# Refusing to eat



## Tiny Poodles

I have had some poodles like that, and it is a self perpetuating problem - when their stomachs are empty, they fill with gas (the rumbling you hear), it hurts, and then they really don't want to eat. But the "cure" is getting food in their stomach, because it will move the gas along, they will feel better, and then they will find their own appetite.
I agree with how you are handling the food, not adding anything, and picking it up after a period of time, but what I would do is make sure that she had some treats between meals so that her stomach never gets to the point of being gassy and painful.
When my dog who was like that would get to that stage, I would actually force feed some wet food, and as soon as she got some in her, she would feel better and eat on her own.
I would also consider changing foods - perhaps this one does not agree with her and is causing the gas?


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## Poodlebeguiled

The kibble might be rancid. It gets that way very, very fast apparently. I have read that it's best to package it up in 2 or 3 day meals in freezer bags and keep what you're not using in the next few days in the freezer. Kibble has weird oils and things in it that can go bad. Some dogs are more sensitive to it. Grains, if yours has grain can develop a certain kind of mold VERY quickly. There might be something else wrong with it. They're often having recalls on commercial food these days.

I usually pay attention when an animal goes off it's feed. There could be something off with her as well. Bowel sounds are a good sign over all. You don't want to hear silence...no peristalsis. If she were my dog, I'd experiment and try something else to see if she'd eat at all...maybe eggs. If she still doesn't eat that (because eggs are really good, especially topped with a little smelly Parmesan cheese)or a piece of real meat, you can be pretty sure she isn't feeling well. If she gobbles it up, she either hates her kibble or something could be wrong with it. That's all I can think of. If all these things are ruled out and nothing's wrong, If she were my dog, I'd find a food she enjoys. That's just my way though. Maybe someone else will come along with some more ideas.

I had a Chihuahua (rip) that was picky for a while. I'd put parmesan cheese on top of her food, just a little. And that helped her get interested in it. Later on, we could phase that out. Plus, I tried some canned that she wound up liking better. Nowadays I'm feeding a natural, fresh food raw diet and all three of my dogs are ecstatic over their food. They dance around and are enjoying it soooo much. They use to pick at their food before. They'd eventually eat it but they would walk away with food still in the bowl. No way these days.


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## Streetcar

Completely agree the food could have gone off. I have no idea what size bag of kibble you buy if you feed kibble, but feel the big economy bags are a medical emergency waiting to happen. I do feed kibble and buy the smallest available bag I can get. If I had a Standard, I'd buy a larger bag, but never the largest.

Not saying you're doing that, but it is a very good thing to consider, especially as dogs' senses of smell are thousands times better than ours. I believe dogs do not do these things to "play" us; for me that is not where our pets are coming from. I also do not believe she is avoiding food to get something better, and frankly believe it would be preferable to get something in her, having personally lived through low blood sugar problems myself and knowing how it prevents eating.

Since Coraline is a Standard, I would also print out symptoms of bloat and tape them to the refrigerator, knowing there can be permutations which would also send one to the vet asap.


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## TStrainer

The food isn't rancid, I work at a pet supply store and only buy 5lb bags. I go through them fast but prefer to switch brands and flavors fairly often (to prevent boredom and also because for a while I was assuming she just didn't like the flavor. Not the case.) Her poops are always a good consistency and color so that's not a problem. And she doesn't do this every day, just most days. Maybe two days out of the week she will devour all of her meals, most days I'm lucky if she'll eat one cup. I do have freeze dried raw that I will rehydrate and give her if she winds up hunger puking, which she will eat SOME of but not the entire serving.

She does get treats during the day through training and whenever she goes potty outside, and chews like cow ears before bed as night so she does have SOMETHING in her stomach at least.

Edit: I should add that she's ALWAYS done this, it's just now its getting worse. Instead of skipping one meal she's more often skipping two, and today she skipped all of them.


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## MollyMuiMa

Have you tried just letting her free feed? My Molly is a 'grazer' and only eats a mouthful of food at a time, so I just measure out her ration of kibble and leave it there. Sometimes she will take all day and into the next to finish it! (half of her meal ration I fed to her in the morning, is raw, and that she eats immediately!) but she has never starved herself or over ate. 

Some dogs just 'self regulate'! and don't gorge so are capable of being free fed.
If Coraline is active, bright eyed, has normal poos, is not losing weight, I wouldn't worry too much!


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## Muggles

When Rory was a pup he definitely went through days when he didn't touch his dinner or breakfast. I would just leave the kibble out for him to eat as he pleased. Other times he would eat it quickly and want more. As he was also happy and healthy I just assumed it was growth periods etc. 

It actually wasn't until earlier this year (after he turned one) that he eats his food more or less as soon as he's given it.


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## Coco86

Our smallest toy poodle Rosie has always done this too. She's almost seven and weighs eight pounds. Some days she will have the gurgling stomach sounds, but will refuse to eat. If we put a small taste of wet food on her tongue it will usually coax her into eating her food. But sometimes she won't eat until the end of the day. Usually on days like this she will try eating grass outside, I heard they do that when their stomach is upset. Or she won't eat until she goes outside and poops.


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## ericwd9

As a standard she could be prone to bloat? see your vet sometime.
Eric


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## FireStorm

How old is she? Hans did this when he was teething, because the dry kibble hurt his mouth. 

It also took me a while to find food that he'd eat consistently. It seems like I had to get him eating to fix the problem...I did add canned to his food before switching to raw. Adding the canned for a few months to get him eating consistently on a schedule really helped (even though people told me I'd make him picky). I really think he didn't like some of the kibbles we tried, and then not eating made him not want to eat. 

Now, for foods he likes we have Ziwipeak, Wysong, and Natures logic. He eats 50% raw and 50% kibble when we are home, but we are traveling now and he's eating plain kibble with no issues. He cleaned up his kibble last night and I actually gave him a second helping because he was begging. I only buy 5lb bags, too.


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## lily cd re

It could be related to teething since I think she is about 6 months old, right?

Also Lily was not a great eater when she was young. Our vet suggested free feeding. It has worked very well for us since thankfully Peeves is not a glutton. For my crew it also means that food is not a resource to be concerned about controlling.

When Javelin was a pup last summer I used his kibble for training and he got about half his daily ration during training and most of the rest of it out of a treat/puzzle toy. Once he got tall enough to do so he started helping himself out of Lily and Peeves bowl too.


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## TStrainer

MollyMuiMa said:


> Have you tried just letting her free feed? My Molly is a 'grazer' and only eats a mouthful of food at a time, so I just measure out her ration of kibble and leave it there. Sometimes she will take all day and into the next to finish it! (half of her meal ration I fed to her in the morning, is raw, and that she eats immediately!) but she has never starved herself or over ate.
> 
> Some dogs just 'self regulate'! and don't gorge so are capable of being free fed.
> If Coraline is active, bright eyed, has normal poos, is not losing weight, I wouldn't worry too much!


She won't eat if I'm not in the room (among other conditions), so free-feeding is kind of pointless, but she does self-regulate when she is actually eating, she always stops when she's full.



ericwd9 said:


> As a standard she could be prone to bloat? see your vet sometime.


She is showing no signs of bloat. Like I said, normal everything except the fact that she won't eat



FireStorm said:


> How old is she? Hans did this when he was teething, because the dry kibble hurt his mouth.





lily cd re said:


> It could be related to teething since I think she is about 6 months old, right?
> 
> Also Lily was not a great eater when she was young. Our vet suggested free feeding. It has worked very well for us since thankfully Peeves is not a glutton. For my crew it also means that food is not a resource to be concerned about controlling.
> 
> When Javelin was a pup last summer I used his kibble for training and he got about half his daily ration during training and most of the rest of it out of a treat/puzzle toy. Once he got tall enough to do so he started helping himself out of Lily and Peeves bowl too.


She is just over 6 months old, she could still be teething but I think she's mostly done. I check her mouth every day and haven't seen any new eruptions or losses. I'm generally against free-feeding because of all the fat dogs I know, but with her I am sure she would be fine doing that if only she'd eat when I'm not home.


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## Mfmst

I panicked and thought it was the kibble. Ended up donating bags of different brands of kibble to my shelter until I figured out that Buck would eventually finish his bowl but not in one go. He had a raw evening meal which was eaten immediately. I have always added something to the kibble to keep it interesting and it hasn't made him fussy. Got plenty of assurances from PF folks that no dog will starve to death with food available


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## lily cd re

Poodles don't get fat unless they get a lot of table scraps/junk food. Lily has self regulated to maintain stable weight between 36-37 pounds for over five years now. My vet is a poodle person over many decades. His spoo free feeds, but I understand why many people don't want to do it that way.


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## glorybeecosta

Cayenne does the same thing, she will go a day without eating and I give her treats to get her to then eat a little. I notice Cayenne will eat at 6 in the morning, but if I sleep to 8 she wont, and then she likes to eat about 9 PM


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## Shamrockmommy

I think some poodles are like that! 
The previous toys I've had were all foodies, no problem there.

Jack... well apparently, he's special because he eats and then he doesn't eat. I thought I had it "fixed" by giving him canned food, but he was all picky this morning. 

this is how it went. Set food bowl down: Sniff. Back away, look up at me, sniff again, back away, look up at me and stare. 

I walked away and ignored him and he did eventually eat. I really am over this attitude, but then if I let him starve, he gets in bad belly shape pretty quick. 

If you have just one dog, I'd leave food out all the time and not worry about it. If I leave it out here, Echo will snarf it up in a hot second.


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## zooeysmom

She may feel too sick to eat. How about giving Pepcid with a little boiled chicken/rice to whet her appetite?


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## Viking Queen

lily cd re said:


> Poodles don't get fat unless they get a lot of table scraps/junk food. Lily has self regulated to maintain stable weight between 36-37 pounds for over five years now. My vet is a poodle person over many decades. His spoo free feeds, but I understand why many people don't want to do it that way.


I have free fed both of my last two dogs. Neither wanted to eat at scheduled meal times, but would eat whenever they thought they were hungry. Neither ate while I was out of the house but the food was there. Both sometimes ate fairly late in the evening and sometimes in the night I would hear a little crunch crunching in the kitchen.

Neither of them was ever fat. They seemed to self regulate. Now, my beagles would have weighed a hundred pounds a piece if I had free fed them, but the spoos were always reasonable with their food consumption.

Give it a try....put the food down, walk away. I know that's hard if you very badly want them to eat.....See if she just figures out her own feeding schedule and likes the free feeding. Iris always hated it if I hovered around while she was eating.

Best of luck, Viking Queen


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## TStrainer

zooeysmom said:


> She may feel too sick to eat. How about giving Pepcid with a little boiled chicken/rice to whet her appetite?


I wound up hand-feeding her in the middle of the night because her tummy was keeping me up... She ate about a cup and a half but it took forever. She feels better this morning so far but I haven't given her breakfast yet. I feel like I'm talking about a very picky child lol.


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## lily cd re

My childhood beagle would have been a blimp if allowed to free feed too!


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## TStrainer

Viking Queen said:


> Give it a try....put the food down, walk away. I know that's hard if you very badly want them to eat.....See if she just figures out her own feeding schedule and likes the free feeding. Iris always hated it if I hovered around while she was eating.


Coraline is the opposite. If I leave the room, even in the middle of her eating, she'll wait by the doorway (we have baby gates) for me to come back. Since day 1! If I have to work late and my roommate feeds her, forget it lol she won't touch it.


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## Dechi

Merlin is a picky eater. When I first got him, he would only eat Cesar canned food. And he was only 5 pounds, way too thin. Since he had to adapt to us, he was 16 months old with an anxiety disorder, I fed him raw for 8 months,mbecause I knew he would like it. He ate 99% of the time. Then I got fed up of handling raw, and I switched both dogs back to kibbles, slowly over 2 months. Now, sometimes he won't eat at all until the next day. I give him a few minutes and take away his meal. Then he has tomwait until the next day. He is learning that he won't get anything else, slowly. He eats a little bit more every day. He has lost a bit of weight, but the raw had made him a bit chunky, so it's okay. I firmly believe no animal will starve themselves and that he will adjust. I am now feeding Acana instead of Fromm and he seems to like it better. He ate the Acana and left the Fromm in the bowl...

Oh, and he doesn't eat if I am away either, even if there are people with him.

Goood luck with your picky eater !


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## lily cd re

It sounds like Coraline has trained you well to think you have to be there for her to eat. Give it a go with leaving for a few meals. Pick the food up after ten minutes or so. Don't give her treats she'll figure it out.

My mom's mpoo can be a terrible eater. She had gotten to the point of putting cooked ground beef or bits of chicken and canned food with kibble together and even with the toppers he wouldn't eat it. He had her well trained. When I have him at my house he gets 15 minutes of quiet time to eat the first night, then I let the big dogs in to eat his food in front of him. Now when he comes by the second night the whole meal disappears in less than five minutes.


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## TeamPoodle

Welcome to life with a poodle! Their pickiness and general disinterest in food is definitely not their most endearing quality.

A lot of people have already given you great advice... I'll throw in my experience with Riley. We tried the "give him 15 minutes and take up the food bowl" thing with him, and we tried the "leave the bowl out and let him free-feed" thing. We tried toppers, we tried making the kibble into a game. It all failed. He would rather be so hungry that he throws up bile than eat something he doesn't like. We tried different brands, different flavors... nope, nope, nope. He was underweight when we got him (rescue) and we really needed him to eat, so we, like Dechi, went to raw. First it was freeze-dried raw, but we just switched to commercial frozen raw a couple weeks ago (cheaper than the freeze-dried stuff). Even then, he's not enthusiastic about his food and will ONLY eat enough to sustain himself, he won't finish his whole bowl unless we keep him at it. But, he eats it, which is more than I could say about the kibble, so we persist.

The best thing we've found to do is give him HARD exercise for 5-10 minutes and then give him his food. We play fetch in the yard with 2 balls so he's constantly running and panting by the time we're done. When we go in, it seems like the exercise got his appetite up and he's more interested in the food. 

Hope this helps... or doesn't discourage you too much. Poodles tend to be lean, and most of them aren't very food motivated. Plus side is you'll never have to deal with an overweight dog!


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## Tiny Poodles

Just a word against free feeding from someone who has raised six toys on it - worked great until they got to be seniors. They do self regulate and never ate a calorie more than they needed to be their perfect lean weight. However when they got old, when they exercise less, sleep more, their sense of smell and taste wanes, that's when the trouble starts. That's when you begin your life of "nothing happens until the dog eats", that is when you start throwing cheeseburgers across the room and wandering the streets wondering what kind of take-out would she like tonight.
Timi is my first poodle that I started on no free feeding, only meals, and is glorious to have total control of how much and what she eats and when she eats. She will eat AnYTHING, and her bowl is clean in under a minute after I put it down every single time (unless we are practicing "wait", then it will be longer ? Being so food motivated also makes her incredibly easy to train! I just cannot believe how difficult I made my life with free feeding, and I will never do it again in a million years!


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## Poodlebeguiled

When the stomach is empty, the walls of the stomach rub together. That's that gurgling and rumbling sound you hear typically. A little bit of softer sound when you put your ear right against the sides of your animal is that peristaltic action that is good and normal. If it's dead silent, that is cause for concern. If that rumbling/gurgling is bothering you, try feeding her something she _will_ really like. There must be something, no? If you're going to feed kibble, have you tried Taste of the Wild prairie formula? I've seen that a lot of dogs will find it pretty tasty and it's reported to be very palatable. (I don't know how but that's what is said of it) It has a lot of different meats in it...pretty decent ingredients as commercial food goes. (if the list of ingredients is in line with what's actually in the food) lol. And if it's not turned. 

I always did whatever it took to get the dogs to eat whenever I had tiny dogs. (hypoglycemia worries) So I didn't do that tough love thing to a large extent. Plus, I wasn't sure what was going on. I have done the tough love thing with big dogs. But I still really watched in case something was wrong. I mean, why _wouldn't _a dog eat at least one meal a day? I now, after tons of research into what goes into commercial dog food am understanding more and more why dogs may not choose to eat, why some wind up with health issues including immune problems, skin issues, lousy teeth which transfers to other health problems and why, if I were a dog wouldn't like kibble very much. But since it's all there is for some dogs, they eat it eventually. But it isn't natural. So, that's why I advocate a raw meaty bone diet that dogs are built to eat. And it's rare that a dog won't dive head long into a meal of say fresh lamb, a raw bone, some liver or kidney. I guarantee you if you put that in front of your dog in correct proportions, it would be gone in short order. Every time. lol. (there's a right way and a wrong way to introduce a rmb diet so if interested, look into it first)

For the first couple years of my Poodles' lives, they would walk away from their food and come back for a bite or two, then leave again. I'd pick it up after 15 minutes. They'd usually manage to get a ration in a day or day and a half. But they sure weren't that into their food...didn't seem to enjoy it much. Things are a lot different here nowadays. 

Do you put water with the kibble? Try softening it in case her teeth hurt. Water should be added anyhow. I'd top it with a raw egg or a little sprinkle of smelly cheese. I feel that if they're "picky" they may have a good reason. I mean, we don't like some foods so we don't eat them. But what if that's all we could have? It would be a pretty lousy deal.


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## marialydia

Coraline sounds a lot like Pericles who is not a big eater. He is two years old, and very lean and muscular. 

Pericles won't eat unless I'm in the kitchen. He'd rather be with me than eat. Some days he's not interested in his food. Sometimes he eats every little bit. I don't leave food out for free feeding as Jupiter, an elderly mini, would happily eat it all until he burst.

When he was Coraline's age he was far worse. Some days I wound up hand feeding him (yes, I am better trained than he). I did that partly because I couldn't leave the food out (at the time had an additional elderly mini who was a big-time foodie) and partly because he was borderline scary lean -- the vets thought he could gain a few pounds, too.

PS Just saw Poodlebeguiled's note posted at the same time...there may be taste reasons why dogs don't eat what we give. Why not add some easy-to-do toppings, chopped egg or a tablespoon of canned? (BTW I have read that raw egg whites are not great for dogs...)

I try not to get worried unless he vomits bile. In that case, I give him a pepcid and then ten minutes later some kibble mixed with more canned than normal, to prime him for eating. That generally works.

I also have reduced the amounts he gets. Partly that's needed since he's fully grown. But it's also so that he'll be hungry for the next meal. If he leaves something I just put it in the fridge and add it to the next meal (fridge because it's kibble with other stuff mixed in). Coraline's at an age now where her major growth spurt will be slowing, so you might want to look at amounts, too.

PS Poodlebeguiled has a point in saying there may be taste reasons for refusing food. Why not add an easy-to-do topping, such as chopped hard boiled egg, or a spoon or two of canned food, or a spoon of yogurt? This seems to encourage Pericles quite a lot...


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## Poodlebeguiled

Egg whites have an enzyme that binds with biotin. But it's only a problem if they eat a ton of eggs all at once. A few eggs won't be any issue. And the whites, as well as the yokes have good nutrition in them. The yokes have a lot of biotin in them. As long as eggs aren't the mainstay of the diet. I feed my dogs eggs about 3 times a week. Mainly, they eat once a day...evening. But some days they get a little snack in the morning. This morning they got raw eggs (Jose`, a whole egg, Matisse and Maurice split an egg.) And they got a little bit of sardines from a can. Normally, it's fresh sardines because I don't like giving them the salt that's in the canned too much. Dogs don't do salt as well as we do.


Eggs For Dogs - Good Or Bad?


> *(myth)* Egg whites cause Biotin deficiency – Egg whites contain avidin, a Biotin (one of the B vitamins) inhibitor. Biotin is one of the B vitamins and is important for cellular growth, fatty acid metabolism and good skin and coat. Biotin deficiencies are quite rare and it would take an extraordinary amount of eggs to create a deficiency.
> 
> Moreover, egg yolks are very high in biotin, so as long as you feed the entire egg, there are few worries. There are other sources of biotin in the diet as well. Liver is a particularly good source.
> 
> Once again, cooking the egg white will eliminate the risk but your dog will lose much of the nutritional value. If feeding your dog eggs on a regular basis, simply make sure he gets the whole egg, not just the white.


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## CT Girl

Swizzle was an indifferent eater the brief time I fed kibble. He now quivers with delight at meal time. You may want to consider raw. Since toys are very prone to teeth issues I feel raw feeding has even more benefits to them.


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## TStrainer

I can't afford to feed raw, I understand the benefits and that dogs really love it but it is not a possibility for me right now.


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## shell

I have a picky eater who used to drive me insane. I went through so much trying to change things up for him. I don't care anymore, I pick the food, it is down for 20 minutes, if you don't eat, you don't eat. I don't give extra treats to offset this. He has become far less picky and may skip the occasional meal but not typically more than one. You shouldn't have to be really concerned unless it's more than a couple of days.


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## FireStorm

lily cd re said:


> My mom's mpoo can be a terrible eater. She had gotten to the point of putting cooked ground beef or bits of chicken and canned food with kibble together and even with the toppers he wouldn't eat it. He had her well trained. When I have him at my house he gets 15 minutes of quiet time to eat the first night, then I let the big dogs in to eat his food in front of him. Now when he comes by the second night the whole meal disappears in less than five minutes.


Even at his pickiest, Hans ate much better with other dogs around if we were dog sitting or visiting family/friends with dogs. He never missed a meal if there was competition. I think he'd eat something he didn't like just to keep another dog from getting it.


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## marialydia

I know that some people will say that if your dog doesn't eat, just take it away after a few minutes. In truth, sometimes I do this with Pericles, especially if he's eaten some but not what I think is enough.

But, with my recent experience with all his food allergies I do think we have to be careful...our dogs may be trying to tell us something. Pericles wasn't eating well at all, and now I realise he had significant allergies.
http://www.poodleforum.com/5-poodle-talk/201602-manging-vets-going-your-gut.html

So I guess this muddles the waters a bit, and for sure Pericles has me trained to be near while he eats (he checks when I sit at the counter to make sure I am there). But sometimes, it could also be something else.


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## FireStorm

The way I see it, you have a couple of options for picky dogs. You can do the tough love thing - I've done it, and it works on a lot of dogs. I did it with Hans for a while, because I was dead set against adding a topper.

He works pretty hard though, and I really wanted him to gain some weight. Plus, I thought, for all I know the kibble I'm feeding tastes awful. So I found a few really high quality dry foods (also with small pieces, I think he prefers that) and also added canned. He gained weight and muscle, his coat looks so much better, and everyone comments on how good he looks. In hindsight, I think my insistence that he eat plain kibble and nothing else was kind of silly. It was pretty frustrating for both of us. He still gets a limited time to eat, and is fed at the same time every day, but his food is gone well before the time limit. I think getting him eating was the key - when he was really hungry he didn't feel like eating.

I just switched to raw in place of the canned because I realized I can do the raw cheaper. I just made a 24lb batch of raw for about $3 per pound and that was using only organic/grass fed/free range sources. You could do it much cheaper than that even, if you didn't do all organic (under $2 per pound for sure, maybe even $1 per pound or so). Pre made raw is very expensive, as is sourcing raw from the grocery store, but there are cheaper ways to do it. Hans eats roughly 10oz raw and just over 1 cup of kibble per day (a really heaping 1 cup scoop, and if he finishes that and begs I'll give him more kibble - he doesn't ask for more every day).

If you don't want to add a topper, or don't want to feed raw, I totally get that. I've been there. Just wanted to throw my experience out there in more detail now that I had time to write it all out.


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## fjm

Sophy could be classed as a slightly picky eater - she never liked kibble when the bag had been open more than a few days, she has decided preferences when it comes to texture (nothing gluey or gloopy), and she has occasionally made it very clear that the food in her bowl is inedible, and please can she have something else. Poppy eats anything and everything. But I have learned to listen to Sophy, especially since they were both decidedly unwell after eating Prize Choice turkey (Sophy ate most of the first serving, learned from the effects, and refused to touch it thereafter). I myself cannot tolerate any of the allium family - the effect of eating them is rather like gastric flu. 

I think that unless dogs have been taught that refusing food brings something better immediately, and certainly before they are really hungry, anorexia is likely to be down to some other cause - anxiety, discomfort brought on by eating, intolerance of some common ingredient, etc. So many reluctant eaters recover their appetites when offered "real" food (meat, eggs, vegetables, etc), or even canned or other commercial moist foods, that I do wonder whether kibble smells off to them, or is simply to boring to be worth chewing...


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## Tiny Poodles

FireStorm said:


> Even at his pickiest, Hans ate much better with other dogs around if we were dog sitting or visiting family/friends with dogs. He never missed a meal if there was competition. I think he'd eat something he didn't like just to keep another dog from getting it.



Oh yes, I seriously don't know how I would have gotten Tangee to eat in her final months without my secret weapon Timi dancing all around her trying to eat her food. And now Timi and I have a routine all worked out for Teaka. Timi sits on my lap while I give Teaka her one piece at a time, but if Teaka just stands there and stares at the food, I say "go bother Teaka", Timi jumps down and makes like she is going to steal the food, Teaka charges her, and Timi jumps back on my lap for a reward (tiny treat). If Teaka eats the food Timi gets her treat. If Teaka just stares at it again, I tell Timi that she didn't do a good enough job, try again, and she does.
I know you wouldn't find this in any dog training book, but hey, at a certain age, rules be damned, I will use food guarding in my favor because it works!


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## Mfmst

A few months ago, Buck began finishing all of his AM kibble. Clean plate club guy at nearly two years old. I guess he finally figured out that it doesn't get better tasting by sitting out


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