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I have an EXTREMELY picky eater - any suggestions?

My dog, a yorkie mix, is really finicky about both food and treats. He has even walked away from shredded boiled beef and chicken. He won't touch vegetables or fruit of any kind. The vet says he is a healthy weight, there is nothing wrong with him and that eventually he will eat. But he will go for 5 days and eat nothing. At first I tried giving him a small treat to get him started eating, but that didn't work so now he gets no treats unless he is already in eating mode. I hope someone has a suggestion. I've tried at least a dozen different brands of dry and canned food and various flavors within each brand. He'll taste it but then spit it out or use his nose to push it out of the bowl all over the floor.

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You could try Hill's Prescription diet I/D. I worked at both an emergency and primary care veterinary hospital and with all the dogs that came in sick, not many would resist this food. You have to get it as a prescription through your veterinary office but if you ask your vet i doubt they would refuse to let you try it. However, my dog sometimes goes a whole 2 days without eating occasionally but she is 50 lbs.

Is he active? Whenever my dog stops eating it's because my routine walking stops (like when I broke my finger). Maybe you might want to try routine exercise to raise his metabolism so he gets hungrier more often? Worth a try! My dog seems to have more appetite if we get more exercise.

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Hmmm...strange. I wonder if he is getting food from neighbors or is also getting fed by another family member.

Some pets seem to become pickier the more you change their food. I would suggest choosing one food (whether it be dry or canned), that is a good quality maintenance diet, and sticking with it. You can use either the free feed method (put a meal in his bowl and let him eat it at his leisure) or the meal-feed method (Put a meal in his bowl and leave it down for a certain amount of time, maybe 15 minutes. If he doesn't eat it...oh, well. Take it away and he doesn't get another shot at it until the next meal time.) Since the vet says he's not underweight, I don't think you have to worry about him starving. if you do notice him losing weight, then something else will need to be done. But I suspect if he's left to his own devices, he'll decide to eat.

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I live alone and no one else feeds him. The first year I stuck with one brand of dry food and tried both of the feeding methods you mentioned. Neither made a difference. I then tried making his food based on various recipes I found online. He does eat that a bit better but it is so expensive.

Wow, I've never run into a situation such as that. Maybe he has an exceptionally low metabolism. If his activity level is normal and he's maintaining his weight, he must somehow be getting the nutrients he needs. Hopefully someone else on here will have ideas. Sorry!

My mastiff was always a picky eater. Turns out he wasn't eating because every time he ate, he would hurt (he was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Disease when he was 5). Check into stomach/intestine/mouth problems. Could b painful to eat, so he avoids it. Good luck.