This is one of these "my toy dog is a picky eater" posts, but I would say much more serious. All other posts I have read have mentioned dogs that will eat one food for a short while then go off it etc, but stay of normal weight or perhaps slightly below. My Papillon Happy who is almost 10 months old isn't like that and I'm at my wits end. She has NEVER eaten well, ever since she was weaned (her brother and sister ate a lot, she never did), and as a result she hasn't grown properly and at the moment is the thinnest she has ever been -I'd say about 50 % below of what her bodyweight should be. Think RSPCA propaganda dog. She doesn't like ANY food, not even for a few days, and whatever I try, she will eat a mouthful or two, just enough to stay alive, and that's it. She is happy and lively, running around playing etc, just not eating. She will eat a tiny amount if surrounded by other dogs all wanting to help her eat, she eats nothing at all if separated from the others. HELP! It's just getting worse and worse! Half a bowl eaten has been reduced to two bites now.

Would she eat if food is given as treats? My BC has better things to do than eat...however, the same kibble, given as treats for training he eats!! May be worth a try :) Hope you get her sorted :)

Nope, will not take treats either. :(

Might she eat satin balls?

Dawn R.

Will she eat home cooked food ? 
I resorted to cooked meat, pasta or rice and veg. She will also eat some kibble when it suits her.

Sorry to read this Marianne, there's nothing more frustrating than a dog that won't eat. Happy sounds a lot like my Milly, she got to the stage where she hadn't voluntarily eaten a single bite of anything for over 2 weeks, I was keeping her alive by shoving tiny mince balls down her throat and syringing lactol down. The vet suggested spaying her and as she would have been an even bigger worry if in whelp I agreed. Now she eats absolutely everything I give her, and steals too! Could it be a hormone imbalance with Happy?

The other less drastic thing to try which has worked with a borzoi who was a poor eater was ranitidine. I think if he didn't eat for over a day he had too much bile and didn't feel like eating, so a ranitidine given an hour before food really helped him.

I'm not sure food suggestions will help with a dog that has always been such a poor eater, or at least it didn't matter what I tried with Milly.

I know how you are feeling, I had a dog go off his food and he just wouldn't eat.    Saw the vet weekly as I was so worried.    But the dog would eat bits of what we were eating.   A few crisps,  or a little piece of ham.   Just tidbits really.   

This went on for well over a month and he lost a lot of weight.   Yes RSPCA campaign dog describes it well.     In his case, he had discovered the delights of cat food and was 'holding out for that'  we followed the advice given by Dorwest Herbs below, but used Brewers Yeast tablets, as it was in the days before t'internet.

Have you tried tins of cat food?   It may well tempt your little one since it seems more attractive to dogs?   

Normally, the advice would be to fast the dog for a day, then start with a small portion of their ration, increasing as their appetite increased.  But with such a tiny, underweight dog,  it may be the last thing you'd want to do.

Dorwest herbs have the following advice

Loss of Appetite in Cats & Dogs

This is often a sign that a dog or cat is 'off colour' or coming down with an illness, and so should be closely watched for symptoms of any developing illness. However, for normal healthy adult dogs or cats, or ones that are just "poor doers", the following treatment will help.

If possible give a 24 hour fast before starting treatment, preferably with a laxative such as Natural Herb Tablets. Then start by giving a small meal, of around one quarter of the normal amount of food, giving the recommended quantity of Malted Kelp Tablets half an hour before the feed. If food is refused, remove the bowl and do not offer any more until the next meal time - this alone often works like a charm. Although it may seem hard, do not be tempted to give tidbits or attempt hand feeding.

When the first meal has been taken, gradually increase the food at each meal, still giving the Malted Kelp Tablets until, after a period of four weeks, normal sized meals are being eaten eagerly. Malted Kelp Tablets not only improve the appetite but as a result will encourage healthy weight gain and vigour. These uncoated tablets can also be crushed and sprinkled onto the food if it is impossible to give them before the meal.

Don't forget you can contact Dorwest on 01308 897272 for advice on the use of our products for treatments for your dog or cat.

http://www.dorwest.com/Page/Appetite

Poor you, you must be worried sick about her.

There is no point in going through all the differing food choices etc, as I'm sure you have tried everything and anything with you being so experienced in dogs and rearing litters, have you had your vet give her a thorough check over?  If there is nothing medically wrong with her and her genetics are good, dogs can have a kind of  'anorexia' just like humans so you would be looking at a mental reason for this, many dogs may do this for attention, sensing your stress at the uneaten food,it can become a game to get attention. Or more likely whatever started it off, it has now just become a habit and she mentally tells herself she is full or has no interest in food at all.......

I would probably be inclined to take her to the vet for some medication to make her hungry - something that will evoke an appetite stimulation, there are 4 or 5 stimulants at differing strengths given just for a short period, (cyproheptadine being a mild antihistamine or something similar) which once started after a week or so may then entice or 'trick her brain' once again towards eating pretty normally afterwards.

If she is so underweight it is what I would be trying now, after 10 months you have done everything possible. I know that vets prefer a thinner dog as there are less health problems and they don't mind as long as a dog is fit and lively, (which she appears to be) and dogs do have different appetites,  we know it is very normal to have thin and lanky adolescents, who fill out once mature. ;-)

If you were someone else I'd probably think the dog would be ok, but as it's you.... and I know you wouldn't worry over nothing, I'd have the mildest appetite stimulant to prompt that appetite, and perhaps even try the liquid diets you can get for dogs and try to see if you can break that cycle of her feeling full after a couple of bites or not wanting food at all........

Hope everything works out for her.

Might she eat satin balls?

One thing I haven't tried -what's in them?

Will she eat home cooked food ? 

No. We've been through pretty much everything. The litter was raw fed from the day they started on solids as all my toys are 100 % raw fed, but even back then she was the picky one that never quite caught on as well as the other two. I have also tried a variety of canned foods from the best quality with high meat content to the mid ranges to the cheap rubbish, complete foods, cooked food, latest I tried was Hills AD cans as I've never before known an animal to refuse that, but no. It has to be soft and easy to eat as well, or tiny pieces, as she is a very tiny dog and pieces too big puts her off without even having a taste.

The vet suggested spaying her and as she would have been an even bigger worry if in whelp I agreed. Now she eats absolutely everything I give her, and steals too! Could it be a hormone imbalance with Happy?

This is something I was thinking about. I absolutely do not want to breed from a bitch like this, and as she had her first season in November and is a breed I would not worry about being spayed at around a year of age (as they mature much quicker than larger breeds), she'd be at an ideal time to be spayed around February. What worries me is that if she stays as thin as this, she might not come through the GA. I don't know what she weighs at the moment as she is just that bit too big for my puppy/kitten scales, but I would guess (comparing her with my smallest dog who weighs just over 2 kilos) that it is no more than 1.5 kg. Might be an idea to take her to the vet and ask if they think she could cope with being spayed even if she does not gain any weight by February. The fact that it helped Milly is very encouraging!

what about puréed human baby food?

Have you tried tins of cat food?   It may well tempt your little one since it seems more attractive to dogs? 

I haven't, but that's easily done and can be tried tomorrow -I have kittens at the moment and much as my adult cats are raw fed, I feed kittens on cans and pouches as well to ensure they are used to a variety before going to their new homes as few will want to continue with raw. I have 3 different types at home so worth a try.

have you had your vet give her a thorough check over?

Not recently -it was early summer when I last took her for just a check up (to check heart and patellas), so yes, this is what I really need to do next although will have to be after Christmas now, but I don't suppose a few more days will make much difference. I do wonder actually if she was born with something wrong as this is a pup who would not have lived unless I had stepped in and bottlefed for a while when she was little. Smallest of the litter, wasn't gaining weight etc, and of course as you do I fought for her and she lived and of course I fell for her and kept her. So right from birth she wasn't good at feeding, then took days longer than her littermates to start on solids, then once she did she was very picky and would only eat certain foods whereas the other two would eat anything given. She had a heart murmur at the time of first vaccination but it was gone by the time she had her second.

Have you tried scrambled egg made with butter, it has a lot of calories if she will try it, most dogs like the taste of butter.

One of my Chow's is the same, eating is a real chore for him, has phases where he won't eat for days on end even with him right in the middle of a five dog line up with everyone else wolfing their food down and him just staring at me with a ,'do I have to mum' expression.

Hope the vet can help.

Might be worth getting the vet to do a stool sample.  The only real symptom my springer had as a pup was anorexia and occasional loose stools.  We ran labs which came back positive for Giardia, lungworm, and campylobacter! 
At one stage the only thing she was eating was Heinz chicken soup - cold out of the tin.  My vet's advise was to feed anything she would eat and worry about nutrition later

Can i ask what would you ask for to stimulate appetite? I have a boy the same. Driving me wild just not interested in any type of food given in any way. He is 9 months old now and needs the food to continue to grow properly.

Tillyandangel, talk to your vet as there are a few options which will cause an appetite to increase, some may have side effects too which is why the mildest is always the best option, (unless a serious problem) I wouldn't get anything over the counter, seek professional advice. :-)

It certainly worked for one of my in-laws dogs, after the medication he was then put onto tripe (which he wouldn't touch prior) and flourished, now eats normally from being extremely picky and hardly eating,just needed that kick start. :-)

I've never had a dog that does not love its food, no matter what it was...... but, there are some picky dogs around though, if it is something that goes on for weeks and months of course ask your vet for help, no point in getting stressed and your dog sensing that, it can compel the behaviour to continue.

Dogs are generally attracted to food by smell when picky, the smellier the better and I agree cat food is a good stimulant too, dogs love it. ;-) Have you also tried tripe tillyandangel?

Tripe, Scrambled egg. sausages, mince, mash potato, fussy eater food seriously you name it we have tried it. He's such an odd dog, all my others trough their dinner he waits until everyone has finished then starts his has a few bites sits down looks around and guards it, if you remove the other dogs he isn't interested at all, so catch 22 situation.

I feel your pain as I had one of these a couple of years back - most of my Cavs have forced me to go through a short 'eat or starve' tough love period, but only for a few days. Hetty never ate anything with enthusiasm right from being weaned. When we found something, she went off it a few months later. Wainwrights trays were one thing she ate for quite a while, also the insanely expensive Lilly's Kitchen tins. Sometimes she would eat with grated cheese mixed in, sometimes not. She wouldn't even eat if I did give in and try to handfeed her. At her thinnest she was perhaps 2/3 what her ideal weight would be, her ribs and backbone stuck out and I was embarrassed to take her out! If I let the others in I had to hold them back as they were desperate to clean out her bowl, and she just sat there looking at them saying 'you can have it if you want, I don't care'. Finally when she was about 2 years old she started eating Orijen, an extremely expensive dry food, although she would only eat it mixed with minced beef. We buy the cheap frozen mince and cook a few days worth at a time, then reheat the day's portion when mixed with the kibble. She ate that successfully for about 8 or 9 months, and then we very cautiously (just a few grams change every couple of days) persuaded her to eat James Wellbeloved fish & rice which is what all my others happily eat - still mixed with minced beef, but at least it's the same basic food instead of having 3 different sorts of food for 4 dogs (including the senior variant). She actually would eat the plain kibble if it was given as a training reward, but I just didn't have the time every single evening to do so much training as to use up a whole portion of kibble, and she was too clever to fall for me trying to reward one command with 10 pieces of kibble! Fingers crossed, although not thrilled with her meal, she does nearly always get stuck in and eat it steadily, and she looks so much better for it! I hope your little one can find something she will eat too!

TBH I would think your instinct might be right, if she has never thrived and is severely underweight I would not be surprised if this is more than behavioural. Most of the dogs I've heard about who are 'picky' are, as you say, usually a pretty healthy weight or a smidge under but the owners worry.
I don't know what your vet could look for though, with people they can sedate and pass a camera down the gullet I think to at least to check all looks normal between mouth and stomach but I don't know if that would be a viable option for a very small dog?
good luck, hope you get a solution.

Yes there are 'picky' dogs...
'manipulative' dogs
and then there are dogs with severe inappetence , often with a large inherited component in their make up.
Good thing is,many seem to grow out of it but all the tempting with different foods, withholding, starving will not work with these dogs.

> What worries me is that if she stays as thin as this, she might not come through the GA.

That was exactly the same concern I had with Milly, I had a long talk with the vet who reassured me that with modern anaesthetic the risk was minimal, she came through ok and actually bizarrely ate that night and has never stopped - it was almost miraculous :-)

Thanks Chaumsong that was good to hear. I will get an appointment ASAP after Christmas and discuss it all and get her booked in for spaying in February hopefully.

> she had her first season in November

She could have got worse as a result of a phantom. One of my girls almost gives up eating when she is having a phantom and then gradually starts eating again as she returns to normal. I have stopped worrying about it but she is a  normal weight. If she was as small as yours I would be concerned.

Here's a link to the recipe for satain balls. I used it recently and was successful in getting my 14 month old Irish Setter to gain some weight.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Put-weight-on-your-dog-with-satin-balls/

Dawn R.

She might like the F4D salmon or trout mousse. I've got a youngster who isn't bothered about dog food but will eat potatoes, toast with butter, cheese. I'm trying to tough it out but when another dog got fussy I didn't even offer her any food and fed the others in front of her for a couple of days and if she approached the empty bowls for a sniff I picked them up quickly. Luckily she rediscovered her appetite but I never found out why she stopped, she wasn't ill.

Could tube feeding be an option here to get weight on her?