Dog refusing his food (shih tzu, chihuahua, vet, science)
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Hello, we recently welcomed a 1.5 yr old mixed chihuahua to our home and this guy has major issues with food. The previous owner was feeding him puppy chow with mashed up hot dogs or bacon grease because he refused to eat his food. Well I don't eat hot dogs, and felt bad when he skipped eating so I gave him a little shredded chicken breast with his food. Now he wants no dog food at all and tonight I didn't give in and my husband says he is fine and will get over it. We switched his food also to Science Diet and first time he ate it with the chicken and now refuses it. Everyone says he will eat but I hate seeing the sad eyes and his begging. Anyone else go through this and have a positive outcome? I know he is hungry because he ate his hidden dog bacon treat that he had stashed 2 days ago.
We will offer up burger, or chicken, and cut a small amount of bacon and sprinkle over the top.
The bacon gets her appetite up, and once she has gotten through the bacon she will finish off the rest.
Wow and I thought cats were picky! I read this because my GSD mix isn't eating her dog food the past few days. She's acting normal, just not eating. I wasn't concerned at first, she does this sometimes but now think something's wrong so thought I'd check this thread - I didn't expect what I found, LOL I'm thinking she's got dental issues since I tried giving her canned and dry food in the same dish and she ate only the canned - which she NEVER liked before - and she'll eat human and cat food just fine. It's just kibble she seems not to want. Seems a trip to the vet (good grief) is in order but until I can take her I was hoping for some ideas to help her be more comfortable.
Would stay away from hotdogs or bacon grease, both are high in sodium and fatty etc - maybe would try a spoonful of canned w/ kibble, you can nuke the canned before you put in the kibble and that might tempted him - far better prob. is the chicken breast you cooked for him, you could make a chicken or 2 and cut it up and put it in baggies in your freezer - even scrambled eggs mixed in w/ the kibble might be good.
I also think your dog has been thru a lot and is unsure and a bit apprehensive - I think in time he'll come around but wouldnt let too much time slip by bc they do need to eat. Would put the bowl down twice a day rather than leave it down all day, that make perk up his appetite too.
We have a chihuahua who seems to love "aged" dog food. We'll put it in her dish one day and she might not eat any of it till late the next day when it's turning dark. We took care of her and a shih tzu who died at the age of 13. If you put the food down there and don't put anything else down, they will get hungry and they will eat what you put down and enjoy it. Do this 3 or 4 times, and they may go a couple days of sniffing at it and walking away, but don't give in. Remember you're supposed to be teaching the dog what to eat, not the other way around.
I'm wondering if it's the food causing him problems and Taz is smart enough not to eat it. I was concerned just now when I heard him leave the room at 3:30 and discovered he went potty on the living room carpet, smelly. We have had him 2 weeks and this is a first. Im wondering if I switched him too quickly while he was still adjusting to his new home, family and the recent crappy weather here.
A lot of dogs are fussy eaters, especially small ones. It grieves us, but is normal to them. If your dog is eating even little bits of food and holding his weight, then I wouldn't be too concerned, unless there is hypoglycaemic issues to worry about.
One thing that works for us is softening the dry food with water, mix in a tiny bit of chicken, and heating it up for a FEW seconds in the microwave. We like our food warm, and so do they.
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