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Originally Posted by LC598  I too had a picky eater. This might sound hard and boy does it make you feel bad but I tried it and it works.
Cut out all treats. Put the food down, whichever you decide you want to feed them. Leave it down for 20 mins. If it is not eaten by then pick it up and throw it away. Try the same at lunch time and then again at dinner time. If they don't eat any of it during the day still resist from giving them treats. Do the same the following day. They may not eat for a few day. My little girl went 4 days and then ate. As soon as they have eaten give them a treat. Continue you this everyday and eventually they will eat. If you keep changing their food they will test you just to wait to see what is next. It took 3 or 4 months to get my little girl eating. She now eats almost everyday.
Trust me, it will work. You have to be strong. My little one wouldn't eat anything at all exept treats. Now she eats a mixture of wet and dry food. |
I somewhat agree with this. Cut out the treats, and feed them the same thing each day at certain times maybe 2-3 times per day. Leave it down for 20 minutes. Whatever they eat, pick it back up after the time is up. In a day or two, they WILL eat. They're just waiting for you to come up with some other gourmet dish for them-they're only picky because they CAN be. Just like kids
With all that in mind, be sure to watch them for hypoglycemic symptoms. If you're unsure or worried about it, give them a little NutriCal or rub some Karo syrup on their gums.
I would also strongly recommend that you stick with the homemade diet. It's so much better for your dogs-at least you know what's actually in their food, and you can control the ingredients, and give them a variety of different things off and on. You might try raw meat instead of cooked-they may be more eager to eat it that way. My dogs also really like sweet potato, frozen green peas, and lettuce. I know that Marci's dog Layla will eat her dinner, as long as it has grated cheddar cheese on top!
You could also try and use fruits and veggies as treats instead of store bought to get them accustomed to healthy food-try frozen peas, bits of cheese, pieces of peeled apple or banana, broken whole-wheat crackers, plain cheerios, or a little yogurt. It's not expensive or complicated, because you probably have many of those things in your kitchen already!
I would also encourage you to try some of the recipes found in the sticky on homemade foods. Some are very easy and cost effective to make, and they're a hit with my dogs for sure!
If you're worried about them getting the right nutrients, I recommend the Healthy Powder from the book by Dr. Pitcairn.
If you really want to use kibble, try a quality brand, like the Canidae or Orijen for one meal each day. I feed my dogs kibble in the morning, mixed with 1 tsp. cottage cheese each. I would probably not feed the Caesar food or the other low quality canned foods. Many times they are not healthy for your dog, and can cause other health issues. Check it out at
www.dogfoodanalysis.com.
If you have questions, or need recipe ideas or other help, please PM me, I'm happy to help you out!