How to Feed a Dog Dry Food

Does your dog not eat dry food? Before doing anything else, you should take your dog to the vet for a general check-up because picky eating in dogs can be a sign of a more serious problem. And if your dog only suffers from a “disease” of picky eating, apply some methods to help change your dog’s eating habits, including feeding your dog high-quality dry food, feeding the dog on time, and gradually adjusting it. Adjust your dog’s diet.

Table of Contents

Consider why dogs don’t eat dry food

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Take your dog to the vet. There are two main reasons why dogs are picky eaters. The first reason is that the dog can get sick. The second reason is that dogs are regularly fed luxurious wet food or human food. ^{[1] X Source of Research} To find out what causes picky eating in dogs, you should take your dog to the vet.

If the dog’s health is normal, the picky eater is due to habit. In this case, you need to change the dog’s habits.

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Consider when your dog is starting to be picky eaters. Let your doctor know when your dog started being picky eaters. Sick dogs can become picky eaters overnight. You may notice that your dog just nibbles on food or doesn’t eat at all. Picky eating in dogs can be caused by nausea or loss of appetite.

Certain diseases such as heart disease, kidney or liver disease, digestive problems, tumors or dental problems can cause picky eaters in dogs. ^{[2] X Research Sources Nelson, R, and Couto, G, (2013), Small Animal Internal Medicine, ISBN 978-0323086820}

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Be aware that being picky eaters can cause problems. Even in healthy dogs, picky eaters can cause health and behavioral problems that range from mild to severe and even life-threatening. These issues include: ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Fat
Pancreatitis
Malnutrition
Difficult to treat a chronic disease that dogs may develop later on
Diarrhea
Behavioral problems, such as begging

Adjust your dog’s diet

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Understand the importance of feeding your dog high-quality food. Dog food formulas must meet all of your dog’s nutritional needs. Dogs’ fat, protein, and especially vitamin and mineral requirements are completely different from those of humans. Dogs cannot thrive on human food. ^{[4] X Trusted Source American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Go to source}

Dry food helps to remove some of the bacteria and plaque that accumulates every day on your dog’s teeth.
Nutrients in dog food, such as calcium, can help develop teeth and bones.

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Make sure meat is the main ingredient in dog food. The most appealing ingredient in dry dog food is meat. Check the ingredients on your dog’s dry food packaging. Dry food with meat (not a meat by-product) as the first ingredient (or second/third ingredient) is often a better and tastier dog food.

Do not choose foods with corn on the first list of ingredients. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Slowly adjust the dog food. If switching to a new brand, you should start by mixing a small amount of the new food with the old food. Over a period of 1-2 weeks, the amount of new food will increase more and more and the amount of old food will travel less until the dog is completely fed the new food.

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Mix wet food with human food. If your dog is too used to human food, you can switch to dry food by giving your dog the same branded wet food as the dry food you want to feed your dog. Mix a small amount of wet food with human food your dog likes. Then, gradually reduce the amount of human food and gradually increase the wet food for 1-2 weeks until the dog is no longer eating human food.

After your dog eats wet food, you can start mixing dry food with wet food over a 2-week period by gradually reducing the wet food and gradually increasing the dry food until your dog is completely dry. .

Try some other ways

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Give your dog some human food to keep him happy. If your picky dog can’t get rid of the habit of eating human food, you can add a small amount of meat broth (warm water) or a tablespoon of banana or pumpkin puree to the dry food. You can also add plain cheese or a few hard-boiled eggs. Just remember that human food should make up no more than 10% of total dog food. ^{[6] X Trusted Source American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Go to source}

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Do not give your dog snacks. During the transition to dry food, you should not give your dog junk food. You should also only feed the dog 2 times a day until the dog regularly eats dry food. After your dog eats regular dry food, you can give your dog snacks again, but absolutely do not give your dog human food because it may relapse the “disease” of picky eating again.

There should be consistency in the treatment of dogs in the house. Make sure all family members are aware of the rules and don’t break them. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

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Set a time limit for each feeding. Regularly timing your dog’s meals and returning the food when the time is up will encourage your dog to eat each time you offer it. Putting dog food at the right time each day, then giving your dog 15 minutes to eat is a great way. After the 15 minute period, you can get the food back and clean up all the remnants. Then, continue to feed the dog after 12 hours and do the same as above. Do not give your dog any food between meals. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

If after 2 days the dog still refuses to eat, you can give the dog some familiar food (the amount of food is 1/2 normal). Then try the above method again. You can also mix dry food with a small amount of human food (no more than 10%) to encourage your dog to eat. ^{[9] X Trusted Source American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Go to source}

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Try hand feeding. You can also try hand-feeding your dog. Sit next to your dog and keep some crushed dry food on hand. Then, put it in front of the dog to see if the dog will eat or not. If your dog is used to you feeding human food, he may also accept dry food from your hands.

Advice

You can add a little (less than ¼ cup) of warm (low sodium) chicken broth to the mashed dry food to make it more appealing to your dog.
You may have to try several brands of dry food to find one that your dog likes. Buy small bags to save money in case the dog doesn’t like it.
If your dog is bothering you or begging for food every time you eat, take the dog to another room. DO NOT feed every time the dog begs for food.

Warning

Change gradually. Sudden changes can upset the stomach and lead to vomiting and/or diarrhea.
If your dog suddenly becomes picky and this persists for more than 2 days, you should take your dog to the vet to prevent illness.

Steps

Consider why dogs don’t eat dry food

Adjust your dog’s diet

Try some other ways

Advice

Warning

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