My dog is NOT motivated by food and rarely eats

[Emily]

My doodle is never interested in eating ( unless my kids have a hot dog and all of the sudden she will do anything for it- but we don't give people food to her). We have taken her to the vet on a regular basis and they say she is very healthy! She burps a lot but the vet doesn't seem to think that is a problem. I have changed her food over the years ( gradual food change over not cold turkey food switch) to see if she would like a different flavor and maybe be more excited to eat. Tried Taste of the Wild, Wellness, the Wellness Core (wouldn't eat even one morsel of it and would pick out the old food and leave that one behind), Natural Balance, Canidae, Nutro, California Natural...Still not excited to eat. Somedays she doesn't eat at all. Some days she eats a few small portions daily. I know dogs will eat when they are hungry...but as a mom, I worry when my babies aren't eating on a regular basis.

She has allergies in the spring and gets stinky butt every few weeks recently which is why I'm thinking maybe a food switch would be good?

  

[Emily]

That's funny you mention the dark and alone! Mine never eats breakfast..walks over and gives it a sniff and walks away. If I leave in the mornings to run errands 50% of the time the food will be gone when I get back Or she will eat her breakfast at 10:30 AT NIGHT in a dark kitchen. Kinda the same, won't eat it all or eat daily.

I know she won't starve herself, just would love to know that she liked what I was feeding her especially when the people food is so  obvious that she loves it.  Thanks for the words of encouragement! I will try to not worry so much.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

:-}   I have NO idea where the in the dark and alone preference comes from, but I often hear munching noises after the lights are out!  Very funny.

[Christine B]

I'm so glad my doodle isn't the only one who eats by himself, alone in the dark. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Pretty funny isn't it?

[Elly Koretic]

My doodle, Darla, is 1 year old and is now on day three  of not eating her kibble (Acana Ranchlands).  I am sure she is on strike..she goes to her bowl and sniffs it and walks away.  I used  to put toppers on her food, like scrambled eggs, brown rice and chicken and sometimes hard boiled eggs…she ate everything up at first and then she would lick the kibble and get all the cooked stuff and leave the rest behind.  Sometimes she would just eat her kibble from a kong ball that would hold around 1/3 cup of kibble…usually she would wait until it was almost bed time to eat that!  Guess she wanted to see if I would cave in before eating kibble.  I am determined not to give in this time!  I want her to be healthy not just satisfied.  I have a friend who was feeding her 5 year old dog cooked food and now has high liver enzymes…is on medication.  I don't want to go that route!  I am going to be strong and wait it out.  I know she will not starve herself..in the meantime I am stressing out!  Good luck and it's nice knowing I'm not alone.  PS..Darla was the runt of the litter of 11..she was never a big eater. 

[Emily]

Yes, my vet recommended pumpkin or egg for a treat. We usually only do them on holidays.. thanksgiving day..have some pumpkin haha) but she doesn't even want that anymore. Like you all have been saying... for her, that is just making her an even more picky eater. So I have gone to just kibble and no people food. She needs to eat DOG food that's specially formulated for her. Also, when we gave toppers she was sneaking people food off tables and out of the hands of my kids. Not good. With kibble only, she has much better manners when it comes to being around people with food.

I am curious to see how many more days Darla continues her strike!  :) When mine goes that long, she start dry heaving everywhere.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Keep me posted, Emily!   Silly dog.

[Elly Koretic]

I am now officially frantic…This will be day 4 of Darla not eating her Kibble.  The only thing she ate yesterday was some treat cheese (small amt) as a reward…that 's it!  How long should I let this go on?  She checks her bowl and when she sees kibble she sniffs and walks away.  This is hard..for me anyway.  I am so tempted to at least put some scrambled egg in her food but I am holding off…trying to be strong!  She is not sick just sort of not as ready to play as usual.  She does play at the dog park..at lease I won't be upset when she dry heaves.  Thanks for your input Emily….

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

This may sound odd but what has worked for us in the past is adding a TINY bit of water to the kibble (I mean about a teaspoon and mix it around).  It makes it just enticing enough for the dood to eat, but they're still eating their kibble.  It was enough to get Luna back "on track" a few times within a few days.

[Elly Koretic]

I tried the tiny bit of water and she sniffed and walked away..I even put it in the microwave for 5 seconds just to release some flavor…still no go…

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Doh.

Another thing that works sometimes is to put her on a bland diet of extra lean ground beef and rice (sweet potato would be good too) for a few days.  Sometimes her tummy just isn't feeling very good and the nutrient-packed kibble doesn't sit well with her.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I am really torn about what to advise. She may be refusing to eat because she is actually ill, in which case tempting her to eat would be a big mistake.

Is she at least drinking water?