“He won’t eat his kibble. When I give him his breakfast he wanders over, sniffs it. Sometimes he might eat a bit then over the morning he’ll go back and eat more. I leave it in his bowl and he just eats a bit when he feels like it.”
Daughter no 1 was concerned about Pepper, my new grand-dog. She was given some food by his breeder which he nibbled at, sometimes, but he didn’t seem to like it. In his foster home, he’d been given a complete dog food, but they also fed him a lot of scraps of human food after their meals (and sometimes during) which he was happy to eat. As a whippet type, he’s skinny anyway, but he’s a puppy so getting a good balanced diet into him is important.
Daughter no 1 has strict ideas about not feeding dogs from tables and didn’t want to feed food scraps because it’s so difficult to make sure your puppy is getting a balanced diet. I advised her to have a look at allaboutdogfood.com, where you can compare different types of dog food and see reviews from other owners. Then she had a look at what was available locally, a practical step which is important – even if you find the ideal food, you need to be able to find and buy it easily.
She found a food that she liked – but Pepper didn’t. He refused to eat that one at all. She’s only had him two weeks, so she’s still learning about him. That he’s a fussy eater is an early finding. She has found some treats he seems to like and he loves ham, so she’s been using a mix of those for rewards in training.
Food is essential for health and for growth, so making sure your puppy has a balanced diet is important. The pet food industry developed during the 1960s following the development of the extrusion process, which meant complete dog foods could be produced that were affordable, convenient and could be stored.
From the mid 1980s there have been huge advances in our understanding of canine nutrition. A wider range of different foods were produced and life stage and lifestyle foods were developed, as well as foods targeting different breeds and particular health conditions. More recently there have been new approaches to producing dog food, including dehydration, freeze-drying, frozen and pre-mix foods and a rise in the popularity of raw foods.
Which means there is a huge choice that can be daunting for new owners to navigate.
I’m not going to get into the debate about which types of food are best. There are pros and cons to everything. But it is worth getting the highest quality food you can afford, one that consists largely of animal protein (meat or meal), with minimal fillers and preservatives and where you recognise all the ingredients listed. Just like us, dogs will prefer some foods over others, but with such a wide range available, there will be a food your dog will like.
But for many owners, it’s the act of actually getting their dog to eat that causes all the angst. Food is part of our nurturing culture, especially here in Northern Ireland, where every social event involves traybakes as a minimum.
Perhaps you’ve started adding extras to your dog’s food – some gravy, or bits of chicken, ham, or cheese. But dogs are canny creatures and will eat the extras and still leave the kibble. A vicious circle is easily created where you worry so much about getting your dog to eat – anything – that you up the ante, trying to find some sort of dog treat they’ll eat, or adding in even more wonderful things….
Stop. Reassess. Remember these two key things:
- No dog will starve if there is food available.
- You can train your dog to like their food.
For fussy eaters, the best way to encourage them to eat is give your dog a piece of their regular kibble just before you do anything they love. For example, give your dog a piece of kibble before you pet them, or let them outside, or play tug, or let them up on the couch, or go for a walk. Feed pieces during the walk, too. Associating the food with these fun activities will make your dog like their food more. (The posh dog trainer name for this is called classical conditioning.)
Hand feeding bits of kibble and linking them with enjoyable activities not only encourages your dog to eat the kibble, but the pleasure associated with the activity will link to the food, too, helping your dog to not only eat the food, but to enjoy it.
My advice to anyone who has a doggy fussy eater: Ditch the bowl.
Next time we’ll talk about why hand feeding food and ditching the bowl is crucial for all dogs, not just fussy eaters, and how it makes training so much easier.
Keep training and keep safe,
Carol