will not eat dog food
 

i haave a year old yorkie, Mica. We adopted her 2 weeks ago. she has been to the vet and updated on shots, etc. she is adorable. problem is she will NOT eat dog food. i have tried many, many brands, canned and dry, the good stuff. she will eat gr beef, chicken sometimes with veggies i cook. but not always. now she has on and off diahrria. would not eat much today. at a bite of cheese and that was it. looks like a trip to the vet. but what to feed and how to is a big issue now. help!

Welcome to YT! Congratulations on your new pup.

What was Mica eating before you adopted her? Where did she come from?

Dogs will often stop eating when they are adjusting to a new home. Keep in mind also that they are very in tune with humans and if you appear the slightest bit anxious about the food, she is going to think something is wrong with it and not want to eat it.

Choose a food and commit to it. If she was eating a decent diet before, that would be the best choice. Put the food in her dish at mealtime and act excited about it. If she doesn't eat right away, don't fret or show anxiety. Don't offer alternatives.

Try playing games with the kibble (if that is the diet you choose). Use the kibble for potty break and general training rewards. If you communicate to her that the kibble is special and desirable, she will want to eat it.

Also, don't be concerned if she doesn't eat really fast. Both of my boys were grazers until they were closer to 2 years old.

will not eat dog food
 

Mica was temp adopted by my aunt. did not work our due to elderly schnauzer. she sold her to my kids as an early bd gift to me. her diet was unknown. all we knew was she had puppy shots and spent most of her life on a back porch. i am potty training her also. she is my constant shadow and hates me out of her sight. i love her bunches already so i am very worried about her food. she has bad knees too.

I'm happy that you have a lovely little companion. :)

Everything I have read and heard indicates that it is very rare that a dog would purposely starve itself. Follow my advice above, and you will train her to eat her food. If Mica senses you are worried and learns that you will keep offering alternatives, I guarantee you will have a problem eater for life. That is often what leads to people offering more enticements, "people food" or table scraps, that end up un-balancing the diet and contributing to serious health problems.

How much does Mica weigh?

Another way to encourage eating is to have physical activity, like a walk, before mealtime. Then present her food happily and with confidence. Don't fret if she doesn't eat. Some people recommend picking up the bowl after 15 minutes and not giving more food until the next mealtime (don't put down stale kibble for the next meal, however).

For the first year of Max's life, I hand fed a lot of his kibble. He performed "sits" and other obedience tricks for me and I rewarded him with a kibble from his dish.

When we adopt pups to people we let them know that the pup might not eat for a few days. That is very, very common. The worst thing to do is to keep offering other foods, especially table foods that could end up making them sick.

My advice is to put the food down twice/day and leave it for about 15 minutes. Pick it up if she does not eat it. She will learn that there are specific meal times. Usually only a day or two of that and they begin to eat.

Welcome to YT! :)

Try mixing in a little baby food. Turkey or chicken works best. I get the kind that only has turkey/chicken and water. BCA

You could try mixing things in it to get her to eat like cottage cheese but honestly I think we make these dogs picky eaters and if you just put the food down she will eat it eventually. Dogs dont starve themselves

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I agree.

It's nice to see a dog liking their food, but I think sometimes owners don't push the issue enough. No need to go out and buy 5 different flavors of food. My dogs have two choices at mealtime: Take it or leave it. They always take it, so I have no problem giving them treats (food strike = no treats from me). Thankfully, my dogs have never went on strike though. But their loss if they decide to.

Now if a pup doesn't eat for days and days, talk to the vet. And if they barely pick at their food for weeks, then it's time to consider changing one time to see if they just really hated it.

My Jack stopped eating food for a week and when I asked a friend about it and guess what it was ?
It was the shiny stainless steel bowls he was eating out of, when he was eating the food he could
see the reflection of another dog in the bottom of his bowl and of course it was his reflection :animal36

Bowls changed for pot ones and he's now happy and scoffs his food :thumbup:

Margaret & Jack :animal-pa

Be careful with baby food and make sure to read the ingredients closely. Some contain onion powder and other things you would not want to feed your dog.

:thumbup::thumbup:

I got my baby when she was a puppy but she never liked dog food. I ended up finding some recipes from this forum and made her food for several months and also gave her supplements. I did find from cooking for her that she hated anything with grain in it. When I substituted sweet potato for the grain she loved the food. I finally started her on Stella & Chewy's freeze dried dog food and she loved it. Some feel it is too high in protein for a Yorkie but she has done very well with it. I also give her Nature's Variety kibble mixed in the Stella & Chewy's. Sometimes she will lick the S& C off and spit out the kibble but other times she will eat all of it.
It is imperative that you do not give your dog any treats or human food when trying to get it to eat dog food. The dog may starve it's self for a day or two but that is alright as long as this is a healthy adult dog. Make sure fresh water is always available of course. Sometimes a dog will have different ideas as to where they want to eat. Gracie hates dog food dishes and I had to hand feed her to get her started. Don't give up. Cooking for your dog is fine but it is best to get her on a good quality dog food.