You are confused about the process of taking care of your dog! Your pet isn’t showing interest in the food! Don’t worry.
We are here to make you & your pet live happy again by providing the research-driven solution of the question- How to get your dog to eat dog food again? Are you interested? Let’s dive into the section where you will find all the solutions, tips & tricks.
Reasons behind refusing dog food and remedies to get back on
You may have had pet dogs earlier, or you can have just adopted your first puppy or dog. Whatever it is but as distressing that your puppy or dog does not eat or ignores the food.
That creates pressure though it is normal for dogs to go without food for several days. Sometimes it can be an alarm. So, firstly you need to know the reasons behind avoiding food and then the ways how to get them back.
Reasons behind avoiding dog food
Illness
A decreased appetite in dogs is though a decreased appetite in dogs does not mainly indicate serious diseases, it can often be a sign of sickness, especially if you see other symptoms in your dog at the same time. Sometimes a loss of appetite can indicate some significant illnesses like cancer, many systemic infections, kidney failure, kind of infections, etc.
Vaccination or Medication
Vaccines are a kind of a lifesaver. Vaccinations are available for many serious and severe dog diseases. These vaccines have saved millions of pets’ lives in past years, but just like other medicines or vaccines, these also have some side effects on dogs like decreased sleep, loss of.
Dental Problems
Your dog may avoid food because something is creating pain in its mouth. It can be a broken tooth, can be a loose tooth, or it can be severe gingivitis. Even it can be an oral tumor that can cause pain and make him or her avoiding food.
Food Quality
Sometimes the quality of the food that you are feeding your dog can affect hugely behind avoiding food. Foods often have low-quality ingredients that may have less protein than your dog normally gets. And this can be one reason behind decreased appetite.
Pickiness
Sometimes dogs can be just picky eaters. They can refuse to eat if they feel uncomfortable. Like if they have an eating area around an aggressive dog or have to eat from a bowl at an uncomfortable height. So, it would be best if you investigated other possibilities first because a decreased appetite can be caused by illness.
Tricks to get back your dog to eat dog food again
Seeing vet
Many medical issues are the reasons behind decreased appetite for dogs. So, if your dog suddenly started rejecting it, then it can be any medical issue. If your dog refuses to eat food and also loses weight at the same time or shows any other symptoms, you should visit your vet ASAP.
Breaking bad habits
Some dogs have bad habits like eating human food or snacks, eating scraps at the dinner table. These are not the best for dogs. They can be dependent on the extra snacks and ignore their normal food until they get scraps or human food.
Human foods, scraps or treats could be given of a small amount. But it would help if you didn’t give these to your dog regularly. It will be best if you can cut off the habit of eating these.
Removing meal until tomorrow
For this, you need to offer food to your dog for dinner, as you normally offer. Then leave the room and try not to interact with your dog and try to ignore him or her. If your dog does not eat its meal within 15 minutes, take the food away and wait till the next morning.
Next, you will offer your dog; its meal as breakfast. If your dog once again does not eat the meal within 15 minutes, take it away. Repeat it till he or she starts realizing that he or she is not getting anything else. Then he or she will be left with no choice but to eat the food!
Upgrading food taste and quality
Unfortunately, dogs cannot talk. They can bark. By ignoring its food, your dog might be trying to tell that the food is not appetizing to him or her anymore. For this, you can try to switch the flavor.
Try to introduce your dog with a completely different flavor than the previous one. Sometimes you should upgrade the food quality because your dog may not like the bad quality of food.
Exercise your dog
People know that exercising is a great way to build up an appetite, and it also works on dogs. So, if your dog is avoiding food, you can use exercise to get him or her to eat food.
Because exercise extracts high energy from bodies and makes dogs hungry, try some exercises that extract energy from your dog’s body. It will make him or her hungrier and will help to bring back the appetite.
Last Minute Friendly Suggestions
So let’s have some short suggestions that will help you in terms of achieving the desired result.
- Create a safe eating place.
- Adjust the food bowl to the perfect height.
- Change the flavor of your dog’s food.
- Make sure that your dog does not have any bad habits like eating human food or snacks.
- You can make its food time more enjoyable.
- Make sure the food is neither making your dog’s stomach upset.
Final Insight
We have gone through all the points that are needed to be answered in terms of clearing all the doubts of the arisen question- How to get your dog to eat dog food again?
We also provided a few extra tips & tricks for encouraging your dog to eat more than ever. We all wish, your life will be much happier right now & stay with us for getting more tips & tricks.