Okay, we leave our dog's food down all day. We want to be able to teach her to eat sooner than she does now which is about seven or eight o'clock at night. How would we go about doing this?

stop free feeding immediately. This is the worst thing you could do, get your dog on a a schedule of feeding twice a day.put the food down and after 15 minutes take it away whether it is all eaten or not.

Dogs need structure to become a proper member of the family. letting them eat and do whatever they want when they want will provide no structure and they think they are in charge.

Holy Mackeral! Badkittyamy and I agree on something!
I would like to add that you might have to adjust the quantity of food you feed the dog if you go from feeding once-a-day to twice-a-day.

We don't have trouble with her being a proper member of the family. She know's what to do and when to do it. She's a good girl. It's just, we've always left dog food down for our dogs, and we've had no problems. I just don't want her to eat so late at night b/c we might not always be here to take her out before everyone goes to bed or does whatever.

Sorry but we gave you the solution, there is no way to fix it except to take the food up.

But if I take the food up, she won't be able to eat b/c she only eats once and that's it. And that'd NOT during the day. And her breed is very stubborn when it comes to training. It took us forever to teach her to lie down.

But if I take the food up, she won't be able to eat b/c she only eats once and that's it. And that's NOT during the day. And her breed is very stubborn when it comes to training. It took us forever to teach her to lie down.

I think its a general rule not to feed your dog a certain number of hours before bed but if you're willing to feed her twice a day without leaving food down, don't feed her in the morning. wait til the afternoon when she's hungry and then follow everyones advice, feed her twice a day for 15 mins then pick it up.

She used to be fed twice a day before she started eating later.

I'm still confused on how to change when she eats. If I follow all of your advice, she'll still be fed once a day and at the same time. So none of it answers my question.

A dog will not starve itself. Once a day is not good for a dog's digestive system. Putting a dog on a schedule is quite easy.

Everyday put down the food at a certain time. 15 minutes later take it back up WHETHER it is eaten or not. Again a dog will learn the schedule and learn to eat when you put the food down. If it is still not eating, well then it isn't that hungry.

How much do you feed the dog and how big is your dog. My dog is 34 lbs and gets 1 cup twice a day. My other is 80 lbs and gets 2 cups twice a day.

Also what do you feed the dog. It's lack of appetite could be the food you are feeding it. So if you tell us what you feed I can tell you whether it is that your dog is reacting to.

Again, I agree with badkittyamy.
I would like to add a heads up. 1) Just because you change the feeding schedule do not expect your doggie to get it right the first time. You will need to be the one to be consistent. Otherwise you might confuse the dog. 2) Badkittyamy is correct with the dog will not starve itself. It will eat when the opportunity presents itself and that should be when YOU put the food down. 3) Maybe the dog needs a walk to stimulate hunger? Maybe there are too many treats during the day?

You know, I bet you it's the walks. Since winter, we've stopped walking her b/c of the temperatures (it gets to atleast 30 or below here). Since we've stopped is about the time she started eating later. I'll try a walk for the next day or so and get back with you with the results.

Well, don't worry guys, we've gotten her on a schedule with her food. She eats twice a day. But I heard that they should be fed three times a day. Is this true?

With younger puppies I feed them three times a day, but not with older dogs. Twice a day is plenty.