How to get my Shih Tzu puppy to eat dog food after human food?

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!

Most dogs will not starve themselves. It is best to remove any and all extras such as people food and treats that are more enticing, and only offer her the dog food for a few days. You can either set it down for a period of 15-20 minutes and pick it back up and try again in a few hours if she doesn't eat, or leave it out free-fed for a day or so to give her a chance to check it out and try it. Some dogs may not be comfortable with certain types of bowls as they may clink against a collar or feel weird on their faces/feet. Changing things up by trying a bowl of a different material or adding a placemat or rug under the bowl may help encourage Sunshine to try it out and start eating. If she is refusing to eat suddenly when she was eating fine before, or is showing any signs of illness in addition to this (vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, painful belly, etc), then there could be an underlying issue causing it which should be checked out by a vet.

Hi, It generally is a good idea to only feed dog food. It is specially formulated for dogs and most are properly balanced and have everything they need. Human food, especially fatty foods can lead to pancreatitis and other health issues. The dog food does not necessarily have to be for Shih Tzus. Hope this helps!

I would try to mix dry and canned food together and see if this helps. You can then slowly decrease the amount of canned food. She may always require some canned food or a few pieces of chicken or green beans over her food to make her want to eat. I would talk to your vet about an antacid that she can take to help reduce the vomiting. You may just have to be more stubborn than her and see if she will eat after skipping a couple of meals. If the vomiting or decrease appetite continues, I would have your vet take a look at her to make sure there isn't anything else going on. I hope this helps!

It's probably because she likes human food more than she likes her dog food. She should only be eating dog food, as too much human food isn't healthy for her. To get her back to eating her dog food only, I would mix the dog food and human food together, and over time, slowly decrease the amount of human food and increase the amount of dog food until she is eating dog food only. Do not give her any treats during this time, and once she is eating only dog food, do not give her any more human food.

I think it is worth a try, yes. If he still doesn't like it, then perhaps a slow transition to another high quality puppy food can be tried. I really like Royal Canin, Hills Science diet, Evo, Merrick And Eukanuba brands if you interested in other brand options. Best of luck with Boovs and getting him interested in his food again.

You need to be strong and stop giving in. Knight is training you, instead of the other way around. He will not starve. If all you offer is dog food, eventually he will eat it. Table food is VERY bad fro them. He is very young still so I would recommend using Royal Canin puppy mousse and also keep some dry food out for him as well. ( https://www.royalcanin.com/us/dogs/products/retail-products/starter-mousse-tray-dog-food )