My Shih Tzu won't eat her dog food, either kibble or canned food. Is there any way to get her to eat her food? I've had her since she was 5 weeks old. She is now 2, but she won't eat.
I have a german shepherd, Michelle, who is not food motivated and is hard to get to eat. Here are some techniques I have used:First and foremost, make sure there is nothing medically wrong with your dog. She may have a gastrointestional problem. Eliminate this as a possibility first.Is your dog taking medication? Some of them suppress appetite. This could be a clue to her indifference to food.Are you feeding her in two sessions (morning and evening) so the amount of food you present her is not overwhelmingly large?Are you feeding her in a quiet and secluded place rather than in a loud, high traffic area with lots of distractions?Assuming none of the foregoing apply, try boiling some chicken thighs (without any seasoning - onions and garlic are bad for dogs) and pulling the meat off the bone (choking hazard and skin (too much fat means diarrhea) so you have small pieces. Give your dog a few pieces (mine love it cold as well as warm) and sprinkling a spoonful of the broth on her kibble. My shepherd scarfs it down, kibble and all. The chicken is a small complement to the kibble, not the main meal.Small pieces of cheese works, too. So, too, unseasoned salmon with no bones. It depends on the dog.BTW, wet food harms your dog’s teeth by promoting tarter. Dry kibble is better because it is mildly abrasive and cleans their teeth a bit.Trying wetting the kibble a little bit to release aromas and to make it easier to digest. I do this for my puppies.I tried hand feeding my shepherd when he wouldn’t eat and that can work. However, you will want to ween your dog off handfeeding because it is not a normal way for a dog to eat.Dogs get bored of their food (as do we) and you may want to change your brand of kibble for another high quality brand. BE VERY CAREFUL about introducing new foods to your dog because an abrupt change can cause stomach upset. Start with a small (1/10th) amount of the new kibble mixed with the old kibble. Observe the results. Does your dog each the new stuff instead of the old? Increase the mixture of the new kibble very slowly if it improves her eating.Good luck.JCH
What is a good dog food that does not contain red dye # 40?
I have a dog that is part shih-tzu and I found out today that shih-tzu have a tendency to be allergic to red dye # 40. Their symtom is scratching when they dont have fleas. My dog scratches all the time and she does not have fleas, I have bathed her in everything I could find that might help her skin. I am now going to change her food to see if that helps. Thanks
My sister's Chihuahua is afraid of eating from any food bowl-- what to do?!?
I had a "quirky" dog as well. Some days, she would eat from the bowl, then act terrified of it. Once she went off the stainless steel bowl, she never would eat from it again. We did the food in other types of bowls. I think that her dog tags on her collar dangling over the stainless bowls and sometimes the ceramic bowls, spooked her a little bit. One thing that worked for us was to put her food on a paper plate. Once we got her back to eating from the plate, we would gradually go back toward the ceramic bowls. Now she would drink water from the stainless bowl, so who knows. Like I said, she was a rescue and had odd "quirks" her whole life--but she was a true love.
Rotti pup won't eat food... being stubborn?
Continue to feed him on a regular schedule and pick up what he doesn't eat after 15 minutes. Start again at the next meal. Unless he is ill, he won't starve himself, so he will eat when he gets hungry enough!
My shih tzu picks & chooses when he wants to eat ...?
I have a 10 month old male shih tzu. He is a very picky eater. Of course he'll eat any type of human food, but when it comes to dog food, he will leave it there for hours. Sometimes, he'll go without eating an entire day. Now i know he isnt sick, because if i give him a treat or piece of turkey, he INHALES it. I've switched foods at least 3 times and he starts out liking it and then a couple days later he's back to letting it sit there. I tried putting pieces of ham or his pup a roni mixed with the food but he will literally pick out the ham & pup a roni and leave the dog food. he's already tried eukenuba, cesar & i recently started him on wellness puppy food since i heard that it is extremely healthy for dogs. I mix both wet & dry day and night. please any suggestions? He's so stubborn!
Puppy skittish about eating?
My maltese puppy is about six months old (on October 8th, that is) and for whatever reason, she's a little skittish when it comes to eating food. We don't yell or punish her if she begs (she seldom even does!), and we change up their food (we have another dog) every few days so their pallet won't get tired of the same thing constantly. She isn't afraid of people taking her food away, she doesn't mind if we pet or caress her while she eats, and our other dog has no problem with her. She's just... hesitant to eat her food right away. If we set her food down, she'd sniff it, look at it, and walk away, only to come back a little while later. Or, she won't even look at it at all (like she's doing now!) and sleep. Is this normal puppy behavior? Is this a problem, if so, how can it be fixed?
Is there a dog food that dogs actually like?
I work at Petco, and I can tell you that dogs are weird. Some will eat anything. Some will eat nothing.So here are some examples of specific dogs I've encountered and what foods they like:My dog eats chicken and barley Science Diet and enjoys it. Then again, she'll eat just about anything.I had a customer come in today whose dog refused to eat any form of meat besides beef jerky. So she bought our entire supply of vegan wet dog food and gave her dog the meat separately. Please feed your dog meat if your dog will eat it.Saw a video of a guy whose dog would only eat its food after it was placed in the oven for a minute. The oven wasn't on; the dog just wanted to make sure his food was “cooked.” Other dogs like water mixed into their food. Other dogs will eat their food if you pretend to eat it. These things have nothing to do with the food itself.Someone came to the store whose dog would only eat sweet potato and fish wet food. Brand didn't matter as long as there was sweet potatoes and fish, so they got Natural Balance.Some dogs will only eat wet food, but most prefer it. Would you rather have cereal with or without milk? Kinda the same premise.I have also seen dogs who just really like certain brands. For instance, all Blue Buffalo dog foods have LifeSource bits, and some dogs just really like those things.Other people literally walk around the store and buy every food that's on clearance, because their dog will eat anything, just not for two meals in a row.So I don't know your dog's s needs, but as far as brands go, I'd recommend:-For a low budget owner: Under the Sun, Whole Hearted, or Whole Earth-For dogs that will only eat That One Thing: Natural Balance. Good for allergy pets, too.-For dogs with very specific needs: Science Diet. Highly recommend their food for older pups-Other good foods: Instinct (Expensive but worth it), Blue Buffalo, Merrick, Nutro, Wellness, Halo-For infamously picky dog breeds: Royal Canin. Pretty overpriced, but if your Yorkie won't eat, it's worth trying.Foods to avoid: Anything with a lot of grain. Pups can't digest it well. As a general rule, the more meat, the better.I hope that gives you some ideas of what to try. Asking which food humans like is a hard answer, because we all have our weird preferences, and dogs are no different. Since your dog can't talk, you might have to figure this out through trial and error.Hope I helped!