skinny picky dog

My dog, might have been abused in her, earlier living situation. She is four years old. I am not exactly sure though she is a Sheltie and they tend to be shy but she bends shy. She will only eat one type of canned dog food and two flavors. Please I need tips or help!

 

Hey there....I just got a dog about 2 months ago, shy and very picky and hardly ate. What I did was I found a good brand of kibble(Innova was my choice) and mixed that with half a can of wet food. The first couple days she didnt eat much if any but I only left the bowl down for 15 min. at a time, since I have 2 other dogs that would eat her food. Eventually she started eating the food. The wet food helped a lot. Once she gained enough weight I stopped giving her the canned food and just gave her the kibble. She slowly stop eating all of her food(but ate half instead) because she liked the canned but she won't starve herself so she started eating more and more of just dry. I think if you just leave the food out and take away she will eventually start eating it. I think that a dog if hungry enough will eat, maybe not the first couple feedings but eventually she should eat. Thats just my advice from personal experiance but everydog is differnt, perhaps someone else will have better advice. Goodluck with her new dog

 

I have one of those dogs. She refuses everything except Pedigree can food. She will starve herself. I waited a week with her not eating before I caved in and just gave her the @#$#@ pedigree. My advice is to give her whatever she will eat.

 

Try putting some warm sodium free broth on her food. Let it warm her kibble.

 

How long have you had your dog? If it hasn't been long then it is normal for her not to eat. It takes a dog (exspecially a dog that has been abused) a while to feel comfortable. Remember to show her lots of love and give her space and time. Also it is important not to change her food frequently. It will just upset her system. She will eat when she gets hungry. I have never heard of a dog starving itself to death. Only ones that were starved by cruel humand. I would try the warm broth idea. Good luck.

 

Mix Breed lover animals will starve themselves to death if they are only given food which they refuse to eat it has been known to happen.

Hi crazycatperson If she is really skinny try building her up first with either boiled chicken and brown boiled rice or scrambled eggs with rice this will help put her weight back on, When she has been on it for about 1week start adding kibble or canned food to it and reduce them amount of chicken, egg and rice until eventually your only on kibble or canned food perfect way to switch foods aswell as her gaining weight.

Also has she been wormed if an animals intestines are bunged up with worms this will also stop her from wanting to eat.

Going to a new home is stressful for all animals and this also makes them go off there food but make sure she is still drinking plenty as animals become dehydrated very quickly.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

Mike

 

***That is the brand she eats, only the beef, I would like to give her that until she gains weight, because she really can't afford the loss of weight while i practice different solutions, but i would like to eventually get her on hard food to keep her teeth healthier, i do give her doggy hygiene bones though*****

 

When I first got my puppy, he had not ate much for the first week. I first used Science Diet, but he still kinda resisted. Then I switch the food to Eukanura, he took it for the first few days but refused to eat any longer. I also tried to mix the canned food with the dry Science Diet and the dry Eukanuba, but he just never liked them. My dog made me become "a popular customer" at the local pet store...sigh. Anyway, I read about Innova, California Natural, and Healthwise (they are all made by the same company), and decided to give a try with Healthwise. Oh yes, my dog started eating like a regular dog.

For your information, I mix the dry Healthwise dog food with either the Natural Balance food roll (shred the roll into smaller pieces) or the canned food (like Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Innova, California Natural).

Hope this helps.

 

Giving her eggs, some boiled chicken, and some bacon grease over dry kibble may help. At this point I would just give her what she'll eat. And slowly start to introduce dry kibble to it. You can try hand feeding her some chicken, if she likes it, add it to the canned food. Try hand feeding her some dry kibble as well. LEt her feel that its a good thing and your not going to hurt her.

Also Some dogs don't like to be watched while eating. Perhaps feeding her in a more secluded room would help. Where there no noise and not alot of people walking by. I know my grandmothers dog is like that. She feeds her in the laundry room and Darla will lap it up. But the moment some one walks by or looks in on her, she stops eating and will not resume until they are gone.

 

Doesn't it suck!!! What I do is I put in about 1/2 a cup of kibble in her can food just so she has something. But if it makes any difference, it won't make much difference as far as her teeth health (my dog is 6 and her teeth are in excellent shape). I do give her bones, dentabones, etc.