# Trouble getting dog to accept and eat ANY dry kibble, let alone canned food...



## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

I'll give my back story here first off. My dog (Yorkie) will be 5 years old on April 1 this year. He has always - ALWAYS been a picky eater, preferring human food. He flat out refuses to eat kibble and so for the past 3 or 4 years we've been feeding him a variety of canned food. He wont touch cheap canned food so we feed him the kind that is about $3 or $4 a can, Wellness, Wuruva, and others... After two or 3 days he stops eating the one canned food so the next day we feed him from another different can (different flavor profile). Then in 2 or 3 days it happens again, it's a long never-ending cycle. 

He does get high quality dog treats daily. He begs for the so much that it really gets annoying. He does NOT eat human food anymore due to a bout with pancreatitis. Occasionally mom will give him part of her bagel (about the size of a quarter and the thickness of a typical bagel). Once or twice a week (apparently), I didn't know that until I saw her do it and she confessed.

I'm trying to save money since canned food is so darn expensive. So we just bought (after my reserach) Wellness Small Breed SuperMix 5 adult kibble. 

He wont touch it, not even if I make it seem like it's really a 'treat'. I put maybe a teaspoon full in his canned food for today and mixed it around to soak up the canned food juices. He ate around it. Maybe ate one or two kibbles (they are tiny kibbles, like cat food!) So other than doing that every day and every week mixing less canned food and more kibble I don't know what else to do. Is that the right thing to do? Just take it slow and get him acclimated to dry food that way? I did leave a bowl out with about 1/2 cup of it next to his canned food dish. But we always had dry food out next to his canned food dish and he very rarely ate any of it. But come to find out that dry food we had out for him (Taste of the Wild) was expired in April of last year... So I guess it's good he rarely touched it. Yeah see, that's how often we buy kibble since he doesnt eat it.

I really want to get him on kibble instead of expensive canned foods which we are having trouble affording now. We just have too many expenses. We just took him to the vet due to diarreah and vomiting which we found out was caused by a bacterial overgrowth in his digestive system. So he's healed from that now. I know that the Wellness kibble has probiotics in it so that's one reason I chose that kibble. 

Do you have any advice for me? Or are we a lost cause?

My dog is a healthy weight, a little big for a yorkie but overall not overweight at all. He's 8.1 pounds.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Hi! *waves* Fellow Yorkie owner here.  He can be finicky as well. After his (what we think) was a bout of pancreatitis, we did a month of eating only RX food (both kibble and wet). Boy, I'll tell you what, after that happened... he became a whole heck of a lot less picky. Because his only option for eating was eating that food. His appetite got much better after that. For a while, I wasn't even buying canned food anymore. 

Anyway, this was over a year ago, and he's still somewhat picky but I just don't baby him about it. I mean, if a dog is hungry, he will eventually cave and eat (unless, of course, something is medically wrong). As long as all checks out health-wise, it's just going to have to be tough love. Put the dry food down in the morning - leave it for maybe an hour. If it doesn't get eaten, it gets picked up. Try again a few hours later. Again, only leave it down for a little bit, then pick it up. I'm almost positive that after 2 days of no food, he will end up eating something. Don't just put a food down, oh he won't eat it, and then go buy him a new kind. He has you trained!

Now, don't get me wrong though, I really like to see my dog enjoying his food. So I try to get what he finds the palatable. There's been some kibbles he refuses to touch, so no biggie, we just don't feed them. I tried to get samples of everything first before purchasing a bigger bag. So far, his FAV has been Fromm, specifically the Beef Fritta. He devours that stuff. I do buy canned food as well, and usually he has one meal mixed with wet -- just for added moisture, flavor, and something different for him. He never knows when he's going to get the dry/wet mixed meal, or if he is, etc, so I like to surprise him. He also gets canned food in his Kongs and I freeze it, then give it to him. 

Also -- EXERCISE! Jackson is always much hungrier after coming in from a long walk, or a long run, etc. Mornings, he's iffy. Some mornings he wants to eat his breakfast, others he doesn't. I really don't care either way and don't push it. I pour 1/4 cup into the bowl in the AM before I leave for work ... sometimes he eats it while I'm still there, 50% of the time it's still in the bowl when I come home. So sometimes he will eat around noon, and then again around 6pm.

Good luck  PS - my boy is bigger too. 17lb'er. I'd love to see pics!


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## RedGermanPinscher (Jun 22, 2012)

Mix food with canned food or olive oil leave down for 15-20 minutes if he doesn't eat pick up and put away till next feeding, no treats nada... Seems to me he has learned to hold out for the good stuff... Next feeding repeat cycle.. A healthy dog will not starve itself.. After a few rounds of this I bet ya he will eat when the food is put down... Being that He is a small breed however, they can be prone to hypoglycemia so I would suggest adding some sugar to his water dish and /or pick up some Nurti-Cal to supplement with periodically 2x-3x daily till he figures things out.. (may want to consult your vet on appropriate dosage for your individual dog).


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## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

RedGermanPinscher said:


> Mix food with canned food or olive oil leave down for 15-20 minutes if he doesn't eat pick up and put away till next feeding, no treats nada... Seems to me he has learned to hold out for the good stuff... Next feeding repeat cycle.. A healthy dog will not starve itself.. After a few rounds of this I bet ya he will eat when the food is put down... Being that He is a small breed however, they can be prone to hypoglycemia so I would suggest adding some sugar to his water dish and /or pick up some Nurti-Cal to supplement with periodically 2x daily till he figures things out..


I agree. Dont feed any treats, nothing...offer him his food twice (maybe three times) a day. After 15 min pick it up. He will get hungry and eat. It seems like he never got hungry enough to really want to eat his food.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Jacksons Mom said:


> he will eventually cave and eat (unless, of course, something is medically wrong)


Or psychologically very wrong. Jack's been 'stuffed' (force fed) for showing. That went on for most of his life, because judges prefer heavier than he maintained on his own dogs in show. It took us MONTHS of him eating exactly enough to stay alive. He wouldn't kill himself, but he did reach the point of being able to see the bones in his skull and forelegs - like dangerous, 25% less than he should have weighed - and his ideal weight is 25lbs. We absolutely did pander to him for a while. 

That said, he's a weird dog. I'd go with tough love. Put it down, offer it to him, pick it up and move on. Offer it again next feeding. Even Jack eventually got over it once he realized we weren't going to literally shove it down his throat, though he is still really no more into eating than he is having his nails clipped.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Jacksons Mom said:


> Hi! *waves* Fellow Yorkie owner here.  He can be finicky as well. After his (what we think) was a bout of pancreatitis, we did a month of eating only RX food (both kibble and wet). Boy, I'll tell you what, after that happened... he became a whole heck of a lot less picky. Because his only option for eating was eating that food. His appetite got much better after that. For a while, I wasn't even buying canned food anymore.
> 
> Anyway, this was over a year ago, and he's still somewhat picky but I just don't baby him about it. I mean, if a dog is hungry, he will eventually cave and eat (unless, of course, something is medically wrong). As long as all checks out health-wise, it's just going to have to be tough love. Put the dry food down in the morning - leave it for maybe an hour. If it doesn't get eaten, it gets picked up. Try again a few hours later. Again, only leave it down for a little bit, then pick it up. I'm almost positive that after 2 days of no food, he will end up eating something. Don't just put a food down, oh he won't eat it, and then go buy him a new kind. He has you trained!
> 
> ...


 Well he's gone 5 days to my knowledge of not eating anything but treats that dad gives him. He just refused to eat what we put down. That is when we started buying more expensive and higher quality canned food. I hate to see him not eat food daily. Isn't 5 days a little much for an 8 pound dog to go without food (other than treats)?? Dad refuses to stop giving him the treats. We have like 10 bags of different kinds of more expensive treats so that the dog doesn't get bored with one treat flavor. He gives him one of each, though really I haven't counted how many a day he gets but it certainly seems excessive to me. I think mainly dad treats me because he begs. Sometimes when he's not asking for it he'll get a treat. I think I'd have to get our vet to tell us NO TREATS in order for him to even consider the idea of not giving any to get Bentley to eat his food. Ugh.




RedGermanPinscher said:


> Mix food with canned food or olive oil leave down for 15-20 minutes if he doesn't eat pick up and put away till next feeding, no treats nada... Seems to me he has learned to hold out for the good stuff... Next feeding repeat cycle.. A healthy dog will not starve itself.. After a few rounds of this I bet ya he will eat when the food is put down... Being that He is a small breed however, they can be prone to hypoglycemia so I would suggest adding some sugar to his water dish and /or pick up some Nurti-Cal to supplement with periodically 2x daily till he figures things out..


Yeah a healthy dog will not starve himself but so far my dog has gone 5 full days without eating dog food other than treats! How can that be healthy? I'm so frustrated by this situation. Dad doesn't seem concerned and is only concerned because **I** am concerned. Mom doesn't care at all. I want my dog to live to be healthy and very old. He is the light of my life, like my own child. I will never have children and this dog is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want him to be healthy and happy and long-lived. I feel that if he doesn't start eating food on a regular basis he wont live to be healthy and old. It scares me to know that I could lose him sooner rather than later.

I will try once more to get dad to get used to the idea of LESS treats. or NO treats until he regularly eats his food.

But I doubt he'll listen. We got into an argument about it a few weeks ago. It was heated. And dad and I NEVER fight! We are each other's friend and confidant, mainly I think because we are so similar in how we think and do things. Mom calls dad a "nerd-head" (in jest). We are both logic driven. 

I am logical in my thought that if he gets no treats and only gets food put down twice a day that he will eat it. But dad says well what if he doesn't? He's done it before. I think he's more concerned with the fact that Bentley could go longer than 5 days without eating and possibly have another seizure from low blood sugar.

I have diabetes so I could easily test his blood sugar if I knew how (where do I prick him to test??) 

Anyway. That is what's going on in my head. I guess we should buy the Nutri-Cal and maybe dad will then be more receptive to the way I want to feed Bentley.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

If your dad is feeding him treats, he's not going 5 days without food. That's the thing - he's GETTING food, just not the food you want him to eat. You need to remove ALL other food. Then expect it to take a few days, because he thinks if he holds out, someone will come along and give him a treat. 

That said, I support higher quality food, and I would keep an eye on him. At 17 lbs though, I'm not sure I'd be super concerned about his blood sugar tanking before he eats. And if you're REALLY worried, rub some karo on his gums - it'll keep his blood sugar up but *won't* put food in his belly without him eating.


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## Salina (Sep 2, 2012)

Yep, treats are food...he needs to ONLY get his food at meal times. NOTHiNG else. No treats at all. Zero.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> Or psychologically very wrong. Jack's been 'stuffed' (force fed) for showing. That went on for most of his life, because judges prefer heavier than he maintained on his own dogs in show. It took us MONTHS of him eating exactly enough to stay alive. He wouldn't kill himself, but he did reach the point of being able to see the bones in his skull and forelegs - like dangerous, 25% less than he should have weighed - and his ideal weight is 25lbs. We absolutely did pander to him for a while.
> 
> That said, he's a weird dog. I'd go with tough love. Put it down, offer it to him, pick it up and move on. Offer it again next feeding. Even Jack eventually got over it once he realized we weren't going to literally shove it down his throat, though he is still really no more into eating than he is having his nails clipped.


Yeah I'm not sure what can be done. I was hoping I could get some miracle cure advice here. LOL I guess tough love is it then. So I'll try to talk dad into the tough love feeding routine. I KNOW mom will have a cow if she knows what we are doing (forcing him to eat kibble).. in fact she just walked in the door and we told her we got him dry food. She whined and said that he "needs" mushy food. And he needs variety... *sigh* We just bought him a pig snout and a bully stick. Isn't that variety enough?? He wasn't interested much in the bully stick but was more interested in the pig snout which we painstakingly cut in half. I had no idea they were so tough and huge!! But anyway. That is what is going on here regarding our dog. Ok I'll talk to dad about only putting down dry food IF he doesnt eat the mix of canned and dry that we are working on him eating. So we'll see how it goes.

Thank you all for your advice. I appreciate it.

Here is a pic of my dog:


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## RedGermanPinscher (Jun 22, 2012)

CptJack said:


> If your dad is feeding him treats, he's not going 5 days without food. That's the thing - he's GETTING food, just not the food you want him to eat. You need to remove ALL other food. Then expect it to take a few days, because he thinks if he holds out, someone will come along and give him a treat.
> 
> That said, I support higher quality food, and I would keep an eye on him. At 17 lbs though, I'm not sure I'd be super concerned about his blood sugar tanking before he eats. And if you're REALLY worried, rub some karo on his gums - it'll keep his blood sugar up but *won't* put food in his belly without him eating.


Exactly, he is not hungry enough to eat his food because of all the treats.. Just like kids, they figure, Why should I eat the healthy stuff, when the candy is so much "better" and readily available.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

RedGermanPinscher said:


> Exactly, he is not hungry enough to eat his food because of all the treats.. Just like kids, they figure, Why should I eat the healthy stuff, when the candy is so much "better" and readily available.


 Yes, I see your point. Hopefully I can get dad to severely cut back on treats so that he is hungry enough for his regular food.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

1) What Jackson's Mom said: Sometimes you just gotta use Tough Love. A healthy dog will not starve itself, so you can stop worrying about him starving himself if you don't cater to his wants and desires. A quick run down on Tough Love: Put down meal's worth of kibble (no extras) for 15-20 minutes. If dog does not start eating within that time period, food gets picked up and set aside for later. Repeat every meal time. Some dogs will go 2-3 days without eating at all before they decide that any food is acceptable. It is also imporant that he get ZERO treats/other food during this time - even a little will be enough for him to hold out for "better" stuff. 

2) You can also try soaking the kibble with warm water or a little bit of dilute, low/no-sodium chicken stock if that's something you feel like you could keep up for a while. When we were soaking, it was 1/2 volume of warm water to food, soaked for ~15 minutes.

3) I feel better when Snowball likes his kibble too (he's selective based on protein source), so once you've gotten him eating kibble regularly you could check with manufacturers to find out if they offer trial sizes of any of their kibble to see which one he prefers. Additionally, some specialty pet food stores will also have trial sizes either as samples or for sale (about $4 for 1lb). Some dogs have strong preferences for protein sources over others.

Good luck!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

gingerkid said:


> 1) What Jackson's Mom said: Sometimes you just gotta use Tough Love. A healthy dog will not starve itself, so you can stop worrying about him starving himself if you don't cater to his wants and desires. A quick run down on Tough Love: Put down meal's worth of kibble (no extras) for 15-20 minutes. If dog does not start eating within that time period, food gets picked up and set aside for later. Repeat every meal time. Some dogs will go 2-3 days without eating at all before they decide that any food is acceptable. It is also imporant that he get ZERO treats/other food during this time - even a little will be enough for him to hold out for "better" stuff.
> 
> 2) You can also try soaking the kibble with warm water or a little bit of dilute, low/no-sodium chicken stock if that's something you feel like you could keep up for a while. When we were soaking, it was 1/2 volume of warm water to food, soaked for ~15 minutes.
> 
> ...


Yeah mom wont listen. I pleaded with her to NOT give Bentley any of her bagel that she just put in the toaster. Well I then begged her not to while she was breaking off a piece and eating some part of it so it was smaller. She gave it to him anyway. I then asked her honestly how she expected us to get him to eat his food if she kept giving him human food. She wouldn't answer, so I then said "use your logic..." She yelled at me saying "Leave me alone!" So I don't know how to get into her thick skull how to make him eat his food. She simply doesn't care! All I know is, when we get another dog when Bentley passes away I will constantly be on her butt about treats/food/human food/etc. She isn't the one that feeds Bentley, it's usually dad, or sometimes myself. How can I get through to her?? If she doesn't care then I don't know what to do. Maybe I should go buy human snacks and exclusively eat those and let her know about it. Ho-Ho's, chips, crackers, beef jerky (for protein), ummm pizza rolls, fish sticks, corn dogs, jalapeno poppers, etc. See how much she cares about the health of her one and only child.


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## RedGermanPinscher (Jun 22, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> Yes, I see your point. Hopefully I can get dad to severely cut back on treats so that he is hungry enough for his regular food.


 Yup, it can be difficult, especially when you have people with their own ideas not working with you.. Good luck though!!!


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> Yeah mom wont listen. I pleaded with her to NOT give Bentley any of her bagel that she just put in the toaster. Well I then begged her not to while she was breaking off a piece and eating some part of it so it was smaller. She gave it to him anyway. I then asked her honestly how she expected us to get him to eat his food if she kept giving him human food. She wouldn't answer, so I then said "use your logic..." She yelled at me saying "Leave me alone!" So I don't know how to get into her thick skull how to make him eat his food. She simply doesn't care! All I know is, when we get another dog when Bentley passes away I will constantly be on her butt about treats/food/human food/etc. She isn't the one that feeds Bentley, it's usually dad, or sometimes myself. How can I get through to her?? If she doesn't care then I don't know what to do. Maybe I should go buy human snacks and exclusively eat those and let her know about it. Ho-Ho's, chips, crackers, beef jerky (for protein), ummm pizza rolls, fish sticks, corn dogs, jalapeno poppers, etc. See how much she cares about the health of her one and only child.


Additionally, is he _your_ dog or is he a family dog? If he's a family dog I'd calmly explain to your parents that they can pay for his uber expensive dog food unless they stop feeding him treats. Actually, I'd do that even if he's YOUR dog since its not fair for you to foot the bill for _their_ bull-headedness.

What a crappy situation  Have you mentioned that the no-treats thing isn't forever... likely just for a week or so, until he's reliably eating kibble?


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I would gather up all of the dog treats and hide them someplace so that your dad isn't even tempted.

As for your mom, though, or anyone feeding him real food... that's up to you. You need to convince them somehow. Maybe you could ask your vet to explain the "tough love" thing to them.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> Yeah I'm not sure what can be done. I was hoping I could get some miracle cure advice here.


He's adorable. 

And unfortunately, the only thing that worked with us was time and stubbornness - and admittedly fairly expensive dog food, because well. He ate it and I was sick of playing games with his food. Our compromise was kind of that he eats the 3.00/can or lb dog food and I'll mix it together and buy it. For a while there I was seriously doing A LOT of DOctoring of his food and it was making me INSANE.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

gingerkid said:


> Additionally, is he _your_ dog or is he a family dog? If he's a family dog I'd calmly explain to your parents that they can pay for his uber expensive dog food unless they stop feeding him treats. Actually, I'd do that even if he's YOUR dog since its not fair for you to foot the bill for _their_ bull-headedness.
> 
> What a crappy situation  Have you mentioned that the no-treats thing isn't forever... likely just for a week or so, until he's reliably eating kibble?


 It's our dog (family dog) I am 28 years old, living with my parents due to physical disabilities. 

I did just have a talk with dad since mom left to go to the gym with her friend to work out. Dad said we could severely cut back on treats so that he will be more likely to eat his food. I had put his food up (the mix of canned and new kibble) into the fridge for a few hours since he wasn't interested in eating it. I just put it down for him (after heating it a little to get rid of the coldness) and he ate it except he left all the kibble. He did eat maybe 4 or 5 at most of the kibble pieces. So that's a start. So I picked up his small bowl of 1/2 cup kibble and put it on our entertainment center for now. 

Mom just came in and asked why dad cleaned up (lol like we needed a reason!) but dad took some boxes and put them away so that he could crawl on teh floor and play with Bentley. Then mom asked why his food was put up so I explained nicely that we are starting to play with Bentley and that we are trying to train him not to beg for treats anymore and that the food is up because we are trying to get him to want to eat his food. Then I said would you want me (her daughter) eating nothing but cakes, cookies, chips, ho-ho's, etc all day? Or would she want me to eat a healthy balanced diet? She understood and nodded her head and didn't say anything. 

FINALLY!! She's starting to understand! So we are getting somewhere finally. She sort of had a panic moment when I said we were limiting his treats but I quickly said that he would still get SOME treats during the day and that we aren't depriving him. So I think we are getting somewhere. 

At probably 10pm (3 hrs from now) I will put down his dry food. Tomorrow in the morning we'll put a tablespoon or so of his canned food on top of and mixed in with 1/4 cup of kibble. I estimate he should be getting 1/2 cup of kibble. dogfoodadvisor.com has a calculator to see how much of the kibble a dog with certain characteristics (neutered, not active, or active, hyper, or something like that) should eat. With that food kcal/cup and he being neutered and not very active it said for him to eat 0.56 cups of food per day. So that's basically 1/2 cup. So for now I'll start him off with 1/2 cup a day. Fed in the morning and in the evening. If he doesn't eat it in the morning I'll just throw that away and put down 1/4 cup without canned food in the evening. But every morning I think we could happily do some canned with the kibble to start the day. We could count that as a healthy treat.



Crantastic said:


> I would gather up all of the dog treats and hide them someplace so that your dad isn't even tempted.
> 
> As for your mom, though, or anyone feeding him real food... that's up to you. You need to convince them somehow. Maybe you could ask your vet to explain the "tough love" thing to them.


I figured I better talk to my dad about it first before I did such a thing. I don't want him being angry with me over it. My dad is my best friend. I respect him enough to talk to him about it before I do something rash.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> He's adorable.
> 
> And unfortunately, the only thing that worked with us was time and stubbornness - and admittedly fairly expensive dog food, because well. He ate it and I was sick of playing games with his food. Our compromise was kind of that he eats the 3.00/can or lb dog food and I'll mix it together and buy it. For a while there I was seriously doing A LOT of DOctoring of his food and it was making me INSANE.


I totally understand where you are coming from. For a while I fed Bentley home-made food. Cooked ground beef, chicken, turkey, tuna from a can, with rice and green beans. Yeah it didnt work for long. He started to ignore the food and refused to eat it after a while. That is when we went and started buying him expensive canned food. Ugh it was so annoying. Mainly because we rarely cook in our household. We either eat sandwiches, cereal or other easy to prepare foods, or we order fast food, chinese food or pizza. Yeah our diet sucks but I want our doggy to have great long lasting health and happiness! I know how important good food is to our bodies yet I just can't physically do the standing up and walking to cook for us. Mom wont cook and dad has no idea how to cook anything other than boxed macaroni and cheese.

Cooking isn't something we often do in this household unfortunately. I know how to cook basic things like eggs, oatmeal, most typical veggies, chicken, turkey, fish, ground beef, etc. Nothing too fancy or unusual.

I hope that we can get this food issue straightened out with Bentley. I'm trying. I think now - we are all trying.


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## Candydb (Jul 16, 2011)

you might also try puppy wellness I think its alittle more palatable (since he is not really eating he could probably use the extra nutrients)-- or add a raw egg or liver.... Also have you tried a dried lambs ear for treats? Or chicken butts? They are very tender....


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Candydb said:


> you might also try puppy wellness I think its alittle more palatable (since he is not really eating he could probably use the extra nutrients)-- or add a raw egg or liver.... Also have you tried a dried lambs ear for treats? Or chicken butts? They are very tender....


I've never thought about raw egg or liver or dried lambs ears. I did just buy (online) a beef ear. I got it on sale. I've never thought about or heard of chicken butts. Where do you shop for dog treats? I would much rather give my dog treats like ears and bully sticks than easily edible treats like Greenies (though he does like those and they are good for teeth!) and Zukes Mini Naturals flat square treats. Dentastix, and other kinds of treats.

I shopped at petflow.com for the first time and signed up for their newsletter which gave me a free shipping code. So plus they were having a great sale. I ordered 2 beef ears, and a bully stick. He usually loves bully sticks but only for the first day and doesnt care for it after that. So we have like 3 gnawed on bully sticks around that just went to waste. He never finishes them anymore. Could be related to his weird habits about food.. That's my guess.


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## Candydb (Jul 16, 2011)

xdunlapx said:


> I've never thought about raw egg or liver or dried lambs ears. I did just buy (online) a beef ear. I got it on sale. I've never thought about or heard of chicken butts. Where do you shop for dog treats? I would much rather give my dog treats like ears and bully sticks than easily edible treats like Greenies (though he does like those and they are good for teeth!) and Zukes Mini Naturals flat square treats. Dentastix, and other kinds of treats.
> 
> I shopped at petflow.com for the first time and signed up for their newsletter which gave me a free shipping code. So plus they were having a great sale. I ordered 2 beef ears, and a bully stick. He usually loves bully sticks but only for the first day and doesnt care for it after that. So we have like 3 gnawed on bully sticks around that just went to waste. He never finishes them anymore. Could be related to his weird habits about food.. That's my guess.


Our dog treats come form Life experience...we just got chickens last summer and they started laying like crazy... so suddenly our 3 dogs are getting alot of raw eggs... raw liver came from a really picky dog who arrived only eating raw.. and I had to take her to training class, and she was so hard to motivate...the chickens butts I think I got from safeway/ grocery store ( I was varying our raw options)-- you could also try baking/ dehydrating hearts and gizzards in your oven that would be a fine dog tasty as well... and when you just make your own dog treats you know exactly what is going into it, and usu they are cheaper as well...we even baked peanut butter,flour and egg into little treats.... Get creative, it can be fun!
In terms of ordering online-- the lambs ears come from Drs Fosters and smith.com -- great catalog -- they have fair prices and fine selection of treats etc ... Def check them out...


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Candydb said:


> Our dog treats come form Life experience...we just got chickens last summer and they started laying like crazy... so suddenly our 3 dogs are getting alot of raw eggs... raw liver came from a really picky dog who arrived only eating raw.. and I had to take her to training class, and she was so hard to motivate...the chickens butts I think I got from safeway/ grocery store ( I was varying our raw options)-- you could also try baking/ dehydrating hearts and gizzards in your oven that would be a fine dog tasty as well... and when you just make your own dog treats you know exactly what is going into it, and usu they are cheaper as well...we even baked peanut butter,flour and egg into little treats.... Get creative, it can be fun!
> In terms of ordering online-- the lambs ears come from Drs Fosters and smith.com -- great catalog -- they have fair prices and fine selection of treats etc ... Def check them out...


Ok thanks! I had forgotten about Dr's Foster and Smith. Thanks! I'm not so keen on the idea of him eating organ meats but I might look into it. Seems kinda gross to me (but I know it's normal for carnivorous animals to eat it hehe). I'll check out dr's foster and smith online and see if I can find anything worth buying. I did include a laser pointer (for like $1.99) in my order. So that'll be fun! He used to love it when he was a puppy but my cats (both R.I.P.) would chase it faster than the dog so he wouldnt get a chance to play with it.

So now that he's our only pet I think he will have a blast with it. Yay laser pointers! hehe


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

We hadn't given Bentley any treats today. We put a mix of canned food and kibble down for him. We put it away after an hour, in the fridge. We warmed it up some and put it down again but this time he licked off all the canned food from the kibble and left it. So we put it up. We put it down again only this time adding parmesan cheese. He licked off all the cheese and didn't eat many of the kibble, maybe 5 or so. So I picked it back up.. Then I put it down again leaving it as it was. He went over eventually and ate some, not much, but some. Maybe 10 kibbles, then he got distracted by dad getting up from his chair to go to the bathroom. Figures. He easily gets distracted from eating. I think he thinks that dad will get him a treat when he gets up LOL...

So he hasn't gone back to eat since mom got up and went into the bedroom. He follows her to her bedroom every night as he sleeps in there on the bed with mom and dad. But in case he wanders back out here in the middle of the night to eat I'll leave the food down for him. Is that bad?


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

I would only give him 15 mins each time you try the food, and do it only every few hours (unless he hasn't been eating for a long long time). Try something really stinky, like mixing canned tripe to his food. I find this usually does the trick!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

taquitos said:


> I would only give him 15 mins each time you try the food, and do it only every few hours (unless he hasn't been eating for a long long time). Try something really stinky, like mixing canned tripe to his food. I find this usually does the trick!


He must be the only dog in the world that wont eat tripe. We've tried it over and over again and he never eats it so we quit trying. Ok I'll do it every few hours. So I'll pick it up tonight and put it down in the morning. He didn't make a dent in the amount on his plate which was less than 1/4 cup. It just covered the bottom of a correlle teacup saucer. Not up onto the edges of the saucer. So yeah it wasn't much. No dent at all. BUT he did crunch a few pieces which is promising.


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## Happyday (Jan 31, 2013)

Have you tried different types of kibbles and mixing it in with different stuff?

Maybe your dog just doesn't like the type or kind of kibble you bought for him??

My dog prefers the cheap low quality kibble over the higher quality expensive one. he refuses to touch the high quality expensive kibble even when i mix it with anything i can think of. iam still trying to work out why he prefers the cheap one over the better one. 

The low quality kibble he sometimes won't eat it either as he prefers canned but i am on a tight budget so i can't afford to give him high quality canned all the time. I usually buy wellness can for him. 

Anyway so sometimes i would make scrambled eggs or an omelette for him and mix it in his cheap kibble. I do not put oil or salt or anything in it and after it's cooked. i would use my hands to break the omelette or scrambled eggs into little tiny pieces... almost like crumbs but bigger and just mix it in the kibble and he loves it. because the pieces are tiny. He can't just eat the eggs without actually eating the kibble too. i think he just loves the smell of cooked eggs in his kibble. 

I read in your first post you are trying to not give him human food. I know eggs is considered human food however i don't think a little egg would hurt. I own a maltese and whenever i do the cooked egg mix trick. I usually make scrambled eggs with 1 whole egg and i would eat 3/4 of it and 1/4 is for my dog. since iam making it into small crumb like pieces. 1/4 of 1 egg would still do the trick for me.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Happyday said:


> Have you tried different types of kibbles and mixing it in with different stuff?
> 
> Maybe your dog just doesn't like the type or kind of kibble you bought for him??
> 
> ...


We've tried cheap kibble as well as more expensive kibble. Bentley generally won't eat eggs. Even if he did he wouldn't eat the kibble. He licks at his food and never actually uses his teeth to pick up food to eat it. It takes him forever to eat a little bit of food that way but that's how he's always done it. I find it weird. Most dogs that I've seen eating bite at their food and gulp it down. Not Bentley.  He's a weird one. I think I'll continue trying parmesan cheese if he still has issues wanting to eat it for the next week. So, we'll see how he does.


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

why don't you get your dad to give him the kibble from his hand in place of a treat.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

roxiefoxie08 said:


> why don't you get your dad to give him the kibble from his hand in place of a treat.


We've tried that. He refused to eat it. He didn't even take it from us and then spit it out LOL

I acted all excited abou the "treat" and made sure he knew I was giving him a "treat" and he just smelled it in my hand and backed up. He refused it.


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## Happyday (Jan 31, 2013)

xdunlapx said:


> Even if he did he wouldn't eat the kibble. He licks at his food and never actually uses his teeth to pick up food to eat it. .


 have you gotten his teeth checked out by the vet? sounds like his teeth might be hurting?


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> He must be the only dog in the world that wont eat tripe. We've tried it over and over again and he never eats it so we quit trying. Ok I'll do it every few hours. So I'll pick it up tonight and put it down in the morning. He didn't make a dent in the amount on his plate which was less than 1/4 cup. It just covered the bottom of a correlle teacup saucer. Not up onto the edges of the saucer. So yeah it wasn't much. No dent at all. BUT he did crunch a few pieces which is promising.


Wow yeah he is one of the rare few I guess lol! That's what we always suggest trying in store... Hm. If there's any food he likes I would cut it up into really really ridiculously tiny pieces and coat the kibble with it. Or could you maybe try different types of wet food? You could even try cat food. When one of my fosters came in, she wouldn't touch any type of processed food (she was a stray so I suspect she had been hunting for her food). The only thing she would eat would be raw (which I could not afford to feed to an 80 lbs husky/greyhound mix lol) or she would eat the canned cat food we keep for emergencies. So we mixed cat food with her kibble and then decreased the amount gradually.

Picky dogs are the hardest to please! Good luck and keep us updated!


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> We've tried cheap kibble as well as more expensive kibble. Bentley generally won't eat eggs. Even if he did he wouldn't eat the kibble. He licks at his food and never actually uses his teeth to pick up food to eat it. It takes him forever to eat a little bit of food that way but that's how he's always done it. I find it weird. Most dogs that I've seen eating bite at their food and gulp it down. Not Bentley.  He's a weird one. I think I'll continue trying parmesan cheese if he still has issues wanting to eat it for the next week. So, we'll see how he does.


1) its very possible that Bentley doesn't like the kibble you have (regardless of quality). Snowball was on Iams when we first got him (from the shelter), and we switched to a reduced-grain lamb-based kibble, but he still wasn't thrilled with that and wouldn't take as a "treat" unless he had skipped a meal. We didn't have that issue with Orijen Red (which we were using as treats only - didn't matter if he'd just eaten), and its not an issue with his current kibble either.

2) Snowball also licks up his kibble and then chews it (most of the time), but he's also missing a front tooth. When he was getting treats before, did Bentley have a problem with other crunchy things; would he eat hard biscuits before?


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Happyday said:


> have you gotten his teeth checked out by the vet? sounds like his teeth might be hurting?


His teeth are very healthy and good. He chews on bully sticks and the pig snout just fine. 



gingerkid said:


> 1) its very possible that Bentley doesn't like the kibble you have (regardless of quality). Snowball was on Iams when we first got him (from the shelter), and we switched to a reduced-grain lamb-based kibble, but he still wasn't thrilled with that and wouldn't take as a "treat" unless he had skipped a meal. We didn't have that issue with Orijen Red (which we were using as treats only - didn't matter if he'd just eaten), and its not an issue with his current kibble either.
> 
> 2) Snowball also licks up his kibble and then chews it (most of the time), but he's also missing a front tooth. When he was getting treats before, did Bentley have a problem with other crunchy things; would he eat hard biscuits before?


He wouldn't eat the cheap kibble that we were given when he was adopted either. He has ALWAYS not wanted to eat unless it's human food. Watching him eat it seems (in my inexperienced opinion) that he seems a little overwhelmed with the experience. He leans forward to lick at the food and turns away after a minute like he's done but then I say gently "good boy, go eat" and he'll sit there a second or two then turn back around and lick some more. He does chew the kibble on the occasion he eats a piece after licking it into his mouth.

I've never given him biscuits since they are mostly wheat which I don't find necessary in a dogs diet. No sense possible causing an allergic reaction since many dogs have allergic problems to wheat, soy, eggs, etc. He on the rare occasion would eat the old kibble we had down all the time without issue. He just apparently has to be in the mood to eat kibble which annoys me. That is rare. Maybe once a year kind of rare. 

I look at his teeth every few weeks and they are white and have minimal tartar. No swollen areas or breaks in the gums. No redness. So his oral health is great. I can't blame him not wanting to eat kibble on that. The vet looked into his mouth when he was sick about 2 weeks ago and she said his mouth looked good. He's never needed a dental cleaning. He does get a greenie a day or more depending on if mom ends up giving him one for no real reason other than after she bathes him or cleans his eyes since he now expects a greenie after that kind of treatment. Thanks mom.


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## Happyday (Jan 31, 2013)

looks like we are all out of ideas.

just so you know. i know how you feel though. My previous dog that i owned for 16 yrs was a rescue. well original owner gave him away for free and we took her in at 1 yrs old. In the 16 yrs we've owed her. she would only eat human food and raw food. we tried to feed her as healthy as possible so we would cook meals specifically for the dog without the unhealthy junk added to them. 

she was not even interested in dog chews or dog biscuits and we tried everything!! by that i mean.. we would try the strict of only giving her dog food for 3 days straight. everyone swears this method works but it didn't for me. She would still refuse to eat after 3 days. She rather starve than touch dog food.  that strict method actually made her sick as she refused to eat and would end up getting low blood sugar and vomit bile due to the empty stomach. so after trying that method twice. we never tried it again as we knew our dog would rather starve and get sick than eat dog food. lol 

it made life very difficult as we had to cook meals just for the dog and finding a pet sitter who would cook for the dog was extremely difficult. lol

The only health problem she had was during the last day of her life. at 17 she had a heart attack that affected her brain function and we decided it was best to put her down that day. prior to that we would do a full health check on her at the vets twice a yr including xtrays and blood work and always got the clean bill of health.

Got a new dog now and very strict with him from the start! only kibble or canned. lol not allowed to even taste human food! lol


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Happyday said:


> looks like we are all out of ideas.
> 
> just so you know. i know how you feel though. My previous dog that i owned for 16 yrs was a rescue. well original owner gave him away for free and we took her in at 1 yrs old. In the 16 yrs we've owed her. she would only eat human food and raw food. we tried to feed her as healthy as possible so we would cook meals specifically for the dog without the unhealthy junk added to them.
> 
> ...


Wow that sounds like a very frustrating time indeed! Bentley did eat about 3/4 of the kibble we gave him yesteday though it wasn't measured out so I don't know how much it actually was. We soaked about 2 handfulls or so in low fat soy milk (my handfulls are small compared to other people's as I have smaller hands) because for years my dad always left some of his cereal milk (soy milk) in his bowl and gave it to Bentley. But that kibble had also had chicken canned food put on top of it to entice Bentley to eat it earlier. He ate the chicken part off of it and much later (right before parents went to bed) he quickly went over and ate the 3/4 of the kibble. What a relief! So today I'll measure out 1/4 cup of kibble and soak it in soy milk and give it to him that way this morning. I don't want to add the chicken canned food on top of it so I'll see if we can just let him eat it as is during the day. I want to then measure how much he ate after my parents go to bed tonight (Bentley goes in and sleeps with them every night). Hopefully he will have eaten near the 1/4 cup. I know he probably should eat about 1/2 cup but this is a start at least. 

We'll see how today goes.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Sounds like you're making headway! I hope he keeps it up. 

I a bit confused about one thing though... Bentley doesn't get biscuits because they have wheat, but he get bits of bagel and soy milk? I guess I don't understand why he gets human wheat/soy products, but not dog biscuits. (Especially since there is a wide range of grain-free and wheat/corn/so free biscuits on the market these days). Anyway I asked about the biscuits because maybe Bentley doesn't like the crunchiness of the kibble (a similar texture to dog biscuits). That would explain why he eats it when it is soaked in soy milk. Have you tried soaking it in warm water or low-sodium chicken or beef stock? It would be better for him than soy milk.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

gingerkid said:


> Sounds like you're making headway! I hope he keeps it up.
> 
> I a bit confused about one thing though... Bentley doesn't get biscuits because they have wheat, but he get bits of bagel and soy milk? I guess I don't understand why he gets human wheat/soy products, but not dog biscuits. (Especially since there is a wide range of grain-free and wheat/corn/so free biscuits on the market these days). Anyway I asked about the biscuits because maybe Bentley doesn't like the crunchiness of the kibble (a similar texture to dog biscuits). That would explain why he eats it when it is soaked in soy milk. Have you tried soaking it in warm water or low-sodium chicken or beef stock? It would be better for him than soy milk.


Dad and I do not feed bagel. Mom does on occasion. If I had my way, she wouldn't feed him any bagel at all ever. The soy milk we know not to be a problem for him and allergies. I'm overly cautious about allergens because of what my grandmother's dog went through with severe skin allergies due to her feeding low grade dog food (Ol' Roy). So I am trying to be proactive about it even though he may not even be allergic. I was sickened with the angst about that dog suffering so much with severe hot spots and pain. But at that time in my life I didn't know any better and did not know how to begin to research better alternatives for her to feed Lady. Plus the internet wasn't widespread enough yet at that time. I'm not sure it would have made a difference considering that she didn't have much money to spend on her for better food. Anyway..

So that's the reason I don't buy and try to avoid wheat and low cost dog treats because of the mental scarring I have regarding Lady's conditions. The treats we give Bentley are all grain-free and tend to be more nutritionally complete with the exception of one treat, Dentastix. But he really doesn't like them much anymore so we don't often give him one.

I had thought about warm water then immediately thought of soy milk since we know he likes soy milk. I felt it would be more palatable for him since he gets soy milk daily. Might produce a comforting feeling in him since this is a big change for Bentley, I don't want him to feel overwhelmed about his food. He's a very sensitive dog in many respects.


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

you could request a sample of nupro supplement to see if he will like it you just add water and it makes a nice gravy to his food.email address to request free sample [email protected]

here is the link:


http://www.nuprosupplements.com/


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

roxiefoxie08 said:


> you could request a sample of nupro supplement to see if he will like it you just add water and it makes a nice gravy to his food.email address to request free sample [email protected]
> 
> here is the link:
> 
> ...


 Thanks  I just emailed them. Dad might go out to PetSmart and see if they have the Nutri-Cal which is now known as GNC Ultra Mega High Calorie Booster. I called Petsmart to see if they sold nutri-cal and they said they didnt but they do sell Ultra Mega from GNC since GNC bought out the company that made nutri-cal. Good to know! So hopefully dad will go to Petsmart tomorrow and pick it up. I'm willing to try anything that is healthy for my dog to get him to eat his kibble!

I tried the liquidy Fast Balance GI probiotic supplement mixed with the food. He seemed receptive to eating it that way. But a dig his size should have no more than 10cc per day (split morning and night). Then after he was done I tried putting the powder probiotic on it that we got from the vet from when he was sick with a gastro problem. He hasn't touched it yet. So who knows.

But we keep forgetting to pick up his food after 15 minutes. So it's still down there. He may eat some tonight right before my parents go to bed. That seems to be his normal time to eat - IF he is going to eat at all. So we'll see.

I hope tomorrow to put 5cc of the liquid probiotic into 1/4 cup of his food. I'll have to put on my vinyl gloves and mix the kibble and goo by hand to evenly coat the kibble. It's rather thick and sticky. Perhaps I should start with 1/8 cup of kibble and 5cc of probiotics? Though 1/4 cup is very small in itself. *sigh* I don't know what to do! I wish I had a hotline I could call that was free that could help me figure this out on the spot. Do you know of any help like that?


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

When we do tough love I forget about picking the food up too, so I learned to set the timer on the stove. Now the hard part for me is remembering to set the timer!

You could water down the probiotics so there is more liquid volume to coat the kibble, but the same amount of active ingredient.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

gingerkid said:


> When we do tough love I forget about picking the food up too, so I learned to set the timer on the stove. Now the hard part for me is remembering to set the timer!
> 
> You could water down the probiotics so there is more liquid volume to coat the kibble, but the same amount of active ingredient.


Ooh that's a good idea, watering down the probiotic!! Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of it. 

I noticed something interesting the last 2 days. When I go and pick up the food dish, and sit down on the floor with it and put it next to me, Bentley jogs over to me and usually starts eating immediately!! The only problem with that is, I am quite obese and it's very painful and hard for me to get up off the floor.  BUT if it gets him to eat I'll do it for a while I guess. On a side note the only times I've sat down with him on the floor for him to eat I've had the gooey probiotic coating the kibble. So perhaps a combo of that helps him want to eat the food. I wonder what it is in his brain that says "ooh she's on the floor with me, now I should eat!" We rarely get on the floor anymore with him. We are just too old or crippled to do so regularly. But I'll put up with the pain if it gets him to eat. I just hope I don't have to do it twice a day every day.

He ate half of what was there on the plate this morning, which was about 1/8 cup. I have a measuring cup in the dog food bag and measure out 1/4 cup each time I put food down. I'm hoping I can get up up to about 1/2 cup a day but so far that's not happening. Though he did eat more than 1/2 of a half of a pig snout (so about 1/4) in one sitting last night over the course of mabe 3 or 4 hours. I was shocked! Today he's pooped a few times so that's good that it didn't hurt him. I was really worried about it causing a blockage or swelling too much in his stomach. I think it's similar to rawhide which swells when wet... Is that not true for pig snouts? Do you have any idea? I could not find ANY info on pig snouts other than sites selling them and one site that mentions how rawhide is treated to remove the hair, etc and they mentioned something brief about snouts.

I'm really encouraged by this though. He ate 1/8 cup in one sitting with me this morning and last night. I don't feel as scared about this process as I did in the beginning. There is hope! hehe 

I'm so glad I signed up at this forum. I've found so much help here and kind people! I love finding a forum that generally has good helpful people. I hope that I can also help others in time here. This being my first dog I am always learning about dogs and dog psychology and the like. I really enjoy watching Cesar Milan's show. We were watching it before we got our puppy in 2008 and I learned from him how to be the pack leader and how to help my parents be the same. Mom knew she wanted a yorkie and I knew that yorkies "tended" to be hyper yappy annoying dogs. Well through all that I've learned from Cesaar, my dog is happy, sweet, a pack memeber, not the leader and rarely barks unless he is alerting us to something close by. Though he does have a weird thing happening here in this apartment which we recently moved to when we sold our house (preparing to move to the southwest US). If we leave our closet doors open even a little, Bentley will growl and bark into the room a few times a day. Not sure why it scares him or even what it does to him (maybe not scare?) but it seems odd. And there for about 2 months he would go into moms room and sit and bark at about the same time every night (10pm) and growl at the wall that connects our apartment to the one behind us.  It may have coincided with the closet issue. Not sure.

But he has never been aggressive to anybody or any animal. In fact he's sort of timid in that regard. Prefers not to be around other animals, even ones his size. We've never had him around a little puppy so I don't know if he would try to hide from it or not. I would hope he'd want to play!!

Anyway, I've babbled on long enough haha! Thanks for the tip on watering down the probiotics. I'll do that tonight.


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## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

CptJack said:


> Or psychologically very wrong. Jack's been 'stuffed' (force fed) for showing. That went on for most of his life, because judges prefer heavier than he maintained on his own dogs in show.


Really trying not to judge on this one, especially since I know it wasnt you that did it. How exactly do you stuff a dog? I'm imagining like pilling a dog but with chunks of wet food... accurate at all? I'm just honestly curious- I know that show labs are kept fatter for show as well, but I dont think a picky lab exists, haha


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Rescued said:


> Really trying not to judge on this one, especially since I know it wasnt you that did it. How exactly do you stuff a dog? I'm imagining like pilling a dog but with chunks of wet food... accurate at all? I'm just honestly curious- I know that show labs are kept fatter for show as well, but I dont think a picky lab exists, haha


It's exactly like that. Basically sticking the food on the dog's back teeth, or effectively pilling them with food. I don't think it HURTS them, but it's one area where Jack is royally screwed up as a direct result of his previous history. While he was showing, it was a cycle of suck that was even worse. Because being stuffed meant he didn't want to eat which meant it happened more and - yeah. 

It's apparently not uncommon for many breeds, honestly. The person who explained it to me was someone who'd seen it in poodles. Apparently, it's a Thing.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> It's exactly like that. Basically sticking the food on the dog's back teeth, or effectively pilling them with food. I don't think it HURTS them, but it's one area where Jack is royally screwed up as a direct result of his previous history. While he was showing, it was a cycle of suck that was even worse. Because being stuffed meant he didn't want to eat which meant it happened more and - yeah.
> 
> It's apparently not uncommon for many breeds, honestly. The person who explained it to me was someone who'd seen it in poodles. Apparently, it's a Thing.


That is just so sad to hear! Oh my goodness! I may have to get an appetite stimulant for Bentley. He simply wont eat enough. He only ate about 1/3 of the 1/4 cup I put down today. *sigh*


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

xdunlapx said:


> That is just so sad to hear! Oh my goodness! I may have to get an appetite stimulant for Bentley. He simply wont eat enough. He only ate about 1/3 of the 1/4 cup I put down today. *sigh*


Ok I ended up putting canned food on his kibble. He licked off the kibble. Spit it out. He was holding out on canned food. How do I fix that?!!!! Just let him starve until he eats the kibble?!

Edit to add: What if he never eats the kibble? Should I take him to the vet over this? He's recently been to the vet because he was sick with an overprodution of one type of bacteria in his gut. I don't know what to do! I'm so close to being at my wits end with this situation! I'm making myself sick over this.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> Ok I ended up putting canned food on his kibble. He licked off the kibble. Spit it out. He was holding out on canned food. How do I fix that?!!!! Just let him starve until he eats the kibble?!


Yup pretty much. At least for 2-3 days. Its hard and frustrating but you gotta be strong, no treats, only offered kibble for 2-3 days.



xdunlapx said:


> What if he never eats the kibble? Should I take him to the vet over this? He's recently been to the vet because he was sick with an overprodution of one type of bacteria in his gut. I don't know what to do! I'm so close to being at my wits end with this situation! I'm making myself sick over this.


I think someone else mentioned earlier in the thread that their dog would rather starve than eat kibble (or a particular kind of food)? After 3-4 days, if there is no change in his desire to eat you could try Tough Love with a more affordable (but still decent) canned food. Same principle - put it down for 15 minutes, if doesn't start eating by the end of 15 minutes, pick it up. Rinse, repeat.

Have you been consistently soaking the kibble to make it soft (not just getting it wet)? It seems to me that he doesn't like the crunchy hard bits, and letting the kibble sit in the liquid for ~15 minutes will make it nearly as soft as canned food. (If you've been trying this, sorry for the repeated suggestion).

Getting a dog to eat is totally frustrating - I hope you and Bentley come to an understanding soon!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks gingerkid. I was kind of freaking out. I sat down with Bentley again before my parents went to bed, on the floor, with the moistened kibble from the canned food that had been on it. Bentley ate about 3/4 or more than 2/3 of the 1/4 cup that was down there. He seems to prefer it softer and with the canned food juice on it. So we have more to go on now. I'll buy some chicken broth and some beef broth and try soaking the kibble in that. Hopefully that will be enough flavor in it to help him eat the kibble. I'll be sure to get the low sodium variety. If that doesn't work I can take a can of the dog food and put it in the blender to make a puree and add water to thin it down. add that to th ekibble and let it soak. 

So now that I know more about the issue (I think) I have more to try to get him to eat the kibble. I no longer feel so helpless and frustrated, I have things to try now. Phew!!

I was really upset earlier.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

There's nothing worse than feeling helpless and feeling like you've tried everything. I'm sure you guys will find a solution. The watered down canned food sounds like a really good idea!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

We are going to try the Iams Savory Sauces (gravy-like stuff). They are relatively inexpensive. If that doesn't work then we won't know what to do other than use canned food to make a gravy and soak the kibble in the watered down gravy from canned food. Right now we are just leaving the kibble on the floor for him and we aren't going to push the issue of him eating. Normally when he starts begging for treats we point to his food and say "go eat!" (which never works) so we are just going to let him figure it out on his own. Hopefully he himself will make the decision to eat the food on the floor. We will try that for a few days and see how it goes. I want him to make his own decision about eating the food (hopefully he actually decides to eat it). As everyone says - a dog will not starve himself if he is healthy. He is healthy so hopefully he wont starve himself. He's just stubborn.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Hmm.. Bentley ate well today (a little over 1/4 cup with Iams Savory Sauce coating the food). BUT he just threw it up in 2 places. It looked like kibble that had soaked in water and was quite puffy. I wonder if what he ate was too much for his stomach to handle at once. OR if it was the Iams gravy that didn't agree with him... Hmm. Well we found a pet food store that carries high quality dog food so dad will go there tomorrow (hopefully) and pick up some samples they have. I called today and asked if they had samples and they said they carry samples of most of the dog food they carry. So I hope to get some Orijen and EVO samples. Hopefully a few more to to try out. I plan to put some on plates next to each other and see which ones he prefers. Maybe it is the food he really doesn't like and it's not the fact that it's kibble (???)... So we'll see. I don't want to have to use stuff like gravy if I don't have to. I want him to enjoy the food he eats.

How much can a yorkie's stomach hold? Since he ate a little over 1/4 cup today and it puffed up like it did I wonder if that is the sole cause of the vomiting. Anyone have any idea how much might be too much?


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

I'm not sure if anybody is watching this thread but I got Bentley to eat Orijen 6 Fish formula the first day, he ate really well then. But today (the second day) he barely is touching this food. I might have to go put on some of that savory sauce to get him to eat. He's only eaten maybe 6 kibbles. I thought I had a winner when we put down 7 samples of food for him all in a row and he chowed down on the Orijen 6 Fish. I put down the samples again today and he still gravitates toward the Orijen but won't eat much, he only ate the few because I put a sprinkle of Nupro supplement on it. He licked it off the rest of them though. I guess I'll have to try putting the food down only twice a day for 15 mins again.. Didn't seem to work last few times though. I'm not sure it'll ever work with him. *sigh*

If anyone is watching this thread, please let me know so that I don't keep posting here and making myself look stupid. If nobody responds by the end of the weekend I'll abandon this thread and seek help elsewhere.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

We're still listening. I, at least, just don't know what else to suggest. That he chowed down is a good sign though. It means there's nothing really stopping him from eating but pickiness. At this point I would toughen up and relax a lot, because you KNOW he can and will eat, and eat well when it strikes his fancy. It's not a health problem, it's a behavioural one. Treat it like that (don't reward undesirable behavior). Give it a solid week before you bail out of the down 15 and then taken away plan (if he's willing to pick at the food at least. Not a solid week with NO food).

We're still supporting you.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> We're still listening. I, at least, just don't know what else to suggest. That he chowed down is a good sign though. It means there's nothing really stopping him from eating but pickiness. At this point I would toughen up and relax a lot, because you KNOW he can and will eat, and eat well when it strikes his fancy. It's not a health problem, it's a behavioural one. Treat it like that (don't reward undesirable behavior). Give it a solid week before you bail out of the down 15 and then taken away plan (if he's willing to pick at the food at least. Not a solid week with NO food).
> 
> We're still supporting you.


Thank you CptJack. It is just so frustrating. I gues I'll just leave it down in his usual spot and if he eats good, if not, oh well. My brain says "too bad so sad" to that but my heart hurts because of it. *sigh* Ok I'll just ignore his issue, continue not to give him treats and just act like nothing is wrong.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> Thank you CptJack. It is just so frustrating. I gues I'll just leave it down in his usual spot and if he eats good, if not, oh well. My brain says "too bad so sad" to that but my heart hurts because of it. *sigh* Ok I'll just ignore his issue, continue not to give him treats and just act like nothing is wrong.


It's hard. I have that finicky eater, and it's taken me a long time to reach the point of shrugging my shoulders and moving on. In turn, he's reached the point of shrugging his (metaphorically), and eating less than I'd like but enough to be reasonable. The whole food thing is emotionally loaded for people. It's part of caregiving AND basic life. Not being able to nail that makes it easy to feel like Major Failure. It's not, but damn it feels like it.


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## frillint (Jul 12, 2009)

Since he was liking people food more than dog food I am sure he is picky as he was holding out for the good stuff that he would eventually get. I mean if some one gave you lobster or ribs if you didn't eat a TV dinner wouldn't you hold out in hopes that you may get that lobster or ribs again. You are going to have to pick the kibble you want and stick with it, bouncing back from kibble to differ types and flavors or canned is doing to be more hard on his stomach to get used to it. Pick the kibble you want and feed that ONLY no people food of any kind and only a couple treat it is a small dog, so if you feed to many treats he may get full off those. Put the kibble down 10-15 minutes if he eats great if no then that's to bad for him. Do that every feeding and don't feel bad when he goes 4 or 5 days without eating. That was his choice he had the option to he and he opted not to. You are going to have to be strict if you want it to change. He will eat when he gets hungry enough he will not starve himself. I had to do this with my dog who would only eat if hand fed. It took days of him not eating then he would eat one day then not eat a day then eat a couple times in a row then not eat for a few days all in hopes that I would give up and hand feed him.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> It's hard. I have that finicky eater, and it's taken me a long time to reach the point of shrugging my shoulders and moving on. In turn, he's reached the point of shrugging his (metaphorically), and eating less than I'd like but enough to be reasonable. The whole food thing is emotionally loaded for people. It's part of caregiving AND basic life. Not being able to nail that makes it easy to feel like Major Failure. It's not, but damn it feels like it.


 Yes that's how I feel. At this point, I am not even sure if I can get him to eat 1/8 cup per day. He ate about 1/8 cup today I think. Looking at the plate he maybe ate 1/2 of what I put down so who knows. I got a taste sampler of Nupro powdered supplement and he really liked that but wouldn't really eat the food itself. At this point I am not going to try to get him to eat with the Iams Savory Sauces we have. I'll just put the nupro on it daily and hope he eats it. 

I'm just afraid he will get frail and sick due to not eating enough. But I guess I'll deal with that IF/WHEN that time comes. I will take him to the vet in 2 weeks to have him weighed again to make sure he's not losing much weight. I'm just a worrier I guess, though he's the only one I worry like this about. 

I tried raw once and he wouldn't touch the food. He just had no interest in eating it even though I "dropped" a small chunk of ground beef onto the floor when he was near. He walked over to it, smelled it and walked away with no interest in eating it. I tried chicken as well and he wouldn't touch it either. I have a raw dehydrated food sample and he wasn't interested in it as well. I think he must have very little appetite most of the time. I guess it is what it is. Perhaps our next dog will be "normal" and eat well without being pushed to eat. Maybe when we move to Nevada (hopefully this year) and get a rescue yorkie or puppy it will help Bentley to want to eat regularly. 

Thanks for keeping watch on this thread, I appreciate it. I find it hard to quit worrying about this food issue. Mom thinks I obsess about it and perhaps I do but i am trying to find ways to get him to eat regularly. Ugh.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

frillint said:


> Since he was liking people food more than dog food I am sure he is picky as he was holding out for the good stuff that he would eventually get. I mean if some one gave you lobster or ribs if you didn't eat a TV dinner wouldn't you hold out in hopes that you may get that lobster or ribs again. You are going to have to pick the kibble you want and stick with it, bouncing back from kibble to differ types and flavors or canned is doing to be more hard on his stomach to get used to it. Pick the kibble you want and feed that ONLY no people food of any kind and only a couple treat it is a small dog, so if you feed to many treats he may get full off those. Put the kibble down 10-15 minutes if he eats great if no then that's to bad for him. Do that every feeding and don't feel bad when he goes 4 or 5 days without eating. That was his choice he had the option to he and he opted not to. You are going to have to be strict if you want it to change. He will eat when he gets hungry enough he will not starve himself. I had to do this with my dog who would only eat if hand fed. It took days of him not eating then he would eat one day then not eat a day then eat a couple times in a row then not eat for a few days all in hopes that I would give up and hand feed him.



Yeah I can see how we spoiled him. I never wanted him to have human food, but it was my parents who insisted and never paid any attention to me about me not wanting him to have it. So eventually I joined in giving him human food since I felt outnumbered. He hasn't had much human food at all since about this time last year. He does lick ice cream bowls which we all usually have every night since dad is obsessed with eating ice cream daily. I'll never understan why though. But he only gets to lick those bowls and to drink some of dad's soy milk in the morning after dad finishes his cereal. 

I just worry about Bentley getting sick and throwing up on the carpet, he does that the morning after the day he didn't eat. And if he doesn't eat for several days he would feel nauseated the whole time which in turn would make him not want to eat. So that's why I am kinda freaking that he wont eat regularly.

Ok I'll just stick it out. If he pukes, oh well.


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## Candydb (Jul 16, 2011)

xdunlapx said:


> Yeah I can see how we spoiled him. I never wanted him to have human food, but it was my parents who insisted and never paid any attention to me about me not wanting him to have it. So eventually I joined in giving him human food since I felt outnumbered. He hasn't had much human food at all since about this time last year. He does lick ice cream bowls which we all usually have every night since dad is obsessed with eating ice cream daily. I'll never understan why though. But he only gets to lick those bowls and to drink some of dad's soy milk in the morning after dad finishes his cereal.
> 
> I just worry about Bentley getting sick and throwing up on the carpet, he does that the morning after the day he didn't eat. And if he doesn't eat for several days he would feel nauseated the whole time which in turn would make him not want to eat. So that's why I am kinda freaking that he wont eat regularly.
> 
> Ok I'll just stick it out. If he pukes, oh well.


Just keep up with the probiotics ( plain yogurt) and we actually have a nibbler she eats about a 1/4 then will eat the rest over the night (she has 2 other dogs to compete with) - we ve never picked up our bowls and our 5 dogs are...... FINE.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Why not just stop giving kibble? I'm sure they'll do fine on a nutritionally complete wet food with bones/chew toys once in a while @[email protected] Or did I miss a huge chunk of the posts? Sorry!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

taquitos said:


> Why not just stop giving kibble? I'm sure they'll do fine on a nutritionally complete wet food with bones/chew toys once in a while @[email protected] Or did I miss a huge chunk of the posts? Sorry!


I would prefer to feed kibble since it's cheaper to feed it versus going through 4 cans of super premium canned food per week since my dog decides not to eat the canned food after a day or two so we have to open a new can of a different flavor/brand every time that happens. I want him to eat kibble due to the sheer cost of feeding him. He may only be a little guy but it's not only a hassle to go to a good pet food store that sells the Weruva and Merrick and Wellness canned foods but they are $3 to $4 per can! Where we can feed Bentley on one small bag of kibble for like 100 days assuming he eats appropriately for his weight and energy requirements. That bag could be like $20 or less! But half of the issue is he not wanting to eat what we put down. So we have this mental gymnastics going on trying to find a food he will eat for that particular day. I want him to quit being so darned picky and just eat what I put down! GRR! So yeah, it's frustrating on all levels. I just want to be able to buy one food, him eat it. That's it. No more begging with him to eat, just eat!  I worry about his health and him getting the nutrients he needs.


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

taquitos said:


> Why not just stop giving kibble? I'm sure they'll do fine on a nutritionally complete wet food with bones/chew toys once in a while @[email protected] Or did I miss a huge chunk of the posts? Sorry!


actually you missed the first post where it was mentioned that her dog would eat a canned food for 3 days and stop and she would have to feed different expensive canned foods.


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

xdunlapx said:


> I would prefer to feed kibble since it's cheaper to feed it versus going through 4 cans of super premium canned food per week since my dog decides not to eat the canned food after a day or two so we have to open a new can of a different flavor/brand every time that happens. I want him to eat kibble due to the sheer cost of feeding him. He may only be a little guy but it's not only a hassle to go to a good pet food store that sells the Weruva and Merrick and Wellness canned foods but they are $3 to $4 per can! Where we can feed Bentley on one small bag of kibble for like 100 days assuming he eats appropriately for his weight and energy requirements. That bag could be like $20 or less! But half of the issue is he not wanting to eat what we put down. So we have this mental gymnastics going on trying to find a food he will eat for that particular day. I want him to quit being so darned picky and just eat what I put down! GRR! So yeah, it's frustrating on all levels. I just want to be able to buy one food, him eat it. That's it. No more begging with him to eat, just eat!  I worry about his health and him getting the nutrients he needs.


1/4 cup would be enough mix the nupro and probiotics with the food and see if your yorkie will eat it that way


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> I would prefer to feed kibble since it's cheaper to feed it versus going through 4 cans of super premium canned food per week since my dog decides not to eat the canned food after a day or two so we have to open a new can of a different flavor/brand every time that happens. I want him to eat kibble due to the sheer cost of feeding him. He may only be a little guy but it's not only a hassle to go to a good pet food store that sells the Weruva and Merrick and Wellness canned foods but they are $3 to $4 per can! Where we can feed Bentley on one small bag of kibble for like 100 days assuming he eats appropriately for his weight and energy requirements. That bag could be like $20 or less! But half of the issue is he not wanting to eat what we put down. So we have this mental gymnastics going on trying to find a food he will eat for that particular day. I want him to quit being so darned picky and just eat what I put down! GRR! So yeah, it's frustrating on all levels. I just want to be able to buy one food, him eat it. That's it. No more begging with him to eat, just eat!  I worry about his health and him getting the nutrients he needs.


Ahh okay I see! Silly picky doggie. Hopefully you will find something that will work! I wonder if you could maybe crush up the kibble and then make a paste and mix it with some cheap canned food?


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

taquitos said:


> Ahh okay I see! Silly picky doggie. Hopefully you will find something that will work! I wonder if you could maybe crush up the kibble and then make a paste and mix it with some cheap canned food?


i was also going to suggest crushing the food and adding the probiotics in the mix


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

I've not tried crushing the kibblet yet but I did add Nupro mixed in water to the kibble but I accidentally put way too much water in the paper cup when I added the water. So itw as totally runny. But I poured it over the kibble anyway. He wouldn't touch it. Yet when I sprinkle on the nupro he licks off the powder from the kibble and plate! 

Since we just ate dinner I decided to put down new fresh kibble with the bacon flavored topping on it, the kibble was well coated. But I forgot (not thinking straight) to pick up the nupro water kibble. I sat it down next to it. He ate a piece o two of the bacon flavor kibble, then smelled the nupro again and ate what was left of that, which was maybe 8 kibbles. Ugh. Picky!! He then smelled the bacon one again and walked away to his pig snout and is now chewing on it. So I do think he got enough food today. He got over 1/4 cup but not quite 1/2 cup. So I'm satisfied with that for today.

I think tomorrow I'm just going to put a drop or two of water in the cup and sprinkle the nupro on it until it is a kind of paste but still a bit watery. Then I'll coat the kibble in that. Hopefully it'll stick better so he can't lick it off as well and will hopefully eat the kibble itself. Im trying to avoid putting canned food in his kibble since he only licks off the canned food (or eats the chunks) and leaves the kibble. Years ago we tried to feed him lower quality canned food and kibbles (trying anything to get him to eat properly!) and he wouldn't touch it. Not at all. He prefers high-end food, that's for sure! Crazy doggy.


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

i would try crush the kibble and the water to it make it pastey i would say try 1/8 teaspoon and than add the nupro to it mixed a little


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

roxiefoxie08 said:


> i would try crush the kibble and the water to it make it pastey i would say try 1/8 teaspoon and than add the nupro to it mixed a little


How would I crush it? I don't have a mortar and pestle but I do have a blender. Would that be too powdery? It's a big blender so I am not sure all of it would actually blend right. It's only 1/4 cup that I give (twice per day), well I could blend it all up and divide it in half and then add the water and nupro to the half. Hmm.. That's a good idea, I hadn't tried that. I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow and add water an nupro and mix it well. Maybe that's what is going to work for him!  He does seem to prefer canned foods where he can lick it up instead of taking bites.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> How would I crush it? I don't have a mortar and pestle but I do have a blender. Would that be too powdery? It's a big blender so I am not sure all of it would actually blend right. It's only 1/4 cup that I give (twice per day), well I could blend it all up and divide it in half and then add the water and nupro to the half. Hmm.. That's a good idea, I hadn't tried that. I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow and add water an nupro and mix it well. Maybe that's what is going to work for him!  He does seem to prefer canned foods where he can lick it up instead of taking bites.


I used to crush kibble up for my hedgehog (so it was probably smaller in volume, but you could try this). I would put the food in a ziploc and then put a cutting board on top of the ziploc. After that, I would use the butt of the knife and smash up the kibble into smaller pieces. It works pretty well. I'm not sure if it would work for you but you could try


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

taquitos said:


> I used to crush kibble up for my hedgehog (so it was probably smaller in volume, but you could try this). I would put the food in a ziploc and then put a cutting board on top of the ziploc. After that, I would use the butt of the knife and smash up the kibble into smaller pieces. It works pretty well. I'm not sure if it would work for you but you could try


 Yeah that's not a bad idea. Thanks! Oh I just remembered that we do have a smaller blender thing, it was one of those "bullet" blenders I think, one of the ones with the base being the blender motor, then you put ice/some juice or alcoholic drink in the cup and put the lid on that has the blender blades in it, then you put that on top of the blender base. and press down to blend away. I have not been able to find the base to it but we do know where the cups are. If I can find that blender base I'd be set to blend up the kibble. I'll have dad help me find it this weekend. I live in an apartment so loud pounding from trying to manually crush the kibble would be loud and annoying for my neighbors, I'm sure. LOL

So that is my goal for this weekend, find the blender base and blend the kibble down to near powder or powder and add a little water and some nupro.  THanks!


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

you can also hammer it inside a metal pan until you can get the blender. are the kibble small if so it will be easier?


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Hmm. Bentley has now puked twice since switching him to Orijen kibble. Could it be too rich for him? Though the Weruva was a rich food (right?) it's grain-free and free of fillers. He puked 2 days ago after eating it (about an hour or so after eating) and it was all puffy looking so I wonder if he ate too much and it hurt his tummy. This time (today) there wasn't much kibble in it since he didn't eat a lot of what I put down (1/4 cup I put down) but this time the liquid that came up was dark brown, like the color of the kibble. Is it just too rich for him? Do you think he will adjust to the kibble? He doesn't seem sad or depressed or anything, his poop is well formed and not soft. No diarrhea at all. So I doubt he's sick again or has pancreatitis or something. 

Dogfoodadvisor.com states that the Weruva (human-style) canned food they reviewed has:

"As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 61% and an average fat level of 10%. Together, these figures suggest an overall carbohydrate content of 22% for the full product line."

And for DFA reviewing Orijen 6 Fish: 

"As a group, the product line features an average protein content of 42% and a mean fat level of 20%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 30% for the overall product line." 

Hmm I don't know why he would throw it up. Any ideas?


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

did he vomit or regurgated acid reflex cause if he split than you could give him pepcid ac dosage depends on weight.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

roxiefoxie08 said:


> did he vomit or regurgated acid reflex cause if he split than you could give him pepcid ac dosage depends on weight.


It didn't seem that way. I have a feeling that at least yesteday he threw up because mom fed him that time, she scooped out the rest of the nupro that had been mixed with water from a paper cup, and just plopped it on top of the food, didn't try to mix it around the kibble or anything. It was just a dry mass of vitamins/minerals, etc on the food because the water had evaporated from the night before. I think he ate that first and then ate a few kibbles and was done. I have a feeling that he threw up because the vitamins hurt his tummy because there wasn't other food in there to mix with. He hasn't thrown up again since. But he didn't eat at all the rest of the day yesterday. I made fresh food today for him, and mixed some nupro with water, as I had been doing and coated the kibble well with it. He has eaten a little bit here and there throughout the day without vomiting. I think he's fine. He hasn't had any diarrhea or loose stool either. So I think he's doing fine. 

ETA: I think he's adjusting to eating on his own. I haven't really 'encouraged' him to eat other than telling him to go eat when he wants our food. I did bring the plate into moms room on her bed and he ate a few kibbles there. Whenever mom goes into her room to change clothes or something he follows, no matter what he was doing at the time. He was eating then he followed mom into her room so I took the food in there and laid on the bed with him.

Now he just went back and had a few pieces not long ago. I hope he finished what i put on his plate before bedtime tonight. If not, it's ok. He's learning to eat what I put down for him.  It's working what I'm doing.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Yesterday evening and this morning I acted like I was eating his kibble from the plate. He was instantly interested. I dropped a kibble for him, he didn't eat it. So I tossed one a ways across the room, he went over and smelled it, licked it and ignored it. I tried that with another kibble, he did the same. Then I put the plate down and he ate a few pieces then got interested in what mom was doing in the other room (she was packing her clothes for a trip) and I followed to make sure he didn't vomit. He didn't. I called him to come back to me as i was walking out of the room and he followed. But he didn't resume eating. So at least he is showing interest in the food, which is more than he used to with any other food (other than human food). It'll take time I suspect. I hope this coming week he gets into the habit of eating well since my parents will be gone and it'll just be me and a visitor every couple of days to walk him since I am unable to do so due to physical limitations. He'll enjoy that I'm sure! 

I am still putting the Nupro stuff on it. Here is the website for more info: http://www.nuproonline.com/NUPROsupsup-ALL-NATURAL-DOG-SUPPLEMENT_p_9.html

This stuff has liver as the first ingredient, which makes me suspect he may actually like other liver flavored things. I know he enjoyed the Everlasting Treat Ball with the liver flavored inserts as a young puppy. Hmm I'll have dad pick up one while he is at the store(s) today. That might keep him entertained while they are gone.

He usualy just lays on me ALL the time! It gets kind of annoying since he has to move every time I get up, and also when I sit down because he immediately jumps up on the couch where I was sitting and lays down while I am getting a drink or going to the bathroom, etc.  Crazy doggy. But I absolutely love his company. He enriches my life so much even though we don't play. I wish I could get him to play. I don't think he remembers how. That saddens me at times. Anyone have any idea how I can get him to start playing with me? He won't tug on a toy I have in my hand. Even the rope toy we've had since he was a puppy. He just isn't interested. When I throw a toy, he jogs/walks or sometimes runs to it, smells it, might pick it up, but then drops it an turns around and looks at me like "now what??" I find that so sad. Either he never learned how to play fetch or it just didn't interest him enough to want to learn. Is there some kind of doggy training course I could take that would help us fix that? I don't know how to entice him to want to play. He is a very reserved adult dog. Not anything like a typical yorkie at all. He's scared of other animals, even dogs his size. He never gets aggressive, he's was born submissive for the most part, he does turn his back on us or lay down not facing us when we are trying to get him to eat and he refuses. I'm not sure if that's a submissive act or a dominant act... When he's laying on me i can roll him over onto his side fairly easily, he resists at first but i gently keep pressure on him and he will then relax and turn over for me to scratch his chest/belly. He's a very gentle dog, especially when I give him a toy or a bully stick, he will take it ever so lightly in his teeth and then when I let go, he lets go LOL Weird.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Well I still can't get him to eat twice per day. And he only eats 1/8 cup or at most 1/4 cup per day. Usually 1/8 cup. I switched his food to Fromm grain-free since he was puking every night. I think the Orijen food was too big for his stomach after it expanded even though he was eating 1/8 to 1/4 cup. The Fromm grain-free is tiny kibble compared to any other kibble I've seen other than the Wellness Small Breed formula. I don't know what to do to get Bentley to eat more. If I make the food (and put Nupro on it) earlier than about 6pm he won't eat it since I have a feeling he wont eat it since he think it's "old" by the time evening comes around. I don't know. I have no idea what to do, he is losing weight. He's not too skinny yet since he had some weight to lose anyway. But I have no idea how to get him to eat!! Everywhere I read, a dog his size who is sedentary should eat no less than 1/2 cup per day. I'm worried about him. Since we are barely giving him any treats daily (maybe one daily at most) he really needs to eat much more kibble daily. I might have to talk to my vet about an appetite stimulant. 

Putting the food down for 15 minutes and picking it up twice daily didn't help. Keeping it down all the time didn't help. No treats didn't help. I'm at a loss of what to do. He just isn't interested in eating much. It seems as though he is always going to be anorexic. I guess I'll have to have a long chat with my vet. Perhaps she will prescribe an appetite stimulant. I don't know if that would work or not. The anti-nausea pills we have for him are supposedly an appetite stimulant, too. The one time I gave it to him since he puked for no apparent reason didn't stimulate his appetite at all. It just seemed to make him drowsy.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Find out how many calories are in all the treats you are giving him. A small everlasting ball treat is 50 calories for instance. A pig snout might be 170 calories. I doubt your dog needs more than 200 calories a day total. If you could find a treat that was a balanced diet then you would have it made! Neither the everlasting ball or the pig snout would count unfortunately. If he is of good weight then it is all the treats that are the problem, not the food.

As for playing try playing with him like he was a cat. Mouse [your hand] under the blanket that grabs at his feet. Drag a string with a toy on the end of it, stuff like that. Try using a piece of noisy newspaper for a toy, crumple into a ball, twist into a tug rope or drag toy.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Kathyy said:


> Find out how many calories are in all the treats you are giving him. A small everlasting ball treat is 50 calories for instance. A pig snout might be 170 calories. I doubt your dog needs more than 200 calories a day total. If you could find a treat that was a balanced diet then you would have it made! Neither the everlasting ball or the pig snout would count unfortunately. If he is of good weight then it is all the treats that are the problem, not the food.
> 
> As for playing try playing with him like he was a cat. Mouse [your hand] under the blanket that grabs at his feet. Drag a string with a toy on the end of it, stuff like that. Try using a piece of noisy newspaper for a toy, crumple into a ball, twist into a tug rope or drag toy.


He only barely chews on the pig snout now. He still has most of the 1/2 of the pig snout (we cut it in half and gave him that one half), the everlasting treat ball is still mostly there, he hasn't licked it much lately. We give him one Greenie per day, no other treats. The Fromm grain-free Beef Frittata food has 408 calories per cup. He's eating 1/8 cup per day which equates to 52 calories per day for him. One Teenie Greenie has 54 calories. So he's only getting 106 calories per day. dogfoodadvisor.com has a calculator that tells how many calories a dog needs per day. It states 237 calories. He needs to eat more than he is. He doesn't get any other treats of any kind per day. He's losing weight as it is. 

And I don't want him more active than he is unless he actually eats more due to the activity. But getting him to play is not easy. Mom plays with him in the morning when she wakes up. She plays blanky-monster. Sticks her hand under the covers, and he attacks it. But that doesn't last long since he gets bored with it. That is the only time he plays. He's just not interested in playing. The laser pointer I bought doesn't interest him. He initially pounced on it but now that he knows he can't catch the laser point he ignores it. Bentley doesn't play tug games. Whenever I give him a toy, he gingerly takes it and immediately drops it. I have no idea how to get him to play tug of war with that kind of response.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

xdunlapx said:


> He only barely chews on the pig snout now. He still has most of the 1/2 of the pig snout (we cut it in half and gave him that one half), the everlasting treat ball is still mostly there, he hasn't licked it much lately. We give him one Greenie per day, no other treats. The Fromm grain-free Beef Frittata food has 408 calories per cup. He's eating 1/8 cup per day which equates to 52 calories per day for him. One Teenie Greenie has 54 calories. So he's only getting 106 calories per day. dogfoodadvisor.com has a calculator that tells how many calories a dog needs per day. It states 237 calories. He needs to eat more than he is. He doesn't get any other treats of any kind per day. He's losing weight as it is.
> 
> And I don't want him more active than he is unless he actually eats more due to the activity. But getting him to play is not easy. Mom plays with him in the morning when she wakes up. She plays blanky-monster. Sticks her hand under the covers, and he attacks it. But that doesn't last long since he gets bored with it. That is the only time he plays. He's just not interested in playing. The laser pointer I bought doesn't interest him. He initially pounced on it but now that he knows he can't catch the laser point he ignores it. Bentley doesn't play tug games. Whenever I give him a toy, he gingerly takes it and immediately drops it. I have no idea how to get him to play tug of war with that kind of response.


How much does he weigh again? I can't remember if you said yet. Because 1/4 cup per day is not terribly far off for a dog under 8lbs. (with a higher protein/higher kcal kibble).

Playing a little game of blanket monster won't give him enough to wanna eat. This boy needs a LONG walk. Take him on a 45 min-1 hour walk, and then come home and see if he eats. Make him RUN a bit. 

You can teach a dog to play. I had to teach Jackson how to fetch. He never cared, was never interested. I put him on a long line outside, had treats in my pocket, threw the ball short distances to start, and he did not get that treat until he brought the ball back (I used high value treat like cheese). One year later, I have to use a ChuckIt to throw the ball, because he loves it so much!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Jacksons Mom said:


> How much does he weigh again? I can't remember if you said yet. Because 1/4 cup per day is not terribly far off for a dog under 8lbs. (with a higher protein/higher kcal kibble).
> 
> Playing a little game of blanket monster won't give him enough to wanna eat. This boy needs a LONG walk. Take him on a 45 min-1 hour walk, and then come home and see if he eats. Make him RUN a bit.
> 
> You can teach a dog to play. I had to teach Jackson how to fetch. He never cared, was never interested. I put him on a long line outside, had treats in my pocket, threw the ball short distances to start, and he did not get that treat until he brought the ball back (I used high value treat like cheese). One year later, I have to use a ChuckIt to throw the ball, because he loves it so much!


He weighs 8 pounds. According to every dog food calculator I've used it says about 237 calories per day which equates to 1/2 cup per day at a minimum. He's eating 1/8 cup. Bentley isn't treat motivated. He wouln't understand that he is supposed to bring it back, then he gets a treat. He would just think I'm holding off giving him a treat.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> He weighs 8 pounds. According to every dog food calculator I've used it says about 237 calories per day which equates to 1/2 cup per day at a minimum. He's eating 1/8 cup. Bentley isn't treat motivated. He wouln't understand that he is supposed to bring it back, then he gets a treat. He would just think I'm holding off giving him a treat.


Do NOT stress those food calculators! They are averages and take zero account into metabolism. Think of people who, for instance, can eat a cake and not gain a pound and people who won't lose weight living on salad and water. That's not to say not to stress this, but don't feel like you have to get 1/2 cup into him. Frankly, if I fed Kylie and Bug the recommended food amounts, they'd be obese. If I fed Jack and Thud the recommended food amounts, they'd be emaciated. It varies, a lot. Pay attention to HIM. If he starts getting TOO thin, then stress it. What you're seeing may just be self-regulation. Not saying it is, or that you should absolutely never worry - but don't worry about it YET.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> Do NOT stress those food calculators! They are averages and take zero account into metabolism. Think of people who, for instance, can eat a cake and not gain a pound and people who won't lose weight living on salad and water. That's not to say not to stress this, but don't feel like you have to get 1/2 cup into him. Frankly, if I fed Kylie and Bug the recommended food amounts, they'd be obese. If I fed Jack and Thud the recommended food amounts, they'd be emaciated. It varies, a lot. Pay attention to HIM. If he starts getting TOO thin, then stress it. What you're seeing may just be self-regulation. Not saying it is, or that you should absolutely never worry - but don't worry about it YET.


 Ok, i'm done with this. If he gets sick it's not my fault. It's his. I just had a heated conversation with dad about this right before I sat down here at the computer and saw this message. I'm done. I'll only put 1/8 cup down daily. It appears that's all he will eat, so, so be it. No sense wasting food since I put Nupro on it and sometimes bacon flavored sauce to get him to eat which rarely works. So I'm done. I'll only put 1/8 cup down per day and add the Nupro supplement. I'm done fighting with him to get him to eat. I just sat on the floor which usually works to get him to eat and it didn't. so. I'm done. If he dies due to health problems from not eating well then that must be what God wants. He is my baby and my emotional support dog. If he wants to die an early sick death then so be it. I'm done coddling him.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

xdunlapx said:


> Ok, i'm done with this. If he gets sick it's not my fault. It's his. I just had a heated conversation with dad about this right before I sat down here at the computer and saw this message. I'm done. I'll only put 1/8 cup down daily. It appears that's all he will eat, so, so be it. No sense wasting food since I put Nupro on it and sometimes bacon flavored sauce to get him to eat which rarely works. So I'm done. I'll only put 1/8 cup down per day and add the Nupro supplement. I'm done fighting with him to get him to eat. I just sat on the floor which usually works to get him to eat and it didn't. so. I'm done. If he dies due to health problems from not eating well then that must be what God wants. He is my baby and my emotional support dog. If he wants to die an early sick death then so be it. I'm done coddling him.


I know you're upset and I don't blame you (I'm the one with Mr. Emaciated Rat Terrier With Food Aversion for a while) but I honestly think it's VERY unlikely that he's going to make himself sick and die OR that this is a bad decision. Give him his 1/8 cup or whatever he wants for a day, and then maybe try adding one extra kibble or put another 1/8 down (UNDOCTORED) in case he wants to mess with it and is hungry later. Because all you're doing right now is turning food into a battle you really can't win. In a way you're right. It's TOTALLY in his control, if he eats or not. Nothing in the world you can do will change that. or just say **** it and go back to giving him treats or whatever, because honestly? There's a point where, either way, the stress ain't worth it.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

CptJack said:


> I know you're upset and I don't blame you (I'm the one with Mr. Emaciated Rat Terrier With Food Aversion for a while) but I honestly think it's VERY unlikely that he's going to make himself sick and die OR that this is a bad decision. Give him his 1/8 cup or whatever he wants for a day, and then maybe try adding one extra kibble or put another 1/8 down (UNDOCTORED) in case he wants to mess with it and is hungry later. Because all you're doing right now is turning food into a battle you really can't win. In a way you're right. It's TOTALLY in his control, if he eats or not. Nothing in the world you can do will change that. or just say **** it and go back to giving him treats or whatever, because honestly? There's a point where, either way, the stress ain't worth it.


I am worrying because that if he doesn't eat well, he will end up slowly hurting himself and causing illnesses that could easily have been avoided due to eating properly. We all know that animals (humans, dogs, whatever) who don't eat well end up with illnesses. Not eating enough proper food can and will lower your immune system which then leads to diseases. He means the world to me, I want him to live a long healthy life so that he will be there for my family and I. He's not just a typical pet for me, he's much much more.

I might as well just feed him treats and no food. At least those he will eat no matter what. The only thing we haven't tried is buying a crate, putting him in there with his food and not letting him out until he eats it. But even then I doubt he'd eat. He would just feel like he's being punished. He is a very sensitive dog. If someone barely moves while he is eating he walks away from his food to see why we moved. If we walk by him while he is eating, he walks away. There is nothing I can do to prevent that from happening. We have to sit still and not talk while he is eating because even talking he usually walks away from his food. He has anorexia and I don't know how to fix it. When we adopt our next dog I will definitely be asking whether the dog eats well every time food is put down. If he doesn't, he isn't the dog for us. I can't handle this finicky-ness. I do not want to have to stop breathing while he is eating. It isn't normal. Him only eating 1/8 cup per day with one treat per day is ridiculous. He is losing weight slowly. I am going to have to talk to one or several dog behaviorists. We've tried feeding him twice per day leaving the food down for 15 minutes. We've tried free feeding (a measured amt of food), we've tried not feeding him any treats whatsoever. Nothing gets him to eat his food. I've tried treating him when he eats all that I put down. Nothing works! I even got samples of food and put them down and he ate one immediately. Unforunately it only worked that one time. So I bought a bag of that food since he seemed interested in it (only with the Nupro) on it. Then the Nupro quit being useful to get him to eat which took less than a week for that to happen. Yet he won't eat at all if I don't put Nupro on it. So I tried adding bacon flavored sauce, it worked twice. Now it won't work at all. There is nothing I can do to get him to eat his damn food. So, I'm done with it. I have the Nupro so I'll continue using it though. But I am going to only put down 1/8 cup per day so that I don't waste his food. We will still only give one treat per day (one Greenie). If he gets emaciated, oh well. Perhaps then he might want to eat more than 1/8 cup. I can't handle this. I don't handle stress well and this has been 5 years of stress trying to get him to eat dog food. He won't eat raw food, he won't eat anything I put down even if it's the same food we eat. I've been there, done that. He only wants to eat off of our plates while we are holding them initally and then put it down for him to eat. And we rarely cook anymore, and when we do cook it's certainly not healthy food for a dog. If he's meant to die due to emaciation, so be it. We've been to the vet mutliple times about this situation. She has no better advice to us other than the 15 minute twice per day advice and no treats. 

So, screw it. I can't handle this stress. Maybe the next dog we have will be a real eater and eat whatever we put down whenever we put it down. I doubt that next dog will provide us the love and bond that we have with Bentley, which is why I'm trying to get Bentley to eat properly and not die early. But if God wants this dog to do so then so be it. Maybe we aren't meant to have a dog. Maybe this is God trying to punish us for doing something that we thought was the right thing to do. I don't know. I'm trying to hold back tears right now because this stress is killing me inside and nobody here thinks it will hurt him to barely eat (mom and dad). Mom says he'll eat when he's hungry. Well -obviously NOT since there is plenty of food for him down through the night and he comes out here in teh middle of the night or morning and pukes bile up. If he was hungry he would eat... Right. Ok. Sure. Whatever. I guess she hasn't seen the puke spots on our carpet and how it's yellow from bile from not eating. All this puking is not good for his esophagus or his teeth. 

I will just have to call the vet and ask for an apetite stimulant. This is our last hope. And what will probably happen is he wont eat anyway and just beg for treats.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

I'm sorry. I was just very upset.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

No worries, I know you're upset. My Jackson means the world to me too, he's literally my best friend. So I'd be concerned too. But I think you're putting a little too much thought into it.

I know, if I was always watching Jackson eat, or hovering by, or trying to hand feed it to him, he'd be like "WTF person?!" and probably not eat either. I think that you're stressing so much about it, it's probably making him stress about it. I literally just wouldn't worry. Like you said, screw it. If he doesn't want eat, whatever. I would just give him the 1/8 cup like you said that he will eat. Then pour another into a bowl and just leave it out for the rest of the day. If he wants to eat, he will, it's available, so it's not like you're starving him. Some dogs are easy keepers naturally. I wouldn't worry about health issues until you can start to see a spine, or too many ribs, etc.

FYI, Jackson is 17lbs and eats 1/2 cup of kibble per day. I don't pay attention to those treat calculators. If I did, he would be sooo fat. Most bags suggest he be fed 1 cup - 1 1/4 cup. Besides the 1/2 cup of kibble per day, he IS getting a bit of wet food, and some treats, and he chews on his bully stick every now and then, etc. So the 1/2 cup is not the ONLY calories he's getting throughout the day, but that's his base meal. So an 8lb dog eating 1/2 cup of kibble may be too much (he's almost 10lbs less than my guy). Jackson also eats Fromm.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I wish I were able to give some solid advice. But the only dog I ever knew like this was my 12 pound childhood Terrier mix. I was a baby. My Mom received him as a gift for me. He was a 6 week old puppy. He refused dog food .... all because someone gave him a hot dog. No kidding.

Here is a story for you .... Hope it makes you smile. 

My family tried everything in the world to get that dog to eat. He would go for a week without eating .... and like you my Mom just said &^%$ this .... and whatever we had for dinner ... he did too.

One time when we went on vacation ... he stayed with a relative he knew and liked very much ... but refused to eat even their cooking. When we came back from vacation he had lost weight and was so weak we thought he was going to die.

He had a stroke at 14 years of age while running around playing with the neighbors Doberman. He recovered and lived to be 17 years old .... just died of old age. He lived on human food his entire life. Of course we always had well balanced meals. My Mom even went as far as rolling mashed potatoes into little tiny balls ... because he didn't like to get his face dirty. 

Maybe he was an exception to all the rules .... but I have seen it first hand.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Jacksons Mom said:


> No worries, I know you're upset. My Jackson means the world to me too, he's literally my best friend. So I'd be concerned too. But I think you're putting a little too much thought into it.
> 
> I know, if I was always watching Jackson eat, or hovering by, or trying to hand feed it to him, he'd be like "WTF person?!" and probably not eat either. I think that you're stressing so much about it, it's probably making him stress about it. I literally just wouldn't worry. Like you said, screw it. If he doesn't want eat, whatever. I would just give him the 1/8 cup like you said that he will eat. Then pour another into a bowl and just leave it out for the rest of the day. If he wants to eat, he will, it's available, so it's not like you're starving him. Some dogs are easy keepers naturally. I wouldn't worry about health issues until you can start to see a spine, or too many ribs, etc.
> 
> FYI, Jackson is 17lbs and eats 1/2 cup of kibble per day. I don't pay attention to those treat calculators. If I did, he would be sooo fat. Most bags suggest he be fed 1 cup - 1 1/4 cup. Besides the 1/2 cup of kibble per day, he IS getting a bit of wet food, and some treats, and he chews on his bully stick every now and then, etc. So the 1/2 cup is not the ONLY calories he's getting throughout the day, but that's his base meal. So an 8lb dog eating 1/2 cup of kibble may be too much (he's almost 10lbs less than my guy). Jackson also eats Fromm.


I try not to get angry or force him to eat, I just tell him to "go eat" and point at his food. Very rarely does that work. But if he's begging for a treat we say that trying to get him to eat his food instead of begging for something.

When I set his food down for him I get excited and say "you hungry? Want to eat?!" in a happy tone. He smells it and walks away usually.

He licks his lips when I put on the bacon sauce and as I'm walking toward him he licks his lips. Then when he smells the food he walks away so I don't know why he won't eat. He appears to be happy to get the food (lip licking and staring at the dish as I put it down). 



Abbylynn said:


> I wish I were able to give some solid advice. But the only dog I ever knew like this was my 12 pound childhood Terrier mix. I was a baby. My Mom received him as a gift for me. He was a 6 week old puppy. He refused dog food .... all because someone gave him a hot dog. No kidding.
> 
> Here is a story for you .... Hope it makes you smile.
> 
> ...


Yeah, that's the problem with my family and cooking, we rarely have a "balanced" meal. We eat 2 eggs and a bagel for dinner a lot of time since it's easy to cook. Bentley doesn't like egg yolks even in scrambled eggs. And we don't feed him wheat. The only thing that I know has wheat in it that he eats/licks is that Everlasting Treat Ball and the Healthy Edibles Nylabone that I recently bought for him. But he hasn't even taken a chunk out of it yet, he licks it some here and there but just doesn't chew on it. He's not allergic that I know of to anything but I try to feed him only food and treats that are grain-free. I feel it's healthier for a dog to eat grain-free. 

Cooking for him didn't work in the long run since when I tried it last time he refused to eat it after about 2 weeks. The story of his life... He refuses to eat raw food. So I've stopped caring (or at least tried to). He is due for his vaccines so when I take him to the vet (hopefully in the coming month) I will make sure he is weighed and see how much weight he's lost. I will talk to the vet about his anorexia and see if there is anything we can do to make it better. If by chance he hasn't lost much weight then I'll continue feeding him 1/8 cup per day and not worry. 

When we move out to Nevada midway through this year when our house is built and ready to move into I will hope dad can take him on 45 minute walks daily. Perhaps that will stimulate his appetite. Plus we'll have a fenced in back yard which will help us get him moving more and exercising. Perhaps then we can start training him to play fetch properly. So we'll see. I don't have much hope in him eating more when we move though. He's just a very lazy sedentary dog, like we are. He rarely plays with his toys, and rarely chews or licks his chew treats. He does like bully sticks but barely chews on them unless he hasn't had one in a few months and it's fresh out of the package. If it's been out of the package or just sitting there on the floor for that long, he ignores it. It's the same as with any toy or chew we've given him. At most he plays with it for 2 or 3 days and then forgets about it. He just doesn't care for it anymore. That's the same with any food we've given him. It looks promising up front for a day or two then he reverts back to being stubborn and not interested in it. 

Oh well. Time will tell.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

> He licks his lips when I put on the bacon sauce and as I'm walking toward him he licks his lips. Then when he smells the food he walks away so I don't know why he won't eat. He appears to be happy to get the food (lip licking and staring at the dish as I put it down).


He could be licking his lips in anticipation of food, but lip licking in dogs is actually a calming signal as well. Dogs will lick their lips when they're anxious or stressed. I think he's probably picking up on your anxiety about all this food stuff and it's making him anxious, too. 

I agree with the others. I think I said this earlier, but my 9lb papillon eats 1/2 cup of food a day, and my 18lb AKK eats 2/3 of a cup per day (high-quality kibble). They rarely get treats; when I do give them something, it's small (little bite of meat, little piece of cheese, something like that). They also walk for an hour or two every day, occasionally longer. Your little guy is less active and smaller; he may not even need more than 1/8 of a cup per day. I'd just give him that, leave a little bit of dry kibble down after that in case he decides he needs more food, and try not to worry so much. It's very unlikely that he will starve himself.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Summer wouldn't eat when I got her. She ended up once refusing food to the point of being hypoglycemic (although that was after a surgery). I used to cater to her all the time to try to coax her to eat. I'd leave down food 24/7 in hopes she'd nibble at it. Put cheese, whatever on top of it, etc.

Well that's the prime way to create a picky eater. I said screw it and started rationing it. You go in your pen and get food down for 15 minutes. don't eat it? It's getting put back. No doctoring. No nothing. She has switched from a dog that refused food more often than not to a dog that LOVES FOOD. She scarfs it down fast when I give her her meals. She works hard for food in agility class. And now I vary their diet so she gets a lot more than just kibble, however no matter what I feed her- kibble, canned, premade raw, etc- she scarfs it down. It is possible to get a dog that doesn't eat to eat well.

The only issue we have still is with raw meaty bones. And guess what? After quite a few tries, I left her alone with her neck bone for an hour and she started eating on it.

I'm not trying to be mean but sometimes you just need to be firm. He sounds like he knows good stuff will come later. So he waits.

My dogs are 7 and 8 lbs and get 1/4th a cup a day plus some chews. I am betting mine are a lot more active too, so 1/8-1/4th a cup of a good kibble sounds pretty close to what he should have. If he were mine, he'd get 1/4th a cup of food in the morning. Put him in a kennel/crate then leave. 15 minutes later, come back and take the rest away. Then more offered at night. I would not let him have food to pick at during the day.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

You don't need to apologize for being upset, but it's REALLY unlikely he's going to die from this. You're not failing, he's not failing, no one is failing. 

I do want to reiterate what Cran said about lip licking being a sign of anxiety, though.

Jack was 'stuffed' for the show ring - force fed. I think I mentioned that earlier in this thread. BECAUSE food became such a source of anxiety for him and such An Issue, it became a much bigger deal than it necessarily would have been. He dropped enough weight to stress me the heck out but still - you can't make a dog eat, unless you cram it down their throat, and I wasn't going there. So, I played games. I handfed, I coaxed, I stressed, I doctored - whole nine yards. At some point I got to about where you are and said 'the hell with it'. I did the level of doctoring I considered reasonable - which for me is about a half can of wet split between all the dogs, mixed in with their lunch meal. I put him in his crate with his bowl on schedule with the others (lunch) and either he ate it and great, or he didn't and 'oh well'. 

It took MONTHS for me to relax and leave him alone, and him to eat. I don't think the timing of the two being the same is coincidental. At this point he still has days where he doesn't eat well, or skips eating completely, but they're fairly rare. He still isn't food or treat motivated. However, I no longer give a danged, because he's maintaining his weight. He maintains a little lighter than I'd like, but it's maybe a pound between where he is and what I'd consider ideal. 

And for what it's worth, his daily food, at 25lbs and pretty danged active (though I'd say more 'moderately active' than insane) is about a 3/4 cup of Wellness Core and MAYBE a tablespoon of high quality canned. That's what I give him. what he eats over a week or two averages to less than that, since again - he skips meals and sometimes only eats part of it. If he is REALLY moving hard, drinking, or twisted right, you can see all his ribs. Otherwise you see the last one or two. That makes me uneasy, but he's also from a breed with sighthound in their history and it's something that shows much more with Jack's variation of the breed than some of the others. Dog's got a lot of chest and leg. So he's actually just fine - and my vet agrees.

Kylie gets nothing BUT 'treats' when training (Ziwipeaks, air dried raw) and no meals at all. How much of that she gets varies a bit, but it's NOT a lot (way less than 1/2 cup, for sure, but I'm not measuring it out) and she's an overly chunky at 12lbs (we're working on it - by cutting out her 'meals'). Bug's heavy boned, heavy duty dog who is high energy but low activity (because of her health issues) and probably gets about 1/2 cup of food a day, plus that table spoon of raw. She's still kinda chunky at 20lbs, but it's close to right.

And in contrast, the growing GSD mix puppy eats something like 8 cups of wellness core or blue wilderness a day. EIGHT CUPS. Plus treats. That's about twice the recommended amount for a 115lb adult dog. He weighs 40lbs, right now. There is no way he is going to be a 230lb adult dog. He's been vet checked, for everything. He does not have a tapeworm. His ribs are easily palpable. He's growing. I keep reminding myself of that as I watch him do a hoover impersonation when he eats as more than the others do, combined, three times a day. Dogs are just different. Relaxing about that can really help.


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## Chi Nation (Feb 25, 2013)

I agree with everyone else. Zero treats and only leave food down for 15-20 mins and pick it up if he doesn't eat it. 
Veda is a picky eater like yours, but I couldn't do that with her because she is hypoglycemic, but if there is nothing medically wrong with your dog than tough love is the best thing for him in this case.


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## roxiefoxie08 (Dec 15, 2011)

have you had his fecal tested to see if he does not have giardia that some puppies or dogs show no symptoms since you mentioned that he is losing weight all you need is to drop off a stool sample so they can check it


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Laurelin said:


> Summer wouldn't eat when I got her. She ended up once refusing food to the point of being hypoglycemic (although that was after a surgery). I used to cater to her all the time to try to coax her to eat. I'd leave down food 24/7 in hopes she'd nibble at it. Put cheese, whatever on top of it, etc.
> 
> Well that's the prime way to create a picky eater. I said screw it and started rationing it. You go in your pen and get food down for 15 minutes. don't eat it? It's getting put back. No doctoring. No nothing. She has switched from a dog that refused food more often than not to a dog that LOVES FOOD. She scarfs it down fast when I give her her meals. She works hard for food in agility class. And now I vary their diet so she gets a lot more than just kibble, however no matter what I feed her- kibble, canned, premade raw, etc- she scarfs it down. It is possible to get a dog that doesn't eat to eat well.
> 
> ...


I find it amazing that works for your dogs. Bentley never responded to putting food down for 15 minutes twice per day.



Chi Nation said:


> I agree with everyone else. Zero treats and only leave food down for 15-20 mins and pick it up if he doesn't eat it.
> Veda is a picky eater like yours, but I couldn't do that with her because she is hypoglycemic, but if there is nothing medically wrong with your dog than tough love is the best thing for him in this case.


Didn't work for Bentley. Not at all. 



roxiefoxie08 said:


> have you had his fecal tested to see if he does not have giardia that some puppies or dogs show no symptoms since you mentioned that he is losing weight all you need is to drop off a stool sample so they can check it


 Yes he was recently sick with coccidia (?) where that bacteria overgrew in his intestines and it caused pure watery diarrhea and vomiting. He is over that now. His fecal tests were all fine except for that one bacteria. He is recovered from that and back to his normal self. He didn't have any parasites of any kind. That was about a month ago that he was tested. He's just a finicky eater. It's all mental with him. As I said earlier in this and previous posts, rationing his feeding and picking it up 15 mins after setting it down didnt encourage him to eat at all. We still give only one treat per day. He used to get up to like 10 treats pay since he was begging so much. He was getting too chunky. I feel he's at a good weight now but if he continues not to eat well then he will continue losing weight.

Surprisingly mom let him lick her empty plate and she set an old dish of food down (it had Nupro and bacon sauce stuff on it) and he ate the whole 1/4 cup of it. :shrugs: He wouldn't eat it for 2 days while it was down for him but now today was the 3rd day. I had put that food up and made new fresh food with just Nupro on it, it was 1/8 cup. Earlier he ate 1/2 of that. Then tonight he ate a whole 1/4 cup after licking moms plate. So, I don't know. He's just weird. If I can't figure out a way to get him to eat well at least a few times per week I'll have to talk to the vet. I see no correlation between what we are doing and why he eats or doesn't eat. It's been 5 years of this insanity. I've still not found out what is causing it.


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

I know this sounds strange .... but do you give him a regular dog "Bowl" to eat out of? Maybe he likes "Plates" instead.

My dog Blu Boy will only eat from a "Bowl" I can offer him steak on a plate, a spoon, a fork .... he will NOT touch it. He is odd in that way. 

Maybe your dog likes eating from a "plate" ... and maybe one that has human scent on it. Just something to ponder ..............


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Abbylynn said:


> I know this sounds strange .... but do you give him a regular dog "Bowl" to eat out of? Maybe he likes "Plates" instead.
> 
> My dog Blu Boy will only eat from a "Bowl" I can offer him steak on a plate, a spoon, a fork .... he will NOT touch it. He is odd in that way.
> 
> Maybe your dog likes eating from a "plate" ... and maybe one that has human scent on it. Just something to ponder ..............


LOL actually no it doesn't sound strange to us. We tried that, we used to feed him in a tiny bowl, then we switched to little teacup saucers, paper plates, glass bowls, plastic bowls, etc. He seems most comfortable eating on a saucer. Yet he will lick our ice cream bowls (full size cereal bowl) without any issues. So we just feed him on correlle saucers. He licks up his food mostly instead of biting at his kibble. I think the sides of a bowl are too tall for him to make him comfortable the kibble. I want to get a small stainless steel no-tip bowl for him but I have no idea if he'll actually eat from it. I saw two that had a very shallow bowl so it's raised a little bit off of the floor but doesn't have high walls. Dad forgot to get one when he was last at the pet food store. I might order one online to see if he'll eat from it. 

The only bowl we've not tried with him is a stone bowl like ceramic or stone. All the ceramic bowls I've seen are too high-walled.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

The only thing I can think of (and maybe this was already brought up) is that he correlates food with being sick? Or was he always THIS picky, even before?

Also, how are his teeth? Has the vet thoroughly checked them out? Yorkies are so prone to dental issues as it is, and sometimes things can LOOK okay, but really not be. Jackson had a bad tooth in his mouth for 3 years and I had NO idea until he went under and they x-rayed it, it was dead. He started eating better after his dental and also after he had pancreatitis (when he was only allowed RX food for a month, I guess it made him appreciate food, LOL)

Have you ever tried any of the 'crappier' foods? Jackson is freakin' obsessed with Purina, Iams, etc, whenever he gets the chance to nibble (visiting a friend, etc). He did love his RX food too (Purina EN). Even though some of them are gross in the ingredient department. I don't know, eating something is better than eating nothing. But then again, I still say he will do fine on 1/4 cup per day or so.


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

Jacksons Mom said:


> The only thing I can think of (and maybe this was already brought up) is that he correlates food with being sick? Or was he always THIS picky, even before?
> 
> Also, how are his teeth? Has the vet thoroughly checked them out? Yorkies are so prone to dental issues as it is, and sometimes things can LOOK okay, but really not be. Jackson had a bad tooth in his mouth for 3 years and I had NO idea until he went under and they x-rayed it, it was dead. He started eating better after his dental and also after he had pancreatitis (when he was only allowed RX food for a month, I guess it made him appreciate food, LOL)
> 
> Have you ever tried any of the 'crappier' foods? Jackson is freakin' obsessed with Purina, Iams, etc, whenever he gets the chance to nibble (visiting a friend, etc). He did love his RX food too (Purina EN). Even though some of them are gross in the ingredient department. I don't know, eating something is better than eating nothing. But then again, I still say he will do fine on 1/4 cup per day or so.


He was always this picky. His teeth are very good. He has very little tartar, no absesses, no redness or swollen areas. He won't eat cheap foods like Iams or Beneful. He refuses all food unless it's higher quality. Especially canned food, if it's not grain-free and top notch, he won't eat it. We've been through all the qualities of dog food in canned and in dry. So for my peace of mind I am feeding him high quality dry food. He is willing to eat it, so I'm feeding it.  I just wish he'd be consistent in eating more than he is.

I was shocked last evening when he ate over 1/4 cup. He didn't puke it up during the middle of the night, so I guess the kibble size is perfect for him  Now I just hope I can get him to eat 1/4 cup today.


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## Chi Nation (Feb 25, 2013)

*I have a quick question... Have you tried the Missing Link supplement? 
Among many other things, its suppose to help stimulate appetite to help dogs eat when they are ill or refusing to eat. When i rescued my pitbull Raven she was like your boy and would go days without eating. Sometimes 5-6 days. Nothing would work. My vet recommended Missing Link and within 2-3 days of giving it she began eating normally. 

This is the formula I used... http://www.missinglinkproducts.com/index.php/products/dog/product/9-well-blend-plus

But they have many others also... *


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

xdunlapx said:


> I find it amazing that works for your dogs. Bentley never responded to putting food down for 15 minutes twice per day.
> .


How long do you stick to this schedule? do you give in after a few days?

1/4 a cup is a fine amount of food. My dogs are agility dogs. Very active and the same size as your guy. Summer eats a little over 1/4 a cup. Mia needs just under 1/4 a cup or she gets fat. 

You're worrying about stuff that doesn't need to be worried about, imo.


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## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

I know this is not helpful AT ALL, but what I would give for a dog that didnt eat/ lick/ nibble/ taste everything in sight. Just for a day, and then I'm sure it would get as annoying having a dog that didnt eat.

Maybe you should try your hand with a lab 

Also, Hattie is like 35 lbs (fat right now, parents have been overfeeding her) and IDEALLY she would get like 2/3 cup per day (of decent grain free dry). I think 1/4 of a cup is plenty for an 8 lb dog (unless I read your dogs weight wrong? I might have.)


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

Yeah, we all keep saying this because it's true: A tiny dog that is not very active does not NEED much food. 1/4 cup per day could actually be too much, depending on the dog's metabolism.


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## hemilucas (Sep 12, 2008)

xdunlapx said:


> Ok, i'm done with this. If he gets sick it's not my fault. It's his. I just had a heated conversation with dad about this right before I sat down here at the computer and saw this message. I'm done. I'll only put 1/8 cup down daily. It appears that's all he will eat, so, so be it. No sense wasting food since I put Nupro on it and sometimes bacon flavored sauce to get him to eat which rarely works. So I'm done. I'll only put 1/8 cup down per day and add the Nupro supplement. I'm done fighting with him to get him to eat. I just sat on the floor which usually works to get him to eat and it didn't. so. I'm done. If he dies due to health problems from not eating well then that must be what God wants. He is my baby and my emotional support dog. If he wants to die an early sick death then so be it. I'm done coddling him.


ok I've been reading this from the beginning, and I have large dogs, and non-picky eaters, but just wanted to say the food calculators is for the whole day, which includes, food, and treats. So if your calculator is saying 1/2 cup (forgive me if I'm wrong doing this with memory), that means 1/2 cup of food and treats!


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## xdunlapx (Jan 30, 2013)

hemilucas said:


> ok I've been reading this from the beginning, and I have large dogs, and non-picky eaters, but just wanted to say the food calculators is for the whole day, which includes, food, and treats. So if your calculator is saying 1/2 cup (forgive me if I'm wrong doing this with memory), that means 1/2 cup of food and treats!


Yes, the food calculators gave me a calorie amount, 237 calories per day for him which with his food is 1/2 cup per day. He eats at most 1/4 cup per day. 

I've not tried that supplement, but I have one pound of nupro that I have to go through before I switch it up. Plus that supplement is outrageously expensive! $24 for a pound of it. Seems ridiculous. I know he likes the Nupro so that is why I bought it. We had a "taste sample" of it that was free and he only ate his food if it had it on it.

Yes we stuck to feeding him twice per day for over a week or so, it didn't work to stimulate him to eat when I put the food down. He seems to only want to eat once per day, in the evening or nighttime before bed. He is not interested in food at all until then. So that's why he's only eating up to 1/4 cup per day, usually 1/8 cup.


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## CocoPup (Feb 1, 2011)

I read the original post but not all the replies so sorry if this is repetative! 

My Cavalier was picky from the first day we brought her home. It took me about 18 months to finally get her to eat like a normal dog. Her symptoms were EXACTLY the same as what is going on with your Yorkie, where she would eat something new but then turn her nose up to it the next day... so it was a matter of rotating foods very frequently. Here is what I did to remedy the situation.

As soon as she was no longer a fragile puppy, I just stopped listening to her. Basically I figured she was telling me what to do and I was not going to give in. It was very emotional because as people we expect our dogs to enjoy variety in food and eating 2 maybe 3 meals a day, just like us. Well I became strict. One bag of dog food, meal offered once a day (in the evening), it was on the floor for 10 minutes if she stayed near it, but if she walked away then I would take it away sooner. NO MORE TREATS if she did not eat her dog food, not even for going potty outside (just praise and pets, maybe a game with a toy instead was used for praise). Eventually after not eating a single bite for 3 or 4 days, SHE ATE THE KIBBLE!

Now she tried and tried her hardest to go back to her old ways, and once in a while she would still turn her nose up to the food I put down for her. All I had to do was just take the food away and follow the "no more treats until you eat your meal" rule. After her going back and forth between eating well a few days, then going picky again, she realized I was not ever going to offer her new stuff... so now she eats her meal when offered, and DOES seem to do better eating once a day rather than twice a day.

Once I trusted she was on the right track, I have now compromised and I switch her bag of dog food each time one is finished. This way she still gets variety, but not on a daily basis


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

xdunlapx said:


> Yes we stuck to feeding him twice per day for over a week or so, it didn't work to stimulate him to eat when I put the food down. He seems to only want to eat once per day, in the evening or nighttime before bed. He is not interested in food at all until then. So that's why he's only eating up to 1/4 cup per day, usually 1/8 cup.


Then that is FINE. I feed my dogs once a day (in the morning) most days. They are the same size as your dog and they eat approx 1/4 a cup.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Laurelin said:


> Then that is FINE. I feed my dogs once a day (in the morning) most days. They are the same size as your dog and they eat approx 1/4 a cup.


Yeah. Agreed. I think he's absolutely fine. 

My dads dogs are extremely finicky, especially his female JRT mix. She often turns her nose up at food, even if there's cheese, steak, chicken, whatever in it. So we just put it up and say whatever. His other dog, Buddy, is an overweight Doxy mix. He's probably 22lbs right now, maybe more, and he probably should be like 14lbs. He doesn't care about playing... like, at all. He is pretty much a lazy bum. He gets 1/4 cup per DAY (at 22lbs) of kibble. He does get a few treats from my dad throughout the day. But he survives just fine. They both eat around 6pm and that's it. 

Jackson will often skip breakfast. Some mornings, he dives right in, others... not so much. He's definitely always hungry after a good bit of exercise. Like yesterday, he didn't eat breakfast. Around 1pm, we headed off to the park, walked for 2-3 miles, then he played in the dog park for an hour. We came home, he ate his kibble right away.


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## 2greys (Sep 15, 2009)

xdunlapx said:


> I'll give my back story here first off. My dog (Yorkie) will be 5 years old on April 1 this year. He has always - ALWAYS been a picky eater, preferring human food. He flat out refuses to eat kibble and so for the past 3 or 4 years we've been feeding him a variety of canned food. He wont touch cheap canned food so we feed him the kind that is about $3 or $4 a can, Wellness, Wuruva, and others... After two or 3 days he stops eating the one canned food so the next day we feed him from another different can (different flavor profile). Then in 2 or 3 days it happens again, it's a long never-ending cycle.
> 
> He does get high quality dog treats daily. He begs for the so much that it really gets annoying. He does NOT eat human food anymore due to a bout with pancreatitis. Occasionally mom will give him part of her bagel (about the size of a quarter and the thickness of a typical bagel). Once or twice a week (apparently), I didn't know that until I saw her do it and she confessed.
> 
> ...


I go through that periodically with my greyhounds and encounter it with a new dog. What I have found is 

1) try different kibbles until you find one they will accept. For my 2, I have found that Kirkland and Orijin Fish usually work. I have never had a pet yet that will eat IAMS or Science Diet! And they all love Kibbles'n'Bits -- to my mind, the equivalent of candy -- bad for their teeth and their health! Orijin is not cheap, so I alternate, feed Orijin then switch to a bag of Kirkland. Orijin has never been rejected yet. 

2) Try mixing in other tasty stuff. Mine love diced cheddar cheese, sardines or green tripe -- not the white stuff. This is doggie cocaine around here; just one whiff and they are looking for more! Tripe in large quantities can cause diarrhea, and I find 3/4 tablespoon well mixed in sufficient. Be prepared as it is quite stinky. I have also mixed in what I call veggie slop (mixed vegetables put in a blender with garlic powder, chicken or beef broth, and parmesan cheese). Veggie slop is the only thing I have ever had dogs fight over! It is also great for reducing kibble yet filling them up when you want to put them on a diet. I also pour blood from chicken or juice from canned salmon or tuna over kibble. I very rarely add canned dog food; usually just a heaping tablespoon at each meal and again well mixed to coat the kibble. Also, adding warm water sometimes helps.

3) raw meat. I feed my girls a chicken back or turkey neck every night to clean their teeth, and even when they reject their other food, they have NEVER rejected poultry. Be sure it is raw. If you don't want to give them bloody meat, I find if I let it dry out a bit in the fridge, they like it just as much. 

4) If you feed twice a day, try going to once a day. Cut out the treats. A hungry dog is not inclined to be so picky. Although I had one dog, put on Science Diet by the vet, go 3 days without eating, rather than eat that! Needless to say, that was a wasted purchase, as none of the others would eat it either.


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## christine_72 (Jun 14, 2018)

Wow i just finished reading this whole thread! I wonder if xdunlapx is still around, and i'm dying to know how she eventually went with this stubborn pup!! Hopefully she'll get an email notification from this reply :yo:


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