My dog won't eat scheduled meals or wet food. What can I do?

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are a few things you can do to make his food more palatable while he gets used to it. For example, you may add low sodium chicken broth, veterinary approved gravy which you can get at your pet store or pieces of boiled chicken to it. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I understand your frustration. Soska will not choose starvation. I would put her meal down and give her a set amount of time to eat it then pick it up. Do that for several days to a week and see if she starts to finish her meals. Keep treats to a minimum. If after a week she still isn't finishing her meals then try adding water to the food to make it more tempting. You can try a different type of food after 2 weeks in case she doesn't like the food. If she continues for several weeks Soska should be evaluated by your Vet for any medical reason for her poor appetite. I hope this helps. For my dog it simply took adding water to his dry food and now he eats it without us having to sit with him.

Some dogs are just picky eaters or are not very food driven. So we have some dogs, like your typical labrador, that will eat anything and everything within 30 seconds of it being put down, and others that are more picky and graze throughout the day. There are not necessarily medical drawbacks to leaving her food down throughout the day, or at least leaving it down for a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening. Sometimes unfortunately with dogs who are picky we just have to be tough and not offer them a different food every time they decide they aren't excited about their current one. We can predispose dogs to food allergies if we are changing their foods all the time and we do get allergies later in life it is much harder to find a good diet for them. I would choose one food and stick with it, and she will eventually get hungry and eat it. The exception is toy breed puppies which can develop hypoglycemia if they go too long without eating https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952329 , but adult dogs should be able to tolerate this. I am a fan of the purina pro plan line, which is available at most pet stores and is good quality, they also have dry diets, wet diets, and their Savor line has kibbles along with softer/chewy kibbles which my dogs love. If there is some treat that she is very fond of you can mix it in with the food that you want her to eat and slowly decrease the amount of the treat each day so she gets used to the other food. Some people find putting some low sodium chicken broth on the food can entice them to start eating a food and you can slowly decreas the amount placed on the food, or warming food up slightly makes it more appetizing.

Hello, and thank you for your question. Stela is a beautiful dog. It is possible that she is just being picky. I would try to very gradually mix in the dry food into her wet diet, for example each day feed a bit more kibble and less wet food. I generally advise against raw diets, as they can harbour bacteria and cause serious illness in both dogs and the people who handle the food. Try sticking to commercial kibble and wet food, with the goal of transitioning onto kibble over time. Experiment with different brands, and hopefully you will find something that she likes! If she seems at all unwell (low energy, vomiting, diarrhea), then I would worry about a medical cause for the low appetite, and recommend taking her to the vet. They can check for things like a gut infection, parasites, food allergies, etc. I hope this helps, and that Stela is feeling well!

You can try mixing a teaspoon of the Luvsome food into the Bil-Jac diet to stimulate her appetite. Some warm water in the dry food may also help. Dogs thrive on routine, so try to feed at the same time every day. Prepare Juju's meal and leave it down for 20-30 minutes before picking it up whether she has eaten or not. Repeat this at the next mealtime. Do not feed any other food between meals. Be firm. She will not starve herself. She will eat when she is hungry. Do not allow her to train you to feed what she wants, when she wants it.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! She is adorable by the way! What I recommend is actually limiting the amount of time the food is available to her. For example, you can leave her food out for 1 hour, if she does not eat it all, you take it away and offer it again the next day. Eventually, she will understand that her food is only going to be out for a certain amount of time and will have a more regular eating habit. Another thing you can do is split what you feed her in 2 feedings. Both ways could work well for her. Good luck and have a good evening!

Honey has decided what her diet will be, but that's not her job . . . it's yours. Stop feeding her all different foods. The changes probably upset her stomach, making her feel even less like eating.. Put regular dog food in a bowl on the floor without fuss and leave it for 15 minutes. After that time, pick it up whether she has eaten or not. Do not give her anything--no treats, snacks or human food--until her next scheduled mealtime. Then repeat the process. It may take several times for her to realize that there will be no otrher food, and that she must eat what you have given her. Remember that you are not starving her–she is CHOOSING not to eat when she does have access to food. This is a battle of wills. When she is hungry enough, she’ll give in and eat, and your problem will be solved. Do not weaken or "feel sorry" for her. It will only make it harder to correct. She must have a nutritionally complete diet, and what you are feeding her now is not sufficient. Good luck!