, or in my case the Goddess of Food LOL
The dog needs to come to you for food rather than you go to the dog with food - hierarchy thing.
They need to eat to survive and they know this and won't starve themselves...but they have to learn that you are determining when they will eat rather than them training the person when they will eat. Part of the pack order thing.
Small dogs, big dogs - doesn't matter they all think alike.

 

That's interesting Mary...but I think my animals have trained me! They eat at 5am and 5pm and don't think for a minute I can sleep or nap past 5:00. I am getting tired of being stared at, barked at, scratched at, and meowed at when it's time to dispense the food. I can hold them off for a few minutes, but that's it!

 

I have one cat (Zeus of course :roll: ) who will start beating a path across my chest :shock: in the middle of the night if the food bowl is empty. I REFUSE to get up. I roll over and escape him wearing my flesh off me walking back/forth multiple times.
Doesn't work with him LOL he'll do it the next night. But I don't get up.
Molly eats at 6:30am, problem being weekends...but I don't feed her until I get up. I figure if I can wait, she can wait too.
But her evening feeding schedule is the same 7 days a week.
Today I did what the behaviorist told me to do - she didn't eat this morning by the time I got out of the shower so I put her food in the fridge. Since her morning amount is smaller than evening amount - I put the food down again at her regular dinner schedule and she ate it right up!!!
We went for a walk and I knew she needed more calories so I gave her more food and she ignored it. I put it away after 15 minutes. About an hour later I put it back down and she ate it.
Curious to see how tomorrow will go

 

I know dogs like to have a schedule, but this is exactly why I refused to feed them at regular times, even when they were puppies! I always varied feeding times by an hour or so, at least.

My dogs do have a ROUTINE, though, if not a schedule. Whenever we get up in the morning is when they have breakfast. They are crated at night. If my alarm goes off, they know they are getting up soon and will start scratching and sneezing and stretching. But they also watch, and if I hit the snooze and get back in bed, they sigh and lie back down. If my husband's alarm goes off first (not very often, I assure you), they don't even twitch. They just lie there and watch him with their eyeballs.

During the week, I get up usually at 6:30 but some mornings I can wait until 7:30. On the weekend, it might be 8am or it might be later. If I am out of town, the doggies will lie there in their crates until my husband gets up at noon. Of course, I yell at my husband if I hear of this happening. :roll:

For dinner, they pretty much know they will get it sometime after I come home from work. Nala refuses to go outside if I don't have food with me. She will stand by the door hopefully, but if I open it she just stares at me. But she doesn't pester me!