Dog not eating properly

Many years ago, our family had a dog who was also very picky with her food. Mum tried all sorts of different dog food but the contrary hound just wasn't interested. She was taken to the vet who could find nothing wrong and simply stated that the dog wouldn't starve herself and we were to persevere with the one brand of dog food. Vet was right, the dog soon started eating.

Have you tried leaving her hungry or give her food to the cat! A little competition is good for them, but make sure you put her food away after ten minutes. My dog is a hoover so it’s not a problem that I have!

Nanjust60, my little JRT is fed the best food going - but sometimes gets picky too (as does the cat). I've found that scattering it in the garden brings about a change of attitude. It's not safely waiting in her bowl - and the birds might eat it!

Sometimes I buy minced turkey and boil it with water. Both dog and cat enjoy it as a change.

My 15yr old has given up eating any dog food! Is your dog old? All my old dogs were very picky at the end. Vet told me to try warming food (obv not kibble) weve given her tinned sardines tinned tuna today i gave her freshly cooked pasta. If your dog is a youngster then i wouldnt pander to her though. Good luck!

I would try a few different brands, or add a tiny bit of broth or tinned food to her dry food.

My dog scarfs down her food, but my DD's dog eats very daintily! They have found a brand of wet food she likes, and they add it to her dry food.

I have two dogs, one will eat everything that is going the other picks at her food and often misses a meal. I have stopped worrying about the picky eater as she seems healthy enough. I ring the changes a bit with their food but otherwise just accept they are different

Your Vet has said the dog is fine, so don’t stress. Put the food down and remove the bowl after 20 minutes, whether the dog has eaten or not. Don’t leave it there for the dog to graze, as and when it wants.
Dogs are creatures of habit and actually don’t like change, so try to stick to feeding at the same time and place every day and I wouldn’t vary the food choice too much.
We and our friend dog owners (numerous animals) just stuck to a dried (Skinners) mix which was never varied, for life,

Try buying some fresh chicken or chicken livers, cook and give small quantities.

No she is not old she is 2 we list our other dog a few months ago that was 11 and she wouldn’t eat her food until our other dog was fed , we have tried chicken I think like you say just persevere with her

Nanjust60, dogs are skilled at training their people. My daughter’s dog is fussy at home, won’t eat unless her kibble has toppers added. When she stays here, she eats what I give her. My dogs get high quality kibble, I add warm water to make a gravy, they get sardines added twice a week, scrambled egg once a week and occasionally cooked mince. But if I just fed kibble, I know they’d eat it
Mine ‘earn’ breakfast and tea, they’re walked before meals so they’re hungry. They sit, wait before being told ‘take it’
I really wouldn’t worry, dogs won’t starve themselves,

As she is a young dog is she up to date with worming treatment? Worm infestations can put them off their food and young dogs are more susceptible.

Thank you all yes up to date with everything thank you for all your tips

Our dog won’t eat from her bowl, so we put it in a treat training game, with several small bowls with lids. She enjoys lifting the lids and eats every scrap.

Dog feeding game

Maybe she is grieving. Time should sort the problem out.

Nanjust60

No she is not old she is 2 we list our other dog a few months ago that was 11 and she wouldn’t eat her food until our other dog was fed , we have tried chicken I think like you say just persevere with her

I think this could be the issue.
I lost one of mine just over 2 years ago and for around 6 months afterwards, the behaviour of the remaining two was very different... hopefully a little time, gentleness and nice treats will help!

My JRT now 14 likes to eat her dinner in 2 halves. First half at 4.30 pm we then cover it over with a tissue because of flies etc. At bedtime she removes the tissue and finishes her dinner. It's her way of eating. We originally fed her at about 6.30pm but she started to request it earlier and earlier, she keeps tapping us and going into the kitchen until you comply. All our dogs over the years have had different habits and we have had to learn what they were. Our first dog only ate two in every three days and we learnt to accept that was her way.

Your vet is absolutely right. Your dog is more than likely being fussy. Choose a good quality dog food, preferably raw or wet and put it down for 20 minutes. If it doesn't get eaten, put it back in the fridge and try later. Dogs don't suffer with the same problems as us if the food is served again. They have have a much shorter digestion tract so food moves through much quicker so they don't get the increase in bacteria we do. That is why dogs can eat carrion which would kill us.

Single dogs of this breed are often picky.
If she is unspayed then it could easily be hormonal. Spaying would help.
If she is spayed then think about what you feed. Do you give scraps from your plate? If you feed a plain kibble then that will be boring. There is no reason why you can’t mix scraps,tinned tuna ,pilchards, meat ,grated cheese etc with her kibble.
You could try a better quality kibble perhaps.
You could try scatter feeding to make it a game.

My poodle cross is a fussy little madam. Won't eat kibble. But always happily eats Butternut Box food. Its lightly cooked and preserved by being frozen instead of being cooked at high temps like tinned or kibble.
Personally I'd feed raw if I could be organised enough. With BB you take out 5 days worth at a time and leave it in the fridge.
Bramble has half a pack twice a day (100g per meal)

what tests investigations did the vet do? Picky dogs can be picky because eating gives them stomach ache for various reasons.

We have 2 standard poodles. Our eldest was an absolute nightmare to feed when she was younger so I do empathise, the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her and suggested she was anorexic! We tried all the usual methods to try and stimulate appetite and even tried home cooking food from recommended recipes from a dog food expert with little success (she wouldn't eat raw) although she did like lamb hearts occassionally. Our youngest dog joined us a year after her and was a complete revelation- he tucked into anything we put in front of him with absolute joy! His eating enthusiasm did not encourage her however, so I'm not suggesting that as a remedy! I changed the way I feed them 7 years ago, they have dry food in the morning and wet food in the evening, and they have any appropriate leftovers from our meals, they very rarely suffer from tummy upsets and are not overweight. Overtime our girl gradually began to eat just as enthusiastically as our boy, probably by the age of 4 or 5 from memory, she is now 9 years old and he is 8. She was spayed at 2 years of age.

We've a poochon and she is exactly the same. We took her to the vet and told the same, we took their advice and left her to it. After a couple of days she started eating properly.
Now and again she still tries it on, but we are a lot wiser now.

I think she probably is grieving.

A friend of mine whose dog refused to eat after the death of his companion, made a great display of spreading a piece of bread with tinned dog-food, then sat himself down at the table with knife and fork poised.

It worked, up trotted the grief-stricken dog and looked expectantly at his master, who pretended not to have seen dog, and pretended to eat with every sign of enjoyment. After a suitable time, he loudly said he was full-up, and rose, took his plate out into the kitchen and emptied the contents into the dog's bowl and the dog happily muched his food.

My cat ate his food all right after losing his brother, but abstained from hunting mice for nine solid weeks, during which time he didn't growl at intruding dogs either.

I knew he had come to terms with his brother's death when he sat in front of a pile of brushwood all day on a drizzly autumn day waiting for an unwary mouse, and when I later heard him chasing a dog to kingdom come!