9 month old refusing to eat kibble

M

MeoMeu

Forums Regular
I've had quite a struggle trying to coax Fletcher to eat his kibble these past 2 or so weeks. The breeder had him on Fromm, and he was eating that happily for several months. Then a little while ago, he started getting finicky with it, even when we wet it with warm water. He'd look at it and walk away. Sometimes I could convince him to eat half the bowl if I was lucky, or try to use it as training treats- most of the time he'd fulfill the command but refuse the kibble reward.

I figured he was sick of the brand since he's been eating it all his life and went out and bought Taste of the Wild. I began mixing it into his old food and he ate it with a little more enthusiasm the first time, but now he treats it the same as his old food- the bowl is barely touched. I added some peanut butter to it (which he usually scarfs down) and to my surprise, he wouldn't even eat it then!

I checked his mouth and there doesn't seem to be any problems, and he'll swallow other training treats and small tidbits of human food like a vacuum! I figure he's just being a diva and going on protest against dog kibble, but nearly two weeks of eating barely half of his kibble is getting ridiculous. He's otherwise acting normal- has lots of energy despite eating very little. I'm worried that he'll start losing weight. Should I be showing him some tough love and letting him go hungry for a day or two if he so chooses?
 
You may be overfeeding him, some dogs self-regulate.

Yes, it's totally OK for him to decide to not eat. A healthy dog will not starve itself. Put the food down, wait 15 minutes, take the food up. Repeat at dinner. No peanut butter, no wet food, no coddling. He either eats, or not. He'll learn.
 
My sheltie does the same thing

Buddy did exactly the same thing at the same age. We really worked hard to find a kibble he would eat, but to no avail. We still have bags of just a few cups used out of them.

Finally I decided to feed him a wet food. I bought Nutro Ultra Puppy and he eats it well. I was concerned he would have diarrhea, but no. He has been just fine. One thing to be concerned about is his teeth and gum health. Just make sure he gets some type of teeth cleaning.
 
We've been trying the method of setting it down for 15 minutes and then taking it away till dinner time, but we've made no progress. It's his 3rd day of eating next to nothing- I hope this doesn't continue much longer or we'll have to consider getting wet food, as we don't want his weight to drop (he's always been a little on the small side to begin with.)
 
If dogs are healthy, they will eat. It's not uncommon for them to go off their food though.

If he had a tummy upset, he may associate that with his food, and may associate it forever.

That being said, it is rare for dogs to starve themselves. Eventually they will eat. It's just a question as to how long before you cave.

I won't got into transitioning to a new diet yet. I encourage you to give your current diet another day or so, and perhaps supplement with rice, pumpkin, boiled meant.
 
My half-Sheltie Boo-Boo would gladly eat anything, so long as it didn't come from a package marked "dog food." He would, however, eventually eat the kibble; usually at the end of the day, when the prospects for anything better were exhausted.
 
My Belgian is a dog that will go off food. At first we thought she was being picky but it turns out that if she is stressed she ends up with an acidic tummy and can't eat. We have to put her on Metronidazole for a day or two to settle it down and then she will resume eating. It started when she was teething and has been an ongoing thing - she's 12 in July. Otherwise she is pretty healthy, never has a problem with food or water changes, good energy but she has gone a week without being able to eat anything, including roast beef, before we were able to resolve what her problem was. Her vet kept telling me she would eat and then had to eat her own words.
 
Honey went off kibble about the same age, it was right as we were moving a lot while our house was finished up. in addition we got several bags of food that went through recalls. Eventually we got some good stuff, but she seemed afaid to eat for a long time. (Even yogurt, since we usually gave her a spoonful with the kibble.)


I finally got frustrated with buying bags of stuff that went to waste and picked up some fresh pet. Two weeks eating that and she was no longer scared of food. Got back up to the right weight, started taking treats again, and will happily eat whatever kibble I buy her. (And if she can manage to steal it, the cats as well)
 
Darla has started doing this since we cut out the not so good tinned food. The first few days she seemed happy with just kibble, but today she didn't eat her dinner. I removed it after half an hour and she has gone hungry.

She did mooch around the kitchen hoovering up crumbs though, so I don't think there is anything wrong with her. She was just holding out for more than just kibble. After a day or two she will chow down on her kibble again :wink2: so just keep up with the tough love approach. Or they learn that they get extras if they get fussy with their food!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top