My dog is a finicky eater and underweight. How do I help her gain?

Poor Luna! Is she underweight? If not, I wouldn't be overly stressed about how much she is eating. Also some dogs are simply scared of eating from dog bowls. I would just feed her from the floor or in a paper plate. If she is underweight, I would talk to your vet about doing a GI panel. It is a blood test that checks for Vitamin B12, folate, and two different pancreatic enzymes. Sometimes this will guide the vet to what she may be deficient in and once you fix that, their appetite will increase. You could also talk to them about just putting her on an appetite stimulant if you want to try a more conservative method first. Finally, if all of this is normal, I would consider finding a holistic veterinarian who specializes in acupuncture and Chinese herbs. There are some great things with alternative medicine to help with appetite. I hope this helps!

Have you tried some other food options? Canned food? Homemade diet? They have now formulated some gravy that you put on the food that may help. Also there is a food enhancer additive: https://www.chewy.com/dr-tims-flavor-booster-genuine-freeze/dp/105062 https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/category/dog/dog-food/wet-dog-food/dog-food-rolls-toppings Don't stand next to her while she eats, ignore her. She is training you to stand there which is what she wants. That is going to get old for you real soon. If she is not underweight then don't worry about how much she is eating. She will not starve herself. If she is underweight then you should take her to your vet for an exam and some testing.

Grains are beneficial to dogs, and I only recommend putting a dog on a grain free diet if there is a medical reason why they shouldn't have them, such as allergies. If Adel eats very little of this food, it could be that she doesn't like it and may benefit from another food. I personally recommend feeding dogs Royal Canin or Hill's Science diet. Both are high quality foods that dogs find very tasty; in fact, my dogs eat Royal Canin and love it. You could consider switching her to one of those foods to see if she eats more of it, but if you do make the switch, I would do it slowly to prevent GI upset. You can increase the number of times you feed her, and you can also try to tempt her to eat her food by soaking it in gently warmed low sodium beef or chicken broth. If she does eat it, gradually reduce the amount of broth you add to her food until she is eating the food only.

As long as she eats and is not losing weight, don't stress out over it. It is true that smaller breeds can be a bit more finicky. Switching foods would not be recommended as it can lead to gastrointestinal upset and reinforce her finicky nature. Instead, try mixing in a bit of warm water or a teaspoon of baby food to stimulate the appetite.

First, I think it is important to determine Malia's ideal weight for her size. If your vet says she is underweight, then you may need to make some changes. But if she a good weight at 32 pounds, then eating a couple cups of food a day should be adequate for her weight. My 30 pound dog only eats about 1 cup per day. Don't forget that it is much healthier for a dog to be a little lean. If Malia is underweight, then you may need to look at foods that are more dense in calories. You can consider some of the super premium foods like Natural Balance, Wellness Core or Orijen which tend to have more bio-available calories in each cup. You may also consider The Honest Kitchen which is a dehydrated food and dense in calories. https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/ Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is definitely concerning that Sadie does not really want to eat and is thin. I recommend having her seen by a vet as she may have some chronic inflammation of her intestinal tract or a sensitivity to certain foods. Your vet can also recommend some diet changes that have more calories to help Sadie gain weight. If Sadie is eating bones, I recommend stopping as they are not nutritionally adequate and can cause chronic irritation to the intestinal tract. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

Have you tried to mix it with canned dog food? Also you could give her boiled or canned chicken (no bones) over her food to help her gain weight. Both of these are ok and safe. Finally, if you want to make her on food I would check out some of the recipes on www.balanceit.com to ensure she is getting all the nutrients she needs. Unfortunately chihuahuas are known for not wanting to eat regular dog food often!