Dog will only eat human food?...?

Question

My Dog is a Shih-Tzu and is currently a a lil bit less then a year old (11 Months). I had bought several different foods from stores like Walmart and Petco but she still won't eat it. Than one day she was I guess hungry so she begged.... I didn't want to give her my food because thats a bad habbit but I gave her Cheerios. She loves them and it seems like that is the only thing that she would eat besides dog snacks. Is this healthy for them or is there some other food you can suggest? (The Cheerios are plain... no sugar or honey.) Thank You.

Answer 1

You have two options, the tough love method, or the raw diet option.

Tough love, you pick a high quality food and stick with it. Put your dogs meal down for 20mins, pick it up after that whether she eats or not. Repeat this at the next meal. Make sure she gets nothing else in between. She will eat it eventually, a healthy dog won't starve itself. She's learned that if she holds out long enough she'll get something new.

Or you can switch to a raw diet, which in my opinion is the best diet for dogs. You know exactly what your dog is getting, your dog will be healthier. There is more information about raw diets in the article I will be attaching.

Good luck,

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.htm...

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&m...

Answer 2

Small dogs tend to be very fussy. Cheerios are ok for a snack but not a full diet. A friend that bred and raised peekapoo's always cooked rice and ground beef for her dogs. Though you have to be careful with beef these days, some dogs are allergic to it. you could use chicken. This would be cheaper and better for the dog. Just boil the rice and chicken together and feed it all week, you could freeze it too. That way the dog will have food all the time. Also, the dog needs to chew for the teeth, this makes healthy teeth by removing tartar. Buy chicken or pork rawhide chews. If you don't give people food, it will eat dog food eventually but, this can seem mean for a tiny dog. Try puppy food..lamb and rice. That is what I feed my baby boy. He likes it a lot better than anything else and it has more nutrients. he puts off eating for a lonf time then he eats a lot. Remember small dogs don't have to eat a lot to be full, especially if you aren't playing and exercising. That will make them hungry too. Good luck. Eggs are ok too!!!

Answer 3

I have a dog in Vietnam that has always been fed on people foods since he was a puppy, and she is still healthy and smart at 15 years old now.. Almost everyone in Asia only feeds human foods to dogs since there are no dog foods in there. It's a myth that dogs can't evolve and digest human foods and that meaty human foods are less healthy for dogs than dog foods. You just need to cook it right for dogs, not to add seasonings, not too much salt, fat, sugar, or flavors, basically meat, rice, potatoes, fruits and veggies are good for dogs. Dog foods can have preservatives and other ingredients that cause cancer and hurt dogs health in the long term.

Answer 4

STOP human food. Do NOT offer different dog foods. Buy ONE kind and stick with it. Offering dogs different kinds of food makes them picky, and you already know that she is already picky. She is young, and it is easier to break her from this now than when she is older.
It is NOT in a healthy dog's nature to starve, so she will eventually eat it. Even it it takes a couple of days, do not give in. Remember, if she knows you will eventually cave, she will gladly wait.
If it makes you feel any better, I am a registered veterinary tech.
I see dogs quite often with a condition called pancreatitis, which can be caused by eating human foods. It can be serious and expensive to treat and can cause days in the hospital, which I am sure neither you nor your little dog wants.
Good luck to you and your little dog.

Answer 5

I have the same problem with my 8 month old terrier mix. She will eat her dog food if I 'hand feed' her-but I would rather not spend all day giving her three nuggets at a time!
What I do is add something she likes to her food, have you tried an egg on it (mine likes hers over easy-not scrambled), or some gravey from your dinner-if the doggy nuggets are coated with it the dog will eat at least some of the food. Good luck!!

Answer 6

No, totally not OK. You need to get her to eat dog food. If you are nervous about her blood sugar levels going down, then consult your vet.
Try Natural Balance rolls - that's a semi-wet food that's easy to slice up. I use this as treats but it's actual food, and it would be good for your dog to have this - may be easier to convince her to eat this. Don't give in - and no more Cheerios!

Answer 7

First step, stop giving her human food..it is NOT good for them. Dog food is well balanced for a dog. Try eukanuba small breed formula with a little canned food mixed in.

She will eventually get hungry enough and eat..Don't keep trying different kinds of kibble either.. Just adding a broth or a little canned food mixed in should get her to eat it.

You feed a shih tzu human food and she is going to get fat, they gain weight easily (I have one)..

I would give NO snacks or treats until she starts eating her food!
Good luck

Answer 8

What you can do is mix dog food and human food (table food) together. For example take chicken and dry dog food and mix it together, or cheerios and dry dog food and mix them together. As time goes on put in less human food and more dog food to kind of blend it in, and see if she will like the dog food without human food as time goes on. Good Luck.

Answer 9

Dog food contains vitamins and nutrients that are essential to the dogs overall good health. It is necessary for your dog to eat a good quality dog food. Dog snacks as treats are okay and even Cheerios occasionally as a treat are okay but not as a steady diet.

Answer 10

Trust me she will eat some kind of dog food--seeing that she is a small dog try getting her a small kibble with the soft chewy bits----put them in a bowl and PRETEND you are eating them--then after she is so hungry for you to share give her a bite--then another--you may have to hand feed her a few times for her to like it--but make sure she THINKS YOU are eating this too---Dogs are smart but they cant read the label :-) Let me know how this works for you