Why doesn't my dog like dog food?

Many dogs will wolf down more than is good for them and look for more. Others refuse to eat more than than they need. Evaluate the dog as illustrated in this link, http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/R%E2%80%A6 You may want the vet to confirm your judgment. Adjust the dogs food and exercise as needed to reach its ideal body condition. Some German Shepherds and other breeds may refuse to eat enough to completely hid their ribs. As long as you are feeding a concentrated, meat based chow, the best thing is to accept it.

The worst thing you can do is to bribe a dog with rich foods into eating more than it needs. Instead, Put down the dish with what the dog should eat, and give it 15 minutes to eat. Then take it up. Do not give it anything to eat until its next scheduled meal. In a few days, it should be eating what it needs. Continue to check its ribs and adjust the food as needed. This is not easy. I had a Shepherd go 3 days on a few nibbles. I was a wreck, but she was fine. It is almost unknown for a healthy dog not to eat what it needs. Unfortunately, in too many cases, it is less than the package says, and less than the owner thinks the dog should have. Many dogs are quite good at holding out for tastier chow. Like kids, sometimes it calls for tough love.

Note, I think leerburg.com are a bunch of know nothihng kooks.

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A good friend of mine has an extremely picky Jack Russell terrier. This dog stopped eating her Innova kibble and the owners were at a loss and ended up feeding her assorted human food. Luckily that dog has an iron stomach so she had no problem eating all sorts of human food scraps. Assorted food scraps is not an ideal diet for a dog though, its difficult to determine how much nutrients your dog is getting and what sort of supplements she needs.

I recommended she try the Natural Choice Small breed dog food which is specially formulated to be appealing to finicky small dogs with real chicken as the first ingredient. Chicken has the fat in it still which makes the food much tastier.

It also has a smaller kibble which is appealing to small dogs as well.

The JR terrier ate the new kibble great for the first few days then she went on a hunger strike. I had to really encourage her owner to stay strong and don't let the dog learn that if she stops eating kibble she will get human food. Put her food down for half an hour twice each day, then put it away. This way she knows she is going to go hungry if she doesn't eat the food right away. The little dog got the hint in a couple of days and is now happily finishing her food.

Stay strong! Dogs can go without eating for a lot longer than people, so don't panic if he wont eat. Obviously you must make sure that there isn't something physically wrong with your dog that would make it hard for him to eat (ex. bad teeth).

Good Luck!

Olivia

Pet Nutrition Specialist

Nutro

Some dogs dont like some foods, maybe call the shelter to see what they gave her there and maybe it will eat dog food again.

Consider feeding him a natural diet. Short answer I usually recommend having a look at leerburg.com which just about explains it all.