My miniature dachshund is being particularly fussy at the moment. Hes 10 months old and has always been fed on the Royal Canin mini junior kibble (recently I have integrated the adult version into his diet) but now he just wont touch it, or anything else I put down for him either, I've tried mixing in beef, liver, oxtail and the complete wet foods into the dry kibble and still he turns his nose up at it.
I have to make feeding time into a game to get him to eat anything.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get him to eat, or recommend a food that he may prefer.

Hi, our Boston is also fussy not so nuch of the food as we have always stayed with same make James Welbeloved as all our Boxers have thrived on it, but she eventually in the evening will eat her evening meal being hand fed to her she is just two so she has a long walk on the downs in the afternoon which tends to make her hungry as your little boy is a lot younger and still a puppy as (the worried parent) you want them to eat for growth etc.,so many people have said that dogs will eat when they are hungry but when you have a dog like this you fret at every meal time.My suggestions are have you tried putting his food in a treat ball if he thinks it is a game it might make him eat making sure you get one that is the right size for him they do a cat one in Pets at Home that i have, as Mabels kibble falls out as soon as you put it in any of the bigger ones,also have you tried just a tiny bit of pilchards in tomato sauce or tuna in Spring Water not brine as too much salt, mixed in his food as they like food to smell,what sort of a bowl does his food go in have you tried changing it over maybe to a flat plate.Good luck with him i know how you feel debby.

Thank you,  I currently have to roll the kibble across the floor to get him to eat it! I will try the ball idea, I bet our cat would like it also (although we have no issue with trying to get food down him!)
He has pot bowls, but I'll give it a go on the plate, see if he's more interested then!!
Sarah.

It may be worth bearing in mind that some dogs will happily drop meals, or just eat less, when the weather is warm. According to one of mine - sunbathing just doesn't require the calories!!

As long as he isn't starving himself you may find he is self-regulating according to energy levels.  You could try feeding at different times of day - perhaps after a walk or later in the evening (when the sun has gone in).

dog training owner?

how many days/meals do you persevere before trying the next tactic?

try leaving the bowl down for 20 minutes, then if he hasnt eaten or been picky, pick up the bowl and that's it until the next mealtime.

odds on, he will get the idea after a few days.

vets say you can keep this up for 5 days max without worrying about enough food, then give in if it doens't work and try something else

i say this assuming you have ruled out a medical reason first with your vet?

I too have a very fussy toy poodle who after trying various different foods have found that he likes nature menu in tins, I also fill a kong with royal canin mini sensible( which is for fussy eaters according to the packet) which he quite often eats when he has eaten his dish of natures menu of which he has half of a 400 gram tin per day. I have tried several other dried foods including mini bites from burns but he definately prefers the mini sensible. My other younger toy poodle is not nearly as fussy but he has the same food as the older fussy one.

i have the same problem with one of my small breed dogs i have just put mine on naturediet they love it

My 13 yr old colie has always been a pain in the a** re food - though give her a pizza or a cheese butty and she's in 7th heaven - not to mention a Sunday roast LOL.
I've found restricting her time allowed with her food [as suggested already] helps - throw away any leftovers.
She also is affected by the temperature; cold = eat more; warm - eat less - hard to keep on top of but worth it.
Sometimes reducing the amount of food offered can encourage reluctant eaters - so long as they're within the weight range and are fit and healthy.
Another thing I've noticed is that she likes small kibble the best.
I also add small amounts of very smelly soft food to her evening meal; fish, tripe, tripe Chubb, etc but I have to only put in a small amount and mix it REALLY well with her kibble or she'll hunt out the smelly/tasty bits and leave the rest.
A couple of questions - things I've checked from time to time - are her teeth OK? - if there's any problem with teeth it can make chewing difficult - don't know if you do already but try giving her teeth a clean - can't hurt can it?
The other question is whether you have any other dogs/pets?  I have strong suspicions that Tinker [my fussy eating collie] also likes to hang on to her food to wind Heidi up -my greedy Elkhound - Heidi gulps her food them drools at Tinker daintily munching on hers!

How's it going?