Puppy refuses almost all types of dog food

[Cosmin]

Hi,

Lou, 12 w old puppy refuses to eat almost all types of dog food.

I tried everything. He was on Royal Canin at first which he didn't like very much. I thought it was the poor quality of the brand, so bought Acana Puppy. He refuses to eat any Acana food, unless i mix-in some cottage cheese or some soup or any other (human) food.

I tried somme canned food and discovered a single type from Royal Canin that he will eat for a while (one day, until he gets bored)

He eats however anything that he sees me eating: raw carrots, fruit (bananas, apples, oranges, kiwi.. etc.) and any other food as long as it is not dog food.

He sometimes skips eating any food until late evening, just because he refuses everything.

Do you have any suggestions?

Ideally i would like to feed him some decent kibble and supplement with treats and home-cooked food 1/2 times a week, but this is impossible he gets bored of all food really quickly.

Also, because of this he is rather skinny, which is not really bad, but i would like him to develop properly at this age.

Thanks

 

[Jordanmyles]

Bella was like this as a pup for awhile. It made it tough because you really don't want to jump from food to food to food.

It took us until 6 months of age before we found a food she actually enjoyed eating.

Maybe you can pick a quality food you know you would like to stick with, and add fish oils or coconut oils to improve taste. I only just started giving Bella fish oils which may be late (she is 8 months old now). I would just double check these oils are good to give your pup at such a young age because I am honestly not sure.

Good luck

 

[Cosmin]

Bella was like this as a pup for awhile. It made it tough because you really don't want to jump from food to food to food.

It took us until 6 months of age before we found a food she actually enjoyed eating.

Maybe you can pick a quality food you know you would like to stick with, and add fish oils or coconut oils to improve taste. I only just started giving Bella fish oils which may be late (she is 8 months old now). I would just double check these oils are good to give your pup at such a young age because I am honestly not sure.

Good luck

Thanks. Yes, it's quite tiring switching foods and trying to find the best combination. However i do have a 20 pound bag of Acana which i will keep trying to feed to him. I will try to maybe improve the taste with some fish oil (it can't hurt i guess - in normal quantities).

 

[Jordanmyles]

Until she finally started eating on her own, I was hand feeding her piece by piece. This worked and she slowly progressed to eat handfuls of food then would only need to be handfed a few pieces and once she got a taste for it she would eat the rest on her own.

My girl is honestly such a little diva lol.

 

[Cosmin]

Yup. That's what I have to do all the time, hand feed him. And yeah, he will eat it if it comes out of my hand.
Other-times if he gets really hungry he will eat a full bowl. Real picky eater , what can i say.

By the way, Bella looks really nice

 

[Squishy Walnuts]

Have you thought about feeding raw instead of kibble?

 

[Cosmin]

Have you thought about feeding raw instead of kibble?

Yes, i prepared a few times some beef, rice and vegetables recipes. They were really good and tasty (i could eat them no problem)

He gets just as bored with those as well. Eats them for 1 max two days then not anymore.

 

[Bonus]

Did you try Orijen? My puppy doesnt like Fromm and Royal Canin, but she loves Orijen

 

[MaplesMommy]

Have you tried freeze dried? Usually thats the weak spot of many picky eaters.
And if he mainly wants to eat 'real', fresh food, then that's what Id be feeding him. But it needs to be balanced of course.
Maybe see if you can get your hands on some pre made raw dog food (Primal,Natures Variety etc all make trial packages).

 

[Jakeyjake]

I agree with [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION]. Stella was very challenging to feed as a puppy too. The size of the kibble was important to her too and had to be on the smaller size. I topped it with some freeze dried chicken and she loved that for a bit. Then I tried raw and she didn't do well on that so now we are feeding Sojos pre-mix and The Honest Kitchen base mix combined with cooked lamb and salmon. Primal also makes a line of freeze dried with protein included (no pre/base mixes). We also tried Grandma Lucy's and it made her sick. Hope you find something that works.

 

[Cosmin]

Did you try Orijen? My puppy doesnt like Fromm and Royal Canin, but she loves Orijen

I'm thinking of trying Orijen. It's next on the list. But my hopes are not very high. I see he gets easily bored with any food.

 

[Cosmin]

I agree with [MENTION=377]MaplesMommy[/MENTION]. Stella was very challenging to feed as a puppy too. The size of the kibble was important to her too and had to be on the smaller size. I topped it with some freeze dried chicken and she loved that for a bit. Then I tried raw and she didn't do well on that so now we are feeding Sojos pre-mix and The Honest Kitchen base mix combined with cooked lamb and salmon. Primal also makes a line of freeze dried with protein included (no pre/base mixes). We also tried Grandma Lucy's and it made her sick. Hope you find something that works.

Thanks for the tip. I will look into this. I saw Orijen has some freeze-dried products, but no puppy food and i couln't find brands like Grandma Lucy's Sojos. I'll have to see what is available where i live. We'll figure something out sooner or later .

 

[Schimpfy]

Another suggestion is to pretend your cooking the kibble on the stove making a huge production so they notice then set it down and see how they react - change it up by adding different things - coconut oil, raw egg. cottage cheese, yogurt etc - you can also pretend to taste the food and make yummy noises.
Hope you find something, hang in there fingers and paws crossed :yes:

 

[palmetto]

Orijen was too rich for our dog.

Try mixing cottage cheese or pumpkin or water with the food. You might also try different proteins or formulations to see if one works better (chicken/beef/fish/etc).

 

[Cosmin]

Just thought i'd update you guys on this topic. I started taking lou for long walks and his appetite increased significantly. He started eating proper meals, (i don't have to hand feed him anymore) and he really likes his Acana kibble now. So i guess exercise was the answer, even though lou is only 14 weeks old.