Hi , my 5 month old beagle decided to stop eating her dry food. We were feeding her pedigree puppy food but decided to change to something else, in hopes that she would like it better. We also heard that pedigree is not that good so we started her on IAMS puppy food but she does not like it either. She will sometimes eat the Pedigree or IAMS canned food, and I used to mix it in with her dry food to get her to eat it. But now she will barely eat that. I don't know what to feed her anymore,

Confused, :confused:

You may try soaking the food in water for a few minutes before you feed her. I have a dog who will not eat dry food unless I do just that. Not sure if it hurts his teeth or what. If I give it to him dry he won't eat. If I soak it, it's gone in 2-3 minutes.

Good luck... I hope it's that simple!!

Try feeding him some baby food, such as ground liver. You might also try giving him broiled chicken (not fried) mixed with rice. That is usually comforting to a dog's or pup's stomach. -and I agree with people who say that variation is good for pets in their diet, but be careful with which people-foods u give the kiddo, like two killer foods for dogs are chocolate and onions. Just make sure the little extras u give him are low in calories, that way his pudge will just only be puppypudge and not making him overweight. [and try to keep it from becoming a habit. Dogs gain weight easily and small changes in weight, especially in small and/or young dogs, can affect them more than people tend to think. Like in older dogs it can cause joint pain. :(]

^_^ when my sheltie was little some of what I added to his food: baby carrots, celery sticks, cucumbers [but not too much, lol my dog adores cukes, but too much gives them diarrhea lol], pieces of fruit. - lol and o, don't make the mistake I made of babying him too much and cutting it all into easy bitesize pieces. Sable is now 4 yrs old now, lol and won't bite food down into edible pieces himself. Lol he just spits it back out. [lol cottony fuzzball stole my mom's heart.] if the pieces are small, he'll just not really chew it or even just swallow it if he can. So it won't really get digested.

^_^ hope the fuzzy munchkin feels betta soon!

ps: hrm... are there any other symptoms maybe? Like... was there anything.. odd/off anyone noticed in the past few days/week?

oo, and kmsryana made a good point too. Sometimes I put a few tablespoons of broth over my dog's food and its gone !

I've hid some small treats in my dog's food bowl and she usually finishes her food.

Labman,

Couldn't the gums, teeth, and breath issue also be addressed by introducing treats ? If the puppy is 5 months old, it should require lots of training and attention. Rewarding the desired action or behavior with a treat has always been a common practice. Or is that bad advice too?

If a dog suddenly quits eating, it needs to go to the vet. What you dog needs is some discipline, not rich food. In nearly all cases of picky eaters, the dog is over weight and being fed more than it needs. Tempting it with rich food is a big mistake. Do you have any idea how many questions I see from people that did that, and now the dog refuses to eat dog food? And don't let anybody kid you, you will never be able to give it the diet it needs on that stuff. The first step is to evaluate it as illustrated here, http://www.puppychow.com/products/po...condition.aspx If she is too thin, the ribs actually showing, again, a problem for the vet. Otherwise, chubby little puppies may be cute, but not healthy. It is time for her to learn to eat what is good for her and only enough of it to give her what every puppy needs, a waist.

Put down the dish with what the dog should eat, and give it 15 minutes to eat. Then take it up. Do not give it anything to eat until its next scheduled meal. In a few days, it should be eating what it needs. Continue to check its ribs and adjust the food as needed. This is not easy. I had a Shepherd go 3 days on a few nibbles. I was a wreck, but she was fine. It is almost unknown for a healthy dog not to eat what it needs. Unfortunately, in too many cases, it is less than the package says, and less than the owner thinks the dog should have. Many dogs are quite good at holding out for tastier chow. Like kids, sometimes it calls for tough love.

Choose one or the other dry chows. It makes little difference. Almost all modern dog chows are formulated to have the same balance of nutrients in them. Some of them are more concentrated, and some have more appetizing ingredients, but most dogs will thrive on most chows. I have my 5 month old Lab, Holly, on Iams lamb and rice. Like most puppies, she came to me too fat. She has a nice
Waist now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMSRyana

Labman,

Couldn't the gums, teeth, and breath issue also be addressed by introducing treats ? If the puppy is 5 months old, it should require lots of training and attention. Rewarding the desired action or behavior with a treat has always been a common practice. Or is that bad advice too?

---

Treats are an important training tool, but the more dry food they they eat, the more tartar it scrapes off.

That also fails to deal with the likely overweight problem.

"labman disagrees: Terrible advice. Dogs need a complete and balanced diet, and it can't be achieved with a bunch of human food."
- I think you misunderstood... I meant little extras in addition to the regular dogfood.

A little or a lot, it is a mistake to bribe a dog to eat more than it needs.