What to do with a dog who won't eat...

[WisWis]

DH and I recently adopted a Great Dane/Hound mix, Toby. He's a great dog, except for the fact that he doesn't eat. He weighs 75-80 lbs. right now and probably should weigh closer to 100 lbs. The rescue that we got him from agreed that he was underweight, but had had no success finding dry dog food that he would eat. High quality or low, he just wasn't interested in eating. He doesn't have any other health issues that would cause this problem. We also don't know what his previous owner fed him.

We're not sure what to try, but would really like to get him to a healthier weight. Any suggestions??

[IrishMeg]

How recently did you adopt him? It may take him a while to get used to his surroundings before he starts eating regularly. Whenever my dogs are anxious, they quit eating.

Oliver was underweight when we got him. We tried a lot of stuff and nothing worked. I finally started giving him premium food, which helped tremendously. It took a few different kinds to find one he liked, though.

Also, when they appear to be getting bored or are stressed or not feeling great, I will add something "special" to their food. Usually it is oatmeal or fat free plain yogurt. I just put in a little bit and they go crazy for it. I also will alternate between adding warm water (so it makes it like gravy) or giving it to them dry. They seem to like having the variety. We have no trouble with getting them to eat nowdays.

[WisWis]

We've had him about a week, and I'd understand if he wasn't eating due to the move/being stressed, but he was like this before we adopted him. He was at the rescue for 4 mos. and they weren't able to get him to eat well during that time. They tried him on a variety of premium foods and none of them click with him. He's on Eukanuba right now, which isn't the best food out there, but certainly isn't the worst either.

[colleenjoy]

when we rescued our boxer she was also severly underweight about 35 pounds. Although we didn't have the same problem you do because she would eat anything and everything put in from of her. the rescue had her on Bil-Jac. it's fresh food sold in the frozen section of grocery stores. you thaw it and then keep it in the fridge as you use it. it really helped emma gain weight. when she got to her right weight (around 70) we slowly switched her to dry food. now she only gets dry.

good luck

Colleen

[Oakley]

I'd try mixing some wet food in with the dry for a little bit. Then gradually decrease the amount of wet food until you're just giving him dry.

There's also a gravy-type of liquid you can put on the food as a "treat" that you could try. My friend used that on her dog when she wouldn't eat.

Poor pup, I hope he starts eating soon!

[Hello Kitty]

We had a very hard time getting our pup to eat. What worked was to do a raw diet (which does take some care and research) for several months, and by then she had gained enough weight and we eventually switched her to dry.

If you search for Raw or BARF diet in this forum a couple threads will pop up.

[meganth]

If you sit next to the bowl with him when trying to get him to eat, will he? When my parents dog was recovering from being really sick, this was the only way they could get him to eat.

[karlatta]

My dog doesn't like to eat, either, and he's been this way forever.

We usually have to stand next to him while he eats, saying, "Eat your food, Maverick." Even then, he'll only take a bite at a time before he tries to walk off, and we have to tell him again to go eat.

Mixing wet food didn't really work for us. He just figured out how to separate the two and only eat the wet (even when we mixed it well). The only thing that's worked is adding something really wet, like the gravy stuff that Oakley mentioned. He'll eat all of his food, without us commanding him to, when we put gravy on it.

[WisWis]

Thanks for the advise ladies.

Toby sounds a lot like your dog, karlatta. Eating just isn't interesting to him. We have to stand right by him when we're trying to feed him and keep pointing out his food or shake his bowl a little to get his attention back on eating. Even then he'll only eat a couple of bites. He should be eating around 3 cups of food a day and we're lucky if he's eating half that!

We'll have to look for the gravy that you and Oakley mentioned. Do you know if it is sold at Walmart/Target, or will we have to make a trip to Petsmart?

I'll check into the BARF diet too, Seb's Kitty; we've got to figure out something so this dog isn't so skinny!

Thanks again!

[katiadarling]

My dogs totally don't have an issue eating, but I do work in an animal shelter where some of the dogs have big issues with different things. Have you tried hand feeding him? This is a good bonding thing as well. Maybe you could try wearing a treat pouch (oh how nerdy I am) and when he does something good (that you'd like to reinforce that is) you could give him some food.

Also, (you probably already know this, but I just learned, so I thought I'd share) make sure to get a stand for his food bowl. Because of great danes height combined with their deep chest it's much more likely that their stomach will twist if their food bowl is on the floor.

Hope he starts eating better soon!

[fuzzy]

My dog's not a big eater either. I confess that I have, on occasion, drenched her food with bacon grease and its usually devoured in a matter of minutes. I acknowledge its probably not the healthiest approach, but...

[sportyj]

My pup is a rescue as well and goes through these moments of not eating as well. We bought her super premium food and she ate that for a bit then stopped eating again so we added wet until our vet said no to that. So then we tried yogurt, cottage cheese and I even add boiled chicken or hamburger to dry here and there. She will never eat just dry food I rotate between adding those four things to her dry. Its a lot of work but she is healthy as a horse. WAY to go for rescuing! OH I forgot to add, I did hand feed her for a long time, it got her eating to begin with. Its getting better, its been 7 months and she is eating a very normal amount.

[j*east]

Our dog is a rescue too, and has gained about 10 much needed pounds since we got her almost 2 years ago. Ditto everything everyone else said to make the food tastier. Our dog still doesn't have a great appetite, but since she's a healthy weight now we generally don't push it. If she hasn't eaten much in the last day or two, we add hot water to her dry food and she usually scarfs it. We've also added plain brown rice (heated) and chicken broth. Some recommend cooked eggs as well, and on her adoption day she gets steak. :) I think some rescued dogs really appreciate variety because if they've been homeless, they ate whatever, whenever. Good luck! I love to hear about rescued doggies! :)

[WisWis]

Thanks for all help, ladies! Toby is slowly starting to eat, although it's a difficult process. We've tried putting water/chicken broth/beef broth on it and he isn't interested in any of those. He wasn't interested in eating food out of our hands and he didn't like it with egg on either. Right now, a generous helping of Parmesean Cheese on top seems to be working, and I think we'll stick with that until he gets tired of it! We did take him to the vet earlier this week and they said that while he is slightly underweight, it isn't anything serious and he seems to be very healthy. That was good to hear!

[e&d]

Glad things are turning around!

One more idea: if he hates the dry, don't make him eat it! I fostered several dogs when I volunteered for a rescue group, and one refused to eat dog food. I ended up giving him my food (the healthy stuff -- obviously I wouldn't give him chocolate or ice cream or anything) and he snatched it right up.

Dry pet food is a relatively recent phenomenon, and is nothing like what animals would eat in the wild or on their own. It's surprising to me that more of them don't reject it -- I wouldn't want to eat it! (Then again I wouldn't eat garbage either. ;))

Anyway, I just got in the habit of making a little extra chicken and rice or whatever I was having. There were very few things that didn't agree with him.

[sarahburns]

not sure if this was already posted but try putting a tablespoon of peanut butter in the food & covering it up with some of the food. We have a picky eater dog & she ALWAYS goes for this.