Picky eater -- Should I let her starve ?
 

I have a 9 month old 5.5 lbs pup that is a picky eater. I mixed her canidae kibbles with one spoon of wet food (merrick or evanger). Recently she has not been eating consistently even with mixed food. I feed her twice a day, sometimes she eats nothing the next day she eats more. I do not want to make her picky and wants her to eat just dry kibbles. If I let her starve by just giving the kibbles, how long or how many days can she starve ? She is otherwise active and healthy.

Feed her some nutracal if she is not eating and take her to the vet

Mine won't always eat either, it's like they are too busy or forget...when that happens I will sit by their bowl and hand feed them and they will eat. It makes me feel much better when they eat something! I don't have to do this everyday, but I will do it if necessary. Good luck.

have you tried giving her different kind of food besides the one you have been given her ??

morgan is 4ish pounds and some days she doesn't eat either and i just let it go. She's never had a hypoglycemic episode and i don't worry about it. She's not one to go straight for her dry food so i leave it out all day in her pen while i'm not at home. i'm sure she has a couple pieces but she mostly eats at 10pm for some reason. If she doesn't eat or if i don't see her eat i dont worry about it. the food is there and if she wants it she can eat it otherwise she's only starving herself.

as long as the food is there and you know that your dog will eat it then don't worry about it. if you can tell your pup is holding out then i wouldn't give her anything else. she's just trying to get you to give her the good stuff and by doing so she wins and will do it again and again. at least thats what morgan tries to do LOL

Sonysw, I have the same problem with mine being picky. He is 5 months old and has about driven me to pull my hair out. I've been told by my vet tech that has owned and does own numerous Yorkies. She told me they were very finicky about their food. She said that it teaches them to be more finicky when we cater to them and change their food on their every whim. But I've read the posts on here and many people have switched around trying to find the one their furbaby likes the best. Many have done wonderfully and had no problems. But not me! Some have even switched their baby to home cooking. That's what I did. I've been doing it about a week now and I'm back to square one. Sparky is picking at his food, only eating a little here and a little there. I give him yogurt (he now refuses it), cottage cheese, egg (he'll eat a little scrambled), chicken, beef, pork, mixed veggies (he loved in the beginning, now turns up his nose), carrots, pasta, brown rice. I don't know what to do. I leave kibble down (Merricks and Solid Gold Wee Bits) and he may eat a bite here or there. I have tried Merricks canned and he won't touch it (Pupply Plate). I got some samples a few months ago from Natural Balance and he liked the rolls, so I went out and bought one of each. Now he turns his nose up. I got some samples of Canidae and he liked the chicken and rice. I may go try that. I don't know how to deal with this either. I've had dogs all my life and I always free fed them (left a bowl of kibbles out and they ate when they were hungry) but I heard all these horror stories about hypogycemia with Yorkies and was petrified. Sparky has never had that happen, and of course it may be due to his bigger size. He's over what I've heard AKC says is the standard 7 lbs. He weighs 7 lb 8 ounces. So if anyone out there can give us some pointers, I'd love to hear. I'll be going out of town the 29th of this month and leaving my daughter in charge of Sparky. I worry that he will go through one of his picky stages and not eat much. So Yorkie yakkers.........help us! Will they starve themself or will they break down and eat what's available? Yorkies I have heard are very stubborn.

Obviously she does not like Canidae! I would try something else.
Natural Balance, Wellness, Chicken Soup there are lots of high end
foods out there. I would also add some boiled chicken breast to her food
and a couple of teaspoons of fat free chicken broth to make it tempting
to eat. She is just telling you the food taste YUKKY!
Don't let her go hungary, that's uncalled for. Sometimes it takes a
couple of tries before you find the right one.
Good luck,

This has been the biggest source of frustration and worry for me. Chloe does the same thing. I recently switched to free-feeding her because of it. It really does not seem to matter what you feed them. As I say, Chloe loathes all food equally. Just like Kalina82 above posted, I just have to let it go. She will sometimes not eat for a whole day, sometimes two. I have just had to learn to not worry about it, though that is hard to do sometimes. I have tried to actually put kibbles in her mouth before. She only spits them out, and then she thinks I'm being mean, so I didn't try that one again. She is fine. She's not plump by any means, but she's not too thin either. She has good energy, has never shown any signs of hypoglycemia.

I feed Royal Canin dry, because that is the one she seems to despise the least. And yes, I've tried homemade, canned, everything, and she does the exact same thing. Been there, done that.

If she seems healthy, I wouldn't worry about it. You can't force her to eat.

Rex was like that for a while. What I do is:
1. Make sure he's pooped already-- if he has to poop, he will not eat.
2. We go on at least two twenty minute walks a day. When he gets inside, he's tired and is hungry.

I've figured out that Rex will only eat when he needs energy. That may be how they all are. The know when they're hungry. Also, I crunch Rex's kibble because he's teething and I don't want him to get discouraged.

Thank you for all your help. I have tried many kibbles but I think she likes canidae the best. She used to eat it dry without wet food, so I know she is fine with it. She stoped eat the dry and I start mix it with wet food. She eats well for 2-3 months and then go to this mood again. She is otherwise active and healthy. She poops and pees regularly (in the smaller amount). My next question is what is the chance of a 9 month old pup having hypoglycemia ?? She never had hypoglycemia even when she was small.

I would say it is highly unlikely that she will have a hypoglycemic episode. But just to be safe, you could put some karo syrup in her water.

One person said they got samples of several kinds of dog food, then put them all out at one time to see which one they ate the best. Another person said her dog would noit eat out of a certain type of dish, and still another said her dog preferred to eat off the floor.

So there are a few things you can try, but I do believe i would switch to free feeding the dry, and she might just eat a nibble now and then, but throughout the day it adds up. Maybe she is just not hungry at the times that you feed her.

Also remember that in the dog world, they sometimes did not have food every day. I have 4 yorkies, and I free feed, Some days between the 4 of them, they won't empty the disd and other days I have to fill it twice.

If you work and the dog sleeps most of the day that will make a difference too, as opposed to dogs who play off and on all day. A lone yorkie probably does not play as much as those who have a playmate. So as an ultimate recourse, you could use it as an excuse to get another yorkie.

she probably eats better when she's growing.

Mine are very finicky too. I have also tried tons of different foods. Right now I have a mixer of Purian One, Pro plan, UltraMix, Canidae all dry.....
They seem fine on this ... for now :rolleyes:

I free feed as well. Sometimes Cody will go 2-3 days without eating. He just nibbles here and there. Sometimes I have to fill his dish each day. Just depends. I personally think they are NOT going to starve themselves, JMO.
When they are hungry if it is out they will eat. JMO though.

Good luck. If your baby isn't acting sick then don't worry about it. If you are worried then give her/him some nutracal. :thumbup:

Probably you are right. She eats much better if she is tired. I took her for a walk in the morning and she usually eats better. I just hate that i have mixed the food and ends up wasted because she does not it.

I have tried many type of kibbles (more than 8 types) and i don't think that is the issue, the last time she stops eating because I change her kibbles to merrick and she stops eating even if i mixed the food.

let her starve for a while, if she does not eat well on the 3rd day i will probably make her chicken soup.

Dogs are labeled "finiky" eaters when they don't eat as much as we "think" they should. They also become "finiky" eaters if they are having any medical issues. However, they do reject food if they don't "like" it!! I've never seen a dog turn up it's nose to "real" food. Dog food is NOT real food. Try some ground lamb or veal with some rice.

Yorkiedaze, I have been feeding Sparky chicken, beef, pork, brown rice, steamed mixed veggies, pasta, etc. for about a week. He has become picky the last couple days. He will eat the chicken and pork. He's eaten a bite or two of rice, turns his nose up at mixed veggies now. He will eat raw carrots. He's acting fine.....running and playing. He won't eat yogurt now (he did love it). He'll eat cottage cheese. And if I mix his food together, he will not even sniff it. Everything has got to be seperated. I don't know what to do. I've got to go out of town for a week at the end of this month, and I've got to get things together so my daughter will not freak if he doesn't eat. Is that not finicky?

yorkies tho small are still dogs. Dogs are not going to starve themselves if there is food available to be eaten. In the wild they do not eat every day. They do not eat if they are not active enough to burn up the enery. So if you have a lone yorkie who is a stay at home pup while mom and dad are at work then he probably isn't going to eat that much. if he is at home with friends or if you are a stay at home owner then the dog will probably be burning off more energy because they are playing or following you around all day.

two of my favorite phases the vet i work for uses:

1) dogs are not small people in furry suits

2) dogs aren't stupid, they aren't going to starve themselves.

:thumbup:

Very good. She is still not eating but she eats the kibbles if I pretend to give it to her as a treat. She almost finish 1/2 cups. Yorkie is wierd.

hahahaha yes yorkies are very weird, but we must remember that they are dogs too

OK. She doesn't really eats for 2 days. I took her for a walk and she potties twice big time (wierd). I guess probably she is constipated or have an upset stomach. She eats this morning with the same food. I guess next time this happen I would just let it be. The vet said that as long as she pees and potty, don't worry too much. Let her not eat for 1-2 days. Agree ?? or did you have similar experience ?

Real food has no fillers, nothing in it to make them need to eat more, and will stick with them longer. Only offer a little bit of food a couple times a day for the adults. They eat when they are hungry. If they don't eat what is offered, don't try something else. They will come to expect you to put down different things at one meal. My Zada weights 8 pounds and Azrael 7. They get 1/4 cup of food breakfast and dinner and for lunch maybe a little yogurt and dried fruit. I don't give bully sticks or any other type of bought chews and they don't get snacks every single day. They love their meals and femur bones. They are healthy and happy. I think feeding too many different types of foods and snacks in a day does not promote good eating habits.

as long as everything else is in working order don't worry about her not eating much for a day or two.

UPDATE: She has good appetide the past two days and I gave her the same food. I just don't understand sometime. :aimeeyork

glad to hear it. sometimes they are just having an off day or two for whatever reason

My Gordon does the same , he will go a day without eating. I have tried to even hand feed and he might eat one or two kibbles. I do make sure at night before he is kenneled to give him a little yogurt with his supplement mixed in.....he will eat that.
At first, I worried and tried to find something.
But his vet says he is gaining weight and is in good health.

He is just not a big eater........

I would like to give an update. She has been eating regularly now and I would like to share this with you.

Sometimes we all do not realize that probably we are over feed our little one. So, I realize that to make her eat more regularly she has to fill hungry and this will stimulate her appetite. I try to limit her food by giving her one big meal a day and small (half size meal) in at night/dinner. Choose the type of kibbles or mixed it wet food of her choice / like but try to stick with it. If she does not eat, leave it for 30 minutes and take them away. At night I give her half of the amount that she usually eats. Usually she will finish all of them because she is hungry. I notice that by doing this she knows that she needs to eat otherwise she will be hungry. If she eats well off course you can give her some treats in between but do not substitute her meal with treat. If she does not eat well stop the treats for sometimes. By doing this you actually also make yourself as the alpha/leader of the pack and the best of all it helps to potty trained her. She potty only twice a day now compare to almost 4-5 times (probably coincidental?)

Off course I will not suggest this method for small or young puppy becuase of the risk of hypoglycemia but live is just much easy when she eats more regularly. She also becomes more obedient.

Thanks all for your advice.

PS. There is nothing better than fresh homecook meal, but if you decide to give her kibbles or wet food please stick with 2 types of food since giving her different variety makes her more picky. If they eat well, do not add more (my tendency and mistake is to give her more food when she eats well)

Good luck.

:goodpost:

I personally free feed and when they are hungry they will eat.
The only time they are standing over me to eat is when I give them canned (for a treat as I do not feed canned all the time).
They finish that immediately. Then I wash the bowls and put down the kibble.

They eat when they want and I don't stress about it at all. :D

There is nothing wrong with free feed but my pup is messy. Her kibbles will spread all over the house and I hate it. In addition with schedule feeding it is much easier to potty train her. I know almost exactly when she needs to go out. I guess it is just a preference. Thanks.