My dog won't eat her food!

[Kim&Chris]

No matter what brand of hard food we give her, she won't eat it. We've tried everything.....mixing soft food in, adding water, adding gravy, adding tomato sauce (this dog LOVES tomato sauce!), warming it in the microwave. Nope...she just picks around the hard stuff and eats the soft stuff.

I've been wondering if the hard food is too hard, possibly hurting her teeth (she is just a little Shih-tzu).

I'm about to throw my hands up and just give her soft food, but I understand that the hard food helps keep their teeth clean and strong, so I'd really like to continue giving her hard food.

Anyone else have similar problems with their dog? If so, what type of food do you recommend?

 

[missy28]

Did your doggy suddenly stop eating, or has he always just been picky? If it's a sudden thing, I'd take him to the vet and get some blood tests run to make sure evrything is ok. If he's always been picky, then you may want to try the higher grade/premium brand of dog food which has more meat in it. You could try the dog food in the freezer section of the grocery store (forget the name but it's by the frosty paws in my store!). It comes in small batches, and it's not cheap, but it may do the trick. My St. Bernard loves chicken broth on my dry food...

 

[Chicago526]

Have the vet check her teeth, maybe she has a few that are sore and that's what the problem is. If so, they can pull the bad ones and give you "doggy tooth paste" to keep the rest healthy from now on.

Also, I think one of the major brands has a line of senior kibble that's a little softer, but still crunchy. I want to say it's Purina, but I'm not sure as mine isn't a senior yet so I didn't pay close attention to the ad.

 

[missy28]

I found it:

http://www.biljac.com