Why does my dog only eat when I'm eating and at home?

she is letting you know that she is comfortable with you there. This is not bad behavior this is showing you , you are the leader and she waits for you. IN the wild in a pack, the pack leader eats first always and the others wait till the leader is done.

She is showing you who is in charge and that is special. Now if she is eating a quality food that has more protein in it she will increase her weight. Check to see that it is a high quality of protein such as 24 to 28% to increase her weight . This will take some time and once she is up there, then look for a lower % such as 21% or 23% as this will keep her from gaining too much weight.

She will eat if you eat and that is fine. And when you go away, some dogs are so attached to their owners that they become depressed and can not eat till the owner comes back.

I dog sit for my neighbors dog for weeks during the summer while they vacation and their dog will not eat for at least 2 days and sometimes I have to add chicken in her food just so she eats.

So do not worry, be glad she is showing you you are the pack leader and she is being polite as I would call it. She is waiting till the pack leader eats first and this is what is done in the wild.

Also again look for quality dog food in a pet store such as Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Artemis, Back to Basics Innova Evo, etc. as these are all good quality foods with good nutrition.

I don't think the dog appreciates that we 'make' the food, just that we control the resources and are happy to give them their food. Home made would be better if you include all the necessary ingredients that would have been in a natural diet (wild dog would eat most of the animal carcass), but even then you cannot know what chemicals and hormones the farmer uses on their animals. I have over the years fed a premium grade kibble - James Wellbeloved Lamb & Rice -and it has been fine for all except my present dog for whose digestive system it might be rather too rich so I include boiled chicken and rice to firm up. Look at the ingredients of that James Wellbeloved food, also look at the ingredients that Taste of the Wild include. Search Raw feeding and see what they include. Sometimes no matter how good the food we make might be the dog may prefer a best selling brand of supermarket food - millions of dogs make it to healthy old age on such food. So in one way, making home made food for the dog is a human indulgence or displacement activity.

she probably has some sort of separation problems, here is what i would do:

1)leave the t.v. on when you leave it might not be energy efficient but it will make her feel like someone is there

2)its a big step and I'm not sure if you would want to but you may think about getting her a friend, sometimes she may just feel lonely, and depressed. dogs can be like humans that way, sometimes when a human is sad they don't want to eat.

3) take her on walks or play with her to tire her out or make her hungry before you go to the lab that way she will be very hungry by the time you leave.

good luck! -natalie

Ha ha my pooch does the same. I have a Shepherd mix. He won't even eat if i'm not in the same room. He eats in a different room so I have to be in there for him to eat. Unless I put something really good with his food like a hot dog or some kind of meat lol.

Its almost like she waits for your approval to eat? I have heard of many dogs that only eat from one owners hand and does not touch the food that anybody else gives them. It might also be a sign of respect for the pack. In one way its a good thing cause you will know that anybody that tries to give poison to your dog will fail miserably

she just loves you and wants you to show how much she loves you or probably she's to board to eat and the moment you come in she gets all excited and she goes and eats.

Hey, at least she waits for everyone to sit down to eat! She's courteous!

she loves you