Is your dog a pickey eater and if so what should you do to make them eat there food?

Question

I HAVE A COCKER SPAINEL AND SHE WOULD GO FOR THREE DAYS WITHOUT EATING A DOG FOOD SO I HAVE TO GO AND GET HER A HAPPY MEAL FROM MCDONALDS

I HAVE A COCKER SPAINEL AND SHE WOULD GO FORO THREE DAYS WITHOUT EATING HER FOOD SO I HAVE TO GO AND BUY HER A HAPPY MEAL FROM MCDONALDS

Answer 1

You shouldn't be owning a dog.

Answer 2

Pick a high quality food and stick with it. Put the food down for 20 mins, pick it up whether she eats or not. Do this again later in the day. No snacks or happy meals in between. A healthy dog won't starve itself. Keep doing this until she learns she needs to eat what is given to her when you give it to her.

You've taught her that if she holds out long enough she'll get something new. You need to retrain her. Switching food often leads to picky eating.

You may also want to have her teeth checked as well. She may have a dental reason for not wanting to eat hard kibble.If her gums are teeth are sore or infected eating can be painful, which may be why she prefers soft food like happy meals. Treating any mouth problems often times helps, and getting them treated sooner than later makes them easier and less expensive to fix.

Nothing you find at a grocery store is going to be a good food. High quality foods can be found at large pet store chains, or online. A couple of foods I like are Nutro Natural, Innova, and Cannidae.

There are other high quality dog foods. Here's how to spot them:

A high quality food will have little or no fillers such as corn, wheat or soy. These aren't very digestable for dogs, and are common food related allergens. Since you were seeing corn meal in the first few ingredients, those are not high quality foods. Foods list ingredients by content, with the ingredient it contains most of at the top.

A high quality food will not contain BHT, BHA or Ethoxyquin, these are all chemical preservatives that have been linked to cancer.

A high quality food will not contain by-products of any kind. Meat meals are ok as long as the source of the meat is listed, such as Chicken Meal.

A high quality diet should have meat as at least the first ingredient., and be made from human grade ingredients. Foods that don't use human grade ingredients often get their ingredients from less than desirable sources, such as meat from animals that were diseased, or euthanized.

There is another diet option other than dog food. Some people choose to feed a raw diet. This involves feeding the dog raw meaty bones and organ meat. However it is not as simple as throwing a couple chicken bones in a bowl everyday. If you wish to feed this type of diet, do lots and lots of research first. Switching to this diet without knowing what your doing can lead to nutritional problems for your dog. I'll give you some links as a starting point in research if you are interested in this type of diet.

http://www.willowglen.com/barf.htm

http://www.bestfrisbeedogs.com/diets.html

http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html

http://www.rawfed.com/myths/index.html

http://www.rawdogranch.com

What's Really In Pet Food
http://www.api4animals.org/facts?p=359&more=1cat=286

Answer 3

the first thing you need to do is make sure your feeding your dog healthy dog food. like iams or something in the higher priced food categories. feeding your dog cheap food is not doing it any good, it's like feeding your dog mcdonalds everyday. which it sounds like you already do it's just a dog so it eats what tastes good not what's healthy for it just like a little kid. the next thing is to stop feeding it people food. you are the human when your dog gets hungry it will eat because that's what an animal does if it wants to survive. if you are very concerned then you can buy some dog gravy and pour a bit over the dog food. go to the pet store to get your dog food, not the grocery store.

Answer 4

First off, stop feeding your dog Mcdonalds. Your going to kill her faster if you do. As for type of dog food--pick one and give it to her. Leave the bowl in her feeding spot and don't give in to her wants of a Happy Meal. Trust me, if she is hungry...she will eat whatever you put in her bowl. Your dog won't die from 3 days of no food...she'll just get really hungry, and I am sure she will give in eventually and eat whatever kibble you give her.

Some tricks that you can try is put some luke-warm water in the bottom of the bowl--not too much, just enough for the kibble to soak it up and soften. She may have sensitive teeth and the kibble may be hurting her when she eats it. Also, try some canned dog meat mixed with the food and water.

Whatever you do, stop feeding her table scraps/happy meals/junk food. Its really not good for them. Maybe one every once in a while (like once every 3 months) as a treat is ok. But no more. Fat foods like that has the same affects on dogs as it does on humans--clogged arteries, obesity, oily skin, heart and other organ problems.

Answer 5

As long as your dog is staying hydrate by drinking her water she'll live for weeks. You need to be strong and not buy her a happy meal, no treats, etc. Only give her her bowl of food you want her to eat, pick up bowl after set time (say 5 minutes), when time is up pick up bowl, put bowl down again only at designated next feeding.

She will eat when hungry, you just need to be strong and wait her out.

Answer 6

I actually have a finicky canines as well. have you ever tried moist nutrition blended with her dry nutrition? now and again they want that fluctuate of style and that i have stumbled on that it fairly helps noticeably because the moist ingredients are available in a kind of flavors. Oh and anouther ingredient you could attempt is limiting her nutrition , so do not leave her nutrition out all day. actually feed her 2 circumstances an afternoon and also you'll probable see a distinction. reliable success.

Answer 7

Well your dog certainly has you trained...to take her to McDonald's no less...which is no better nutrition for her than it is for you...so make sure she has a good bowl of Iams or Eukanuba or one of the premium dog foods. The great thing about the better dog foods is it's more digestible so there's less poop to scoop..and your dog will shine too!! They also are more palatable and tasty.

Answer 8

My dog is a very picky eater. Basiclly just keep trying a few diffrent foods each week until you find the right one. Sometimes the vet can have very many answers also.

Answer 9

My dog is the same way when we got him he only ate his dog food and as he got older he would give us the puppy dog head tilt and we would throw him some scraps and now he nolonger eats much of his dog food because of this. I can't tell you what to do because I haven't figured it out myself.

Answer 10

dogs are stubborn and they get u to do what they want. She just waits for that big mac, mine would do the same if I let her. I just tell her she only gets s bite of my stuff i give it to her and then give her her dish she knows there will be no nore from me. she then eats somethimes it takes her 24 hrs and I do worry. I wait her out for her own good

Answer 11

I put either Iams Savory Sauce or peanut butter on my dog's food when I want her to eat it fast. I bet she'd eat a rock if I put peanut butter on it.