Fussy eating pup, help!

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Vicki1986

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my pup as decided he will not eat his puppy food (biscuits) unless he is starving - not good.
He is 6 months so probably teeth a bit sore still, i soak the biscuits and he has been having these since 3 months with no problem.

He will eat anything human fied - bread, meat etc. So its not as if he has any problem that is stopping him eating.

the only thing that makes him eat some (not all) of his food is if i grate a bit of cheese and mix it in.
tried a bit of gravy in it but he wasnt impressed by that.

i have just bought a huge sack of food and bearing in mind he is a toy dog its likely to last him the rest of the year with this carry on!!

i think he is just being a diva and has wised up to the fact human food is nicer. i try to avoid it where possible especially now.
any ideas??
 
Not sure if this helps but our dog was like this until we had her done, now she will eat anything and I mean anything! We spoke to our vet about it and he said to just offer her the food at the same time each day, leave it down for about an hour and then take it away again, he said to keep on doing this and not offer anything else and said that she will eat it rather than starve herself! I did feel a bit cruel at the time but I did work after 2-3 days without any food!
 
i thought about that sort of method but im not sure if i want to risk him dropping any weight theres not alot to him as it is ... but may have to try that.
im ringing the vet about getting him done soon as he humps everything in sight lol! so will see if has any effect thank you
 
At six months, you can start feeding him adult food, so maybe a switch might be in order. To entice him, you could add water, so that it brings out the flavour a bit more.
 
I had this exact same problem with my mini dachshund, it got so bad that at one point I even resorted to cooking her little meals made out of rice, chicken, eggs & veg so that she wouldn't starve to death!!!!
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When she was about 11 months old I got a jack russell puppy and as soon he arrived she completely changed, she has eaten normally ever since
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I would leave the food down for 1/2 hour. Then take it away. Tough cookie if he doesn't eat it. He'll soon learn that he should eat when offered. Harsh I know, but it works. Or as Prose said you can try him on adult food. Buy more than one flavour too so not constantly the same boring flavour. A bit of warm water will also bring out the flavour more.
 
My pup was like that. The reason? Biscuits are so damn boring for them. My girl wouldn't touch biscuits no matter what - she would go for days without eating. I swapped her onto meat (Nature Diet - natural and contains only meat, veg and rice, no processed rubbish) and she has eaten perfectly ever since, doubling her weight in 4wks. She also won't eat the cheap processed tinned food - to be fair I can't blame her.
 
You need to be persistent and leave food down for a stipulated period....I agree with Gina no longer than 30 mins...although I take it away even quicker than that
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You are encouraging him to be picky by offering him a reward of better food for not eating what he should be
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Dog can and will go along time without food, we as humans compare them to ourselves...and feel sorry for them....dont get suckered in....and stick with it.....its better to feed unsoaked food for his teeth...keeps the plack/tartar away crunching on harder feed.

Toy breed are especially notorious for binging human food...but they can only get it if a human feeds them it
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Totally agree with Cala. Also, dont stand over the pup trying to encourage eating....just put the bowl down, walk away and come back later to pick it up.

I have a friend who indulged her JRT when she started the picky behaviour as a pup and the poor thing just got more and more neurotic about eating as she got older. Once they stopped fussing over the poor thing and just gave her dogfood in private she soon got the message!
 
I was thinking of trying meaty food but as he's a crested i need to be careful what i put in as it comes out in his skin so im trying to stick with what the breeder recommended.

ok i am trying your theory i put his breakfast down today and he stood staring at it for ages i walked away and left him to it, he didnt touch it so he has gone without. hopefully by lunchtime he will hungry enough to eat it. he's always had it with water so continue doing that.
 
How many meals do you give him a day? I must say I find him adorable and yet I am not a fan of CC!
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My OH's parents bought a JRT last year and insisted that it was cruelty to animals to take food away and discipline is cruel etc etc They just leave food down on all and say if he's hungry he'll eat it eventually. Thing is they feed him up on treats and human food instead so he doesn't touch dog food. I have tried to tell him dogs are not grazing animals but they say he's special. I have plenty of words I'd use to describe him..special isn't one of them...
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i give him 3 small ones. thank you he is a funny thing.
he was so timid at first so has proved quite easy to train as anything he was told to do he would do straight away as he was scared to do anything wrong. no he is much more confident and pushing boundaries a bit lately!!
i will perservere with the food - he has got spots from eating human food its horrible
 
My puppy is a dustbin and will eat absolutely anything but my other dog was a lot more fussy. I feed a little bit of tripe with the biscuits (although not needed from a nutrition point of view) just to encourage other dog to eat boring old biscuits. I buy packs of frozen tripe from petshop, all different flavours & they both love it - disgusting smell but they love it.

Absolutely no human food titbits for our new puppy at all, no matter how much she looks for it.
 
My pup is a Chow Chow, who are prone to skin conditions, hot spots and food allergies. She does brilliantly on Nature Diet, no problems at all. I've never had any experience with cresteds, so perhaps different rules apply, but Nature Diet is 100% natural, all good stuff.
 
i breed chinese cresteds and as i agree with feeding what the breeder says sometimes you have to change. i had a whippet that would not eat properly and i changed to purina salmon and she is a different dog with good weight, i was told not to give in to her and it is very hard watching them get thinner and thinner you have to do what you feel is right for you . nature diet is lovely food but i think they also need something to knaw on so perhaps a bone if you go down that route.Not sure if neutering is an answer but good luck.
 
Firstly, your dog won't starve himself to death. Dogs given ad-lib food, will nibble away at it. However, they aren't stupid, they would much rather have what you are eating !

If you pretend to eat your dogs food, making a really big deal of it, I'll bet he will find it more interesting.

The other thing to remember is that your dog only has a small stomach, your idea of a good meal is probably much more than he can get in his stomach.

I have 5 whippets, they know that if they don't eat what is put down, someone else will - so they eat competetively. If your dog eats alone, and gets odd bits of food from you, he probably isn't even that hungry. My sisters whippet lives alone and is fussy. When it comes to my house, it eats hungrily with my dogs, whatever it is given !!

Stop giving him titbits. Offer him his food. If he doesn't eat it, take it away and offer it later.

Finally, dogs really are disgusting creatures. Mine love Roast Beef with the same relish as horse poo, so to say they are fussy about the taste of Pedigree Chum is foolish.
 
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