[poppypetunia]

my toy fox terrier WILL NOT eat her food. I have given her Iams little chunks and natures choice. she used to gobble up both but since her minpin pal suki moved out she is very finicky and i have to spike her food with bits of cat food, hot dogs - anything stinky so she will eat it. and now that isnt working.

can anyone suggest a tasty and nutritious dog food (little chunks preferabley because she is tiny)
thanks for the help,
Wendy

this is my suki

[RRM_Mom08]

cat food for a dog is not good..besides Iam's is not good anyway ..here is a link to do your own research

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

Oh and if your dog doesn't want kibble there is nothing wrong with makeing your own dog food.I do and my dogs love it they even have dog recepie books at the library.HTH

[rosemaryninja]

Try not to switch around different foods too much. Not to be disgusting, but how are her stools? If they aren't loose, runny or excessively smelly, it's likely that her system is handling the food well and she's just being picky.

You should be feeding your pup at least twice a day. In the morning, call her to you and put down the food bowl. Let her go at it for 20 minutes. If she stops, or is uninterested, pick it up after 20 minutes. You can store it in the fridge or throw it away. At the next mealtime, put it down again. If she refuses, do the same.

It sounds cruel, but it's not. Puppies can be picky about food but if they are hungry, they will eat, and it usually only takes one time to teach them that they aren't getting anything else. If the food is not disagreeing with her system (like I said, check the stools) it may be time for some tough love.

In the meantime, though, I would investigate switching to another brand of food. Iams is generally considered a pretty poor-quality brand of kibble. Check out the site the RRM_Mom08 gave you. Don't change food, yet, though; get her eating first and then gradually introduce the new food.

People food for dogs is NOT always bad, depending on what you feed them and in what quantities.

[GreatDaneMom]

well i dont think it would hurt to try a new food. sometimes dogs do become uninterested in their food when they have been on the same kind for so long. like i said though, SOME dogs. (just covering my behind before someone tells me they had their dog on X food for Y years and never became uninterested so i must be a moron lol) as rosemary did say though, people food isnt always bad, depending on what it is. i would say if youre going to add anything to the food at this point though it should be something like yogurt or pumpkin. these will be appealing and healthy, but not conflict with a kibble diet as say adding raw meat to it would.
im not a fan of Iams to begin with, so im all for a different food lol, but thats me. thats a personal decision though, and im only giving my 2 cents

[Franny Glass]

I've had good luck with the following small sized kibbles for finnicky dogs:

Solid Gold Barking at the Moon
Innova EVO Red Meat Small Bites

Spiking the food with wet cat food isn't terrible as long as you don't get stuck doing that forever. That's the only way I can get one of my dogs (who bites, can't pill him) to take his meds sometimes.

Solid Gold Green Beef Tripe (wet) is super stinky, made for dogs, and will most likely make your dog eat. You only need a tiny bit, believe me, it STINKS!

p.s. I absolutely adore toy fox terriers!

[Max'sHuman]

One other thing to try is adding a little canned dog food on top. It's still dog food but it's very stinky and dogs love it. If you start adding too much people food and changing too much you are encouraging finicky behavior. I think in these situations it's often recommended to put her on a feeding schedule. You then put the food down for 15 minutes or so and then pick it up. A healthy dog won't starve herself and after a few skipped meals she should get the idea and start eating without such a fuss. Someone else may be able to explain it better, but that's the idea.

[skunkstripe]

Sometimes just sprinkling water on it makes it smell more appetizing to them. I wouldn't start trying all kinds of goodies. It could makeyour dog finicky and give her the idea that all she has to do is turn up her nose and you'll offer something yummier.

[Wimble Woof]

I'll suggest raw, but if kibble is where you are comfortable I would suggest looking into a higher quality food.

Just because the dog is little too, doesnt mean they need little bite foods. Any kibble can be crunched by any mouth.