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How do I get my picky dog to eat plain dry food without extras?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Female | unspayed | 9 months and 25 days old | 59 lbs

My dog suddenly want to eat the dry food with youghurt or with chicken soup other than that she eats half of her food and leave it what i can do to let her eat her dry food without any extras? Note: she has an injury and she didnt get out of home for 2 weeks or more cause she cant make any effort this can affect her appetit and can be a reason for this behaviour?

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

Veterinarian

Published on October 10th, 2017

Hi and thank you for your post on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

My best advice is to have leave the dry food without the yogurt or the chicken soup. It may take a day or so until she finally gives in and eats the unadorned food, but she wont starve! She will eventually eat the dry food. Having the yogurt and the chicken in the dry food is not good for her when received every day and she is best without it.

I'm not certain the injury has much of a role here. I think perhaps she got use to eating her dry food with lots of delicious toppings and may have become a bit of a picky eater. :)

She will eat the dry food eventually by itself-it may take a day, however. Try not to add extras to the food or switch foods during this time.

I hope this helps and best of luck to you and Soska!

2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Laura Johnson VMD
Veterinarian
Published on August 23rd, 2017
HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry that you are going through this! Coke oh Cola is super cute and a great name!

You didn't indicate if you were feeding her dry or canned. If you are feeding dry then I recommend buying canned and either adding a table spoon of canned and mixing with water or changing her to all canned food. I think the biggest thing with picky dogs is to try not to let them know if bothers you. Dogs are smart and will hold out of more delicious foods if they know that is an option. I recommend you put the food down, walk away, give her 2 hours to eat, then pick it up. Do this twice daily or how ever many times you want to feed her. I recommend you pick a combination of food: either dry with canned, all canned, or a combo of both with chicken/veggies/human food. It should be the same every meal and try to not react. Don't hover, fuss, stare, yell. She has her chance to eat. Over time, be in 1-3 days she will choose to eat over starvation.

With that being said, I recommend that you rule out any underlying medical condition that she may have: irritable bowl, addisons, parasites with your vet. If she goes more than 3 days with out eating you should have her looked at.

I wish you the best of luck!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on October 20th, 2019
Small breed dogs are notoriously picky and I'm afraid you have made it worse by giving in to her "not liking a food" so quickly that you have trained her to hold out for something better.

I suggest you refer to this article for more information on how to handle this. I recommend you pick one food that you want to feed that is in your budget and follow the steps in the article. Do not give any treats or humans foods. Do not talk to her at all during feeding time. She will not starve herself. Dogs can go multiple days without eating. Don't feel sorry for her. To entice her to eat you can mix a teaspoon of canned dog food (the same brand) in with the dry food.

( https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/my-dog-is-a-picky-eater )

As a side note, if you are not planning to breed her you should have her spayed. Hormones can cause them to be picky eaters.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Dr. Elizabeth
Veterinarian
Published on January 7th, 2020
There can be many reasons for finicky eating:
https://www.petcoach.co/article/my-pet-is-a-finicky-eater/

Some dogs are also just not good eaters. My advice is to pick a high quality food and stick with it. The two brands that seem to be most palatable are Royal Canin and Purina ProPlan. Also, as long as your pet is healthy, its ok if she skips a couple meals. Dogs are smart and they often train humans to give them something else. The more you add things, the more finicky she may become. If she vomits from an empty stomach, wait a an hour after meal time and then give her a small snack (like a couple dog biscuits). That way she has something on her belly and does not associate the treat with meal time (you certainly don't want to reward not eating well). Have her examined if illness or a medical cause is suspected.

I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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