My puppy won't eat wet food and eats dirt. What should I do?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Adorable picture! Lucy should be eating puppy food. Any brand is fine, I like Purina, Hill's and Royal Canin, You can feed her dry, dry mixed with canned or all canned. Whatever she will eat. Be sure she is feeling ok and doesn't have a fever or abnormal vaginal discharge. If she is refusing to eat she should see a vet to be sure she doesn't have an infection. I hope this helps and I wish Lucy the best!

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a few things you can do to make his food more palatable while he gets used to it. For example, you may add low sodium chicken broth, veterinary approved gravy which you can get at your pet store or pieces of boiled chicken to it. Good luck!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely behavioral and may be a food preference problem. I would recommend experimenting with different dog food formulas, texture, kibble size, dry vs. canned, etc. and see if this helps. Many times it is just a matter of finding the right formulation and texture that the dog prefers. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sure, you can use baby food mixed into kibbles if you like. But the real question is why won’t Luna eat the dry food? Possibilities include: 1) A bad tooth or other mouth problem 2) An organ dysfunction, disease, or infection that affects appetite 3) She has you well trained. I recommend seeing your vet to help rule out medical causes. If nothing is found, it could simply be that she has you well trained and knows that if she waits long enough, you’ll put something good in her bowl. My advice for that is to wait her out. Don’t give in and within 3 days, every healthy dog I know has eaten plain kibbles. Of course if Luna is a healthy weight and you don’t mind pampering her, that’s fine too, so long as she does get some dog food (it has all the minerals and vitamins we need her to get). Best wishes to you and Luna!

Hi there and thank you for using Pet Coach to address your concern. Based on the description you have provided, I am not too concerned since she seems to eat anything but her kibble. Many times, this is a preference problem. Some dogs like kibble and some like canned food. Some dogs prefer home cooked food over canned or dry dog food. Flavor can also be a factor and size of the kibble. I would suggest by switching to a different sized kibble and see how she does. If she still won't eat, then I would recommend switching to a different flavored kibble. If you are still unable to get her to eat the dry food, then I would recommend you switch to a canned diet and see if Luna will eat the canned food. If you are still not able to get her to eat her food, I would recommend adding a probiotic such as Purina Fortiflora to the food as this makes food more palatable in addition to providing good bacteria to help aid in digestion. If you are still unable to get her to eat dog food, then I would recommend home cooked meals. I recommend using the following website: www . balanceit.com and use the free autobalancer along with purchasing a vitamin and mineral supplement through the website. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear Bailey is having this problem. You may have to experiment with various puppy foods to see which one she prefers to eat and that you feel comfortable purchasing. Table food is discouraged for many reasons especially since it can cause stomach/gut problems. You can also try to flavor the dry food with some chicken broth to see if she will eat it. If she is not wanting to eat with or without vomiting/diarrhea, you should take her to your vet and have her evaluated. Not eating is serious especially in small breed puppies. Not eating can be caused by parasites (worms), infection, inflammation, not liking the food, etc. Your vet can evaluate her, run some tests (fecal, blood, etc) and advise what treatment is needed or they can just suggest nutritional things to try. I hope Bailey gets well soon.

I would try canned puppy food as she is young and may now be able to easily chew the dry yet. You can also soak the dry food in warm water until its soft and she may eat it that way. Mixing the canned with the rice will get her started eating dog food and you can gradually change her over to dry as she ages. Most dogs love canned food so try several varieties to see what Cloud will eat. To get proper nutrition she needs to eat dog food so she can grow and be healthy. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Cloud.