My dog will not eat unless handfed, one at a time

Question

I am concerned because my dog will not eat her food unless I handfeed one at a time. I left the food in the bowl and she sniffed it and walked away(she did this a few times over a period of 10 minutes). I tried leaving it on the floor and she did the same thing. I sat down, hoping my presence would change something, but she just sat next to me. So I called her over and started feeding her the kibble one at a time, which worked. Halfway through, I put all the kibble in my hand, hoping she would eat, but she immediately stopped eating, so I resumed handfeeding(with my fingertips). When there were only a few kibble left, I tried putting them all in my hand again, but she stopped eating and walked away after sniffing. I put them all down and (walked to her) gave her one, but she actually spit it out. Then I called her over to me instead and fed her the last few.

I haven't noticed any atypical behavior (e.g. lying in a corner, taking no interest in anything). She did this at her 1st and 2nd meals today(havent given her 3rd) and in between she was running around excitedly and playing with her toys. She isn't napping any more than she usually does. She is also still barking at the door when she hears things. As for her behavior towards food: she ALWAYS seems to want food and this is the first time I have seen her exhibit nonchalance towards food or any mention of it. However, when I was eating food today, she was still interested in it. I've heard advice from a dog trainer(given to another dog) who said to not be concerned if their dog was not eating because he was a big dog and probably wasn't hungry, but my dog is a small breed. I am not sure what to do because this seems very atypical although her other behaviors have not changed. What should I do to resolve this? Could it be something to do with the food or bowl? I haven't changed anything in the last few days and she always appreciated her food before. Should I take her to the vet?

Edit: she is 10 months old

Answer 1

Has she been eating grass today?

Some dogs have upset stomach days every once in a while and won't eat that day, except for grass, hoping to settle their stomachs.

When an upset stomach does happen, it's recommended to keep the food away for 24 hours. So your dog not eating for one single day is not concerning. It does not matter that she is a little dog, the trainer was correct.

If you continue to have problems and you feel your dog needs to eat, put water in the kibble bowl so that the food absorbs the water and becomes mushy like wet dog food. That's usually enough to make the dog interested in the food.