Our dog won't eat

[mrbubba]

I haven't posted on here for a while, but we're in need of some advice with our puppy.
We have an 16 month old Tibetan Terrier and recently she has stopped eating her food. We took her to the vet for her annual check up, initially he said she was fine, but when I asked if we could weigh her, she weighed in at 8.5kgs. The vet then said that she was a bit light for her breed and could do with a bit more weight on her and recomended Puppy food for a while.

I bought some Pedigree puppy food (wet tinned food), which is what she used to eat and she loved it for about 2 days and now will not touch it. We have tried various foods, when we get a new one she eats it for a few days and then just walks away.

At the moment we use Bakers Complete dry food and PAL wet tinned food, the food can stay in the bowl all day and she won't eat it. If we leave the dry food down for a few days, she eventually eats it all.

The vet sells this special food, which he says all dogs will eat, however our one won't touch it.

We're starting to worry a bit now, as she is not her cheerful self around the house, she's still full of life and energt on walks though !

Can anyone suggest any tips to help get her to eat her own dog food?
We don't feed her human food, unless I have an extra frankfurter that I have cooked and chop up for her, but that is very rare.

 

[Zoom]

You might try cracking an egg over her dry food and see if that helps. Also, take a look around the Dog Food and Recipies Forum here for information on better quality foods to eat. Your dog could be trying to tell you something about the Pedigree you're currently feeding.

Also, some dogs are just naturally light eaters, though if this is a sudden drastic change in behavior, I too would be a little concerned. Has anything big happened recently? Did company come over to stay for a few days? A big party? Did you move or someone move out of the house? Is the weather drastically different; that can sometimes effect eating patterns.

 

[DryCreek]

If I have a dog that is shying from eating (I feed straight dry kibble and never had a problem except if they are ill) I go to Global Pet Foods and buy some Trippet (Canned green tripe). It smells like death but I've yet to see a dog turn it's nose up to it. I used to use it at the SPCA to entice dogs to eat.

 

[shadowfacedanes]

My first suggestion would be to stop free feeding her. I've heard time and time again stories about free fed dogs being finicky or funny about eating. It works fine for some dogs, but causes problems in others.

Feed her a set time two times daily (at the beginning, if she's not eating much, you can offer her food three times daily). Do not add yummies to her food aside from what she normally gets or you're going to have an even MORE finicky dog who tells you what she will and won't eat.

In the morning, put her food down. Leave it down for 15 minutes. If she doesn't eat it, too bad, pick the bowl up and put it away. If she didn't eat, offer the food again at lunchtime, leave it for 15 minutes, pick it up and put it away. Same again at dinner time. Repeat this daily until she is eating her meals. Once she begins to eat her breakfast, eliminate the lunchtime meal (unless it's convenient for you to feed her three times a day)

A healthy dog will not starve itself. She may go a whole day or even two with out eating, but do not waver...she will come to understand that she has a window in which to eat her food, and she will start to eat it then, rather than go hungry.

 

[dogstarsleddogs]

^ ^ ^ Thats what I do. Works everytime. No need for eggs, gravy, or anything else. By the next day, they're back to gulping down thier food. Unless if one of my excellent eaters decides not to eat. Then I know something is wrong. Usually its just Dakota who gets picky.
I wouldnt worry about her weight too much, unless if she starts loosing it, and still is not eating. A few of my dogs, no matter how much I feed, stay lean, while others, any increase at all goes straight to the ribs.

 

[mrbubba]

The only thing we can think of that has happened, is she was in season about 2 weeks ago. We put an egg on her dry food yesterday and it was gone in seconds. We put food down for her this morning and she refused to eat it, we left it there for 15 minutes and took it up.

I'm about to cook diner, so will put it down again for 15 minutes and see what she does.