I’m confused about the use of “won’t” in a “when” sentence, I’ve seen many sentences like:
What to do When Your Dog Won’t Eat
is that right? or should it be:
What to do When Your Dog doesn’t Eat
Answer
Let us look at this sentence:
When will you go to the museum?
Now this:
When do you go to the museum?
Firstly, I hope that the first sentence does not sound odd to you. If it does, think of it this way. Can the second sentence replace the first? I say no.
The first sentence is asking the person being questioned when he/she would go to the museum. Here, going to the museum is more like a site seeing, not a habitual one. While the second question is posed to (say), someone who works at the museum on regular basis.
With this ground, I will move forward to your question.
In your examples, you are only adding the word ‘not’. So, grammatically, both are correct.
But for your specific case, ‘What to do when your dog won’t eat?’ is more suitable. The dog is not yours and you are only stating the possibility of the dog not eating.
Also, ‘What to do when my dog doesn’t eat?’ is the better option you would have. You are saying that your dog often does not eat, i.e., you are here implying it to be your dog’s habit not to eat.
I hope that clears up your confusion.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Luis Aguiar , Answer Author : kmd