Tempting Fussy Eaters

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First, I must say, I do not believe in catering to fussy eaters. To me, fussy eaters are made, not born, and it’s simply a bad habit that many people encourage.  For dogs that are just naughty in not eating, then I strongly recommend Sue Ailsby’s guide to teaching a dog to eat.

However, sometimes, there are medical reasons that may mean that a dog is disinclined to eat.  For Clover, her pregnancy has made her nauseous and cease to eat.  Sometimes, in times of extreme stress (such as in boarding kennels), dogs choose not to eat.  In these cases, it’s often cyclic – I know that when I don’t eat, I feel sick, and so I don’t want to eat.  I am sure the same principle applies to dogs.  There is also a rumour that dogs reduce stress by eating, so another positive in encouraging a dog to eat.

For times of medical need, or stress, I’ve compiled a list of tactics to encourage a dog to eat. These should only be used when medical illness has been ruled out and only on a short term basis.

Competition and hand feeding – two possible options for a fussy eater.

Changing the Food

(Please note: All these food changes have the potential to give your dog diarrhea! Proceed with caution.)

  • If you feed dry food, try soaking the dry food.  This makes it smell more appealing, changes its texture, and can often encourage a dog to eat.  Soaking dry is also a recommended strategy for reducing the risk of bloat – so win/win situation!
  • For an extra kick, try soaking the dry food in stock.  Using chicken stock or anything else you may have can also entice a dog that’s off their food.
  • Many dogs find warmed up food to be more enticing.  Regardless of what you’re feeding, warming it can help. Keep in mind that dogs are more sensitive to hot-temperatures in food than we are (so don’t heat it up too much).  Warming food increases the aroma, and so also increases the appeal.
  • If this hasn’t worked, you may have to move to making purchases: can food, or cat food are good starts. You could also try canned sardines.
  • If none of this has worked, then the top order is the roast chicken.  Almost all dogs will take roast chicken. Make sure you remove all bones.
  • Another option is to make satin balls.  Many dogs like satin balls, and they are often used to put weight on dogs.  If your dog has been off their food for a while, feeding satin balls may improve the weight situation.

Changing the Environment

  • Dogs often respond well to competition.  If you run a multi-dog household, feeding dogs side-by-side may encourage the fussy one to eat.  Keep in mind that many dogs harbour a degree of food aggression, and you must monitor situations like this very closely.  If you have a dog that you know is very food aggressive, this may not be the best strategy for you.
  • For some reason, dogs think food is more desirable if you hand feed them.
  • Dogs like to feel like they’ve earned it!  Many dogs are used to the structure of being cued (“sit”) and then being given a treat for performing this cue. They seem to take treats instinctively in these kind of scenarios.

For Clover, we found that changing the environment was the best way of getting her to eat.  However, we did sample a range of food available in the supermarket and found she likes ‘Chunkers‘, a kind of cooked meat that is rolled into little meat balls.  Out of all the things she could be tempted by, Chunkers is probably not that bad (though not my preference!) for her and her puppies. Her nausea has reduced and she has a returned appetite, but is still not the kind of appetite we’re used to.

I hope these things help for encouraging your dog to eat.  I would like to hear if you have any further tips on encouraging fussy eaters.

6 thoughts on “Tempting Fussy Eaters”

  1. Nice thoughts about dogs. I have friends who often ask me what to do when their dogs do not eat properly or sometimes eat more. Your blog will help me to give proper reply to them regarding what to do and what not to do. In fact, as a dog owner and a pet trainer, I would recommend people to take their dogs to dog training centers where they can be trained well to eat food on time.

  2. My dog Julian, 18 kg 1/4 Bordercollie 3/4 ?, would eat well some days and some days not. He liked the grated cheese I added to his dry food, the meat or chicken broth, the hand feeding, the spreading it throughout the apt and having him find it or walking by it and not touching it til I gave the command to go get it. Just before I resorted to candles and playing the violin while he ate, I had to leave him at a friends house who borded dogs for 8 days while I went out of the country to attend my mother’s funeral. When I returned he had eaten very little, was thin, and had developed his skin rash again (his vet says it is due to meat or stress. He had it as an abandoned puppy, starving and with a broken leg). She gave me a special shampoo, a no meat order, and an Omega 3, Omega 6, vitamin E oil to add to his food. He now sits nicely, like always, before his bowl (with just his dry food) and when I say “good boy, for Julian” I have to get out of the way fast cause he runs to his bowl and does not stop til it is empty. This has now gone on for three weeks. No more feeding problems and the oil is natural and good for his skin and fur. Worth a try!

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  4. mu dog is a Malteze Shitzu aged 20 months, she sometimes goes more than a day before eating. I have had the vet around and she said nothing is wrong with her, she is not underweight. I give her the best Ziwi Peak food and also a veterinary a
    Proved meat roll. She will always eat a treat but don’t quite know what do give her and I’m worried. Thank you Helen

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