My dog doesn't seem to like dog food anymore, but loves "real" food like meat.What do I do?

Question

I don't want to feed her left overs for the rest of her life, how do I get her eating dog food again?

Answer 1

Don't feed her people food, period. Just stop. She wouldn't eat it if you didn't give it to her.

Give her dog food only. If she doesn't eat it right away, she will eventually when she gets hungry enough. She's not going to starve herself because she wants your food.


The reason dogs shouldn't eat human food has has to do with the food itself and the animals digestive tract. Their digestive tract is very similar to ours. For this reason, dogs have been used in medical research to develop
the use of insulin in human diabetics, as well as other important medical advances.

Dog food is formulated to be complete and ballanced, unlike human food. We are suppose to eat portions of each food group to get a complete and balanced diet. Much of the foods humans typically eat are high in
carbohydrates and fat (including cereal and milk). Salads aren't bad as far as carbs and fat go, but there's not much nutrition in them either.

Dogs digestive tracts are sensitive to change. If they have been eating the same dog food for a long period of time, the bacterial flora of the digestive tract becomes accustomed to the food. An abrupt change is not
the the animal's best interest. The result is usually not life threatning, but can cause pain, vomiting and/or diarrhea. To add something to the diet, or change the food, make it a gradual change to minimize the upset.

Dogs thrive on a single diet day in and day out and do not demand variety. In fact, studies have proven that a dog will choose a diet that it is accustomed to eating.

Answer 2

Actually, there are ways to wean your dog back onto dog food. May I suggest Merrick Canned Foods and Merrick Dry Kibble. Merrick is a family owned company that makes dog food with human grade ingredients. There are absolutely NO by-products (heads, feet, or guts) or fillers (corn, soy, or wheat) in their foods. They are a WAY better quality food than your Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina, etc., which all use both by-products and fillers.

By-products are literally the stuff that they slice off of animals in slaughter houses and hose away into a big container. Fillers are a common allergen in dog foods, and can cause dry and itchy skin, hot spots, and other skin and coat problems. Fillers have absolutely no nutritional value to them, and they exist to take up the bulk in the food.

I just had a class on Merrick dog food because I work at a small chain petstore. Their canned foods look so much like people food that it is really a step-by-step way of getting your dog back onto dog food. Also, their dry kibble has a gravy that is built into the kibble itself. If you add warm water, the gravy is released from the kibble, making a sort of stew for your dog to eat. Oftentimes, dogs like wet foods better than dry, but wet foods tend to be more fattening. This is another way to get your dog back onto dog food.

Most of the people where I live in own really small dogs, and small dogs tend to be a bit picky when it comes to their food. Merrick has always been a good way to get their dogs to eat dog food.

Just be sure that when you offer this new food, do not give your dog ANY more people food. I hope this helps!

Answer 3

From now on at feeding time put down the bowl of dry dog food and leave it for 20 minutes when that time is up pick up the food and the dog gets NOTHING until it is time for feeding again.
Put the dog food down for 20 minutes and pick up any that is not eaten.
The dog has been trained very well by you that is he/she does not eat the dry dog food something better will be provided.
Why would your dog eat dog food if she waits long enough you give her something better.
If you do not weaken and feed her in between times she will eat dry dog food and be glad to get it.
A normal healthy dog will not starve itself to death.
Be firm and do not give her anything until you feed again. If you stick to it I promise it will work.

Answer 4

well that happend to my dog not so long ago so what we did is in there bolw put some dog food and we dident give them ang scraps from the tabl or left overs. if they would beg when you eat
then u tell them no in a strong voice. after a while when they are relly hunger they will have to eat what they have, but also keep in mind that you have to change the food so he doesnt get bord of the same food over and over again.this is most like to work

Answer 5

Then stop feeding her leftovers. She expects that's what you will give her so she waits it out. She has you trained more or less..lol.
If she absolutely will not eat her dog food, try switching brands, or if she isn't eating canned food, get her some of that. I think that will do the trick.

Answer 6

First you must tackle him with Patience.Try feeding him his dog food but reward him with the real once when eats his dog food.

Answer 7

Try mixing the "real" food with the dog food and slowly mix in less and less like weening. You might also start giving her vitamins to supplement anything she's not getting.

Answer 8

Call your vet for recommendations. Before that, just try switching her to another type of dogfood. Sometimes dogs get tired of their food, too. Don't just feed her leftovers! Dogfood is formulated for dogs and has vitamins and other nutrients that they need.

Answer 9

Heres one more link you can take a look at
as well. AND NO PEOPLE FOOD.
I think it would only lead to bad things
Roxie an i had to go to the vet yesterday an she got violated.
my poor dog. COLITAS

Nicely said speedy


http://naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz-results&animal=Dog&id1=1071&id2=1213&id3=&id4=&x=42&y=11

Answer 10

your dog will eat if she is hungry enough, start cutting back on the amount of leftovers, then eventually get back to the dried food, which is healthier for her anyway. We had this same problem, and it worked!