[Nadia K]

Hello everyone. I have a 15 pound bichon that will be 3 in September. From the time we got her at 11 weeks of age, she has been a picky eater. I used to feed her kibble but she never seemed all that interested in it. I tried many brands. She would eat them for a few days and then turn her nose up at them.

When she turned a year old I decided to try raw with her. Initially I gave her the Stella and Chewy freeze dried patties and she loved them. I then switched her over to the raw frozen patties as it was less expensive than the freeze dried. I also bought her patties made by other companies and rotated brands. For the most part she seemed to enjoy eating them.

Then in March we went to Florida for two months and my dog pretty much refused to eat. The only thing we could get her to eat was roast beef from the deli. I took her to the vet who told me she was perfectly healthy and if anything could stand to lose a pound. (I thank my hubby for that as he is always giving her bits of his dinner which she loves and too many treats.) The vet offered to give her something to induce her appetite but I was not crazy about that idea.

Well we have now been back home for 2 weeks and the problem continues. On some days she may eat a little of the beef patty but will not touch the turkey patty. My hubby keeps adding pieces of human food just to get her to eat and even then she might eat the human food and leave the raw.

Otherwise she seems totally healthy. Full of energy running around the house and barking at every person that goes by. She sleeps through the night with no issues as well. She loves her treats and bully sticks but getting her to eat her dog food is so frustrating. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks so much.

[jeanne e]

Honestly as hard as it is to do, try keeping the treats away from her completely. Those bully sticks, rawhide chews, ( < they swell up in tummy ) any goodies, are filling. If her health is fine, then when she gets hungry, she will eat. Being tiny the treats are yummier and might be why she is not eating completely.
I’ve had rescue dogs for 50 years and have learned quite a bit and still learning. I had to cut out dog treats because my dog was putting on weight and tore her cruciate. $4,000 for ACL surgery. Her weight was causing damage and she went from 60# to 42#s and felt a lot healthier.
Just a thought, but try filling a KONG up with low fat yogurt, oatmeal, some organic honey, organic peanut butter and mix in some kibble. Freeze overnight, put a towel on doggie bed and let her go at it. My dogs loved them. Having 3 dogs at once I used to make up about 5 days worth and freeze them. You can slowly add more and more kibble and less yogurt. Just work out the consistancy so the food stays in.

[Patricia A]

My elderly mom has recently moved into our home after my dad passed. I have two Chihuahuas’ and now three with her Chihuahua Sophie. We lived close by and I would be going over to walk her dog and with meals before moving in. Her dog came to use overweight, however refused to eat from bowl. She would stand at table and bark and scratch leg for our food. Then I would see my mom feeding her from her plate. Having the start of dementia she did not remember request to PLEASE do not feed from plate because she is not eating her dog food from bowl because so used to being fed all day .
My two get a little hard boiled egg in morning. Dinner is various brands of freeze dried in different proteins/flavors they got introduced to SLOWLY. This being primal, Stella Chewy’s and Bixbi Rawbble and Open Farm for a snack of one or two little round nugget. Also just introduced Small Batch Beef which they love. Always moistened with a little warm water and a little Stella Chewy’s Grain free Chicken kibble on top. In between they get boiled chicken , string beans, carrots. Boiled salmon or if they are lucky some lean steak when we have.
Well I made SURE to watch my mom carefully not to give dog her scrambled egg , toast, pizza etc. from her plate. If she didn’t want her very tasty and nutritional I give to my two then I would take away bowl. After doing this for a few days she now got out of the habit of thinking she rather eat my moms food and now eats her own and enjoys it. Her stools are better and she is losing weight from all constant feeding she was getting all day from her.
So please NO in-between from your husband. Stick to what you were giving her if her stools are good and no stomach upset. She will start to enjoy her meals if knows holding out for bits of husbands dinner. As I wrote, same exact scenario with Sophie and problem solved if you stick to it. Introduce slowly if you give other flavors of freeze dried also. They all LOVE Primal Turkey/Sardine by the way .
Hope this helps.

[Nadia K]

Thank you for your suggestions ladies. Treats are definitely an issue and I need to monitor that closely for sure. And hubby feeding her from the table has definitely made the problem worse. Patricia I am sorry to hear of your dad’s passing. Taking in your mom and her dog must be a big job and I commend you for it.

I tried something different today just to see what would happen. My vet is not a fan of raw and recommended that I at least sear her patties before feeding her. So that is what I did this morning. I also mixed in some left over veggies from last nights dinner. Well the little stinker ate the entire bowl.

So now I really am not sure how to proceed forward. She may eat it like this for a while and then look her nose up at it. I am also considering trying something like the base mix by Honest Kitchen and adding fresh meat to it.

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