5 tips for feeding fussy eaters

My dog Semmerl is a picky eater. From a health point of view, however, you wouldn't know this: she has a good athletic figure, an absolutely ideal weight and, on top of that, is in top condition. She's just not as greedy as some Labrador Retrievers, who don't seem to have a sense of satiety. Semmerl just eats when she is hungry. Many people find it difficult to accept this. They switch up the food more and more, which of course leads to the dog becoming even more selective: after all, if you just wait long enough, something ‘better’ will come along...

So here are my 5 most important tips for feeding fussy eaters:

1. Make them work for their food!

It may seem more convenient at first glance to feed your dog from their bowl, but why not simply put the portion of food in a bag (the easiest way is to feed them dry food – new at DOG'S LOVE: dry horse food) and take it with you on your walk? Simple food hunting games, hiding food in tree bark, retrieving from the food bag or even simply training basic commands can be so much more logical for dogs than eating food out of the bowl. Even in nature, food is hunted – try it, you will see that many dogs are much more likely to eat when it ‘makes sense’.

 3. Do not leave food sitting out!

We humans have no interest in dog food – and that's a good thing. However, this also teaches dogs that this actually very important resource is not so important after all, that it seems to be freely available and that they can have it at their command. With picky eaters in particular, I observe time and again that their filled bowl sits around all day. The dog learns to be at an all-inclusive buffet and will therefore – as we know from our holidays – show even less appetite and interest because the food loses its appeal. 
Therefore: Offer food a maximum of twice a day and immediately put away anything that is not touched within 2 minutes. This also applies to feeding schedules with longer intervals. Remember: a healthy adult dog can, theoretically, easily go 10 days without food, so 10 hours will not be a problem for him at all.

4. Switch up feeding times!

Because of our breakfast-lunch-dinner rhythm, we eventually started feeding our dogs in the same way. In nature, a meal schedule like this, especially in these quantities, would be extremely unrealistic and pure luxury. OK, some people find great joy and happiness in spoiling their dogs with food and admittedly – so do many dogs. However, you won't make a fussy eater happy with an overabundance of food. What you want to do here is make feeding more exciting – not by making it tastier (this only makes dogs more demanding – see 5), but by varying feeding times and types of food. For one day, try taking breakfast along in a food bag on the morning walk and make them "work for it" from time to time by retrieving it. By the way, many dogs love to carry the leftover ‘prey’ home in the bag and then eat it at the front door or in the car. This is especially true for larger dogs with larger amounts of food. On other days, don't give them anything until lunchtime – and it's best to do this in a playful way, e.g. through ‘find it’ games in the office. And on other days, give them a few lumps of dry food during the day for small exercises and allow them to feast from the bowl in the evening. Keep feeding flexible and irregular and your dogs will be fired up for their next meal.

Finally, three important points to clear up some common misunderstandings: 

Many people do not want to teach their dogs food hunting games outside because they are afraid that they will learn to eat any other food they find on the ground as a result. On the contrary, dogs like to search for something with their nose on the ground for hunting reasons, so this ‘urge’ is channelled by humans and such exercises. It is very important, however, to endorse every feeding with a command, e.g. "Find it!", and in the medium term also teach your dog that food lying on the ground is a no-go without this command.

Many dogs have little appetite, but need to eat regularly so they don't get sick. Even if the dog itself does not feel it, the stomach is preparing to eat and sometimes produces stomach acid that is vomited up when nothing is eaten (yellowish liquid without content). With such dogs, it is important to feed a mini portion (i.e. one piece enough) of something tasty that the dog will then accept. This calms the stomach and it can easily withstand being fed a larger portion later. 

Many people are also concerned about making their dog work for food outdoors – especially through exercise, because this combination would promote bloat. I have been working with dogs for over 12 years now and have had countless dogs retrieve and eat from the food bag – never has this resulted in bloat. Also Veterinarian Ralph Rückert describes this in a very straightforward way in one of his blog articles: ‘...every practitioner can confirm that the overwhelming percentage of bloat occurs in the evening or night hours, i.e. mostly during rest.’ So there is no reason to worry about a little exercise combined with eating having negative effects.