Dog wont eat dry food well

[doc holiday13]

Dry kibble is garbage. Not real food. I don't blame dogs for not wanting to eat it. My dog gets lots of eggs and real meat with a tiny bit of dry dog food mixed in.

Quoted for truth

If you're stuck on dry dog food, cut the serving amount in 1/2 and crack 2 raw eggs and 1 scoop of coconut oil into the dry food and mix it up with a spoon

 

[KurtR]

I always love the dry food is garbage crew. They maybe have a couple dogs to qualify that statement. I have yet to be shown a dog that does field work at the highest levels in any way that isn’t on kibble.

 

[mike.adams.467]

We feed our boxer Science Diet. I always add a little warm water.

 

[ben h]

I had a chocolate lab named Gabe who didn't really like eating his food (unlike all my other dogs) and I'd melt a little butter and mix it in with his food, while singing "put on the butter, put on my food, Benny's little Gabby loves buttered-dog food". This method, while not scientific, worked pretty good.

 

[BravoNovember]

a couple eggs as mentioned worked well for me in the past.

This worked well too on a long hunting trip while feeding only in the evening.

Dyne High Calorie Liquid for Dogs (32 oz)

entirelypetspharmacy.com

 

[MuleyFever]

Have you checked his mouth for sores, broken or loose teeth, etc?

I dont see anything. I also gave him a new bone to see if he would chew and he is aggressively chewing the new bone so I dont think its tooth related.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I dont see anything. I also gave him a new bone to see if he would chew and he is aggressively chewing the new bone so I dont think its tooth related.

Had Wiem for 12 yrs they are smart and hard headded...he is training you...put his food down and don't give him any treats....after a day or so he wil eat it. At most pour a little water on it if you have to.

 

[MuleyFever]

Is he losing weight? If not I wouldn't worry too much, he'll eat when he wants. If he's losing weight and won't eat you may want to get some labs drawn and see if something's off from the blood work. My almost 12 year old Lab is apparently diabetic and pretty severely so. She pretty much quit eating for several weeks so I ended up switching her to a raw food diet and she gained 7 lbs. Took her to the vet for some other things and she popped crazy high on their sugars test as well as what their equivalent to A1C is can't remember what it's called. Vet said the kibble was probably making her feel sick because of the diabetes so she didn't want to eat it. I had coincidentally already switched to the raw food recently so vet wants to do another round of labs to see if anything changes. We were also giving her tons of snacks all the time so stopped that.

He hasnt lost much weight. Like I mentioned there are things he will eat but I need to get him back to a routine of a proper dry food. If he doesnt get back to somewhat normal soon I will take him in for blood work. My last dog that I mentioned that stopped eating ended up having diabetes. That was a rough journey.

 

[KenLee]

My previous dog went through something similar. Switching foods or flavors was recommended but did not work. We then had a vet recommend a probiotic (Proviable-DC) and after a week or two she started eating again and we never had another issue until she passed. It is an ‘add on’ but far cheaper than buying bags of food that go to waste.

It does help with sickly dogs.

 

[MuleyFever]

Had Wiem for 12 yrs they are smart and hard headded...he is training you...

This made me chuckle. You're not wrong. This morning he stood by the food that was out and he would look at me then look at the stuff he wants on the counter.

 

[BigNate]

I've tried lots of different foods, but if the dog thinks the food made him sick it's not going to be excited to go back for more.
I now shop by protein content, and avoid corn completely. Even foods with grain of any kind is harder for them to digest.
We're buying stuff like Blue Buffalo Wilderness, Supreme Source, but a little cheaper but good quality is NutraNuggets lamb &rice.
We did start adding what I call magic dust. It has had a noticeable effect.

 

[Dos Perros]

How much time in a day does he have access to food?

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

Are you anticipating he's going to have a better appetite once he recovers from the illness? Is this just a temporary thing, or are you thinking they are going to continue to be picky?

I often found that if my dog was being picky that putting some olive oil spray on it or crack an egg on it would get them to eat it.

We eventually settled on Wellness Core and he never had a problem after that.

 

[RS_Non-Res]

Every dog is a unique individual.
Mine likes PPP better than Costco special.
But just adding warm water goes a long way.

I'm old and cranky and privileged enough to sometimes make omeletts for mine. I mix kibble in with the eggs. She got birria trimmings yesterday, and a slice of habanero jack on the side. She still eats kibble when she's hungry.

Donate the unpalatable kibble to a shelter...

 

[MuleyFever]

How much time in a day does he have access to food?

Right now all the time but usually just at feeding time. We have had it out hoping he will eat but maybe its time to take it away and bring it out and try to generate some excitement for feeding time again.

 

[CCooper]

Natural Balance Duck & Potato. My dog is prone to allergies and full-on allergic to corn and wheat -the limited ingredient food has been working well for him. He pounds it whereas he turned others away. However, I do know people have varying opinions on limited ingredient food. The above is what our vet suggested for his case.

 

[Beendare]

Costco brand is the same stuff as high dollar food- made in the same factory

 

[isItFallYet]

Had that issue with my dog. Tried all of the top brands and landed on this.

 

[Dos Perros]

Right now all the time but usually just at feeding time. We have had it out hoping he will eat but maybe its time to take it away and bring it out and try to generate some excitement for feeding time again.

I've been through the lackadaisical eating thing with healthy dogs, and have had success putting the bowls down for 5 to 10 minutes a day, and then picking up and putting away regardless of how much they ate. After a few days they get pretty hungry and when the bowls are down eat with a purpose. You may consider this with your dog, but temper considering they aren't at full health, pure judgement call.

I do believe, my own experience and hearing from others, than Inukshuk kibble is more palatable than PPP (which is what I fed for 16 years).

 

[bigv]

A black lab I once had would not eat any dry foods very well and she was a fairly skinny athletic dog that I had trouble keeping weight on to begin with. I figured out that all I had to do was crack an egg over the food, or sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top. Bacon grease also worked well. It was a bit of a hassle to always add something to "make it special" for her but without it she either wouldn't eat or wouldn't finish her food completely.

I agree. when some of my dogs had issues i'd take a handful of food and stir raw egg in it. They'd nibble it down .