Your Awesome Dog Not eating?25 Effective Tips & Hacks to make your Picky dog eat food- Yes!Clean Bowl
There are those pet owners who must put up with the fact that their dog is always a finicky eater…
Some people discover that their dog has suddenly turned finicky.
When it comes to getting a dog to eat, it doesn’t matter what the reason is.
When your dog refuses to eat, what do you do?
Using our own data from a poll of 2000 dog owners conducted on some of the major dog-related Facebook pages, as well as consultation with my personal vet and animal behaviourist, we were able to identify the most effective remedies for dogs that refuse to eat.
With their assistance, we were able to compile this list of 25 solutions. The information you will gain from this article will help you understand how to make your dog eat more effectively.
Let’s get this party started…
If a dog feels that his food is the source of his suffering, according to Dr Sonja G, a Melbourne-based veterinarian, he may refuse to eat his meal.
Is Your Awesome cute Dog Not eating? 25 Effective Tips & hacks to make your Picky dog eat food – Yes!Clean Bowl
Make your decision:
Make a decision about the type of food you will serve your dog and stick to it.
Don’t Often change the dog’s food
It is not a good idea to continuously change the food because this will make your dog a fussy eater and a distraction. Feed only high-quality, nutrient-dense food to your animals.
Don’t leave the food out for a long time
Leaving food out for an extended amount of time stimulates grazing in your dog, which is bad for both you and your dog.
The only time a dog is permitted to consume food is when it is laid down in front of him or her.
Smaller meals
You should make their meals smaller in order to encourage them into the habit of eating everything in their bowls.
In order to keep them in proper condition, gradually increase the amount of food they are given when they begin to clean the container.
Give your Pooch Malted kelp tabs
About 30 minutes before their dinner time, give your dog the required dose of Malted Kelp Tablets; this nutritious blend contains Anise, which assists in the stimulation of the appetite.
Keep a regular Dinner Time
It is important to remember that when it is time to feed your dog, you should place the food dish down for them and give them an instruction, which may be anything, that it is time to eat, such as “Dinner time!” Keep yourself occupied in close proximity to them, but avoid standing over them or conversing with them since it is distracting.
Give them just as Time
As a general rule, give your dog 5-10 minutes to go on the table and eat their meal. If they’re eating but taking their time, give them a little extra time as long as they’re still eating; as soon as they stop eating and walk away, remove the bowl.
No Treats In-between meals Policy
Do not feed them or give them titbits until their next meal (except for a bedtime biscuit if that is part of their routine!).
Avoid giving them too many treats – Treats must just 10% of days Diet. Do not keep to Dry snacks Bowl on the ground. Dogs can live on just dry snacks for 3 days
Routine it!
Follow the same routine at the next mealtime: put the food down, give the instruction, give them the set time, and if the food is not all eaten, take it away and do not re-offer the food. Every meal should include fresh food.
You will soon notice that your dog understands the routine and takes advantage of the opportunity to eat during their “feeding window.”
It is important to develop a routine for your dog. Whenever possible, offer him or her with a special area to eat at the same time every day.
Remove the food from the dish after 10-15 minutes of inactivity to educate your dog that neglecting meals will not result in a reward.
As long as you continue to provide prizes after a lousy meal, you will just exacerbate the problem because any dog will hold out for something better (how much kale do you want to consume while driving to get a slice of pizza?)
Feeding a finicky dog should consist of the following components:
- Feeding a consistent diet.
- Providing the same amount of food each time around.
- Keep the same dog bowl handy.
- At the same time, feed your dog.
- Be consistent with where you feed your dog.
- You Don’t feel bad about it
Your dog has the option to eat but chooses not to. Your dog is healthy, and they will eat when they are hungry – it’s almost a mind game!
Wet Kibbles:
You can’t imagine how awful it would be to eat only dry dog food every day! Unfortunately, I am unable to help you. Many dogs can’t either.
Because these dogs are so picky, they won’t eat any dry food whatsoever. It doesn’t matter how good it is.
Changing to a wet food diet is the best option for these picky eaters. Wet dog food in the form of cans, dog food rolls, and pouches is widely accessible at your local supermarket.
Kibble is more likely to be eaten if it is soaked in warm water. A small amount is all you need. You should wait a few minutes before serving your dog the meal.
As a last resort, you might even try tinned food. Give them wet Kibbles topped with some meat toppers.
Dogs Love Meal Toppers
Give them some beef toppers mixed with dry snacks.A meal topper is any product that you add to your dog’s meal in order to increase the flavour of the dish. Consider it as a flavouring for dog food, if you will.
Numerous dog owners assert that utilising a topper is the sole method to get their fussy canine to consume dry dog food.
There is a diverse selection of food toppers to pick from, including the following:
Pet Bone Broth Marie’s Magical Dinner Dust Pedigree Choice Cuts Native Pet Bone Broth
As an alternative, you can experiment with including different foods into your dog’s menu….
It is possible to coax a finicky eater to complete his meal with a modest bit of wet dog food, boiled veggies, or ground meat.
Cheese, Peanut butter and Salmon oil are some of the delicious food toppings that is high in Omega 3, which has a variety of health-promoting properties.
The key to properly utilising a meal topper is to thoroughly mix it into your dog’s food so that it coats each and every piece of kibble….
Your picky dog will not be able to select out the meal topper and leave the rest of his food behind in this manner.
Make food fall on ground
Make food fall on the ground- Dogs love to eat food items fall on the ground eh!
Get your Pooch proper daily Exercise
It’s no secret that getting your heart rate up is a wonderful method to increase your hunger.
However, you may be surprised to learn that you may utilise exercise to compel a fussy dog to consume his meal.
High-energy breeds such as Fox Terriers, Dalmatians and German Shepherds are particularly susceptible to this problem.
As you can see, dogs become hungry when they exercise. Moreover, as you might expect, a hungry dog is not a finicky dog.
Going on a long walk with your dog is one of the most convenient methods to get him to exercise – and it is also healthy for you!
If you currently walk your dog, consider increasing the distance you cover.
People with picky dogs who walked their dogs for 30-40 minutes or more before supper reported the most results.
Well, you say you don’t have time to go for a stroll? There are a variety of alternative ways to keep your dog active…
Backyard runs, climbing across the stairs, even Hide & seek. My cavoodle loves this. Most days before supper play this hide and seek and Voila! after this, he is all hungry and Gulps his food!
When the weather is rainy or snowy bring a plush dog toy into the house and play with it.
In certain situations, you may even be able to convince your dog to go for a walk on his own.
Herding dogs, such as Huskies, border collies and Australian shepherds, may keep themselves entertained for hours by playing with a herding ball.
Let them ask for food
Don’t feed them until they ask for food. My cavapoo starts licking my fingers when he is damm hungry! So wait for it.
The majority of dogs don’t beg for food since they always have something to eat nearby. They avoid eating because they know they will never be hungry because their food is always available.
But, when it comes to Fussy eaters, this is one of the cool methods to wait for them to ask for food.
Do not mistake asking for food for “begging”, they both are completely from different worlds. “Begging” is mostly done for human food. “Asking for food” is surely for his dog food as your dog is HUNGRY! Yay! we did it!he is not a Fussy eater anymore!!
Don’t panic if they don’t eat for the whole day
Do not panic if your cavapoo goes without eating for a whole day. Trust by evening they will come to your asking for food.
It’s their way of dealing with some kind of mild irritations in the tummy. If it goes beyond a day without food, I would recommend talking to your VET.
Fresh Food Always, It Is.
Check to see that your food is in a good and fresh shape. Many dog owners purchase a huge bag of puppy food for their new puppy at the beginning of the season. I think that the puppy is not finicky and that the dog is being fed stale, nasty food a lot of the time.
Even if you purchase a larger bag of food, smaller bags of food should be stored in an airtight container to avoid feeding your puppy expired food.
As a consequence, food that has gone bad will not be thrown out of the restaurant.
Give them freshly cooked Chicken and Rice. Freshly cooked eggs and a bit of cheese. Give them some Fruits like small Cut apples or a few Blueberries- My cavapoo Loves it Give them Cucumber pieces- My cavapoo loves it too.
You Pretend to eat it
Lisa told us how she used this approach to convince a picky dog to eat, and we’d want to thank her for sharing her story with us. She discovered the simplest approach was to pretend to eat it after reading our article on how to convince a dog to swallow medication.
When she fed her spoodle pills, the dog would joyfully eat them. Elsa, a poodle, was Lis’as foster dog, and she took this idea to the next level.
Elsa was unwilling to eat his food, as you may have imagined. What’s the answer? Pretending to eat some crisps, she snatched a bag of kibble and pretended to consume it.
She would pretend to get another piece of kibble by hiding the kibble in her palm and reaching back into the bag. She fed the Poodle a bit of kibble every few minutes.
Elsa, believing he had struck gold, would eat it all in one go. Afterwards, Lisa poured Elsa’s dish with kibble. He ate the entire dinner instead of rejecting it! A hilarious thought: pretending to eat kibble might solve your dog’s problem of being choosy!
Warm the food
By warming their food in the microwave, many picky dogs may be convinced to eat it. This is a frequent treatment for elderly dogs that are refusing to eat.
Heating food does two things:
- Enhances the taste
- Has a strong flavour released?
Because it makes your dog’s food taste better, it encourages him to eat more of it.
Is your dog’s food heated in any way?
The microwave or steamer pot may be used to heat up wet food.
Adding hot water to dry kibble is as simple as whisking it in.
Add some Variety
You may recall that I warned about the dangers of changing a dog’s diet too frequently previously in this article. That’s a bit of a contradiction, isn’t it? five people who responded to a poll said they had success with their fussy eaters by introducing them to a wide variety of meals. June from Sydneys, for example, feeds her dog a diet consisting of:
- Chicken shred
- Some dry Treats
- Chicken and a bit of Cheese or some days fried egg
Her dog gets new food every day, which rotates back to the beginning every three days. Having switched to this method of feeding, Jack has had no difficulty persuading his dog to eat dry food since.
When a new meal is introduced to your dog, does it take him or her a few days to adapt before rejecting it? Your dog may eat again if you switch up the food he eats.

About the Author:
I’m Div Acharya. I’ve been a dog lover my entire life. When my daughter wanted a new Puppy I was looking for another furbaby to share my life with.
As a result of my research, I’ve come to love oodles and wanted to share some of what I’ve learned with you. Whether you’re looking to get a Puppy, or already own one, these Blogs t to be the ultimate guide to help you find the answers you need.
At Pet Paws Hub, we strive to be the ultimate resource for learning everything about caring for your pet!
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