Whines & barks if we don't let him jump on lap and watch him eat each piece of food

[mimiy2k]

Our 3 year old Yorkie seems to think eating is a game. We deed him only dry Pedigree or Science Diet (with occasional carrot slices, green beans, apple chunks, scrambled eggs mixed in kibble and other vet approved healthy people food).

He goes to his bowl, picks up one to two pieces of kibble, jumps up on my lap and drops it. He stares me down or whines to get my attention as he won't eat it until he knows I'm watching. Then he searches for or digs for the exact piece of kibble he dropped (no other will do!) and faces me and makes sure I watch him eat each piece.

Then he whines or barks waiting for me to say "go to your bowl" and repeats the process. If I do not notice him down at his bowl, he will whine and eventually bark. He often will keep barking wanting repeated commands to go to his bowl.

He also tosses his food on the floor or my lap then pounces on it like it is prey he hunted, but the other behaviors follow.

If we put his food in a different room or the gated laundry room where he sleeps in his kennel (door open) at night, he will not eat a kernel.

He was re-homed to us at about 4 months old and these behaviors were already ingrained. At first we thought they were cute (I know, I know . . .) but of course it's worn thin and is very disruptive.

The up and down to my lap on my chair for each one to two pieces of food is a lot of up and down. He will only ever stay down on the floor and keep eating at his bowl if he is apparently very hungry after waking up and possibly not eating enough at his previous meal.

We free feed so he never overeats as he knows his food will be there when he wants it so no complaints there. His weight is good and coat looks very healthy so he gets enough but not too much.

Why is he so obsessed with making us watch him chew each piece of food before he gets another one (then repeating the process). Is it something to do with him recognizing me as Pack Leader?

I know we've let this go far to long, and its our fault for not knowing how to train him properly. How do we undo this and teach him to eat only at his bowl and not to whine or bark incessantly just to get our attention to TELL him "go to your bowl". How do we stop him from bringing one piece of food at a time up onto my chair & lap insisting we watch him pounce on it and chew it?

We love this liitle guy but this is making us bonkers and we can't afford a trainer!

Thanks in advance!! All tips welcome!!

[Biewer Guy86]

My thought might be he might not recognize you as the pack leader. Do you have him eat first before you? Maybe stop the free feeding. Only reason I say that because he is out of the stage of hypoglycemic shock as a puppy. There are ways to make sure your dog will not become the poster child for starving doggies when changing the feeding ways. (The previous comment was not by any means attacking those who do offer the free range of food eating. If you thought that it was I am sorry but it was not meant at all.)

Pick a certain times for it to be meal time. You can always reoffer the food 20 minutes later. If he knows any commands throughout the day you can use normal kibble or healthy treats. In between meals give him a carrot or banana smeared on a bone which was frozen. You can put some kibble ontop of the smeared banana. I call it dog ants on a log. Get it because of the ants on a log treat but using kibble instead of raisins. . Make him work for it whether it is to sit or any other command he knows. Anything he gets from you he should do a command for it to earn it.

There is the thought of putting food into a treatball. Thus he rolls it and food comes out. Introduce it as fun game and maybe that might work for starters. We did that in the past for our male Biewer just something different for him during his meal time.

You tube can be a good help with learning how to do basic commands if he does not have any. Also, just searching on the web if you already have not. But I can guess you already have at this point.

This is not an hopeless case just will require lots of work and being consistent. That is the key being consistent. Also be or pretend to be excited in giving him the food. These are just suggestions. I am no expert on dogs I just have been learning with them for about 6 months. I have been though like many reading and learning from others especially from here. My wife though has been training and working with dogs since she was 5 years old. I learn from her as well.

[Cherie6446]

I might suggest that you stop free feeding. Give him the food in the morning and walk away. If he hasn't eaten it after 20 mins take it away. Then I would offer it again around lunch. If he doesn't eat then repeat the 20 min thing. Then try again in the evening. If he still won't eat then I would wait until the next morning and start again. Just keep some nutrical handy to keep his blood sugar up. Animals are so funny. I had a cat that wanted me to rub her back while she ate. It was too cute.

[joyce evans]

My 10 mo. old sort of does this too. She always has kibble in her bowl but in the evening when I sit down to relax for the day I will grab a handful of kibble and she eats it like she's starving. She has to eat the one little piece that drops before she eats out of my hand. (She just left a full bowl of food) I'm thinking she does this out of habit that I created. When she was young I was so afraid that she wasn't eating enough and she was such a wiggle worm I used food to keep her still and not want to jump off the couch. She doesn't bark or whine and this is our time to sit together being calm, watching tv and she gets her hair combed as well.

[kimp5]

I wonder if this is what they did before you got her? Maybe they made her wait to eat until she came to them? Like the others I would not free feed at 3 years old. I give Jess her food in the morning around 630 (she scarfs it) then a few treats throughout the day and dinner at 5 -6 pm. I think if they have it all the time they don't realize its mealtime and they need to eat now. So they play with it. In her case maybe she is afraid to eat all at once because it wasn't allowed..

[yorkietalkjilly]

Sounds like a little attention-grabber like my Tibbe! He'd make me jump through these hoops to get him to eat if he could get away with it. Like the previous poster suggested, I would put down his food - in a different spot in the room - from where it is now, using a new bowl and leave it the 15 - 20 minutes and take it up at the end of that time each morning and then about 8 - 9 hours later, repeat that process. Do not sit down or allow him in your lap while his bowl is down and he should be eating, ignore his protests, whines or barks - totally. In time, you will either return to what he wants with the shenanigans he's been putting you through or he will learn to eat on his own as other dogs do.

[Lovetodream88]

My yorkie is extremely smart but I would never ever want her off leash unless she was in a fenced in area. Yorkie's are ratters and even the best trained dogs will go with there instincts over there training sometimes. There is also the possibility of another dog attacking your dog and you not being close enough to save them or what if someone just picks them up and takes them. If you want you dog to be able to play in the water get a flexi leash for that. When your dog is on a leash and wearing a harness you can snatch them up quickly and with out hurting them in emergency situations but you can't do that when there running free. I would be devastated if I let Callie out off leash and then she got hit by a car, lost chasing something, stolen or attacked by another dog because I would know it was my fault for not keeping her close and on a leash.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

My yorkie is extremely smart but I would never ever want her off leash unless she was in a fenced in area. Yorkie's are ratters and even the best trained dogs will go with there instincts over there training sometimes. There is also the possibility of another dog attacking your dog and you not being close enough to save them or what if someone just picks them up and takes them. If you want you dog to be able to play in the water get a flexi leash for that. When your dog is on a leash and wearing a harness you can snatch them up quickly and with out hurting them in emergency situations but you can't do that when there running free. I would be devastated if I let Callie out off leash and then she got hit by a car, lost chasing something, stolen or attacked by another dog because I would know it was my fault for not keeping her close and on a leash.

Some how I posted this on the wrong thread i think I am losing my mind sorry.

[GizmosDogShop]

Like the others have said change the routine and do not allow any behavior that you don't want. It will probably be really hard at first because he will probably not be too happy about the change. But hold strong to get the results you want.

Keep us posted on what you do.