# Picky Eater- how long will she wait me out?



## babydmnc (Dec 8, 2008)

I have posted before about my very picky 6 month old puppy. She is fed Wellness Puppy and until today I was adding lots of yummy things to get her to eat. I would add warm water, canned food, Natural Balance rolls cut up, parm cheese, broth, human food, yogurt and often times she still won't eat. So, I got tired of throwing her food away because I can't save it after I have added the wet things and also she now ALWAYS waits for something better. 

So today I did it, put down her Wellness dry food for 15 minutes and of course she didn't touch it so it was put away. I have tried this before and she went 1.5 days without eating before I gave in and became her short order cook again. So my question is, how long can I expect her to wait me out? I should add that she has been checked by the vet, is healthy and is also spayed. 

I should also mention that about a week ago I offered her TOTW Pacific Stream thinking she just did not like the Wellness and she ate it once but never again. I have debated trying chicken soup or Canidae (others available here) but don't think its a taste issue of the Wellness, she is just used to being spoiled?

Thanks for any thoughts, this is hard for me not giving her any treats either


----------



## rosemaryninja (Sep 28, 2007)

A healthy dog will not starve itself, but a healthy dog can also go a remarkably long time without food (I think it's close to a week.) If I were you, I would offer her food three times a day, continuing to withdraw it after 15 minutes if she doesn't eat. If she refuses after three or four days (that's twelve or fifteen mealtimes), take her to the vet.


----------



## Westhighlander (Sep 28, 2007)

babydmnc said:


> I have posted before about my very picky 6 month old puppy. She is fed Wellness Puppy and until today I was adding lots of yummy things to get her to eat. I would add warm water, canned food, Natural Balance rolls cut up, parm cheese, broth, human food, yogurt and often times she still won't eat. So, I got tired of throwing her food away because I can't save it after I have added the wet things and also she now ALWAYS waits for something better.
> 
> So today I did it, put down her Wellness dry food for 15 minutes and of course she didn't touch it so it was put away. I have tried this before and she went 1.5 days without eating before I gave in and became her short order cook again. So my question is, how long can I expect her to wait me out? I should add that she has been checked by the vet, is healthy and is also spayed.
> 
> ...


She'll go at least 1.5 days because that's how long before she won last round.


----------



## Renoman (Mar 20, 2007)

I've had to go through the same thing you are. Believe me, she will NOT let her self starve. 

It took Reno 5 days to figure out if he didn't eat what was given to him when it was given to him, he wasn't getting anything else. Once he figured that out, he never again missed a meal. 

Tough Love is harder on us than it is on them!


----------



## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

Our vet said our dog could go 4-5 days since she was healthy and had access to water. We did manage to break the picky eating for a while but I have to confess we still give her random extra tidbits (e.g. vegetables to help her digestion) if we're eating something she can have. I think it took the tough love, though, to get her to eat consistently without the extras. She'll ignore her kibble occasionally but it only lasts for 1/2 a day to a day now. Once she goes even a day without eating a full days' worth of food, she's ravenous the next day. I think the memory of the hunger when she was being picky motivates her to eat the next chance she gets.


----------



## Melissa_Chloe (Dec 31, 2008)

Longest I have gone with Chloe was 3 days, and then I broke down and added yogurt to the food again. 
Dogs are real good at training us what THEY want (human food!) ... except Chloe doesn't get human food except yogurt.

But yeh a dog won't let themselves starve to death ... Mine pukes bile when shes got an empty stomach - YICK.


----------



## w8ing4rain (Sep 4, 2008)

The longest Nanuq has held out is 3 days. I would suggest that "goodies" only be offered after she eats her regular meal. I tend to treat my dogs a lot like I do my kids. No dessert if you don't eat your dinner. lol


----------



## vonDrehle (Aug 17, 2008)

My dog is also not eating very. I have tried several different foods and am currently feeding her Innova Evo Red Meat flavor small bites. She is currently around 65 pounds and is turning 1 sometime in January. She will normally look at the food and then push the bowl around and rub her nose around inside moving the food around but rarely eats alot. I haven't tried doing the leave it down for 15minutes and thats eat but I will start that tomorrow morning. I was wondering if there were any more tips that might help her. Also another things she does that I haven't seen before is she will go to her bowl, pick up a little bit, and then take it and eat it somewhere else. I rescued her when she was 7 months old could something in her past be causing these eating problems? She loves treats and recieves no table food except when I grill steaks I always save a little and put it in her bowl.


----------



## Westhighlander (Sep 28, 2007)

vonDrehle said:


> My dog is also not eating very. I have tried several different foods and am currently feeding her Innova Evo Red Meat flavor small bites. She is currently around 65 pounds and is turning 1 sometime in January. She will normally look at the food and then push the bowl around and rub her nose around inside moving the food around but rarely eats alot. I haven't tried doing the leave it down for 15minutes and thats eat but I will start that tomorrow morning. I was wondering if there were any more tips that might help her. Also another things she does that I haven't seen before is she will go to her bowl, pick up a little bit, and then take it and eat it somewhere else. I rescued her when she was 7 months old could something in her past be causing these eating problems? She loves treats and recieves no table food except when I grill steaks I always save a little and put it in her bowl.


No treats or anything else until she eats.


----------



## MarleyBoy (Dec 24, 2007)

ugh - we're in the same boat. It's been 1 full day (3 missed meals) nows. And that look they give you when you put down the dry kibble - like you're torturing them! 
So I'm thinking, heck this is organic kibble: smoked duck and turkey goodness... doesn't sound so bad to me! I had a bagel for lunch!!


----------



## babydmnc (Dec 8, 2008)

MarleyBoy said:


> ugh - we're in the same boat. It's been 1 full day (3 missed meals) nows. And that look they give you when you put down the dry kibble - like you're torturing them!
> So I'm thinking, heck this is organic kibble: smoked duck and turkey goodness... doesn't sound so bad to me! I had a bagel for lunch!!


LOL Good luck with your pup! 

Well, I guess I should admit that Lily won this round, but I did too She went three days without eating and lots of bile throw up and in the end I just picked something I could live with adding and we haven't looked back. I add one spoonful of EVO (turkey or beef) wet food with a bit of water to each meal (now down to two meals per day) and she scarfs it up. In almost two weeks now she hasn't missed a meal so either she learned to eat what she was given or she really loves the EVO wet food!


----------



## Westhighlander (Sep 28, 2007)

babydmnc said:


> LOL Good luck with your pup!
> 
> Well, I guess I should admit that Lily won this round, but I did too She went three days without eating and lots of bile throw up and in the end I just picked something I could live with adding and we haven't looked back. I add one spoonful of EVO (turkey or beef) wet food with a bit of water to each meal (now down to two meals per day) and she scarfs it up. In almost two weeks now she hasn't missed a meal so either she learned to eat what she was given or she really loves the EVO wet food!


Split decision. Not bad, you can try adding less over time.


----------



## MaddiesMom (Nov 8, 2007)

We had a picky eater too. She just does not like dry kibble - no matter how many days we tried. So now she get a teaspoon of Merrick wet on her kibble at every meal. Now she cleans her bowl right down. I tell her she's going to lick the finish of her bowl if she doesn't stop licking the empty bowl. 

Maddie loves Merrick's wet Smothered Comfort, Grammy's Chicken Pot Pie or Thanksgiving Day Dinner (anything poultry based - she doesn't like beef, lamb or fish based foods). She love their dry food too. Go to Merrick's website and register. I get coupons all the time from them. I just got one for buy one can get one free - can't beat that. 

She's also thows up bile if she doesn't eat. I can pick up dog poo, but anal glands and puke are my kryptonite. So, I'd rather give her a teaspoon of wet on her food than clean up puke. 

So do what's comfortable for you and your dog. If "gilding the lily" helps them to eat, go for it. Just make sure it's healthy and not fattening.


----------



## lillie20 (Oct 17, 2008)

Feeding became a drama at my house too. Would remain in next room and just look at it. Now I add a tablespoon of cooked chop meat and mix with his kibble and some can. Eats it right away. Also, no longer use bowl, just place on floor. Almost seemed spooked from deep bowl. I guess he won, but at least dinner is done in 5 minutes.


----------



## MarleyBoy (Dec 24, 2007)

hmm, after two days we had a mini-victory and Marley ate the dry kibble - so we rewarded him with a "treat" bowl of ground meat and gravy. The next meal time - when the dry kibble came out - he wouldn't touch it again. Ughh. I think we're on a "1-meal-a-day" schedule. 

We were buying about 1 lb of meat a week to mix in, and honestly, if he ate it all, I wouldn't mind it. But it's that he eats it for a while and then starts wasting the food that really bothers me. Once he knows there's the _possibility _of something better, it all goes down hill from there!


----------



## pattymac (Oct 11, 2008)

I have the same thing, picky eater. I decided a while back to go back to kibble from raw, well that lasted a couple of days and she decided that kibble just wasn't doing it for her..so I had some lamb chops in the freezer, gave her one, she gobbled it up then she ate another one. I thought ok dog, you win this one! So now I sneak her kibble into her kong..sometimes she'll eat them and sometimes she just leaves them on the floor. So tonight I snuk(?) a handfull of kibble into her dinner so I can slowly use up the bag..it cost me enough! I've done that before and doesn't seem to bother her tummy any.


----------



## Westhighlander (Sep 28, 2007)

MarleyBoy said:


> hmm, after two days we had a mini-victory and Marley ate the dry kibble - so we rewarded him with a "treat" bowl of ground meat and gravy. The next meal time - when the dry kibble came out - he wouldn't touch it again. Ughh. I think we're on a "1-meal-a-day" schedule.
> 
> We were buying about 1 lb of meat a week to mix in, and honestly, if he ate it all, I wouldn't mind it. But it's that he eats it for a while and then starts wasting the food that really bothers me. Once he knows there's the _possibility _of something better, it all goes down hill from there!


Wow, that's like being up in the 4th quarter and then throwing away the game. You shouldn't have rewarded her with the meat. Try it again and just never give her anything else again. I think you'll be back on top again.


----------



## babydmnc (Dec 8, 2008)

Another change I had to make with Lily is no human food AT ALL for now. I know if I gave her any human food now, meat, yogurt, parm cheese, or any yummy table scraps that she would associate it with getting tasty things on her kibble and revert back to her old ways. Maybe down the road she will be able to have human food treats but definetly not now since she is doing so well eating her food as is with a spoonful of wet food and water on it.


----------



## lillie20 (Oct 17, 2008)

I know giving him chop meat with his food was a no-no, but its working. I heat it quick in the microwave from the refrig before I mix with kibble and I think the smell makes him more likely to eat. Yes, a huge problem with mine if empty stomach -bile. It's easier to just give the meat to avoid this problem. Yep, he's the king!


----------



## Miranda53 (Sep 25, 2008)

Hi,
Another member of the "picky eater" club here. It really is a nightmare sometimes. My little toy breed is doing ok on two small wet meals a day (she gets James Wellbeloved pouches, a British all natural brand). Biggest challenge is getting her to eat kibble, as she needs something during the day or she'll vomit bile. At present, I'm "doctoring" the kibble for her, either with a little melted butter or goats milk, and she will usually eat this. But I'm changing over to adult dry food soon and know that I need to get her to eat it plain. Royal Canin make a formula specially for fussy toy dogs (in the UK it's called Mini Sensible) but I have my doubts. I can fully sympathise with those of you who find it difficult to "tough it out", especially when the dog vomits bile on an empty stomach. But I also know that it's up to us to train our dogs to eat what we want them to, and that it's not impossible (just very, very hard)!


----------

