Shih tzu Puppy avoiding dog food Discussions

Discussion in 'Shih Tzu' started by pooja, May 11, 2021.

  1. pooja

    pooja New Member

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    Shih tzu Puppy avoiding dog food

    Hi,
    My baby is 4 months old and he loves to play and is very active. But recently he has stopped eating his dog food. No matter what I mix in it he will not eat it. I give him Royal canine mini food. I have also tried adding chicken gravy/boiled egg to his food but he won't eat it. He wants to eat what we eat like rice, bread, biscuits, etc. Any other food alternatives? We also took him to the vet but he is perfectly fine.
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  3. Toedtoes

    Toedtoes Member

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    Shih tzu's can be stubborn. And since they are cute, they've learned that their stubbornness combined with their expressive faces gets the what they want.

    Since there is no health issue, it may end up just trying to outstubborn her.

    First, no people food. None. Give her the usual dog food. Leave it down for about 10 minutes then pick it up. After a couple hours, put it down again. Repeat throughout the day. Don't let her beg your food - if you eat on the couch, she should be on the floor while you eat. If you eat at a table, she should not be under or at the table while you eat.

    Dog treats should only be given once she's eaten her meal. If she doesn't eat her meal, she doesn't get any treats that day.

    If she eats her dog food, praise her profusely and give her a special toy or do something she loves but no treat reward.

    If she doesn't start eating her dog food by the next day, you might talk to a trainer for help.

    My Cat-dog didn't want to eat her dog food. The foster home tried adding people food into the bowl, but she just picked it out. When I brought her home, I did the above. By the next night she was grudgingly eating her dog food. Within a week, she was fine with her dog food. Once she started eating the dog food, I added a dog cookie treat ocassionally. Within a month, I could give her a people treat (hot dog, french fry, etc) without it affecting her normal meals. I never give her my leftovers. People food is a special treat.

    She's not a fast or eager eater, but she eats her food every day.
  4. Nick B

    Nick B New Member

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    Super Stubborn! We had the same thing with ours for ... years. In the end we discovered Piccolo - https://www.piccolopetfood.co.uk/ - The Chicken and Duck one. He really took to it, amazingly. May not be right for you, but getting anything to work would be a result.
  5. Lancy04

    Lancy04 New Member

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    The same dilemma, my dog doesn't eat dog foods, but only human foods. but I just make sure it has no salt when I feed him.
  6. Toedtoes

    Toedtoes Member

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    You do not want to keep feeding your dog table scraps / people food like this. If you choose to feed a raw or "natural" food diet, you need to do the research and make sure you are providing all the nutrients.

    And salt is not the only ingredient you should be concerned about. Sorbitol and other sugar substitutes are dangerous for pets. Other additives can be dangerous. And even certain fresh foods are bad for dogs.

    If your dog is not eating dog food and you instead give them "people food", all you are doing is reinforcing their not eating dog food.

    Instead, you need to eliminate all people food (snacks, treats, and meals) and provide only dog food at mealtimes. If they don't eat the food within 5-10 minutes, pick it up. Wait until the next meal and then provide fresh dog food - again only leaving it down for 5-10 minutes. Within a couple meals, the dog will be eating their dog food - maybe not excitedly, but they will eat it. Once the dog happily eats their food at every meal, you can offer an occasional treat of people food. But do NOT make feeding people food a regular thing.

    My Cat-dog came to me refusing to eat dog food. The foster home (first experience with a dog) was feeding her hot dogs and cream cheese and other people food to convince her to eat her dog food. She simply ate the people food and left the rest in the bowl. So they gave her more people food in fear she was starving. She wasn't starving, she was being picky.

    I brought her home and gave her only dog food. She refused to eat the first day. I took the bowl away. The next day, she nibbled at the food, but left most. I took the bowl away. The third day, she ate her entire meal. She has never refused to eat her food since.
  7. Michael Ussher

    Michael Ussher New Member

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    I used to feed our Shih Tzu (Zeus) Royal Canin Shih Tzu Puppy after weaning him off the food that was supplied by the Breeder until he was around 12 months old. This is a little more expensive than Royal Canin Mini Puppy.

    If you are feeding Royal Canin Mini - this is for a Junior dog i.e. over 10-12 months+

    My understanding is that the Puppy version of the kibble is better quality than the adult version although it is not suitable for a Junior / Adult dog. This is to get you hooked so that you remain loyal to the brand when the puppy matures into an Adult

    We migrated over to Royal Canin Shih Tzu adult after 12 months but found that he did not really like it. We switched to Red Mills Go Native Herring and that agreed with him better. The Royal Canin Shih Tzu Adult had too much grain and it was causing him to scratch a lot. We have now switched to a real food diet (after a lot of research and nutritional advice) using the kibble as emergency food. We were initially supplementing his kibble with small bit of mackerel / sardines but I would be very careful about this and would not recommend it unless his intake was kept balanced.

    My suggestion to you is to get the best Puppy kibble you can buy and it will save on Veterinary fees and give your dog the best start he can get.
  8. CaroleC

    CaroleC Member

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    Sensible advice @Michael Ussher - though like yourself, I'm not a fan of the Royal Canin brand unless there is no equivalent ie. their veterinary hydrolysed protein diet. (My Beagles certainly weren't thrilled when they brought out the specific Beagle formula). Sometimes small breeds which have a longer lower jaw can have trouble with kibble, meaning that it can be difficult to find one that has the right size of pellet, can be crunched or swallowed easily, has a good predominantly meat or fish formula, and that the puppy really enjoys eating.
    It could be worth trying the cooked tray foods for some of these. I'm thinking of brands such as Forthglade, Butchers, Nature Diet etc, which come in a variety of flavours, are not expensive, and are balanced for a dog - usually about 60% meat, 15% veg, 15% rice, plus oils and minerals.
  9. Chris B

    Chris B Member

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    Toedtoes likes this.
    Have you tried her on tinned dog food. Don't know where you are from, but Butchers is very good.

    Sometimes, they just don't like dry dog food.

    You can change her back to dry gradually if she takes to the tinned food by simply reducing one and introducing the other very slowly

    Might work

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