My dogs simply will not eat dry dog food?

[Demona3]

Ok iam at my wits end with my dogs

I feed them a huge bag of dry dog food but they simply will not touch it and i end up caving and giving them scraps from what i eat.

I know iam enabling them by doing that but i cant see them starve but i would love suggestions on how to make them eat dry dog food cause i own 3 dogs and i cant afford wet dog food.

I am very generous with the amount of dry dog food i give but they simply will not touch it and iam sick to death of the guilt trip i get from just eating my regular meals and i would really appreciate any suggestions.

Our dog did this too. I finally told my family to stop feeding her table scraps and leftovers. After about 2 days, she started eating the dry dog food. I did the same thing you did too, went out and spent lots of money on different types. I wasn't gonna feed her canned food every meal everyday. So yeah, stop the spoil, kick them away from the kitchen or dining room when you eat. When they realize you aren't going to give them table scraps or extras, they'll eat.

[Evolixe]

Wrong. Some animals are just picky. Dry food is on par with us having to eat rhye bread with liverpate day in and day out the entirity of our lives. And while I personally like it, I'd go nuts if it was my only food source.

They won't be picky if they don't know any better.

And that is exactly why you shouldn't give them anything "extra".

[dontknowdoya]

Makes me think of an old joke.

"My dog is a picky eater!"
"My dog eats turnip greens!"
"My dog will not eat those!"
"Neither would mine for the first two weeks!"

Do not cave, he will eat what you give him eventually. That being said, try another brand or flavor when that bag is empty.

[Sierra85]

if your dog will not eat dry dog food this means it is challenging you for alpha.

you must stop feeding it until it recognises you as alpha. there are several ways for you to establish yourself as pack leader.

step 1. fight it, or show you are willing to fight it. bark at it. be vicious. take off your shirt and rip it up.
step 2. dogs hump humans, stop letting it do this. instead you can try to hump it. it will resist but you must continue to show you are in charge and it is a subservient.
step 3. look it in the eye, straight on. get up in its business. eyes are windows to souls, and you must show your soul is stronger than the dog soul.
step 4. eat the dry dog food from its bowl. then show the dog that it does not get any. it will feel jealous.
step 5. wake it up from when it is sleeping, kick it out of its bed. now you sleep in its bed for at least 30-60mins. this shows the dog you are the king of the environment.

once you have alpha status you must maintain it, and this is a problem most people have. Once you have alpha give it only dry dog food for a week or two. nothing else. then it will come to get a taste for it and it will respect you.

i hope i have helped. let me know how you get on.

[Heladys]

They absolutely will when you let them get hungry enough.

This isn't their problem to fix, it is yours.

[Deleted]

It really isn't "fine". Canine digestive tracts aren't designed to deal with our food. The fact that something might not immediately kill them doesn't make it good for them. I can live on McDonalds every day, but the fact I'm staying alive doesn't make it healthy. Even most pet food brands are full of stuff dogs don't need, because they're designed to appeal to the owners rather than the dogs. Many of the ingredients in canine pet food have zero nutritional value to dogs. Finding a good quality pet food is difficult.

Switching to raw for my dogs was the best thing I ever did, even know the idea initially concerned me greatly. The benefits are clear and visible in weeks. I would never feed one of my dogs pet food or human food ever again.

You are confusing ideal diet with a normal healthy diet. A bit of leftover for change in taste is perfectly healthy.

[Evolixe]

You are confusing ideal diet with a normal healthy diet. A bit of leftover for change in taste is perfectly healthy.

It's not bad for their health persé (can be if you give them a lot..), but it's bad for their behaviour. If you want a perfectly happy dog that'll eat absolutely anything (and with anything.. I do mean anything.. -_-) you don't spoil them with leftovers or anything outside of their >whatever you give them any other day< diet.


What ISNT bad for a dogs health, is to just always eat dry food.
Like I said, mine hasn't had anything but that and water everyday for 15 years and she is still at full strength and never sick.

[lockedout]

I splash a little milk on top

That's terrible.

[Ahovv]

That's terrible.

Not really; most dogs aren't severely lactose intolerant.

[Halyon]

They won't be picky if they don't know any better.

And that is exactly why you shouldn't give them anything "extra".

Yes, they will. Some pets will. Animals have taste buds, and being in human care for so long with our varied food, it's only natural to think that pets are capable of having varied tastes.

[Sliske]

dogs won't starve if you don't feed them for 12 hours. Simply put down dry food and don't feed them until they eat that food. They will give in eventually had both dogs and cats that were fussy like that, they put down dry food in the morning and they'll eat it by the end of the day.

You giving in means they know they can do that. Dogs like pretty much every animal is based on a routine / habit. They know all they have to do is sit next to you and annoy you and they'll eventually get wet food

[Jotaux]

You just have to stop giving in. My dog would not touch his food till we finished eating and it was his last resort. He always ate it eventually.

[maccajoe]

Pretty much this. What I do for my dogs is give them dry dog food as their "main" food but then small cans of wet stuff occasionally as a sort of treat. My Scottie absolutely loves this stuff, and it's really cheap:

Your scottie loves that stuff because its basically McDonalds for dogs. Its full of carbs and barley any meat. Hence why its cheap.

[Evolixe]

Yes, they will. Some pets will. Animals have taste buds, and being in human care for so long with our varied food, it's only natural to think that pets are capable of having varied tastes.

Not if you don't give in. They won't starve themselves if they got something to eat.

[Halyon]

Not if you don't give in. They won't starve themselves if they got something to eat.

True, but I don't want to be an asshole towards my dog. Buy food it'll like, it makes life easier for you AND your dog. Food it likes isn't neccessarily expensive. Ofc, buying garbage for it doesn't help it nutrituonally.

On that note. My cat starved itself for 2 weeks because I went by the shitty, bossy logic. Now I found a brand that's reasonably priced, and he likes eating it. It really isn't that big a problem, unless you go by Cesar Milan rules and evry single thing a dog does that you don't like is some sort of power struggle. It isn't.

[zenkai]

Ok iam at my wits end with my dogs

I feed them a huge bag of dry dog food but they simply will not touch it and i end up caving and giving them scraps from what i eat.

I know iam enabling them by doing that but i cant see them starve but i would love suggestions on how to make them eat dry dog food cause i own 3 dogs and i cant afford wet dog food.

I am very generous with the amount of dry dog food i give but they simply will not touch it and iam sick to death of the guilt trip i get from just eating my regular meals and i would really appreciate any suggestions.

There's your problem, they will get hungry enough to eat dog food

- - - Updated - - -

Yes, they will. Some pets will. Animals have taste buds, and being in human care for so long with our varied food, it's only natural to think that pets are capable of having varied tastes.

Dogs eat cat shit, they don't have good taste buds

[Evolixe]

True, but I don't want to be an asshole towards my dog. Buy food it'll like, it makes life easier for you AND your dog. Food it likes isn't neccessarily expensive. Ofc, buying garbage for it doesn't help it nutrituonally.

On that note. My cat starved itself for 2 weeks because I went by the shitty, bossy logic. Now I found a brand that's reasonably priced, and he likes eating it. It really isn't that big a problem, unless you go by Cesar Milan rules and evry single thing a dog does that you don't like is some sort of power struggle. It isn't.

Like I said before, mine's been on dry food ever since we got it at 4weeks old.
She is 15 now; only had to get her to the vet twice for health concerns (neither cases required further treatment) and she is extremely happy and still very strong.

I don't see her leaving this world within the next 5 years.
And given her reaction towards me and everyone else in the house I sincerely doubt she sees us as "assholes".

[Halyon]

Dogs eat cat shit, they don't have good taste buds

Mine didn't. My moms dog doesn't either. Some dogs do, others don't.

Like I said before, mine's been on dry food ever since we got it at 4weeks old.
She is 15 now; only had to get her to the vet twice for health concerns (neither cases required further treatment) and she is extremely happy and still very strong.

I don't see her leaving this world within the next 5 years.
And given her reaction towards me and everyone else in the house I sincerely doubt she sees us as "assholes".

Starving your dog until it eats, depending on the stubborness of the dog. If there's something in the food the dog really doesn't want or likes, then why not find another brand of equal price, if that's the problem? I don't see that as some kind of power struggle.

[Evolixe]

She isn't starving at all?

As a matter of fact.. when she even hears the sound of the crumbs rumbling you will see
her speed through the house and stop at nothing to get to the kitchen..
The food is generally gone within 30 seconds ._.


Like I said before, if you never give them anything else from basically birth (a couple of weeks is np)
they won't really know any better and just see that as their food source. Having absolutely no problem with it at all.

[urasim]

Stop caving. If they're hungry long enough, they'll eat the damned dry food.

This is the only fix to your spoiled dogs. The rest of the thread is nice suggestions to make it more enjoyable for them, but they will always want to eat what you're eating if you continue being their pet.