Is your dog a picky eater? Some dogs, like many small children, are picky eaters. This can make things really difficult for you as the owner to try to keep your dog's nutritional needs met.
You're not alone if you have a dog that's a finicky eater. Because of this, there is a wealth of information out there that you can use to try to be sure your dog eats as he or she should. Here are some tips for the finicky dog:
• Try to ensure your dog has a meat-based, protein rich food. High quality food is very important. Also, if you are serving poor quality food, it could be one reason your dog doesn't want to eat it.
• Try spicing up the dog food with bits of chicken or some type of healthy meat flavoring.
• Offer food and then take it away after about 10-15 minutes. If your dog is hungry, he will eat it right away. When you leave food lying out all day, it motivates your dog to just eat when he wants.
• When switching food, do so gradually with about 25% of the new food with 75% of the old food and then work your way down over the next couple of days/feedings.
• Always feed puppies a variety of foods for health and to help train them to be less finicky as adult dogs.
Remember that dogs can actually go several days without eating. If your dog refuses to eat, just be sure to continue to offer high quality, healthy foods and be sure he is drinking plenty of water each day. Don't worry too much if he is just skipping occasional meals or seems to be holding out for something better.
