I am sitting here tonight crying tears of frustration!! 6mths ago i adopted a 5yr old shihtzu,i think she was very neglected in her previous home :(  I also have two springer spaniels,both of whom are great eaters. However the tzu is a terrible eater,today it has been 4 days since she has eaten a scrap! She has been like this from day one,in the begining i resorted to adding treats into her food to entice her to eat,but eventually she started getting very good at picking out the treats and leaving the kibble,even when i grated them finely. 4 days ago i had enough and stopped adding the treats,as ultimately this was all she was eating. Well 4 days later and she still hasnt given in,i feed all my dogs on JWB,i have tried naturediet,all flavours,Burns,wafcol,enervite and some other supposed appetite stimulants etc. all to no avail :( She is also picky with homemade/cooked food,the only raw she will eat are rmb's. Her previous owner said she ate at her house,but to be honest i really dont think she would have noticed,she had 10 other dogs(mostly lge breeds) and they all ate together,plus Molly was very skinny when i got her.
I had her blood and feceas tested when i first got her,i went to two seperate vets to get a second opinion as i though her lack of appetite was due to some kind of illness,but ALL her tests came back clear and both vets agreed that she is very stubborn and just a fussy bitch!

I am at my wits end with her,she is a perfect dog in all other respects and there is no way i will give her up.

How long should i hold out for,the vets say 7 days is ok for them to go without food,she is drinking normally.

Has anyone had a fussy eater that they have CURED? I am using the 15 minute rule,i put her food down and walk away, if she doesnt eat it i pick it up and offer it again at her next meal time.

Please,can anyone help? I know it's late so not expecting any replies now,but i cant sleep i'm that anxious with worry. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Dont know if this may help,I hope so.When I got my pekes I had the same problem,they would eat nothing,and had me wrapped around their finger,trying this and trying that.In the end,if I put the food directly on the floor they would eat it, as they didnt,and still dont like eating out of a bowl.An old lady in the village had the same problem,and I put the complete on the mat for her dog and he ate it!.Not ideal but its worked for me.I think with the pekes because of the flat face they dont like getting their faces dirty.All mine however are now totally food orientated,but I feed them on sandwich trays and not a food bowl with a lip on.Boiled eggs with grated cheese is a winner.Hope this helps.

cos is a fussy eater, he use to eat two mouthful out of his bowl and then walk away, he was still hungry but to lazy to eat, we spoke to the vet and was told dont worry he eat when hes hungry, we were so worried we use to hand feed him and he eat every bit, a really bad idea, we off that now, at the monment we ve found some thing he eat tripe and really enjoys it   at the monment but for how long. we have to wait and see

Hailey, it sounds like you're doing everything right so hang in there.  Dogs don't starve themselves, well, very very very rarely - I only know of one and he had something organically wrong with his brain in the end.

Don't add treats to the food.  Pick it up after 15 mins.  Don't hand feed.  You're doing all that anyway.  Keep going - as long as she's drinking normally, you'll be ok.