How To Get Your Dog to Eat When They Refuse to Eat

Getting your dog to eat when they won’t is a challenge for most pet owners. It becomes even more challenging if you have a picky eater or senior dog with special dietary needs. Finding ways to get your dog to eat can be tricky but fortunately, there are ways of making it easier. We’ve put together some helpful tips on how you can get your dog to eat when they won’t, so read on and take note!

How To Get Your Dog to Eat When They Refuse to Eat

Most dogs will go through phases where they just won’t eat. They may turn their nose up at their usual food and ignore it as if it’s not even there. Some dogs have sensitive stomachs, and eating the wrong thing can make them feel unwell for a few days afterward.

Sometimes, though, eating refusal stems from something deeper: for example, a dog that is anxious about something or is depressed, or one that feels like they have nothing left to live for may refuse to eat in response.

Whatever the reason, getting your dog to eat again can be tricky. However, with the right techniques and strategies you can help your dog get past their resolve and start eating again sooner rather Read on to find out how…

Ask Your Vet Why Your Dog Won’t Eat

Most of the time when a dog stops eating, it’s not a case of them being stubborn; they’re actually just really unwell. Make sure you check in your dog’s health and make sure there is no underlying issue. Your vet can give you some insight into why your dog might not be eating and help you start to get them eating again as soon as possible. Your vet can also give you advice on how to get your dog eating again and make sure they get the nutrients they need to help them recover.

Try Food Smelling Strategies

If your dog has stopped eating and they have been like that for a while, the smell of their food may repulse them. If that’s the case, you might want to try a food smelling strategy to get them used to the smell again. One of these strategies might help your dog eat again:

1. – Freeze their food for a few hours and then leave it out for an hour. By the time your dog smells it, it will be thawed, and it will smell fresh.
2. – Mix a small amount of their food with some wet food. – Put their food in a blender (not for a long time, though) and sprinkle the food with water to make a slurry.
3. – Mix a small amount of their food with some fresh raw chicken. The smell of the chicken will mix with the smell of the food, making it smell fresh again.
4. – Put their food in a paper bag and leave it there for a while. The smell of the bag will gradually permeate the food, and the smell will be fresh again.
5. – Leave their food out in the open for a while. The smell of their food will get stale, and they will smell fresh again.

Try Treats Instead of Food

Some dogs have just stopped eating because they don’t like their usual food anymore. If that’s the case, you may want to try switching to different food and see if they like that any better. If not, then you might want to try giving your dog treats to see if they eat those. If your dog is being picky, you can try a controlled diet.

This means that you feed your dog only treats for a few days and then slowly add their normal food back into the diet. When you do this, you should add their normal food slowly. You should start by adding a tiny bit of their normal food, and then slowly increase the amount each day until your dog is back to normal.

Offer Something They Love Even More

Your dog might have stopped eating because they just don’t feel like they have anything to live for. In this case, you may want to try offering your dog something that they love even more than their usual food. If your dog is depressed, they may not have the energy to eat their normal food, which is usually high in protein. If your dog has lost the will to live, they will probably want to eat something that is low in energy and high in carbohydrates.

Dogs with low energy often have low blood sugar, and the best way to raise a low blood sugar is to eat something high in carbohydrates. You can try feeding your dog something that they love even more than their normal food. You can also try feeding your dog something high in carbohydrates like pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.

Try New Foods

If your dog has stopped eating and they have been like that for a while, then they may have gotten used to the taste of their own breath. This happens sometimes when dogs don’t eat for a long time. In this case, you might want to try feeding your dog new food.

Feed them something that they have never eaten before. If your dog has been sick or is on medication, you will want to make sure that they are eating the proper amount of calories. You can do this by multiplying their normal amount of food by 80% and then adding that number to what the vet says they should be eating.

Take Your Dog to the Vet Anyway

Most of the time when a dog stops eating, it’s not because they are being stubborn; it’s because they are unwell. However, sometimes eating refusal stems from something deeper: a dog that is anxious about something or is depressed, or one that feels like they have nothing left to live for may refuse to eat in response.

In these cases, you should make sure you take your dog to the vet. Your vet will be able to perform some tests to make sure there are no underlying health issues, and they can help you get your dog eating again as soon as possible.

Conclusion

If your dog has stopped eating, the first thing you should do is make sure there isn’t an underlying health issue, and then try some of these strategies. Getting your dog to eat again can be tricky, but with the right techniques and strategies, you can help your dog get past their resolve and start eating again sooner rather than later.