My dog is picky and won't eat his kibble. How can I make him eat?

For picky eaters like this I usually recommend picking one high-quality dog food brand and sticking with it. This means when you feed Kacey you should put the food down for 15 minutes or so and give her the opportunity to eat it. If she does not eat in this period of time pick up the food and do not offer her any food or treats until the next meal time. If at the next meal she doesn’t eat again within 15 minutes pick up the bowl and continue this for two or three days. Eventually she will learn that she needs to eat the food you put down for her or she will go hungry. Most dogs respond to this very well and don’t let themselves go hungry. Some of the brands I recommend for high-quality dog foods are Royal Canin, Hills, Purina, Iams, and Eukanuba. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Some dogs are just picky eaters or are not very food driven. So we have some dogs, like your typical labrador, that will eat anything and everything within 30 seconds of it being put down, and others that are more picky and graze throughout the day. There are not necessarily medical drawbacks to leaving her food down throughout the day, or at least leaving it down for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening. Sometimes unfortunately with dogs who are picky we just have to be tough and not offer them a different food every time they decide they aren't excited about their current one. We can predispose dogs to food allergies if we are changing their foods all the time and we do get allergies later in life it is much harder to find a good diet for them. I would choose one food and stick with it, and she will eventually get hungry and eat it. The exception is toy breed puppies which can develop hypoglycemia if they go too long without eating https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952329 , but adult dogs should be able to tolerate this. I am a fan of the purina pro plan line, which is available at most pet stores and is good quality, they also have dry diets, wet diets, and their Savor line has kibbles along with softer/chewy kibbles which my dogs love. If there is some treat that she is very fond of you can mix it in with the food that you want her to eat and slowly decrease the amount of the treat each day so she gets used to the other food. Some people find putting some low sodium chicken broth on the food can entice them to start eating a food and you can slowly decreas the amount placed on the food, or warming food up slightly makes it more appetizing.

Hi there. If Molly isn't underweight and your veterinarian has confirmed that she doesn't have any underlying GI issues that might make her not feel well when she eats, then there's no need to constantly switch foods trying to find something to interest her. Many picky dogs are good at training us to do this. :) Instead, you can just offer her food at her regular mealtimes. Leave the food out for 10-15 minutes, then pick up whatever is left and put it away. Offer it again at the next scheduled mealtime. It might take a few days, but she'll eat when she gets hungry. It's a bit like insisting your child eat his vegetables, when he'd rather have ice cream!

Hi there! Scooby sure sounds like he's becoming a very picky eater! A lot of dogs do this, and the more you give in, the more they will demand new and different foods mixed in and people food. The best way to break the behavior is to offer him his food, and no matter how long he takes to eat it, wait it out. Eventually he will realize that that's what he's getting to eat and that's it! If some people still have trouble at this point, I tell them to try balanceIT.com. it is a website that teaches you how to make a home cooked diet for your dog and also offers a supplement you can add into the food to make sure that they ate getting enough of the minerals and vitamins that they need. From the way it sounds, no matter what you add to scooby's food he's going to want something different in a few days, but you can try some plain low fat Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or pumpkin mixed into the food, or even just some warm water to help bring out the fragrance. Also make sure of course that scooby is up to date on his vet visits, vaccines, dewormings, and other preventive care, and that he is not having any signs of illness like diarrhea or vomiting. If he absolutely will not est, a vet visit is in order, but it doesn't seem that way.

There is a great calculator in the PetCoach library. Find it here: https://www.petcoach.co/healthy-weight-calculator/ It can be used to estimate Parker's ideal weight. You can also ask your veterinarian to show you how to assess Parker's body condition score (BCS). A BCS and body weight paint a more accurate picture than one or the other. In the meantime, continue to feed as you have been. Dogs thrive on routine, so try to keep a consistent schedule for feeding. Prepare his meal then leave it down for 15-20 minutes before picking it up whether he has eaten or not. Repeat this at the next mealtime. Do not offer any food or large treats between meals. Tiny rewards for training or good behavior are allowed. These treats should take no more than 1-2 seconds to eat. Do not despair, he will not starve. Parker will eat when he is hungry. Try to avoid switching diets as this may cause gastrointestinal upset or create a finicky eater.

It is likey just that - him being picky and stubborn. I would see if he would at least eat canned food. Canned food is at least more of a balance diet than just chicken and rice. If he doesn't eat, be sure to give him some nutrical to help keep his blood sugar up since he is so tiny. It will likely take you becoming stubborn as well to get him to transition to regular diet, but you don't want him to miss too many meals. You could also slowly mix in some soften kibbles with the chicken to help him get use to the taste and over a few weeks, decrease the amount of water you use to soft the kibbles and decrease the chicken as well. If you end up just cooking for him, I would visit balanceit.com to ensure he is getting a balanced diet. I hope this helps !

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!