How long should I leave my dog's food out if she doesn't eat it all?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! She is adorable by the way! What I recommend is actually limiting the amount of time the food is available to her. For example, you can leave her food out for 1 hour, if she does not eat it all, you take it away and offer it again the next day. Eventually, she will understand that her food is only going to be out for a certain amount of time and will have a more regular eating habit. Another thing you can do is split what you feed her in 2 feedings. Both ways could work well for her. Good luck and have a good evening!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I understand your frustration. Soska will not choose starvation. I would put her meal down and give her a set amount of time to eat it then pick it up. Do that for several days to a week and see if she starts to finish her meals. Keep treats to a minimum. If after a week she still isn't finishing her meals then try adding water to the food to make it more tempting. You can try a different type of food after 2 weeks in case she doesn't like the food. If she continues for several weeks Soska should be evaluated by your Vet for any medical reason for her poor appetite. I hope this helps. For my dog it simply took adding water to his dry food and now he eats it without us having to sit with him.

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!

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is probably that her eating habits have changed. This is actually not uncommon and to correct it, this behavior has to be discouraged as much as possible. What I recommend is to give them their food and give them a certain amount of time (about 1 hour) to eat it. If she does not eat it then you can remove it and feed her again whenever she is due to eat again. This usually will get this resolved as she will eat it at more controlled times giving her less time to graze. Good luck and have a great day!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sometimes dogs will just get bored of the same diet and just need to be switched to a completely new diet. I would recommend you consider a different diet though it could be from the same brand. Remember to introduce her to the new diet slowly as follows: feed 25% of the new and 75% of the old diet on day 1. Then feed 50% of each the second day and 75% of the new and 25% of the old on day 3. On day 4, you should be able to feed her the new diet entirely. Good luck and have a great day!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think the best way is to separate them. I would recommend you continue to keep them separate when it is time to eat. If you continue to feed Molly only her diet, eventually she will understand that that is all she will get and most likely will start eating it. You can add canned chicken or chicken broth to it for example to entice her appetite which may get her going faster. Good luck!