Amanda

Welcome to HT. She is precious and the breed is addicting. I was just outside playing with the 3 of mine and it is amazing how much personality they have!

Marj- that is how Dasher is with waiting to eat. I read that dogs eat in hierarchy in packs. Dasher is almost always the last one to eat. We have been giving Isabelle a lot more ground due to her age and teeth condition. Otherwise, Dasher will sit in his crate and wait for Belle to eat. Then he gobbles it as soon as she is done. Interesting.

I have bought dehydrated feet for treats at a show up in Ohio but I haven't found them around here. He also sold rabbit ears and my friend bought them but that was a little too furry for me!

This winter, I was grooming Dora and I stopped and realized she always eats on one side. Her face hair was seriously 3 inches longer on one side than the other so I just trimmed it up to match. Brisa is killing Dasher's so I don't have to worry about it being in the bones. With Brisa, she is eating ground for now.

Chicken wings are Dora's all time favorite. I give her a whole one quite a few mornings for breakfast. The thing about wings is there is a lot of bone to them so I tend to give her just one. Otherwise she usually has some constipation issues if she eats more than that. I usually give her ground beef in the evening on chicken wing days with just beef and organ meat just to round it out.

Yep. Some other concerns- the dog doesn't get enough to eat, then the dog associates eating with stress on performing, etc.

I have a puppy who is currently 5 months and I just let her eat what she needs. If she eats more than she is suppose to at one sitting (she gets fed twice a day), I give her more. She is a growing high energy puppy. She is raw fed and sometimes eats what she should get for the entire day in one setting plus but that is okay.

I do caution you with the hand feeding only idea. Havanese are known to be picky eaters. You can create a monster out of doing that (I know several people that have!) Treats are often what you make you special so I would still give two meals a day and treats. You could use some kibble, some higher reward, toys, etc for training.

Good luck and keep us posted on Vinci's arrival!