What to do when your finicky dog won't eat their kibble consistently?

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Riley. It sounds like he may be acting picky. I would put his food down in the morning for breakfast and leave it there for 15-20 minutes. After this time, pick up the food even if he hasn't eaten it. Do NOT give him any other food. This is very important. No treats, human food, nothing. He needs to learn that he has to eat when you give him food, and he won't get anything else. At dinnertime, put his food down again for 15-20 minutes, picking it up after that time. No more food until breakfast the next morning. He will get hungry enough to eat. I hope this helps!

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.

This can be difficult. Finicky eaters are not uncommon with small breed dogs. Fixing this depends on how stubborn both you and Freya are. A dog who is healthy will not starve themselves to the point of illness. You can pick a high-quality food, I recommend the brands Royal Canin or Purina pro plan. Offer the diet and don’t offer her anything else. It is likely she will refuse the food and may do so for a couple days but eventually she will eat. You can try adding in canned food or meal toppers, a very small amount of shredded boiled chicken or some plain brown or white rice to make it more appealing. An alternative is to look into a diet more like fresh pet or Nom Nom pet food. These will be more like meals humans eat and you may have more successful. When you have a finicky eater, it is crucial not to offer any human food or food from your plate. Treats must be minimal. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

For a dog that is used to eating fresh food, it can be a challenge to get them to eat kibble or canned food. One of my dogs is very picky and LOVES The Honest Kitchen products. I currently feed her 1/2 kibble and 1/2 The Honest Kitchen Keen. She has not missed a meal since I started feeding The Honest Kitchen. It is more expensive than kibble, but is very good quality food. Since I see that you are in CA, another option would be Just Food for Dogs. That would be a fresh food diet that is premade. Both companies are excellent, so see if Pepper likes either of those options. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Picky dogs can be so frustrating! I personally am not a fan of grain free diets. The truth is, they are a marketing fad. The reality is that only 5% of dog allergies are caused by food, and of that 5%, the majority is protein related. Grain allergies are extremely rare, and I never recommend feeding a grain free food unless the dog has a proven food allergy to grains. Grains are beneficial to dogs, as it helps fill them up and keeps them satisfied for longer. I recommend switching them to a brand such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, or Iams. Whether or not you make the switch of foods, it's time to get tough with them if you want them to eat only dry dog food. They won't starve themselves, they will eat it eventually. You just have to be strong and not give in. Start by putting their food down in the morning for 15-20 minutes, taking it away after this time period even if they haven't eaten. Then no more food until dinner time. This is extremely important, they have to learn they need to eat the dog food or they don't get anything else. At dinner time, again put their food down for 15-20 minutes, taking it away after that time even if they haven't eaten. No more food until their dog food the next morning. Do not give in to them, no meat, cheese, or raw egg on their food. They will get hungry enough to eat the dog food only as long as you stay strong. Good luck, I hope this helps!

The best thing to do is not to give her any additional food at all. No human food or treats. Given that she will eat it when she's desperate for something to eat, it shows she will eat it and she's simply being picky. Only offer her her dog food twice a day, and put the meal down for 15-20 minutes. Pick it up after that time period, even if she hasn't eaten anything. Do not give her any other food until her next meal. Once she learns she won't get any other food, she will start eating it.

She won't starve if she doesn't eat for a few days. That is the only way to train her get back on dog food. You can always add chicken broth or warm water to the kibble . Let it sit about 5 minutes until the kibble soaks up the liquid and try that. Often times that will enhance the flavor/smell of the food. Feeding human food only to dogs is not a good idea. Our food is not balanced for dogs and eventually she will end up with nutritional deficiencies. It is best to try and get to eat dog food only. Hope this helps. Best wishes.