Picky Eater

[emc]

My Chihuahua is a picky eater so I was thinking of changing her dog food, any recommendations? Currently she's eating cesar wet and Iams mini chunks dry kibble. She munches on the kibble as if it was a snack and she's starting to turn her nose up at the cesar dog food.

[Karen]

Does she have any food allergies or reactions? There are several good foods for small dogs, but we'd need to know a bit more first. How old is she? How active? How's her weight?

[pomtzu]

Try some finely chopped or grated apple or carrot, or some cooked and chopped green beans, or green peas. I add these to Myndi's food since she is on a rather tasteless prescription food for her kidneys. She used to get the yummy Cesars too, and that's about all that Sparky still eats - he loves all the different flavors.
Your little one must really be picky if she's getting tired of Cesars.

[emc]

Yeah, would you believe it, she's actually getting tired of cesar. I switched to the cesar slices and she loved it at first but now she's starting to turn her nose up at that too. She expects to get something different everyday and I'm running out of stuff to feed her. She will eat veggies if fed by hand but put it in with her food and she will not touch it at all or pick it out.

By the way most of the time I have to hand feed her to get her to eat, maybe that contributed to the problem? I know I should probably just let her be but then she ends up eating every other day and gets even more skinnier.

She's 5 years old, just under 5 lbs. she's active when she plays but content to sleep the day away if no one pays any attention to her. No food allergies as far as I know.

[pomtzu]

Hand feeding, huh??? Well I can identify. I did that with Sparky for a while after he had been feeling under the weather, but then I got wise to him. He's not going to starve to death if he misses a meal or two, so I just quit, knowing that when he got hungry enough, he would eat. I would try doctoring his food with this or that to tempt him, always be changing his food, feeding him by hand, etc. However, he never refused his treats, so I knew that there was no real problem. Now if he walks away and doesn't eat, I just put it in the fridge, and he gets it the next night - no more babying him!!!
Do you free feed with the kibble and leave it out where she can eat whenever she wants it? If so, I'd put an end to that, since that would explain her not eating the Cesars. Has she had a vet check lately to make sure that there's nothing wrong? Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to take her in anyway - maybe he/she can suggest something to perk up the appetite.
Other than that, I guess I have no other ideas - sorry!


BTW - the cocker spaniel tile that you did for me at Christmas for my grandson's mother was a BIG hit - she loved it!

[wolfsoul]

To be honest it sounds as if you've created your own monster. Picky dogs are created by their owners. Typically the more we 'cater' to our pets, the more they demand of us. They know we'll give in and try something new, so they turn up their nose each time they're bored of something.

She's got YOU trained pretty well! My advice is to find something that she liked in the past, did really well on, and only give that to her. Leave the food down for a while and if she doesn't eat it within a certain amount of time, remove it, and try again the next day. Some dogs will be really stubborn and go two weeks without food, but they'll never starve themselves to death.

I've had dogs turn up their noses in the past. The only time I go out and try something new is if it's show season and I need them to keep up their weight. Otherwise they can be as skinny as they want to be. It only lasts a few months, and once they realise that nothing new is coming, they give in and start eating normally and keep the weight on as per usual.
Some dogs just aren't big eaters. Nothing wrong with that; Dogs who are slightly "underweight" (in today's standards) tend to live longer and have a much lower rate of cancer. If she wants to keep herself lean and trim, I'd let her.

[Freedom]

Neither Cesars nor Iams is a high quality food. A good food is really essential for a dog that size; she must get all the nutrients she needs in a small amount of food, because that is all she can eat is a small amount!

Some high quality foods include: Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild (that is what I feed), Wellness Core, and Canidae. Halo canned would be a great wet food to give once a day.

I think that small size, you feed either 2 or 3 times daily. You shouldn't fee feed her. Rather, put down her bowl with the right amount of food, wait 10 minutes and then pick it up. No food or snacks till the next feeding. She will NOT starve herself, lol.

Good luck!

[emc]

Yeah, I know I contributed to the problem, but it's tough not to give in to her. What's wrong with cesar? It smells like real food, unlike most of that canned commercial dog food.

[Freedom]

You can learn a lot about dog food by reading some reviews on here:

www.dogfoodanalysis.com

They rate the foods 1 to 6, with 6 being the best. Cesar is a 1.

Move up to a 4, 5 or 6 and things will be so much better!

[emc]

Thanks for the link.

[menmy3dogs]

You might try a better quality food, if she gets wet food, try Taste of the Wild, Wellness Stews, Natural Balance makes a good wet food+. Also don't hand feed her. If you have taken her to the vet and she is perfectly healthy and her teeth are good I would give her a little case of tough love. You set the bowl down, she does not eat it in say 15 minutes you pick it up and she gets nothing to eat until the next feeding time. Make her earn her meals, so if you want to hand feed her, she has to earn it, making her sit, down stay, roll over, hand touches, etc all for her dinner or breakfast.

[Freedom]

Agreed!!!