Any time your dog’s appetite changes, there is a chance that it is due to an illness. So, it’s worth investigating the cause when your dog turns her nose up at her dog food.
A lack of appetite can come from a bacterial or viral infection. Parvovirus is a common, potentially deadly illness that results in reduced appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea, which may be bloody. Even vaccinated dogs can get parvo. Worms can also kill your dog’s appetite. A fecal sample test from your vet is the best way to check your dog for an underlying illness that could be affecting her appetite.
When your dog is sick, she may refuse dog food, but may accept certain human foods like bland cereals or rice, or especially tempting foods like meat, eggs or fish. So, even if your dog is eating human food, she may have a reduced appetite because she is feeling sick. Always check with your vet if your dog’s appetite changes.
Dogs Crave Variety Too
You might notice that your dog happily eats her food when you open a new bag, but after a few weeks, she seems to get bored of it.
Few people seem to know that dog food starts to go bad once you open it. Dry kibble is coated with oils that go rancid, especially once the food is exposed to air. This becomes even more of a problem if you take the food out of the bag and store it in a container, and even worse if you never wash that container.
So, if your dog only wants to eat from a new bag of food, it could be that she craves new flavors, but it could also be because the food is going bad, even if you cannot see or smell a difference.
Always store your dog’s food in the original bag, and use a bag clip keep it fresh. If you buy more than 2-weeks’ supply at once, store some of it in the freezer.
Alternatively, a container with a spout like this one from Buddeezz (price check on Amazon) stores a bag of food in its original packaging. It’s airtight, so it can help the food stay fresher longer and keeps bugs out.
Will “Human Food” Spoil Your Dog’s Appetite?
It’s time that we let go of the idea of “human food.” Food is just food.
It’s perfectly reasonable for your dog to prefer fresh food over bland, over-processed kibble.
And it’s really important that you add fresh, “people foods” to your dog’s diet. Fresh fruits and veggies are packed with cancer-preventing antioxidants. Meat, eggs and fish are full of amino acids and nutrients that are destroyed when cooked and processed.
So, do not be afraid of giving your dog yummy, fresh “human foods,” for fear that she will become finicky.
If you never give your dog anything other than kibble, she may still find human food enticing, even more so because she is not allowed to have it.
Matilda and Cow mainly eat a raw, fresh diet, and they still enjoy eating kibble when I use it as training treats or when I don’t have any fresh food thawed for them. They enjoy kibble even more now because it is a novelty.
Instead of trying to keep your dog from developing a palate for fresh food, just negotiate and add fresh, nutritious toppers to their meals.
It does not take a lot of extra time to boost your dog’s meals. You can use an ice cube tray to freeze small portions of yogurt, eggs, fish, blended veggies, fruits, etc. Then, you can microwave a cube just until it is melted, then stir it into your dog’s food. Or just serve them as mini ice pops.
That’s how easy it is to make sure your dog gets more flavor and variety in their food each day, and it only takes an extra minute of prep time.
You can even use scraps from your meals. Just do not feed them under the table, as you’ll create bad habits and give your dog even less motivation to check her food bowl. Save scraps on the side, then add them to her meal later.
Avoid giving your dog fatty scraps of meat, and those heavily seasoned with onions or garlic, which are toxic to dogs. Never feed chocolate, grapes or raisins, all of which are also toxic to dogs, even in small amounts.
Is It Okay For Picky Dogs To Free-Feed?
If your dog doesn’t seem hungry at mealtimes, you can set the food down and allow her to pick at it throughout the day – but there are downsides to this. I had to stop because I have two dogs, so it would be impossible to keep them from stealing one another’s food.
Free-feeding exposes the food to ants, bacteria, dust, and whatever else might be in your kitchen.
It also makes it harder to keep your dog on a regular potty schedule.
You will also have a harder time monitoring your dog’s food intake and appetite for changes that can indicate an illness.
So, while it’s okay to free-feed if that works best for you, I really do not recommend it. It’s better to make your dog’s food more tempting so that she eats it within fifteen minutes.
Some dogs self-regulate their food intake. They may only need one meal per day, or they may prefer smaller portions throughout the day.
In the past, dog experts made it seem like your dog needed to be a robot – eat what their owner wants, when their owner wants them to eat it.
But there is nothing wrong with creating a meal plan that suits your dog’s individual needs. It does not mean that your dog is spoiled, or that you are lowering yourself in some way.
Dogs do not go off their kibble just to be a diva or to act out – they just know what’s good for them!
She also uses her pet copywriting business to make sure the best pet products and services get found online through catchy copy and fun, informative blog posts. She also provides product description writing services for ecommerce companies.
As a dog mom to Matilda and Cow, she spends most of her days taking long walks and practicing new tricks, and most nights trying to make the best of a very modest portion of her bed.
You'll also find her baking bread and making homemade pizza, laughing, painting and shopping.
Great article, Lindsay! The ice cube tray is a great tip
Hi I was trying to get me dog off of people food by only giving her “dog food” and after 2 1/2 days of guilt, I searched on line and found ur blog. I scrambled her 3 eggs and a chopped up a hot dog. I put it in her dog bowl.
After some trepidation she ate all of it. I am going to try next to scramble 2 eggs with some dry mixed in while still warm. Just to see if I can trick her a little.
I have never fed her, Fiona, by the way, (a 20 pound miniature Dachshund ) from the table so she doesn’t bother me. However, my wife does. How do I train her (my wife) not to do that?
Thanks John Shidler
Hi John, your comment has me cracking up – it made my day. It sounds like you’re on the right track with Fiona. She’ll probably be fine with dry food with something yummy mixed in, just to add some variety to her life. As for your wife… well, she’s probably got great dog-mommy instincts, so she just needs to know that certain table scraps, like really fatty cuts of meat, could lead to major health issues like diabetes and acute pancreatitis. If you don’t mind Fiona hanging around the dinner table, you can even use this as an excuse to eat healthier – if you make steamed veggies more often, for example, you’ll have a safe table scrap for her to share.
Lindsay Pevny recently posted…Ideas To Connect And Educate With Your Vet Clinic’s Blog
I just adopted a senior dog. I cannot get her to eat except what she wants which is strong smelling food that is seasoned. She would rather go hungry for days than eat when I feed her. I tried different brands, kibble, canned, freeze dried, special foods for her, commercial raw, home cooked, etc. It seems she wants what she want when she wants it. She wants something different and I don’t know what she wants. She is a extremely picky eater. She will even not eat and let her stomach growl. She is not sick and can eat. She is playing me for a fool. I’m right next to her and here her stomach growl but she wants fast food and it has to be what she is In the mood for? What can I do? Any suggestions? I have no idea how she was raised and what kind of food so I suspect she was hand fed table scraps.
My question is yes my dog gets scraps from my husband and me and now it’s to the point she won’t have anything to do with her dog food at all I even bought new food what can I do? She used to eat her food good now she only wants scraps
My dog eat treats nuts veg s.but refuses to eat most dog food
I didn’t know that a fecal sample test is the best way to find out if your dog is sick. My dog has only been eating human food recently. It may be best for him to visit a vet for help.
It’s a good way to rule out worms, infections, stomach bugs, things like that. Definitely worth a check up!
Hello, Lindsay,
What you say makes perfect sense to me. Lucy is a 10 lb small mixed breed and came to me as a rescue about six months ago. After lots of trials of foods the only one she really would eat is a yummy pate by Royal Canin for adult Yorkshire Terriers. I went through the recommended process of insisting that she eat the “dog” food (it is yummy after all) by putting it down and leaving it etc. It worked for a while she was actually eating the food pretty enthusiastically. But then after a number of weeks she lost interest. I was back to agonizing over every meal and feeling guilty if I added something to it to get her to eat. But when I had bigger dogs I always added something to their kibble and they were good eaters. My only concern is that she will just pick out the extras and not eat the nutritionally balanced food at all. She is 10 lbs. and doesn’t seem to need to eat that much. I make sure she gets out for at least 3 miles of walk every day and she plays actively with my other small dog as well. So when should I be concerned she isn’t getting enough food. Thank you for your post it may make my life and hers less stressful. I know she knows I want her to eat and watch her like a hawk at meal time because I am so worried about her. My vet said with the smaller dogs you have to worry about low blood sugar so I’m always trying to make sure she eats at least something!
Glad this post was helpful for you! To help keep her from picking out the goodies and leaving her food, I’d maybe use something liquid like broth, and give it a few minutes to soak in so that the kibble is infused with yummy flavors too. It’s wonderful that you’re able to get out for 3 miles per day, too!
this is maybe great if your dog isn’t a pedigree or if it doesn’t suffer from skin issues. my dog refuses to eat her dry food, of course, we’ve been feeding her scrapes from what we eat for the past 2 years. except this has triggered out of control eczema. Where she literally rips her skin off, it’s that itchy.
The dry food we got her is clinically formulated for atopic dermatitis prone dogs with some pretty interesting reviews of owners saying that the issue resolved after 3 weeks or more.
so this article didn’t address the issue of dogs with serious skin problems. Feeding dog humain food is possibly the worst thing we can do with dogs like that. and also dog that have never eaten ‘human food’ don’t tend to go off their kibble. i have friends whose dogs have never had anything else and trust me they will eat their kibble in a heartbeat when it’s diner time. I think, just as we’ve made our dogs become emotional animals, we also make them fussy eaters. It’s not on them though. but on us wanting to make them more humanly.
Hi Tiffany, thanks for sharing your story about your dog. Cow suffers from itchy skin too, so I feel you – fresh food won’t cause eczema unless it contains something your dog is allergic to. You’ll notice that if you look at the ingredients on your dog’s food, it contains things like chicken, corn, wheat… “human food,” right? But it’s also very low in moisture and chock full of highly processed carbs, so what those reviews don’t tell you is that down the line, dogs who only eat kibble are more prone to obesity, diabetes, kidney disease and dental disease. We feed fresh foods not to make our dogs more human, though they do have feelings and they’re happier when they get a tasty, varied diet – but to provide foods that are biologically appropriate. “Dog” food, as we know it, was invented in the 1930s, and dogs have been around much longer. If you’re interested in the effects that fresh foods have on dogs, especially those with skin issues, there are some great forums and Facebook groups full of real owners who feed raw and cooked diets, and have resolved or are managing their dogs’ health issues with fresh food under a vet’s guidance. Some are pedigree dogs, others are mutts – they all benefit from fresh foods, just like us.
I just wanted to chime in. I have a miniature Doberman he’s 6 lbs, for the first year he was on dog food I didn’t feed him any human food. When he turned 2 years old he started breaking out like a little scabs all over his body I thought it was the dog food I was feeding him I have literally tried every food on the market he would either pee on it starve or go to fridge and veg for food, then one day I gave him some of my steak he ate all of it. I took him to the vet he said it had to be a food allergy I did not do the fecal test I’ve had animals my whole life so I did some research talked to a neighborhood butcher and I quote “a lot of his customers come in and the meats not for them it’s for their dog”! I started giving him meat everyday an egg or steak or chicken, within two weeks his skin had cleared up and he eats every day now. I am not trying to make him human we’re trying to take care of them like good pet owners are supposed to do.I will continue to give my dog human food and he loves carrots. Your speech just proves that you don’t care as much about your dogs as others. Just a personal opinion. Also I am an in home nurse and my patients are wealthy they would never feed their dogs kibble. They have meat imported. I just have to say some of us really take care of our pets and want them to be as happy as we are, and others just have them!
I have a 6 year old terrier mix that we’ve had for five years. About a year ago he started getting picky about food, took him to vet and he’s fine. Now he refuses to eat and even hides at meal time. I know it’s because I’ve made such a big deal out of it but I’m panicking. He will sometimes eat meat from our hand but not always. Now he doesn’t even go to his bowl. Until recently, our other dog going after his food would inspire him to eat, now he doesn’t care.
I think he’s playing head games but I don’t know how to figure out what is going on with him. He drinks and has the same energy as always.
I came across this post from last year looking for solutions to the same exact situation. I have 2 pugs that I have been cooking for (organic, healthy, well balanced). It started with one of them smelling the supplements and not taking the supplements to me trying to sneak it into their food, and they still won’t eat. This just started about 3 weeks ago. The male is starting to do the exact same thing-avoid the plate and now hiding when food is out. He has always been exceptionally finicky in all areas, but now the female is doing it as well and I don’t know what to do. I change the menu, ingredients, etc. I’m at a loss. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!
Hi, I feel for you and have no advice. We have fed him by hand for two years to keep him alive and only meat, chicken usually. Occasionally he will eat a few bites of dog food during the day. Thankfully the other dog still eats normally but stands sadly by when we feed his brother people food. I think he’s saying-what about me, I’m the good dog.
Thank you so much for your response. Yesterday I picked up some high grade kibble-I’m seriously at a loss. The female is actually eating it. The male has eaten very little, but he has eaten some, which is more than what he has eaten from any of the homemade food from the two days prior to that. Nothing. I think that our two males (yours and mine) are doing the same thing, but I haven’t had mine checked yet. I will just to make sure, but I feel it’s behavioral. Thank you again for your response.
I had no idea that dry kibble can start to go bad as soon as it has been exposed to air. My wife and I have noticed that our German Shepard will no longer eat dog food, and we are worried that feeding him human food will cause him to gain weight. Maybe we should consider taking our dog to an animal hospital to help us come up with a diet for our dog.
I have a 2 yr old chi weenie named Marley and he is the pickiest dog I’ve ever met with both food and toys I have spent so much money trying to please him it’s just impossible I’ve tried every brand every flavor u name it I’ve tried it he won’t eat it unless I’m cooking it for myself and making him a small plate as well I’ve even tried to trick him by pretending to eat the dog food didn’t work lol he is soooo stubborn I just don’t know what to do I’ve mixed my food with his he just picks out the good stuff and leaves the rest lol he doesn’t seem sick at all everything seems good he goes to bathroom regularly and runs n jumps around normally he just very stubborn what can I do…..
our dog doesn’t eat dog food only human food
Ok my Chi is1 1/2 years I believe she is 3 weeks pregnant she has always ate kibble and loves it I have 3 small dogs they all get 2 meals 1/4 cup each same time ever day. I thought I would give my pregnant chi a little bit extra she seemed hungry so I started giving her egg mix in food some chic and now she won’t eat her kibble on its own , 3 days and she won’t so I gave in and put egg in kibble and she picked all kibble out and puts it on the floor and ate all the eggs lol I don’t know what to do I created a monster lol how can I get her back on her kibble? Help pls
Hi MJ! Thanks for stopping by. I don’t have the answer you’re looking for, the truth is that all dogs can benefit from fresh food but of course they need the balanced nutrients they get from kibble.
So I’m siding with your girly, especially if she’s pregnant – pregnant and nursing dogs are often given puppy food because it’s higher in calories and protein but you’ll want to check with your vet to see if she is indeed pregnant. If you don’t have the option of switching to a cooked, raw, or even canned diet at this time, you can possibly stop her from picking out the “good stuff” by..
Putting her kibble in a bag or container, putting the egg/chicken/meat in there, and letting it “marinate” in the fridge so all the kibble takes on those yummy flavors. If they don’t mind it, you can add water too, rehydrating the kibble makes it easier to digest and it’s better for their kidneys.
So I hope my answer helps a little even though it’s really just to keep her “spoiled” – she’s worth it!
I’m having trouble finding anything helpful online. I’ve had my 4 month old pitbull for 6 weeks. She absolutely REFUSES kibbles! I HAVE to cook her food in order for her to eat. I try to mix them, put water in it, wet food. She will only eat it if it’s 90% real food with dog food as a topper. I make big batches of oats and brown rice, I give her eggs when I make them but the guilt is heavy here I need some help!
Hi Danielle, have you had your puppy checked by your vet? It’s not unusual for puppies to be picky but I think it’s worth getting a checkup if they haven’t been seen recently. What kind of kibble does she eat, have you tried changing formulas?