My senior dog won't eat dog food after tooth extractions. What to do?

It definitely seems like Benji likes his soft food, so it's going to take some time to get him transitioned to the dry food. The good thing is that dogs don't tend to not be finicky for too long before they give up and just eat what's available. It may take a few times of him missing a meal though. I think that is where most owners get concerned, because they feel like they are starving/torturing their dog. My opinion is that it's totally fine for them to miss a meal or two if you're giving them a food that's better for them. It is definitely not harmful for them, because it will take a long time (many days) before he would actually starve. I think the chicken broth idea is great! It may take a couple of weeks, but maybe you could continue wetting it with the broth and reduce the wetness gradually. Food allergies to grains is exceedingly rare, so you may double-check that this was diagnosed by a veterinarian. Usually, the owner gets some bad advice from the pet store employee, or reads some bad info on the internet and that's why they get the grain-free food. If that's the case, then this could open up some more options for feeding dry food. Dry food is better for dogs that tend to have bad teeth, because it does not build-up on the teeth as much. If you brush Benji's teeth regularly, then there is not as much need for the dry food; so you may consider that if all else fails. I hope that helps. Below is a link to a short article that has some more helpful information. https://www.petcoach.co/article/6-things-every-dog-owner-should-know-about-dental-care/

She is likely not eating well due to having a tooth ache. I would wait with changing food until a few weeks after the dental cleaning and extraction to give her time to heal and not cause extra stress.

Try feeding her some sloppy soup with rice and white boiled chicken, or canned dog food. You may have to sit next to her and entice her to eat. Be patient, she will start eating . The Tramadol sometimes will not work very well, so she may be in pain.

Hello and thank you for posting your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry Summer is having some eating difficulties. If it was just a few teeth pulled and he still has teeth left, then he may be able to eat the dry food if it has been a while after his dental procedure. He may not want to eat the dry food out of discomfort if the procedure was very recent. If this is the case you may want to try offering the dry food to him. If he has no teeth left or very very few left and wet food is the only option, you may entice him to eat by warming up the wet food and giving it in small manageable amounts so as not to overwhelm him. Feeding the food in a shallow dish or plate will help him eat a littler easier then if the food was in a bowel. I hope this has helped and I wish you and Summer the absolute best!

If you're feeding your dog everything, including people food and treats, he likely enjoys those a lot more than his food. Just like people, giving too much junk food may encourage your dog to want those items and ignore their healthy diet. It is best to remove/stop giving all extras including treats, people food, etc and only give his food -- You'll want to place it down for 15m and whatever he doesn't eat, pick up and try again in a few hours. Once he is hungry enough, he'll try out his food again and you can get him back to his normal routine.

It's always frustrating when we try to feed our dogs the best diets, but they decide that they don't want to eat them. I think you have a few options. Yes, you can try a different dry food. Sometimes when dogs eat the same food all the time, they can get tired of it. I have also seen some of the more natural foods have problems with storage once the bag is open because of the all natural preservative, so if you are at the end of a big bag, gettting a new bag of food may solve the problem. If you want to feed a raw diet, you could also look at feeding a commercially available raw diet and removing the dry food from his diet. If Gus does not want to eat another type of dry food or a new bag of the old food or does not seem to feel well in any way, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine him and make sure there isn't anything medical going on. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I can certainly understand how this could be a concern for you! To get Mogly back on his dog food, you can try mixing it with the boiled chicken, but if he picks out the chicken only and leaves the dog food, you are going to have to get strict with him. Feed him only dog food, and put his food out for 20 minutes maximum. Give him no other food. After 20 minutes, take the food away until the next meal time. Do not give him any addition food at all, no treats or human food. Put the food down as his next meal time, and give him 20 minutes to eat it. Mogly should be hungry enough that he will eat it. If he doesn't take it away after 20 minutes, and don't feed him again until tomorrow morning. A healthy dog will not starve themselves for more than three days. It's very important to make sure you only offer him the dog food and nothing else, and this should help stop him from being picky and back eating his dog food.