Q:  My in-laws just got a Jack Russell Terrier puppy. She's 13 weeks old. The first day or so, she ate from her bowl with no problem. However, she now refuses to eat from her bowl. My father-in-law has to make it a game in order for her to eat her food. What can he do to train her to eat from her bowl?

A:  Congratulations to your in-laws on having such a clever puppy! Sounds like she's done a great job of training your father-in-law to play with her and make mealtimes more entertaining than they would be if she had nothing to do but eat her food out of her plain old boring bowl.

There's a saying that "no healthy dog ever starved in the presence of food." If your in-laws would like their puppy to eat out of her bowl without fuss, all they need to do is this: put the bowl down at mealtimes. Give the puppy 20 minutes to eat. Pay her no particular attention — don't try to get her to eat, just give her access to the food. After 20 minutes, pick up the bowl with any uneaten food and put it away until the next meal. (Of course, the puppy should receive fresh food. You can offer the same dry food again once or twice, but uneaten canned food should be discarded immediately.)

If the puppy isn't eating out of her bowl within 24 hours, or if she seems lethargic or otherwise ill, there may indeed be something wrong. A vet visit would be in order. But I'm pretty confident this is a case of a smart dog training her people.

Which leads me to another point. Jack Russell Terriers are especially active, intelligent dogs. Mental stimulation and fun are genuine doggy needs. So feeding their puppy out of a bowl may not be the best way for your in-laws to go in the long run! They might consider using most of their puppy's food as training rewards to teach her good manners and fun tricks. And they could give the rest of the food in an  interactive toy, such as a Molecuball™, a Busy Buddy® toy or a Kong™. Even something as simple as scattering the food on the floor, so the puppy can forage for it piece by piece, will enrich her life with a fun project.

 

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