# Picky eatters? any advice or help please?



## @nnette (Jan 15, 2009)

I have a picy eater. I give him his dry food with a little hot water, of with some complete fresh food and than he'll eat.

Recently i've read an article in a dutch magazine about picky eater. to make it short.. we try to much. give you're WAWA 10 minutes and take it away. eventaly she'll eat. 

I know it sounds hard for a animalloving person, but if you push to hard you will allway's have a picky eater


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## skylielover (Sep 27, 2008)

I was given the same advice - put the food down for 10 minutes then take it away if if she hasn't touched it. Offer it again at the next feeding time. However, I do understand you statement about hypoglycemia. 

My pup stopped eating her kibble (I even tried 2 completely different foods, and she didn't want either). I started her a chicken and rice mixture (I did this though b/c she had diarrhea as well) and finally switched to 2 feedings a day. I fed her that for 2 days then started adding the kibble back in the mixture. I transitioned her to complete kibble in a week. and now I pour a bit chicken broth over her kibble and 1-2 tbsp of cottage cheese (which she loves). She doesn't care for the flavor of her current food, so I am using this technique until we finish the bag. I have wasted enough bags of food ....


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

Mine was a little picky her first year. I did the opposite of what some say do. I just left it in her bowl and she eventually ate it. Might be 2 or 3 hours later, but she ate it. Probably not good to let wet dog food sit out for long periods of time though.

After her first year, she has always been eager for her meals.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

I think that a wet food is fine. For the teeth you may want to provided raw bones or deer antlers. the chewing in these will be a great way to halp care for teeth and gums.


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## Clhoie (Dec 16, 2008)

msdogs1976 said:


> Mine was a little picky her first year. I did the opposite of what some say do. I just left it in her bowl and she eventually ate it. Might be 2 or 3 hours later, but she ate it. Probably not good to let wet dog food sit out for long periods of time though.
> 
> .


 Thats what i have been doing... I put kibble down in the morning, and till right now, she still hasnt touched it.... after about 6 hours i take it up and put new kibble down. 
How long is to long to knowingly know your dog hasnt eatten and not give her other food?  im such a wuss lol i just know that i cannot go 24 hours w/o eatting something before my tummy goes crazy! lol hmm maybe my daughter is feeding her some of her food.. 

I was told by someone who has a picky chihuahua eatter, to feed her Grandma Lucy's dog food. i havnt done much research on it. anyone ever heard of it?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Just leave the kibble down and wait her out. You're probably making her a pickier eater by coaxing her and changing foods so much. The odds that she will avoid food so long that she'll become hypoglycemic are so low I wouldn't worry. If you're really that worried, you can keep an eye on her otherwise, so if you see the symptoms, you can address it then.

If you keep this up, you may have a permanent problem on your hands. Time for some tough love. Either leave her kibble on demand or do the 15 minute trick three or four times a day until she starts eating.

My older dog ate once a day and sometimes not at all. That was just his way. He was a trim healthy weight his whole life.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

LOL she has you wrapped. I would leave her food down for 10 minutes and if she does not eat to bad until the next feeding, same thing next time put it down and too bad if she does not eat. Believe me she will not starve herself to death. Merrick is an exellent quality food so if you have a good feeling about it and you feel that is the best for her keep her on it. She will come around. I had a dog go 5 days without eating - there was nothing medically wrong, the food was not expired, she was just a "princess" and I like to break that habit quick. I just put down dry food after a good 2 weeks of her gobbling dry food I added a bit of yogurt ir canned food - tiny amounts but that is like once in a blue moon. I can't deal with picky eaters.


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## Auenk9 (Oct 23, 2008)

I would not beat your head against a wall on this. :doh: Try a little kibble mixed in with the wet to spark her appetite. Hopefully, as time goes on you will be able to cut back on the wet. And if not....give her some chewies to keep her teeth clean. Bully sticks work well.

For what it is worth, I always mix either canned food or jack mackeral or roasted chicken in with my boys' kibble.


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## Clhoie (Dec 16, 2008)

Alrighty ill once again do the 10 mins of kibble being down. I have also tryed wet food mixed in with kibble.. ill even mush it in reallll good so all kibble is covered with it. She'll eat the wet food but not the kibble lol she'll take the kibble in her mouth, lick it and put the kibble on the floor... Strange picky dog! lol 
Thanks everyone =)


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

If the dog eats the wet food, at it's own choice of times, and does not consume the dry kibble, why feed the kibble at all. You can put the wet food down for 10 minutes then cover with plastic wrap and place in frig. About 20 minute before giving it back to th dog later in the day take it out and let it sit on counter so it comes to room temperature. Then again put it down for 10 minutes and pick back up. No need to waste the food. 
Good luck with whatever method you try.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I feel your pain! I have much the same problem with my Chinese Crested. What gets me is that at her breeders house, she will eat BUT she is in an expen during the day there with her sister and the food is down all day. She gained a nice amount of weight while there over Christmas.

She has run of the house during the day while I am gone, along with my Pug and my oldest Golden, so I can't just leave her food down.

Right now I seem to have stumbled onto a mixture that she would eat (EVO REd Meat Small Bites and Avoderm), but as of last night she has only eaten about 1/2 of the 1/4 cup of kibble and 2 TBSP of canned that I put down for supper and breakfast. She is driving me crazy, and she is too thin. 

The other dogs love it, as they get her left-overs (which she does not seem to mind one bit). 

Aargh! She is the only dog in 30 years I have owned who is not that interested in food-except for treats, any kind of biscuit, etc. I wouldn't worry so much if she was a bigger dog but there is hardly anything to her as it is.

I am going to start adding more of a high quality canned, as she seems to really enjoy that. 

To keep teeth clean in the small dogs, I use Plaque Off

http://www.bichonbash.com/hvests2006.htm

It worked wonders on my Pug, who had terrible teeth. All the plaque was gone from her teeth within about 3 months, with the exception of a big area of plaque on her back molars. I had done nothing but add the Plaque off to her food. When I checked out the plaque on her back molars, it was soft and came off easily when I scraped at it with a fingernail. Great stuff!


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## NuttinButGoldens (Jan 10, 2009)

I almost wish I had this problem. Dakota doesn't pick. He doesn't eat. He INHALES.

He scares me sometimes...


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## Clhoie (Dec 16, 2008)

Well when we first got Reesie the chi, i was "visiting" my moms house, she has 2 Dachshunds and they eat purina beneful. I would put her food down, and she would go over to their food and eat it. i didnt want her eatting that food, since it was adult food and she was 2 / 3 months old at that time. On our first vet visit the vet gave me a free bag of large science diet kibble, and i would give it to my mothers dogs as "treats" to get rid of it... If the other dogs ate it, she wanted it.. If i gave a piece of kibble to Hershey(the boy dachsund) and not a piece to Reesie she would stand on her hind legs at my feet and "beg"... If hershey wasnt around, and i tryed to give her a piece she wanted nothing to do with it...
If my moms dogs would start to eat her bowl (which they did often) she would try to eat some to. 
so i know she will eat kibble. she is just being prissy(i think), and knows i will give in and let her eat wet food


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## Clhoie (Dec 16, 2008)

Is there any way to teach her to eat, when im not in the room?


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## wakeangel (Feb 28, 2008)

don't know if it helps...but one of my friend's with a chihuahua uses kibble but adds a small amount of water and that seems to work well. softens some of the kibble but still leaves some crunchy.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Clhoie said:


> Is there any way to teach her to eat, when im not in the room?


Once you overcome the pickiness by giving her that 15 minute shot to eat, just walk away. If she stops, that's OK. She'll learn over time that she needs to eat when it's down or not at all. I realize this isn't the answer you wanted, but a lot of picky dogs learn it behaviorally because their owner switch them to higher and higher value food when they turn up their noses at something.


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## Clhoie (Dec 16, 2008)

tippykayak said:


> Once you overcome the pickiness by giving her that 15 minute shot to eat, just walk away. If she stops, that's OK. She'll learn over time that she needs to eat when it's down or not at all. I realize this isn't the answer you wanted, but a lot of picky dogs learn it behaviorally because their owner switch them to higher and higher value food when they turn up their noses at something.


 Thank you =) ill do that


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

NuttinButGoldens said:


> I almost wish I had this problem. Dakota doesn't pick. He doesn't eat. He INHALES.
> 
> He scares me sometimes...


Dogs like that I feed out of those cupcake trays with 12 little spots. Its a little bigger then a bowl but works really well.


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## Clhoie (Dec 16, 2008)

Soo its been 2 days of me just leaving kibble out, and today ive been picking it up. its 2:32 am and ive been cleaning getting ready for the couch movers to come tomorrow were getting a entire new living room suit and other things. and she was pawing at the trash can... so i took some kibble and put some in her bowl and right away she started to eat it!!! and im at the computer and still still eatting it. 
YAY!!!!!! i will just keep putting kibble down. and picking it up after 15 mins. shes been eatting her food for a few mins now. 
its funny how a small thing like that can get me so excited rofl! best thing about it is, im NOT in the room with her and shes still there!!!! =)


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

Thats great!!!! Some times a little tough love pays off!!!!




Clhoie said:


> Soo its been 2 days of me just leaving kibble out, and today ive been picking it up. its 2:32 am and ive been cleaning getting ready for the couch movers to come tomorrow were getting a entire new living room suit and other things. and she was pawing at the trash can... so i took some kibble and put some in her bowl and right away she started to eat it!!! and im at the computer and still still eatting it.
> YAY!!!!!! i will just keep putting kibble down. and picking it up after 15 mins. shes been eatting her food for a few mins now.
> its funny how a small thing like that can get me so excited rofl! best thing about it is, im NOT in the room with her and shes still there!!!! =)


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## @nnette (Jan 15, 2009)

That's youre punishment for getting a WAWA LOL.

I think you'll have to serve her diner on a silver plater, bouff bourgisomthing.

good luck!


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