Having a picky pup is tricky.
What can be even trickier is having ZERO clue why, and wasting tons of time and emotional energy reading click-bait blog posts that end up telling you NOTHING, except that you should TOTALLY be concerned. Well let's take the pressure off and start understanding why your puppy is picky. There's lots of possible reasons, and they aren't scary.
Lets first address the worry that a lot of picky puppies PUKE. Yes, you read that right. You're not the only one! This is actually quite common. Let's talk about why they're puking and what you can do to fix it!
HUNGRY PUKING. It is one of the most common reasons dog's "unexpectedly" puke on a regular basis, usually in the morning before or after their first food.
Here's a little excerpt from a blog post from Dog's Naturally Magazine on hungry puking:
"When your dog has an empty stomach … he might vomit bile.
Lack of food can cause bile to build up and irritate your dog’s stomach lining. Usually this happens overnight … so your dog will throw up soon after he wakes up.
Acids in a dog’s stomach are similar to ours … but digestive secretions aren’t released in the same way.
Your dog’s digestive system releases bile and enzymes even if he hasn’t eaten.
This type of bile vomiting is sometimes known as bilious vomiting syndrome. People also call it hunger pukes.
This type of vomit cools the stomach and brings down heat."
Read the full article HERE.
Two things to do to fix hungry puking:
1). Leave less time in between meals. Do smaller, frequent meals throughout the day.
2). Try a bedtime snack, whether it be an egg (scrambled or raw), some cooked chicken meat or a tiny portion of what they normally eat throughout the day.
Now onto the meat of the post (lol, pun intended):
#1 Lacking Challenge
One of the biggest reasons dog's develop pickiness as they grow is because they're lacking the challenge of having to work for their food. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I tell you that this is a REAL thing. One of our dog's, Splash, is all about the game and challenge. If you just plop the food down in front of him, he looks at you with this bland expression on his face, like he's offended and repulsed at how easy it was, and so now it's not worth having. Making him do tricks (up, down, paw, double paw, etc) get him hyped up and excited to claim his reward (aka, the food). Even hiding it somewhere and making him have to search for it makes him more eager to eat. Your dog may be this way too.
Dog's in the wild ALWAYS have to work for their food. It doesn't just show up. They hunt, stalk, forage, and search for it. Not only is it good training to find a way for your dog to work for it's food, but they actually enjoy the challenge. Try it out with your dog, and see if their appetite magically shows up ;)
We love packing our Toppl with raw food, freezing it for a few hours and then letting our dog's at it. They really enjoy the challenge and I think it reminds them of trying to get the marrow out of bones.
You can buy your own Toppl HERE in two sizes, Small and Large. This cool page on Instagram called Munching Maggie has a ton of creative recipes you can make to go inside your Toppl. Check it out!
If your dog is on a kibble diet, you can also try this fun feeder out. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like a great option to get your dog's challenge needs met! HERE.
#2 Boring Diet
As Dog's Naturally put it, "Eating a kibble diet is like you eating bran flakes for the rest of your days -- it's boring". Dog's do get bored of the same old thing, especially a dry diet like kibble. Though it is becoming a lot easier to find good quality kibbles than it was 10 years ago, a raw diet is still the best route, and quite often one that a picky pup will LOVE. Try transitioning your pup to raw and see if the interest returns. They get so many more nutrients and live goodness from it. We highly recommend Back to Basic's Raw Pet Food.
NOTE: Always be aware that a diet change is a transition, and your dog's stools can become looser at the beginning, so ease into it. Don't mix kibble and raw in the same bowl, as the food can putrefy in their gut. Feed kibble one meal, raw the next. Do that for a few days and see how the puppy takes it. If good, you can transition straight over to raw every meal.
#3 A Prissy Pupper
Some dog's are just full of sass and dominant energy, and aren't food motivated enough to care about skipping meals. They are pretty sure food will ALWAYS be around, so there's no need to go after it like they're on a timeframe. For pups like that, the pull is to leave their food out for them for hours, continually offering it to them and making sure its always available. However, that's not really the way to go.
Give your dog 5 minutes with its bowl of food, and if it doesn't eat it, put it away till the next meal rolls around. If it doesn't eat again, put it away and repeat the same process.
As Cesar Millan says, "Dog's know what makes you weak". They assume that if they turn their nose up at the food long enough, you'll bring them something else because you probably have a track record of doing that, because obviously you're caring and don't want them to starve! Remember, your dog is doing this to themselves, and can decide to eat at any time. This may continue for 2 or 3 days, depending on how stubborn the dog is, but just continue to wait it out. They will eventually give up and dig in.
If you've noticed that your dog also just so happens to puke when they're hungry, try giving them unflavoured/unseasoned bone broth a few times in the day. This hydrates them as well as has nutrients and protein.
#4 Social Eater
As in, the complete opposite of me! Haha. Some dogs only like eating when you're around to watch them and be apart of the process. Kinda weird, but okay! In this case, dedicate 5 minutes to sit beside them while they munch away and that way they don't feel torn between eating and spending time with you. *I'm not laughing, I promise*
#5 No frills, no food.
Because everything tastes better when there's a meal mix-in involved, right? haha.
If you've tried everything and still don't know what to do, try a meal mixer or Dinner Dust.
I cannot give any personal feedback on either of these as I've never tried them, but I know lots of people swear by them and they were specifically designed for PICKY EATERS, so they must work, right?
Meal Mixer HERE.
Magical Dinner Dust HERE.
Sprinkle or mix in to your dog's food, and see what kind of magic occurs ;)
And those are some of our tips/tricks and advice on what to do with a picky pooch! We hope this has helped you understand what could be driving your dog's pickiness, and hopefully how to solve it! Go forth with renewed vigor -- meal time shouldn't be stressful!
The RLD Team
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