# French bulldog puppy EXTREMELY picky about food. Running out of ideas



## tok (May 4, 2014)

Hello,

I need some help with my french bulldog puppy. He is just over 6 months now, but I have been struggling over the past few months in making him eat. He doesn't seem sick (he is very playful and alert) but, this being my first dog, I am not sure if his eating behavior is normal and what should I do.

Currently I am giving him "Wellness CORE Grain-Free Puppy Formula " as his dry food. He never ate this food "dry" as it is. Before I switched to Wellness, I was giving him the Royal Canin puppy dry food (as that was what he was eating since he was born). He would not eat that when dry as well.

I tried mixing all of the following with the food throughout the months:

* Some warm water, to release the scent
* Some chicken broth
* Some wet food (Chicken, or Lamb, or Beef flavors - tried all 3)
* Some Nutrical
* Some Yogurt

He would usually eat for a few days, and then stops. He seemed to love the yogurt (he would eat both 4 ounce servings licking the bowl to get all the yogurt out), now all he does is sniff it and go away. Initially the vet said he should eat 8 ounces (1 cup) of food in total per day. I think he ate at most a few ounces in the past 3 days and now I am starting to get worried as he looks more skinny. He is still very playful and energetic, so I am not sure if it's normal or if I should be concerned.

As a side note, he doesn't like most of the treats I got him as well. I went through 3 different brand of treats (so I could use them to train him) but he spits out all of them. He seems to like hard cheese (for the moment).

What should I do? Any advice would be appreciated.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

As long as the vet confirms there's nothing wrong with him that would cause a loss in appetite, my personal view is to stop catering to him so much.

Pick a food/preparation method. Give it to him, don't offer something else/better. If he doesn't eat it, he doesn't eat it. As long as there's nothing wrong with him medically, he's not going to starve himself.

It's very easy to create a picky dog by constantly offering something different when they turn their nose up initially.


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## tok (May 4, 2014)

Thanks for the quick reply! How long would you say I need to wait before bringing him to the vet?


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

Since you're currently noticing slight weight loss, I might wait another day or so and if he doesn't eat at all I'd make an appointment. Alternatively you can call your vet office and ask at what point of not eating they'd want him in. (they know his medical history, I don't)

Something else to mention; you can also try scheduled feeding if you're not already. Put the bowl down for a set amount of time (maybe 10-15 mins) and if he doesn't eat, pick it back up and no treats/snacks until the next meal time, rinse and repeat. That way he learns to appreciate the food more when it's available, haha.

Food pickiness is something I have a hard line on, both with animals and kids. If you don't want what you're given that's fine, but you don't get to swap it out for cookies!


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

I agree, if everything checks out at the vet's, then I would just pick a food prep method (I use water, only one dog of mine, who is a hard keeper gets home made wet food with her meal ... but even she will eat it without, if I forget to take it out of the freezer LOL) I heat up some water in the microwave (not til its boiling, just til its warmer then room temp) and mix it into their food. There is one dog here who had my folks trained very well, he would eat something for a while then turn his nose up at it, they would fuss over him and try to coax him to eat it. 

Then I got here they were feeding TOTW, which is a good food but they ALL stopped eating it when they did some major changes to their formulas, so I switched them Castor and Pollux, but Josefina did horribly on it (she ate it eagerly but lost a LOT of weight on it), then we went to natures variety, both prairie and instinct, but problems with bags going rancid on me made me to decide to switch again. 

Long story short we ended up trying Merrick's grain free lind and we haven't been happier. At first, in the aftermath of all the switching, Bear went on a hunger strike for a while (like, three or four days ... he was really stubborn) where he wouldn't eat it at all. The other dogs were eating it with gusto so I just chalked it up to being stubborn and after their fifteen minutes was up, and he didn't eat it I just gave it to one of the other dogs LOL, who were too happy to gobble it up. I will never forget the look he had on his face the first time I did that, it was like "Damn ... I should've eaten that" LOL ... after a few days of that he changed his tune.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

My dog went through a food boycott when he was an older puppy. He would eat treats no problem, but his food? No. A little picking, but that was it. He was otherwise 100% fine, running around, being a puppy. We stopped giving him anything but his kibbles, unless he was in a training class (our trainer commented on how enthusiastic he was to work... and we had to explain why!). Eventually I guess he got hungry enough because he started eating again and he has no problems eating now.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

I disagree. A pup that has a tough time eating could be allergic/intolerant of some ingredient in the foods offered and having a stomach ache after meals. Over and over I am seeing picky toddlers end up being allergic to the foods they don't want to eat rather than being spoiled babies. If there is anything he likes then find a food with that particular ingredient in it to try. I'd be looking into the various simple kibbles out there rather than doing tough love. I don't know of any kibble with cheese as the protein source though!


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## tok (May 4, 2014)

Thanks to all the replies... He is still not eating much, so I will bring him to the vet tomorrow for a checkup.


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

tok said:


> Thanks to all the replies... He is still not eating much, so I will bring him to the vet tomorrow for a checkup.


Let us know how it goes!


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

Hope everything goes well.


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## tok (May 4, 2014)

All is well. It looks like he just doesn't like his food, according to the vet. Exams came out and all is fine. He suggested I would try different brands until I find something he likes. Maybe mix some tasty wet food. Just have to figure out what he finds tasty! Or I might just do as someone suggested and give him just the kibbles until he has no choice but (eventually) eat.


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