Hi. I have a 1-yr-old Pembroke Corgi (male) named Wally that won't eat. He's always been finicky but lately he just won't eat his food at all. When we first tried Beneful, he LOVED it and every time I'd throw him a kibble, he'd run and play with it until he finally went to his bowl and ate. Then he decided he didn't want it any more. We thought he might not like the food, so we changed slowly over to Rachel Ray's food, Nutrish. He then loved that food and ate every meal. Now, as of today, he hasn't eaten his food since the day before yesterday. I've tried everything I can think of - adding cheese (which he'll eat, but just the cheese, not the kibble), adding canned food (he didn't like it), adding chicken broth, and just this morning adding beef broth and a little garlic. When I did that this morning, he would eat the kibble if I threw it to him and then he went to his bowl and ate a little then stopped.

I'm at my wits end. I don't know how to get him to eat consistently and I don't know if it's him or if he just doesn't like his food (that he used to like).

Side info: We never feed him people food (other than adding the cheese to his kibble), and the only other thing that he eats regularly as a treat before bed is duck jerkey. When he was eating his meals regularly, we'd be happy to give him a knuckle bone or other edible bone as a treat, but don't want to do that when he's not eating his main meals. He's not lethargic, he drinks water regularly, his poops look good and both poops and pees regularly. Nothing seems wrong with him other than this not eating.

Does anyone know why he won't eat and what we can do to get him to eat his meals?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. I'm so worried about this.
WallysMom2010

First and foremost.. those brands of food are absolutely aweful! The colored kibbles are actually the food dye that is deemed unsafe for human consumption, not to mention both foods contain fillers that do not good to the dogs health and well being.

Try getting your dog onto a more quality food. I feed Innova. It's a very good food... High quality ingredients and no fillers. However, it is expensive. If you're looking for a resonably priced food, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers soul is pretty good as is Natural Balance.

Sometimes to get your dog to eat more regularly requires regular exercise. Because the foods that you are feeding are high in calories he's not burning enough calories in a day to be hungery for every meal. Dogs that are fed low quality foods are typically overweight. I believe that reason would be due to the poor quality dog foods.

My own dogs typically eat every meal when offered, but sometimes they don't. Their not sick, everything is normal, but they just don't seem too interested in food. Its not abnormal for a dog not to eat.. In fact, a healthy dog can go 5 days without eating. Healthy dogs will not starve themselves. Just continue to offer him his food at your scheduled times. If he doesn't eat it within a half an hour, put it up and his next meal will be offered at breakfast time (or dinner, whichever meal he skips).

Don't plead with your dog to eat. Ever hear the saying you can lead a horse to water but can't make them drink? Same rules apply here. You're not going to force him to eat. Just stick to YOUR schedule. Eventually he'll learn either to eat now when offered, or nothing else for the rest of the day until next feeding. He won't die.. He'll be OK.

Also, this is a very good website. It analyzes dog food not based on opinion.. Look up Beneful.. You may be shocked! Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/)

Welcome to the 12 month hunger strike.

A lot of dogs will just flat our refuse to eat at around 1 year of age. I don't know why it happens, but trust me, it does!

I have a poodle here who just all of a sudden stopped eating for about 6 months. He would have a bite here and there but nothing substantial.
I pandered to him... bought him roast chicken, and boiled up liver and pasta. I spent a lot of time and money on dog food with no luck.
By the end of the 6 months he was skin and bones, it was horrible, but then one day he just 'snapped' and went "I'm HUNGRY!!!" and pigged out on a whole bowl of food.

It might take time but as long as your dog is acting healthy I wouldn't bee too concerned, all of mine have been through it.

Have they been to the groomers for a teeth cleaning? Or do you brush their teeth? Have you checked the gums and teeth over for any swelling, or splinters? I agree with Lucky on the dog food, Purina and kibbels n bits, are not very good quality food. Definitely try and get her on a better diet. But if they won't eat the slaty, greasy stuff from kibbels n bits, you may have problems with a beter quality.

As long as they are not ill or in pain, they will not starve themselves, but they will hold out longer if they know you will cave and give them treats and human food!