My Shih Tzu won't eat dog food. What can I do for a picky eater?

It sounds like she's trained you to give her the good stuff :) I'd first start with a vet visit to rule out a medical cause (Anxiety, intestinal parasites, an issue with her liver processing nutrients called a liver shunt). If everything is normal, then slowly start weaning her off the treats and on to food. It's ok for her to go a day or two without eating a normal amount while you're transitioning her.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Dogs often prefer human food to dog food because it is more palatable to them. However, human food is not good for them! I recommend only offering Mini her dog food from now on. She may not want to eat it for a day or so, but she will feel hungry enough to start eating it again after this time. If you continue to give her human food, she will learn that if she waits long enough she will get what she wants. I hope this is helpful.

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!

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!

Some dogs are just picky eaters or are not very food driven. So we have some dogs, like your typical labrador, that will eat anything and everything within 30 seconds of it being put down, and others that are more picky and graze throughout the day. There are not necessarily medical drawbacks to leaving her food down throughout the day, or at least leaving it down for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening. Sometimes unfortunately with dogs who are picky we just have to be tough and not offer them a different food every time they decide they aren't excited about their current one. We can predispose dogs to food allergies if we are changing their foods all the time and we do get allergies later in life it is much harder to find a good diet for them. I would choose one food and stick with it, and she will eventually get hungry and eat it. The exception is toy breed puppies which can develop hypoglycemia if they go too long without eating https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952329 , but adult dogs should be able to tolerate this. I am a fan of the purina pro plan line, which is available at most pet stores and is good quality, they also have dry diets, wet diets, and their Savor line has kibbles along with softer/chewy kibbles which my dogs love. If there is some treat that she is very fond of you can mix it in with the food that you want her to eat and slowly decrease the amount of the treat each day so she gets used to the other food. Some people find putting some low sodium chicken broth on the food can entice them to start eating a food and you can slowly decreas the amount placed on the food, or warming food up slightly makes it more appetizing.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Benji. I recommend that he sees his veterinarian. A sudden change in appetite is worrisome. His veterinarian will examine him and try to determine the source of his problem. In the meantime, you can add warm water to his dry kibble as this can make it more appealing. If you have canned food of the same formula, you can offer it warmed as well. You can also try mixing it with the dry kibble. I hope this information helps!

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!