my 8 month old chihuhua will not eat any type of dry or wet dog food. how can i get it to eat dog food ?

Question

we found her 2 months ago and we dont know what kind of food she's used to. we have tried all brands soft or hard or mixed together even the doggy gravy but no luck. she's been eating our food until now. i been giving her chicken with rice and beef, but i dont want to feed her our food any more she needs the dog food to stay healthy. please advise. tx

Answer 1

it has to get used to it so just keep trying and call a vet if u need more help

Answer 2

You dog has you trained and she knows if she does not eat the dog food you will worry and give her something better. Why would she eat dog food if you always give her something better.
Put down dry dog food for 20 minutes and after 20 mintues take it up and do not feed her anything until the next feeding time and put down the dry food again. After 20 minutes pick it up and nothing til the next time. She will not starve herself to death but will protest becasue you have taught her that you will feed her something else. It will take s few days to break this habit but she will learn to eat dog food.
Pick a high quality dog food like Solid Gold or California Natural or Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul
these are very high quality feeds that require her to eat only a small amount to get all she needs to be really healthy. And they have no corn and by products in them.
With some work she will come around and you will get her to eat but it may be a contest of wills at first. hang in there.

Answer 3

Stop giving her people food!!! Of course she refuses her proper dog food if she knows she's going to get roast chicken! Dogs won't normally starve themselves to the point of collapse. Just be firm. Harden your heart and put her proper food down at the set time. If she doesn't eat it up, pick it up again and offer it again the next time (if you feed twice a day, breakfast and late afternoon). Bin what's left that day. Moisten the kibble to bring up the flavour, and add a bit of tinned food if you like, to add flavour, but do NOT give her any more people food. I know it's hard, but if you want her to eat what she should be eating, you'll need to do this. Buy a good quality food (I can recommend Burns) and stick with it. You could add tinned Chappie (only a little) - we used to find dogs in boarding who went on food strike, would usually eventually eat this. Be firm, she'll eventually realise you mean business.

Answer 4

You could try mixing a little of the food you have been giving her with the dog food you want her to eat, moist dog food may make a better transition this way good luck.

Answer 5

It might be that the food is too big for her. My pom was also a picky eater (wouldn't eat anything) until we got her really small puppy food (not that I'm endorsing, but we used the really small Iams in the pink bag). If that doesn't work out, 24 hours of no food won't hurt, just leave the small food out for her (and of course water, so she doesn't get dehydrated!) and see what happens.

Good luck with everything, hope that helps!

Answer 6

Do not feed it anymore "people food" put some dog food down, if she doesn't start eating, take it up wait 1/2 hour and repeat. Eventually it will start to eat dog food, but it never will as long as peool e food is available.

Answer 7

i agree with the first answer, ive vet teched for a long time, and it wont hurt her to not eat for a few days, pick a high quality dog food, put it down, she will eat, believe me she will. if you give in and give her the people food, she'll learn that eventually she will get what she wants, your food, and you already know that its not a balanced diet for her. she has probably been living off of garbage so thats all she knows. but dont keep switching, that not only will make her picky but can give her intestinal upset with diarreah. she'll eat, so stick to it. good luck, you can do it!

Answer 8

this is REAL easy, feed her ONLY dog food, dont give in,m she will get hungry and eat the dog food eventually,....i had a dog that did the same thing, took about 24 hours, and he was hooked on the puppy chow!

Answer 9

I had the same problem with my boxer. I basically had to not feed her until she was hungry enough to eat her own food. The vet told me that dogs won't starve themselves and that eventually she would eat. It was hard, but he was right.

Answer 10

Try to put human peanut butter on the dry food, or whatever food the dog likes. Then it will start chowing down, and slowy take the peanut butter away.

Answer 11

however unorthodox this sounds, don't give it food for 2-3 days. leave her dog food out where she can get it. change it regularly, though, so it doesn't spoil. she WILL eat it. this advice was given to me by a vet. she said that eventually, she'll get used to the fact that she HAS to eat it.