Six Month Old Puppy Won't Eat His Kibble

[Aloadofbull]

Hi my six month old frenchie refuses to eat his dry and has turned into a real fusspot. He is on advanced rehydratable and he used to eat it well when mixed with monce or chicken necks but now he just licks the other bits off andy leaves the dry. I bought some barf patties to entice him to eat the dry but he turned his nose up at the patties. He loves chicken mince and breast and chicken necks but how can I get him to eat the dry? should I change to another dry and stop offering the other things with it? Any advice would be great.

[suziwong66]

i'm a raw feeder and i'd drop the dry if my pup refused it; as long as he's getting the appropriate ratio of bone/meat/offal etc You could try putting the kibble in a food dispenser toy. My youngest is still on a small amount of kibble and it's gratefully received when it comes in a bob-a-lot, Kong wobble, tug-a-jug, or a plain old Kong. I had to teach her to use each of these toys and even more so the Kong but now she's as happy as a lark when she knows there's something in there to get out.

[Aloadofbull]

Thanks:) I am worried that i if i switch to Raw and make it myself that I won't get the required percentages of each part right. That is why I tried the Vets natural and the barf patties but he won't touch either.

[Ivory & Beau]

Try another dry food.

And remove his food if he won't eat till the following night or morning and offer a fresh meal. Only leaving it down for ten or so minutes.

Dogs won't starve themselves and he'll quickly learn to eat whatever is offered.

I did this with my Belgian and she now eats anything.

Edited January 9, 2015 by english.ivy

[Stressmagnet]

Try another dry food.

And remove his food if he won't eat till the following night or morning and offer a fresh meal. Only leaving it down for ten or so minutes.

Dogs won't starve themselves and he'll quickly learn to eat whatever is offered.

I did this with my Belgian and she now eats anything.

Yup. Sounds mean but dogs don't need an all day buffet. I'd experiment with finding something tasty sure - but in our house, food goes down for 15 mins then it's up. Mind you, this time round I have a lab, so I'd be seriously worried if he turned up his noise, :D

[aliwake]

I was in the same situation, so switched to royal canin because I'd heard it's meant to be particularly palatable. He loved it! Problem solved :)

Hope you can find something he likes.

[Stitch]

Totally agree!

As long as you are sure that there is no underlying medical reason causing the dog to be off its food.... then it is time for some tough love!

There is an easy way to do this....stop feeding the chicken necks and just feed half the dry and half the chicken mince which you would normally feed. Do this for about a week, then introduce small amounts of the food that you wish to feed ie. BARF mixed with the chicken mince.

Gradually increase the amount of BARF and stop offering the dry food and the chicken mince altogether. By this time you should have a dog that is looking for food and happily eats BARF.

Some are more stubborn than others but there is no better sauce than hunger and you are not starving the dog because you are still offering food. If it doesn't eat the food within 5 minutes of it being given then remove the food and offer it again 12 hours later. Of course if the dog looks hungry sooner and you it starts to eat the BARF then that's all to the good and you can give it a little more next time. Remember the BARF should not be over fed so be guided by the weight & appetite of your dog.

Sounds like your portion sizes have been too generous in the past so the dog has learnt it can be choosey which is not good for its overall health.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Stitch