Your dog manipulates you when it's time to eat

Manipulative dog

Often what is meant by that kind of sentence is that your dog is guilty of manipulating you in order to get you to change your behavior for his benefit.

When facing his bowl, this means that he is trying to get you to modify his meal and/or to add elements that seem more appetizing to him.

Smell and texture can attract your dog to a specific item of food. The interest you show in an item will also attract him. If you're excited about it, he'll be curious.

If you have him taste a bit, if you add an item one day, he has learned that he can get it too. His "manipulation" is then only the reflection of his learning, sometimes of a desire to share with you (dogs are social animals).

To "charm" you and win a meal that is more to his liking, he needs to develop several skills: knowing what might make you "give in" + being aware of the different food options he can benefit from + adapting his behavior to get you to adjust yours in his favor, without the risk of you giving up while on your way to his bowl.

Manipulation is cognitive art.

His bowl

When you feed your dog from a bowl, it may be that the texture of the bowl, its shape, and any reflections he may perceive, create an aversion. He is inclined to eat what you give him; he is likely to give in to an added morsel that would have a high value. However, the bowl itself may be the issue, and not the food. There are bowls made of stainless steel, plastic, ceramic, earthenware, tall, round, raised, and almost flat shapes.

Your dog might also have had a negative experience with a certain type of bowl, and if you feed him from it, his brain reminds him that he is better off away from it, for his well-being and survival. He doesn't think about your behavior or how to adjust it. He then only perceives the bowl as a resurgence of something unpleasant.

By testing various bowls, your dog will be more likely to eat from what he is comfortable.

Foraging

Eating from a plate or a bowl is human. Dogs eat where food is available. For some dogs, getting their food from/on a specific surface turns out to be like an impediment. They both need and want to "earn" their food. The point is not to demand certain behaviors from them before satisfying one of their basic needs: eating. The point is that the surface is no longer a bowl where food is easily accessible, but something that stimulates them, that requires an effort of reflection and adaptation to access their meal. I have seen dogs eat their kibble because it was hidden in a rolled-up cloth or in a puzzle. Sniffing, digging, scratching, making holes, turning something over, are behaviors inherent to your dog. Being able to make them in order to eat is just as stimulating and motivating as if they won a goody bag.

The place of the bowl

Dogs are social animals, so your dog may not enjoy eating alone. On the other hand, some fearful dogs may feel more comfortable eating on their own.

If your dog's bowl is in a dim area and he is uncomfortable in the dark, he will be less reluctant if he eats in a brighter area.

If your dog's bowl is in a place near sounds he doesn't tolerate, he will be less reluctant if he eats in a quiet place.

If you tend to groom and feed your dog in more or less the same area of ​​your home, then eating there may make him uncomfortable.

Choosing a spot where your dog will be comfortable eating will ensure more that he will be willing to eat.

His health

It both makes my hair stand on end and saddens me. A dog that refuses to eat because he has digestive genes is definitely not trying to manipulate you because he agrees to eat something else. He may have associated a food or type of food with pain or a physical disorder. His body may be upset or in pain, and certain foods are more tolerable at that very moment. If he is charming you into giving a food that will soothe him, that will enable him to satisfy his hunger and lessen the discomfort or pain.

Beyond diarrhea, some positions and behaviors from your dog can reveal digestive issues: yawning, play-calling position, rounded back, belching, smelly farts, frantic chewing on a piece of wood. In humans, chronic reflux is sometimes detected due to chronic bronchitis. By not minimizing your dog's health, by offering him an adapted diet, by consulting specialized veterinarians or even internists, he will no longer seek to charm you as much to feel soothed.