Why is my Yorkie a picky eater and won't eat his dog food?

Unfortunately, it's impossible to know if Remy's behavior is due to illness or not liking the food. Especially with very small puppies, they need to eat frequently to avoid low blood sugar which can be fatal. I recommend to have Remy examined to be safe. You may also experiment with different types of puppy food (try a mixture of canned and dry). Royal Canin tends to be a good brand and they make a diet for yorkies. You may also talk to the veterinarian about keeping some dextrose or karosyrup on hand in case Remy ever shows any signs of low blood sugar. Best of luck.

The most common cause for a pet not to eat their food is illness. If she ate her non-urinary diet well before and now she suddenly won't eat it, that's suspicious. I recommend to call your veterinarian and have her examined. It also sounds like she needs to eat the urinary diet for her health. These diets often come in canned and dried formula. You may also try switching the brand of urinary food. I hope this helps and they figure it out quickly.

You might consider trying canned food if you aren't doing so already. If you have, I would continue to keep trying other brands. You can also consider taking any brand of dog food and mixing in some chicken or scrambled eggs to spice things up. Just realize that if you do that you will be doing it forever since Jake will never want to go back. Also you will need to monitor Jake's caloric intake carefully since he is a small breed dog. Calories from chicken and eggs will add up quickly and can result in an overweight dog. As far as medication, obviously whatever you need to do to get the medication down is fine. I tell my clients that are having trouble to use sticky things like peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, cream cheese, so on and so forth. Given that Jake is a dog prone to coughing (I don't know anything about his medical history) it will be especially important to find something that he doesn't fuss about too much in order to avoid getting him into a fit of coughing or possible aspiration of materials into the lungs. Hope this makes sense. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If Teddy is healthy and doing well, I would not jump to switching his food. Royal Canin is one of the best pet foods out there. First, be sure that he is not having any other problems causing him not to eat well. Be sure he does not have any mouth pain or GI problems. This may require a vet visit if you're unsure. If Teddy is 6 lbs, his daily amount of food should be around 1/2 of a measuring cup or slightly less, so it is not a large amount of food. Be sure you are using a measuring cup to accurately assess how much he is being fed per day. Be sure that he isn't getting many other treats during the day, as a small dog can fill up quickly with a couple treats. If you truly feel that Royal Canin is not the best of Teddy then Hill's Science diet or Iams Eukanuba are equivalent quality foods. But do not switch his food frequently as you may create a picky eater. Be sure to do any diet changes gradually over the course of a week, mixing the food gradually.

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.

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.

I would try her on a dry food for small dogs. The pieces are small and easier to chew than the dental diet, and usually tastier also. There are several excellent small breed foods now so check out ones that are available in your area. Giving some caned with the dry food is fine. Chewing on sterilized dental chews may be all she needs to minimize any future dental problems. I've used them and they really keep down the tartar buildup and dogs love chewing them. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Molly.