The dog stopped eating dry food - what to do, how to force it

Reasons for refusal

To identify the reason for the refusal, you need to observe the dog and consult with a veterinarian, breeder or dog handler.

Product quality

If your dog does not eat his usual dry food well, carefully inspect the product packaging. It is difficult for a person to visually identify a fake, but a pet will immediately sense the deception. In this case, buy a new box from a trusted pet store.

The greater the weight of the bag of feed, the cheaper a kilogram of product costs. However, giant packages can only be purchased by owners of several large adult dogs (shepherds, mastiffs, sharpeis).

A month after opening, the taste and smell of the granules weaken and they lose their attractiveness to the pet.

Switching to a higher quality product (Hills, Acana, Royal Canin, ProPlan) may not please the animal. It does not contain common components of cheap products - flavorings, taste enhancers. Show patience and persistence, and your pet will stop being stubborn.

Lack of movement

The dog does not eat dry food if there is insufficient physical activity. A dog who spends all his time in the apartment and goes outside only to relieve his natural needs becomes lethargic and apathetic. He loses his appetite, but still gains weight.

Dogs of hunting, herding, and racing breeds (Labrador, Beagle, English Setter) need a daily two-hour walk. Small decorative dogs (Chihuahua, Yorkshire terrier) were originally bred for home keeping. They need a half-hour walk twice a day.

To get your dog to eat dry food with an appetite, you need to take it outside more often. Choose sports fields, parks, and public gardens for a walk. There the dog will forget about laziness, start running, overcoming obstacles, and communicating with other animals.

Prolonged stress

Normally, a dog refuses dry food during estrus. During this period, it is useless to persuade or force her to feed. After a few days, when the sexual instinct weakens, the dog will go to his bowl and ask for more.

In addition to estrus, stress includes examination by a veterinarian, vaccination, travel, moving, and changing owners. Be understanding of the animal's condition.

A short fast will not harm his health, but will help him survive shocks.

The dog refuses dry food - what to do?

Now the opinion of veterinarians has changed dramatically regarding mixed feeding. In most cases, veterinarians recommend feeding your dog using both dry and natural food. However, there are pets for whom mixed feeding is unacceptable.

There are several postulates that will help if a dog refuses dry food:

Graduality
Stability
Confidence
Steadfastness

Health problems

Sometimes the dog does not want to eat dry food due to the development of the disease. An examination by a veterinarian will help identify the disease and get rid of it in the most gentle way possible.

Gum inflammation

The dog cannot chew hard granules if there is inflammation in the oral cavity. In addition to refusal to eat, gingivitis is manifested by a putrid odor from the mouth and drops of blood on toys.

For treatment, the owner must clean the gums from purulent and serous plaque several times a day using a swab moistened with potassium permanganate, chlorhexidine or a strong decoction of oak bark.

Piroplasmosis

After being bitten by an ixodid tick, the pet completely refuses food, even its favorite treats. He suffers from shortness of breath, tachycardia, and increased body temperature. If such symptoms are detected, it is necessary to examine the animal’s skin to find and remove the parasite. Next, the veterinarian prescribes medications to cleanse the blood and maintain the dog’s immune system.

Gastritis

Inflammation of the stomach walls is accompanied by a refusal of dry food and other foods. The pet develops vomiting, diarrhea, and a white coating on the tongue. Moreover, particles of mucus and bile can be seen in the vomit.

How to get a dog to eat dry food?

Feed refusal can be caused by its replacement. Often, owners of large dogs change one dry food to another. This happens when changing food to a cheaper or more expensive option. In this case, it is necessary to take into account that the taste and smell of this food are different. More expensive food does not contain monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer, since it contains an increased amount of meat ingredients.

The amount of meat in good food ranges from 35%. If there is less meat, then the nutrients and proteins in the food may not be enough to cover the daily requirement of nutritional components. Cheap food contains less meat, but more flavorings. Very often, pets refuse expensive food in favor of cheap food due to the presence of monosodium glutamate in it.

The dog is sad
How to get a dog to eat dry food:

Under no circumstances should you retrain your pet or introduce it to dry food if it is sick or unwell. Often a dog refuses dry food due to stress. This happens during a move, estrus, after pregnancy and childbirth.
In this case, try to feed your dog natural food for a while, even though you will have to spend much more time preparing the food. Now your pet needs care and attention more than ever.
It is allowed to resort to harsh methods with restriction of food intake only if the dog is vigorous, healthy and active, and feels well. This means that the dog does not want to eat the food because he does not like its taste.

Food

Principles of a healthy diet

Veterinarians give advice on how to teach your dog to eat a healthy diet.

Choose high quality food. It is enriched with vitamins, minerals, microelements.
Be persistent when switching to proper nutrition. Remember, a dog can fast for 2-3 days without harm to health.
Take long walks. Daily physical activity will help your dog lose weight and strengthen his muscles and joints.
To encourage compliance with commands, provide healthy foods: dried apples, crunchy carrots, unsalted crackers.
If your dog suddenly refuses to eat, whines, or vomits, take him to the veterinarian for examination.

There are dog breeds (Shih Tzu, Maltese) that are very picky about their food choices. It is useless to force such dogs to eat food that they do not like. To feed them, you need to buy canned food or prepare separate meals.

The dog does not eat dry food: reviews

Many owners have encountered this problem. With the right approach and consistency, we managed to establish feeding.

The dog does not eat dry food, reviews:

Oksana . Our girl became a mother and gave us several Yorkshire terriers. Of course, at the initial stage they were breastfed, with the addition of natural milk. However, the time came to sell the puppies, and it was necessary to accustom them to dry food. It was very difficult for our kids to get accustomed to dry food. Apparently they didn't like it to taste. It took about 3 weeks to train the puppies. The task was complicated by the fact that the children were on vacation, and from time to time they spoiled the puppies with goodies from the table. Then the children went on vacation, and the situation became simpler. We switched the puppies to dry food twice a day. We sold the babies, everything is fine, they eat dry food.
Eugene. I am the owner of a German Shepherd. Immediately after I acquired the puppy, I fed him natural food. However, I'm always at work, so I don't have time to prepare fresh food for the dog. I decided to switch to high-quality dry food. I didn’t even suspect that there could be problems with this. Our dog refused this food in every possible way. It was very sad, he constantly whined, wanted to eat, but did not eat dry food. Only iron patience helped me teach my dog to eat dry food.
Violet. I have a Miniature Pinscher who is a very picky eater. I got a job, so I have less time. I switched my pet to dry food by following the regimen. I refused food for a couple of days, but then gave up.

Dry food
If you are a pet owner, we recommend reading interesting articles:

Allergies in dogs: symptoms, causes, treatments
Veterinarian advice on keeping dogs indoors and outdoors
Can I feed my dog dry or soft cat food?
Newfoundland - dog breed: description, features of the breed
Should a dog’s food be salted: advice from veterinarians, reviews from dog breeders

Natural food, canned food is much more flavorful and softer than dry food. Accordingly, many dogs, relying on their taste preferences, refuse dry food. In this case, dogs should not be fed mixed food. In this case, it is recommended to completely switch to dry food.

Reviews

Kristina, Nizhnevartovsk

“I began to notice that my dog was leaving food in the bowl. Moreover, Lelik has noticeably gained weight. Then I had a conversation with the children. It turned out that they secretly fed him cookies and cheese. I explained to my sons the dangers of obesity in a dog and forced them to walk their Shar Pei in the morning themselves.”

Yulia, Krasnoyarsk

“My Yorkie began to refuse food, but ate canned food with pleasure. I took the dog to the vet. During the examination, the doctor noticed redness of the gums. That’s why the dog didn’t want to chew and gnaw on the crunchy pads.”

Situation No. 1: the dog was eating dry food, but suddenly refused it

It is very important to immediately figure out whether the dog has lost its appetite at all or simply does not want to eat dry food. The first may indicate health problems, including serious ones.

Checking your health

If refusal to eat is accompanied by other alarming symptoms - lethargy, gastrointestinal disorders, fever, you should immediately consult a veterinarian. Often the reason why a dog does not eat dry food is oral diseases: cracked teeth, tartar, inflamed gums, mouth ulcers.

These problems are easy to notice: the dog wants to eat and even tries to chew the food pellets, but the pain forces him to drop them from his mouth, make several approaches to the bowl and, in the end, refuse to eat altogether.

Examine the dog’s oral cavity: the gums are bright red, white purulent ulcers, cracks are visible to the naked eye. It is necessary to immediately contact a veterinary dentist for help, and soak the granules with water during treatment. Sometimes, but not always, puppies whose baby teeth have not yet been replaced by permanent ones do not cope well with dry food, so they can also soak it with warm water.

Stressful situations

It happens that an apparently healthy dog refuses to eat dry food - what to do in this case? Loss of appetite may be due to stress-related changes in your pet's lifestyle.

A visit to the clinic, a change of home, a long absence of the owner, the appearance of another animal in the house - all this can affect the psychological state of the dog, causing it to lose interest in the usual joys of life. Every effort should be made to eliminate the causes of the discomfort and, if this is not possible, give the dog more attention.

Let's normalize the regime

There may be no appetite because the dog is simply simply full, so analyze the feeding regimen and lifestyle of the pet. The most common mistakes that owners make:

Too frequent and heavy feedings. Usually, an adult dog needs two meals a day (this rule does not apply to pregnant and lactating bitches or weakened animals). Follow the guidelines indicated on the food package and monitor your dog's shape.
Constant access to food. It is not uncommon to observe that dry food is left in a bowl around the clock, and the owners complain that the dog “doesn’t eat anything.” In fact, with this approach she simply has no chance of gaining a normal appetite.
Insufficient walking. With a decrease in energy costs, appetite naturally decreases. If you want your dog to eat better, try taking him on longer, more active walks, and feeding him immediately after the walk.