My dog is a picky eater. Is it safe to mix corned beef with his food?

Hi there and thank you for using PetCoach to address your question. Some dogs can be quite picky with their food and this could be due to texture, kibble size and flavor. I typically recommend offering all varieties of texture (wet and dry, crushed kibble vs. whole kibble) and offer various sizes and shapes of kibble. You can also add in chicken broth to hard food to help make it more enticing. If a homemade diet is all she will eat, then I recommend visiting www.balanceit.com and formulating a balanced diet along with the appropriate vitamin and mineral supplement that is sold on the website. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Yes that is very unhealthy, and the high fat content could lead to GI upset or worse down the line. If you are trying to feed home cooked, you will need to make sure there is a balanced variety of foods such as some grain, vegetables, etc in addition to meat. Dogs are like people, in that they will prefer "junk" foods over their "healthy" foods (IE people food he is currently getting). It would be best to stop all treats and people foods and only offer his current diet. You'll want to set it down 15 minutes, and whatever is not eaten gets picked up and fed again a few hours later. Eventually, Bailey should be curious enough to try out his food again.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The topic of 'what to feed your dog' is complicated and very opinion orientated. This means that you will likely get a different answer from each person you ask. My recommendations are to get the best quality dry dog food you can, and feed that. As long as your dog is happy, eating, having normal poops, is a good weight and has a good hair coat, don't worry about other details. Raw meat of any kind is very dangerous and causes severe infections, and bones of any kind (cooked or raw) are very dangerous as well, so I would avoid those. If you would like to feed some meat or vegetables in addition to the dry food you can. Cook the meat as you would for yourself to eat, but without any spices or seasoning (garlic and onions are toxic to dogs), and vegetables like potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, pumpkin, are all good as well (cooked or raw). Best of luck with your little one!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Causes of a decrease in appetite are: intestinal parasites, viral or bacterial infection, he ate something gross that is upsetting his stomach, he ate something that is stuck, food allergy/intolerance, Inflammatory Bowel disease, Addison's disease, new treat/food/table food. Sometimes this can be behavioral as well, he is waiting for something better like the Pedigree. If there is not other symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or lethargy then that is likely the problem. If you recently got a new bag of his food the company may have changed the formula or there is a issue with that bag of food. If you really don't want to feed him Pedigree then hold your ground. Offer his normal food, you can add water to it to make it more tempting, and if he doesn't eat it then pick it up. Do not offer treats or any other food and then he is not fed again until his next meal time. You can also consider feeding him once daily. If he is otherwise sick, please repost with his symptoms and we will provide advice. I hope this helps and I wish you and Puku the best!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If the bag says it is for "All Life stages" then it is fine for growth (meaning for puppies). I would try to not add human foods. If your dogs won't eat this food well I would try a different brand or try adding water to the dry food or even add a tablespoon of canned food with water. Adding human foods is a slippery slope. Good luck!

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a few things you can do to make his food more palatable while he gets used to it. For example, you may add low sodium chicken broth, veterinary approved gravy which you can get at your pet store or pieces of boiled chicken to it. Good luck!

Your instincts are right on this one. It sounds like she is just a [picky eater](https://www.petcoach.co/article/my-pet-is-a-finicky-eater). Small breed dogs tend to be picky eaters, and this is accentuated when the owner gives in and feeds people food. I know it is hard, but you have to try and slowly break this habit by refusing to give her the boiled chicken and only her dog food. Most dogs can go up to 3 days without eating and most will give in within a day or two when they realize nothing else is coming and their only option is the [dog food](https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food) that is available to them. It sounds cruel, but this is the only way to break this habit. You can also make sure that you are offering highly palatable, high quality [dog food](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/category/dog/dog-food). Typically grocery store brands are generic and low quality. Try foods like Royal Canin, Blue Buffalo, Halo, or Evo to see if these appeal to her picky nature. You can add canned food to her dry kibble to entice her to want to eat it regularly.