Help My Dog Is A Fussy Eater

⭐️Friday FAQ⭐️

This weeks FAQ turned into a Mini Blog Post is … How Do I Prevent A Fussy Eater?

This was a question from someone who had begun to resort to hand feeding their dog because “Im so worried she’s starting to starve herself” – an enquiry for a 7 month old terrier x pug …. So here we go ….🐶

🐶First off I promise your dog will not starve themselves – I’ve dealt with fussy eaters my whole career and the minute they see another dog around food they start to chomp on their food -FOMO is real 😅 That being said if you try some of the things mentioned and your dog is still reluctant to eat I would get their mouths checked at the vets (you know just to be on the safe side).

If you are finding that your dog won’t eat their food in one sitting pick up the bowl and put the portion down again later in the day – this prevents grazers (I mean unless you don’t mind a grazer) Grazing is not recommended in my house for example because one of my dogs is a food guarder and they would come to harm if food was left down all the time so our simple solution is to give designated “feeding times” so that they know nothing else will come until later. that being said they are not rushed and allowed to eat as much as they like – but it’s never left down (but that’s just me and my multi dog household).

I think the main issue here is because hand feeding has been reinforced – she has learned that if she waits long enough you will hand feed her which she likes and is rewarding to her so she waits it out again and repeat etc etc 🐶 Positive reinforcement at its finest – something they like is added to the scenario to make the behaviour more likely to occur again in the future 😅👍

You might want to look at the bowl you are using to feed her – I know it sounds mad but some dogs don’t like the shiny reflection in metal bowls (you will get a water splasher) or the shape of their mouths (ie pugs for example) find it easier from a scoop shaped bowl or a slightly raised feeder – that being said you could make meal times more fun and feed her portion exclusively from kongs and the wet portion on a Licki mat – novelty also helps with fussy eaters – this is what we would for rescue dogs in shelters to create variety if a dog is a solo dog- 👍 For my own dogs I also mix it up a little with warm water mixed in with their food to make it more palatable and also add variety of food stuffs – for example – this link- will show you what food stuffs can be added to your dogs portion in small quantities without hurting them (literally one handful a day makes a lot of difference to your dogs gut biome).

So there’s my VERY QUICK advice for helping someone with a dog who has become a “fussy eater”🦴🐕 Don’t forget if you would like to work with me on a 1-2-1 basis you can do so by messaging me Here on my Facebook Business Page or by using My Contact Form Here & Ai look forward to working with you & your dog soon ❤️👍 Sara @ About Town Pets

🐶Ps if you enjoyed this quick FAQ style content please feel free to check out my previous post on How Often Should I Be Training My Puppy Here ❤️