Feeding Fussy Puppy

[rosalind]

I have a 13 week old shihtzu puppy and I think I'm turning her into a fussy eater but I don't know what to do. I can't afford to give her raw meat every meal but she turns her nose up at kibble, and if I mix the meat with Vets All Natural she wont eat that either.

I had planned to give her good quality kibble for breakfast and lunch (with egg, sardines or whatever) and raw meaty bones, currently chicken, at dinner time. She eats only 2 or 3 tiny pieces of kibble (Advance Puppy which she was eating when I got her and they gave me a bag) in the morning and then wont eat anything else and is begging for food (which I don't give her) all morning. I don't feed her again until lunchtime and she still wont eat the kibble, just eats around it reluctantly because it's not what she likes. She wont eat cooked chicken either.

I'm worried that she's not getting enough food. I thought of trying different brands of kibble but that could be an expensive exercise! I did get a sample pack of Artemis but she didn't touch it. Please give me some guidance and reassurance.

Ros

[WreckitWhippet]

There's no harm in feeding raw and chicken wings will cost you less than feeding dry

[Dogsfevr]

Do you soak the dry ??

She would be teething which can make some pups sooky at food time & some find the dry hard on there mouths.

We give our pups a variety off foods BUT if for some reason we get a picky eater we stick to good sound basics & not add to much stuff.

Don't cook her chicken either just give raw

[aussielover]

If you really want her to eat kibble, only offer that. If she skips a few meals, don't worry about it, a healthy dog won't starve itself.

But as others have said it is ok to feed RAW only and it would probably be around the same cost if not cheaper than feeding a premium dry food.

[misscoco13]

My 16 month old Shih Tzu is the same with dry food. She just hates it. Her very favourite food is chicken necks. She would eat them at every meal if I let her I have noticed that she gets constipated if she has too many necks so she only has them every 2nd night. She also doesn't like the chicken mince made from frames that I get at the butcher, nor does she like sardines or anything fishy! She is a challenge to feed. I managed to get her to eat steamed pumpkin and some dry food when she was constipated and that fixed the problem.

I have found some success with chopping up a chicken neck and mixing it with the mince (which has egg, calcium, omega oils and mixed steamed veggies). She seems to get the taste of the chicken neck and ends up eating the mince too. I've also found that she does tolerate the chicken variety of Nature's Gift dry food, so I can mix some of that with the mince too and if she's hungry enough she will eat it. We have a "back up" supply of the small single serve Nature's Gift wet food - now if I gave her that for every meal she would be one excited pup! She hoovers that stuff down! We call it her "junk food" so she only gets it once every couple of weeks as a treat! She loves her chicken frames too and will munch and crunch them into oblivion!!

Good luck with your puppy

[ESCS]

I managed to get my fussy dog to eat kibble by mixing some natural yogurt through it. Mind you, he only likes the Greek style yogurt!

[aussielover]

I would not tolerate a fussy dog in my home. My dog would be getting whatever food I want them to eat in a bowl for 15 minutes, if they hadn't eaten in that time it would be taken away, if the dog didn't eat for a day or two, well, so be it....

But that is just me...

If you are able and willing to pander to their feeding habits, then I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing.

However, keep in mind that if you ever have to board her or she has to stay at the vets for a long period of time, she will be very put out with the food on offer.

[KumaAkita]

we had the same problem... Kuma is on Advance, and I think that the kibble may be a bit tough for puppies... try soaking it first.

If that doesn't work, go with what Aussielover said. 15 minutes to eat food, max. They soon learn what's on the menu and work with it.

[RiverStar-Aura]

My dog would be getting whatever food I want them to eat in a bowl for 15 minutes, if they hadn't eaten in that time it would be taken away, if the dog didn't eat for a day or two, well, so be it....

I totally agree with you here! I have no tolerance for fussy eaters either and it's the same deal with my cat. If she turns her nose up at her food and refuses to eat it then tough, she goes hungry. Eventually she'll get hungry enough to eat what I've dished up and if not, maybe then I'd worry.

Although I've never had a dog refuse its food; I tend to find that most dogs are happy to eat anything put in front of them. But if I did have a fussy dog I think I'd treat it the same way as the cat: not give it variety and let it realise that it's not getting anything different so it had better eat or starve!

[t-time]

Soak the kibble and feed it every meal until she will eat it.

Totally agree with Showdog and teething almost *should* be the problem at the moment

Love your diet ideas but also practice the K.I.S.S. principle - keep it simple stupid Your pup is 13 weeks and feeding her soaked kibble at the moment will give her a good diet and keep the fussiness at bay.

Introduce some new foods or extra foods once she is on her kibble properly.