my picky little dog wont eat, wats the best food for her

okay my little dog is a yr old we've been on this roller coaster about being to picky that she wont eat. i get very upset when her ribs show and her back bones but i've tried to hand feed her and all but alas she takes it and drops then waits for me to give her something better. im thinking the wellness dog food or the blue buffalo and another that has buffalo in it i cant remember the name. i would cook for her but have no time. tomorrow ill try to entice to eat but if that doesnt work ill put in some soft can food to get her more interested in it.

Blue Buffalo has a record of dogs not initially liking it...not much flavor...It is one of the best foods on the market though. I tossed some egg yoke in with mine and dog ate it. Latley I have just been making big batches of Dog fried rice....brown rice/brewers rice chicken (usually left overs from dinner or cook out,,,freeze the scraps/skin/fat it last in a ziplock pretty well) and eggs cook it all together in a big pot. If you have time this is great for most dogs coats...downside my dog farts everytime he jumps off the couch now....try scrambling an egg and tossing it on the food or adding wet food for a while.

okay i can add wet food for her but i have to keep the wet food from my bfs dog bc it gives her the runs, my bfs dog eats like no other too sometimes eats both bowls but i try to keep the bowls apart but my bf is not so inclined in doing it plus he defends his dog very well..... if thats the right word. i would cook but i dont cook, my boyfriend does lol, i go to school and work at night not much time. ill add soft food maybe some eggs....

what type of dog, and has it always been on this food, or did you make a big jump and change his/her food all at once?

You can try sprinkling parmesan cheese on the food to entice her to eat. Don't be afraid to buy the best dog foods. It pays off in their health later.

Blue buffalo is the best

Pedigree chopped chicken and rice is what poopy eats, she wont eat beef or anything other than the chicken. One of the standard size cans is 2 days food, the bigger cans is 3. Poopy needs the wet food because she is missing a lot of teeth. Your dog is 1/2 Shih Tzu right? try any of the canned pedigree foods with chicken and I bet she will eat it.
Do the change slowly or she will get the runs.

you can always put her on a counter or table to eat so your bf's dog cant get to her food. Again I had to do that with poopy as well.

#1 most important thing anytime you change food do it gradually. Mix new food with old food and then slowly stop using the old food... (any dog no matter how strong the stomach can get diarrea with a food change).

#2 read the ingredients on the dog food label! Real meat should be the first ingredient. Corn, soybeans, rice are good for a dog but shouldn't be the first ingredient! Also meat "By-products" shouldn't be the first ingredient. Real meat dog food is more expensive (such as Blue Buffalo) however it has more nutrition and dogs will eat less. The cheaper foods with out the meat have less nutrition and therefore dogs will eat more, so in the end you pay about the same... except with the cheap food there's a lot more POOP!

#3 a very light amount of garlic powder will lure the most picky dog to eat! It's not bad for them at all.

#4 if this dog still won't eat and you're seeing ribs, a vet check-up might be in order. A stool sample and some bloodwork could answer the problem.

JB

jb1edlover wrote:

#1 most important thing anytime you change food do it gradually. Mix new food with old food and then slowly stop using the old food... (any dog no matter how strong the stomach can get diarrea with a food change).

#2 read the ingredients on the dog food label! Real meat should be the first ingredient. Corn, soybeans, rice are good for a dog but shouldn't be the first ingredient! Also meat "By-products" shouldn't be the first ingredient. Real meat dog food is more expensive (such as Blue Buffalo) however it has more nutrition and dogs will eat less. The cheaper foods with out the meat have less nutrition and therefore dogs will eat more, so in the end you pay about the same... except with the cheap food there's a lot more POOP!

#3 a very light amount of garlic powder will lure the most picky dog to eat! It's not bad for them at all.

#4 if this dog still won't eat and you're seeing ribs, a vet check-up might be in order. A stool sample and some bloodwork could answer the problem.

JB

Good info!! Also try to look for foods without animal digest as an ingredient. You may also need to think about the fact that she may be allergic to some ingredients in the foods that you have tried or they make her belly hurt. They are pretty smart and won't eat stuff they know is going to make them sick.

if youre seeing/ and feeling her bones you should supplement her with nutri cal.

ya i might ur some of that bc my mom got a 13 oz yorkie and thats wat we fed her and ground big macs lmao. shes always been picky, she will eat then stop eating, i think shes bored with it. i used to get her to eat if i hand fed her but its not working anymore. shes a malti-shitzu, 7lbs give or tak, came from a puppy mill but got her cared and checked out so nothin wrong their. but wen i got her she was skin and bones as well. she never liked any food some canned food she doesnt care for at all. she doesnt like garlic lol. she will look at u and say wat the hell is that!!!!

Try the pedigree chicken can food, it may be part tooth problems, Shih Tzu's tend to get snaggle teeth and some have issues with dry food.

i hand fed her some dry food she ate a little but wen i added some soft food it was gone, lol. she had a hayday with that. gave her a small spoon full, very small and grounded in into her hard food. i might fully supplement her with softfood and give her those dentabones for her teeth.

You should try adding some cut up green beans to the dry food but drizzle some of the juice out the can over the dry. We give our 5 little pup kids green beans time to time. We make sure to get the sodium free tho.

FYI - never never ever!!! give your dog a food that includes CORN. It is an additive filler, does nothing for the dog except cause allergies in 75% of all dogs, is high in fat and a million other reasons it is never included in any quality dog food.

The more cr@p in the dog food their body can't utilize the more cr@p in the yard you have to clean up.

Evo is the NUMBER ONE dog food. Highest quality ingredients of any dog food. There are many others with good quality ingredients, but many of those foods also include lesser quality ingredients as well.

Find a local feed store or pet specialty store, if they don't carry it, they can order it!

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this site is awesome!!! but it's down quite often and luckily back up again
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TO GET YOUR DOG TO EAT:
Sounds like u found a wet food she would eat, but if you continue to have any problems...

Cook/warm the can food first in a pan on the stove. It gets their salivation glands going with anticipation and makes it taste better. Then add just a tablespoon or so of it to the dry and mix it up.

Yes you can add other rice and veggies, but beware of allergies and GAS. Small amounts of Gas-x are ok for dogs, look online or ask vet for dosage.
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Good luck with ur pup!

Hate to say it but there is ALWAYs time to cook... Put a 2 cups of water on the range and turn it up high.. Go feed 1/2 your fish, come back, add a cup of rice Cover tightly. Feed the other half of your fish. Rice is done. (10 minutes of cooking on the rice).. One cup of rice will flavor more than a week of dry dog food for a 7 lb dog. I also will put a cup of water in a saucer, throw in a chicken breast and cook while feeding the fish.. Once done and cooled, dice it up and add to the rice. Nightly throw a fry pan on the stove, scoop a bit of rice/chicken mixture and warm it up a bit... with a splash of water.. pour over the dry dog food. Total feed / cook time for a week? 30 minutes. Bill

Brown rice n hamburg cooked n strained!