How to Get Your Dog to Eat Dog Food Again? – Canines who suffer from certain diseases keep on refusing food intake. But if we also stop giving the pet food only because he denied it, then the dog’s health will worsen.
That is the reason why how to get your dog to eat dog food again has become one of the most asked questions among dog owners nowadays.
Why do dogs stop eating?
- Health problems: Digestive issues, systemic infections, kidney failure, pain
- Poor quality food: Not enough nutrients makes your dog feel unfulfilled
- Bad habits: Getting table scraps makes regular dog food seem less appealing
How to Encourage Your Dog to Eat Again
- Switch their food: Try a different brand with a higher nutritional value.
- Make homemade meals: Simple recipes like boiled chicken and rice can be tempting and healthy.
- Stop the scraps: No more table food so they learn to rely on their dog food.
- Create a feeding schedule: Consistent mealtimes encourage regular eating.
- Flavor boost: Add yummy, safe ingredients like boneless meat or fresh fruit.
- Vet visit: If nothing works, a vet checkup is crucial to rule out underlying health issues.
Key Takeaways
- A sudden loss of appetite in dogs can be a sign of illness, so don’t ignore it.
- Simple changes like better food or stricter routines can make a big difference.
- Patience and understanding are important when helping your dog regain their healthy eating habits.
Everything that will be helpful to you in making your dog eat food again will be discussed in this article. So please continue to read the article to get detailed information about it.
Why Do Dogs Avoid Food?
Dogs used to refuse dog food intake for many reasons, to give a clear vision to the dog owners about why their canine used to do so. The reasons behind this are discussed below.
Health Issues
Most of the time, health issues are the probable reason a canine used to refuse food intake. The diseases which are responsible for the food-refusing behavior of dogs are
Digestive Problems
The pet’s stomach often gets affected by digestive issues when the toxicity of the enzymes gets high due to poor quality foods or the pathogenic bacteria inside the stomach that has reached through the food passage.
Digestive issues can be treated by visiting a vet, which can be the ultimate solution for making your canine eat dog food again.
Systemic Infections
Sometimes when the canine suffers from systemic infections like any kind of rash which causes pain and a ruptured cyst which distresses him stops the canine from eating food.
This happens because the pain caused due to the infections and cyst mentally tortures the canine as sometimes it becomes intolerable due to which the canine refuses to take food.
Kidney Failure
Dogs who have been suffering from Kidney failure or kidney-related issues stop eating because, at that time, the canine feels anemic as very few red blood cells are produced. Dogs usually feel nauseous when they suffer from severe kidney disease, which is the most probable reason they used to do so.
Changing the food might be a good option in this case as the canine needs some IV fluids while suffering from kidney-related issues to filter out the waste products from the kidney, which are causing nausea.
These are the topmost reasons a dog stops eating dog food, but there can be many other health issues that you can easily determine by having a vet check-up on your canine.
Poor Quality of the Food
The quality of dog food can be one of the most significant reasons why the canine refuses food. Sometimes the food we give to the dog doesn’t provide sufficient nutrients to the body of the canine, as the percentage of nutrients in the food product is low.
Just like human used to feel weak when they use the consumption of alcohol and sugar in a very high amount, similarly, when the dog keeps on eating non-nutritional food for a long time, their body begins to lack the essential micronutrients and refuses to eat that food as the stomach slowly loses the capability of digesting the foods.
So similarly, as humans need food to stay healthy and fit, good quality food is also necessary for dogs to stay energetic.
Bad Habits
Most of the time, dog owners used to feed their dogs from their plates of the meal, making the dog lose interest in their food. Dogs often find human food like meat, vegetables, and rice more tempting than dog food.
So when they get a continuous meal from the plate of their owner, they get a habit of eating human food and, as a result, start to refuse to eat dog food. Thus it is suggested to the dog owners that they should strictly avoid feeding the canine from their plate and always feed the canine in their bowls.
This is the topmost reason the canines keep refusing to eat dog food. So if you are looking for the reasons behind your dog refusing food intake, take appropriate steps. Then you can go with the steps mentioned above.
How to Get Your Dog to Eat Dog Food Again?
Above, we have discussed why the canine stops eating dog food. To give an ultimate solution to this problem, we have come up with some steps by following which you can again make your canine eat dog food. The steps that needed to be followed are discussed below.
Switch Pet’s Diet
You have noticed that the food you provide to your dog does not contain sufficient nutrients, and your canine is also refusing to eat that food.
In this case, the best option you can use to make your dog eat food again is to switch the canine diet.
For this, all you have to do is just choose another food brand and compare the amount of nutritional level of both the food products.
You can also compare calories and other factors depending upon what nutritional level will be the best for your dog and start feeding that new food product you have chosen.
Make Your Canine’s Treat at Home
Sometimes switching the diet and choosing the food product of the best nutritional level also doesn’t work for the canine, as the taste of the food might not be that great according to your dog’s taste.
In this case, making dog food for your dog at home can work wonders for making the pet eat again. One of the most effective meals you can make for your canine is boiled chicken with rice.
All you have to do is just cut the chicken into pieces, boil it by sprinkling some salt over it, and serve it to your canine by mixing it with some rice.
Chickens are not only healthy but can also fulfill the requirements of nutrients of the canine’s body, which is preferred.
Stop Giving Food Scraps
As we have already mentioned that feeding the dog from the table is the most significant reason why the dog stops eating dog food
To solve this problem, all you can do is just avoid feeding the pet from your table. If you regularly avoid feeding your dog from your plate for some days, the dog will eventually start eating his food out of hunger.
You should notice that for some days, the dog only eats the dog food. This can be ensured by keeping him at home all the time.
This is necessary because sometimes the neighbors also feed them, their intention is not bad, but still, it can interrupt the routine you are following for your canine.
A Proper Schedule for the Meal
As you will stop giving food scraps to your dog, the next thing you can do to encourage the canine more in eating food is by setting a proper schedule for the dog’s meal.
Usually, feeding the dog three times a day by maintaining an appropriate time can lead to the well-maintained health of your canine.
For doing this, all you can do is, for the first few days, encourage your dog to eat food as per the scheduled time by calling him and staying with him while he eats the food. Then make it a practice for the canine by continuously repeating the process for 12 to 13 days.
Ensure once the dog eats the food, leave it empty and clean until the next round. This will help develop the interest of the canine in the food.
Make the Food More Delicious
Making the food more delicious than usual can work wonders in developing the dog’s interest in eating food. Suppose you add some fresh fruits and freshly boiled chicken or some pieces of boneless meats to the blunt-tasting food of the canine.
In that case, you will notice how the canine will start eating the dog food regularly by getting attracted by the delicious taste you are adding to its food by some extra ingredients.
Visit a Vet in Serious Cases
All the above discussed are steps you can follow, while food refusing behavior of your dog is normal.
But suppose there is a health issue responsible for this behavior of the canine-like inflammation of the organs, digestive issues, cancer, failure of the organs, and systemic infections. In that case, a rapid vet visit becomes very necessary.
The vet is the one who will be able to detect the disease behind the poor health condition of the dog and will provide appropriate medicines to get it treated.
Therefore, it is always suggested to the dog owner to visit a vet when the canine starts to refuse food to identify if there is any serious health issue behind it.
By now, it is understandable that dogs refuse to have their food when they are sick. Hence, it will not be easier for a dog owner to make them eat again.
But if you follow the steps of how to get your dog to eat dog food again, your fur friends will start consuming back their assigned food.
