What do do when your dog won’t eat – Tips and Tricks

When dogs refuse to eat, many dog owners become concerned – and sometimes with good reason. If loss of appetite occurs, then you should see this as the first warning sign.  Pet food manufacturer, Platinum, offers the following advice to pet owners:

What to do if your dog stops eating?

Most owners are concerned if their dog suddenly stops eating their food – especially if their dog usually eats everything immediately.

The good news is that it’s not always a crisis, most dogs will occasionally refuse to eat – and if it’s only one meal where the dog eats less or sometimes nothing at all – and if the dog is showing no signs of illness, it’s not a massive issue, but what happens if it’s occurring more frequently?

Then the search for the cause begins. Is it perhaps the food? Does he want more variety? Has he eaten something wrong? Or is he sick? Often the cause can be found relatively quickly, but sometimes it is necessary to consult a vet.

Recent Vaccination or Vet treatment

If you dog has recently had a vaccination or vetinarary treatment, they may not eat for a day or two, but if the problem persists, it is definitely worth giving the vet a call.

When a puppy stops eating

There are two important phases in a puppy’s life that can sometimes lead to eating less or refusing food completely. The first phase concerns the change of teeth, which takes place between about 3 and 7 months of age. Wobbly teeth and bleeding gums can lead to eating being associated with slight pain. This problem can be made worse by dry food. Light soaking is helpful in this case. Normally, dental problems in puppies take care of themselves; in exceptional cases, a veterinarian must be consulted.

The second phase concerns the dog’s puberty. Just like teenagers, dogs test their limits around the age of seven to twelve months. They try to take the lead in the “family pack” by playing power games. By refusing food, they get the desired attention from their owner and try to be in charge of what to eat and when. As in real life, only patience and loving consistency can help. If you pay too much attention to this behaviour and allow yourself to be seduced into constantly changing food, you are raising a fussy dog!

Picky eating behaviour

If your dog is generally healthy and lively, and accepts treats, but after a certain period of time it repeatedly refuses the food in his bowl, it’s likely the food is basically tasty because it was initially eaten.

If you change the dog food as a result of the food strike, the dog learns very quickly that its grumbling leads to food alternatives. And then the dog decides what goes into the bowl and the owner is always on the (desperate) search for new brands of food.

To prevent this problem, we recommend establishing fixed meal times. Let your dog wait until you have put down the bowl and given him permission to eat. The bowl is then available for about 15 minutes and it is only allowed to eat within this time frame.

After that, the bowl is taken away again. It is important that the dog is not fed with treats etc. during this time. If you do not assert yourself as the pack leader, the eating problem may remain for the rest of the dog’s life. But it is not only for educational reasons that the dog should eat reliably; regular food intake is also particularly important if the dog is dependent on medication.

Tricks that make food more interesting

Sometimes dogs just seem a bit lethargic, but there could be a possibility that their sense of smell has diminished due to their age. You may be able to improve eating behaviour with the following tricks:

• Warming slightly or adding warm water will intensify the smell.
• Dry food can be made more attractive by adding and mixing in some PLATINUM wet food.
• If the dog generally likes fruit or vegetables, you can mix a little into the food (Attention: Not all fruits and vegetables are suitable for dogs!). Cottage cheese is also suitable for supplementing the main diet.
• The food becomes more interesting for some dogs if they first have to learn to earn it, for example through food balls, brain games or search games.

The wrong dog food

If a dog only eats as much as it absolutely needs, it may also be due to the dog food.

With so many varieties on the market, it is always worth taking a critical look at the ingredients. Don’t be fooled by promising advertising claims or pretty pictures, but look for an open declaration that lists all ingredients in detail.  Some dogs will need a food specific to their requirements, such as gluten free, or low allergen.  Your vet will be able to advise if this is the case, but where there are no allergies involved, it often it is simply a case of improving the food quality.

With a little research, you should be able to understand if your dog is getting the right food.  Some brands ‘pad out’ the food with questionable ingredients like grain by-products or unspecified meats, and where there is not much detail, its possible that the high-carbohydrate fillers could be at levels which are not optimal for your dogs health.  While reviews and independent articles are always a good guide, by choosing brands where the manufacturer is open and transparent about the contents, it’s likely the food will be higher quality.

In fact, many of the better pet food manufacturers are proud of their ingredients and are looking to increase transparency and increase consumer confidence by showing their ingredients rather than using marketing spin – if a label is clear and open about ingredients, it’s likely to be a higher quality food.

PLATINUM, for example, has decided to commission TÜV SÜD ELAB (now ELAB Analytik GmbH) to regularly and independently test their dog food and to publish also test parameters online for everyone to see.

As well as being made from the highest quality ingredients as human food, PLATINUM is made using a process called “Fleischsaftgarung” (FSG) which prepares dog food in the same way as high-quality human food is made. Fresh meat (muscle meat, no offal) is cooked in its pure form in its juices. This means that no water is added. It makes dog food equivalent to human food and definitely a real treat for your dog.