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My dog only eats chicken. How do I transition him to dry kibble?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Belgian Malinois | Male | neutered | 1 year old | 53 lbs

How can i feed my dog dry food and make him enjoy it? He refuses to eat dry food he only wants meat! I get the meat for free it's cooked chicken breasts most of the time it's clean food from the hotel nearby but the problem is that he's not pooping well he's having diarrhea sometimes. Pls help!

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By C. Rathjens, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on December 11th, 2018

Having a good source of a special treat like chicken is a blessing and a curse! IT sounds like he's learned that he can hold out for the food stuff. I would recommend very intentionally, slowly increasing the amount of kibble while decreasing the amount of chicken over about 2 weeks. Wetting and warming the dry food can make it more appetizing to him as well. Make sure to shred/cut the chicken as small as possible to mix with the food. Additionally, put the food down for 15 minutes, then pick it up and offer again later (2-4 times a day). If you wet and warm the food, just throw it away and start over each time. Also for a healthy, adult dog, it's ok if he goes a day or two without eating while you're transitioning. Good luck!

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on January 22nd, 2018
Hello. The only way to get Shooter is to give him some tough love. You want to decrease the table food by 5-10% each day while providing the highest quality dry food you can afford ( do not use canned as you will initially be throwing this away ). Put out the table & dog food & slowly transition over a 2 week period. This allows Shooter to get a little hungrier each day until he hopefully begins to nibble on the dry food. At some point, he may have to go with only the dry food for 3-4 days, BUT HE WILL NOT STARVE! If he absolutely refuses to touch the dog food, consider going to www.Balanceit.com & you can properly supplement his diet so he does not wind up with any nutritional imbalances. Thank you for using Petcoach.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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