I need your help with Jack!
 

Jack is at it again! He ate the Royal Canin Puppy bites for a while but he has stopped eatting again. He has never eaten well anyway but his little tummy is completely empty and I am just at my wits end trying to find something he will eat and keep eating. Oh, I have had him looked at by the vet several times and they can find nothing wrong with him health wise that could be causing this. Please let me know what you think. I would love to know what you feed your puppies that are VERY picky. Thanks so much in advance.

Riddick use to be really picky also... I was soooo scared that he'd starve himself.. I sometimes had to mix a bit of cottage cheese with his food to get him to eat.. That did the trick most of the time..
hope that helps...
Riddicks Mommy:aimeeyork

Thanks so much! I sent my hubby to Wal-Mart to get some cottage cheese. He is just so happy with me right now! (haha!!) He said it is an absolute madhouse in there. Thanks again and have a great Christmas:)

Not sure how old your Jack is.

I received this reply from Dr Jane Bicks, DVM in reference to a similar situation.

Puppies are notorious for being poor eaters. They are too interested in life to give food a second thought. Unlike us, conditioned to eat at certain times, when they get hungry, they will eat.

Your puppy may simply be spoiled and is waiting for you to give in and make him an exciting meal. As long as he has no sign of illness and is active, you can win this match. You simply must resist those puppy eyes. Put his food out, and he will eat when he is hungry, provided he isn't ill.

I feed Life's Abundance which is formulated by Dr Jane and both my dogs love it, even my very finicky Lab Mix.

Speaking of my Lab Mix she has always picked one day out of the month where she doesn't eat at all, we understand this now and don't worry about it because we know she will begin eating again the next day.

Hope this helps, Merry Christmas!

I don't know how old Jack was when you got him...We got Sadie when she was 7 weeks old...waaaaaayyy to young...she was a horrible eater! I had to hand feed her sometimes but, if this is how I could get food into her then that is what I would do...I tried every good food you could imagine...I gave more bags of food to my daughter (she has 2 goldens...they eat anything!) that Sadie just would not eat. I finally got her to eat Wellness brand...she lasted on that for about 6 months...didn't want that anymore...then I went to Innova...by this time she is 2 yrs old...I kept her on Innova for quite a while until we got Lillie...Lillie came to us on Nutro Ultra Puppy...Sadie wouldn't have anything to do with her food anymore so I changed her to the adult formula....I also would boil chicken and cut up a very small amount and add it to her kibbles...most of the time she would only eat the chicken...I leave her kibbles out all day...she will sometimes eat them....I had read that I thought Nutro Ultra was a good dog food, it is but only got a 3 star rating. I am changing them both over to Canidae...soft and kibbles...gave them their first meal tonight and they ate it all....Lillie has never been fussy she will eat what ever you put down for her!
If he doesn't like the cottage cheese (Sadie didn't like it) try boiling some chicken breast and add a small amount to his kibbles...kinda like squeeze it onto the kibble or else he will just eat the chicken...

Believe me...I know what you are going through.
Good Luck and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Oh I feel for you. We went through this with Georgia for many months when we first got her. The only advice I can give is time and patience. Depending on how old he is..put his food down at exactly the same time each day. Leave it down for 20 minutes or so. If he doesns't eat take up the dish and don't give anything until the next scheduled feeding. I did this for Georgia and she finally figured it out. I would supplement with a little nutrical in between if I thought her sugar was low from lack of food. Not too much though because too much nutrical can squash their appetites. No in between snacks either. I know we are so paranoid when these little ones don't eat. You'll be able to tell by his behvior if he's not eating enough..otherwise just keep to the schedule. Good Luck!

Thanks everyone! We tried the cottage cheese and he would not touch it. He just tried to bury it with his toys. It is funny watching him because if he does not like something, he will cover it up with whatever is closest to him. It is really like he is trying to prove a point to me and I am just not getting it! He was 10 weeks old when we got him. I had to force feed him with a syringe for quite a while. He is now 6 1/2 months old. I will try boiling chicken and putting it in his food. I really hope he gets out of this phase he's in soon! Thanks again. I'm just so afraid of losing him. I've become very attached to both of them!

Nutro has a chicken and cheese gourmet food for puppies. It comes in pouches. It's a little more expensive, but my finnicky puppy LOVES it. I started mixing it in with the Nutro kibble, and she would eat around the kibble so I had to just give it to her by itself. Although I don't like the idea of her eating only soft food.

Now I give her Science Diet kibble and she eats that really well.
It's been about a month and I've gotten her to the point where she will eat just the kibble, or Science Diet canned food mixed in with the dry. She loves that. Not to mention that her coat looks amazing since the switch from Nutro to Science Diet.

My other pup will eat anything.

I guess it's just trial and error. Good luck!

Mine are real picky but eat the royal canin hard. They also eat Lil Caesar moist too. You could try mixing the food with a little scrambled egg

My dogs are picky eaters too. I buy braunswieger (found in the grocery store by the lunch meats) and slice a thin slice of it, warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds and then smash it up in their food. They all love it. It doesnt take alot, just enough to flavor the food. Give it a try and I hope it works for you.

Barb

I have truly tried everything in the world with Hope too! My lab is having a BALL eating all of the kids I bought for her. I have had to resort to "cooking" for her... I am using boiled chicken, carrots and rice. I have talked to the vet several times and he also advised, at her weight "do what you gotta do" to get her to eat(she is 4 1/2 lbs). I even bought wellness that I thought she would surely eat, but nope..... she does get crunchy doggie treats so i dont worry about her teeth.
I wish there were a miracle dog food out there they would all eat! If anyone knows a miracle food, I would love to know....