I have a bmd pup of 5months who is so fussy with food! I've tried everything now. Royal canin, beta, csj, raw feeding and a mix of raw/ kibble. She eats it a few time then half heartedly after that. It's driving me bonkers! I can remember her mum being slightly fussy at this age but not quite like this. When we have a roast I do extra meat and veg for the dogs and she will eat that. Any ideas will be a great help as she really needs to put some weight on.
Many thanks
Sian

I'm sure more knowledgeable people will be along shortly but in the meantime- when you say you are feeding royal canin, csj etc, are you feeding just dry kibble or do you top with tinned? My dogs would rather starve than eat dry kibble. Some are quite happy if you add some hot water, let the kibble soak and cool to release the aromas before putting it down. Mine prefer a little tinned meat  mixed in. I started off with the gravy variety to coat everything but now they all have it with tripe.

Not sure if its right but have always been told never to feed kibble mixed with raw as they ferment in the gut at different rates and are digested differently. If you do want to feed a 50/50 diet, do the raw in the morning and kibble overnight. I feed mainly raw and only kibble incase I need to go away, so its easier for the person looking after them.

How are you feeding? Do you take it away if uneaten or give free access? Try putting food down for 10/15 minutes then take it away and trying again later. But whatever you do, choose a food and stick to it. My recently passed friend had a dog a long time ago who kept refusing food. She started cooking roasts and making gravies which he would happily munch. This went on until she was roasting 3/4 times a week and he continued to refuse kibble because he KNEW she'd give in and give him what he wanted. The vet told her to stop. He'd eatnwhen he was hungry and not starve to death. Dogs are cleverer than we think.

If it goes on for more than a few weeks, perhaps a check up?

It may not be the food, at this age, she will be teething and her poor little gums may be sore, which may be stopping her from eating ;-)

I have been here too.

Usually at around 5-6 months, but I've always put it down to no longer needing as much food to grow, as my dogs are much smaller than a Bernese?  And of course they are starting to get ready to have their first season too, so hormones probably play their part too.   When do you expect her first season?

What I do is reduce the ration, and by 6 months they are on two meals a day anyway.  This works a treat and the pup is soon back to wolfing down her food (less than a week) :-D

The problem with chopping and changing, is that sooner or later you will run out of novel foods.  Then the dog will stop eating which will worry you even more!  

I know, I was that person and the dog refused food for a month!  Saw the vet every week to make sure there was nothing brewing, or that we'd missed, but it really was stubborn determination, by then he was refusing our dinner, the cat's dinner, there really was nothing left he hadn't tried.  In the end I picked a food that I decided was good for him, reduced his ration to the amount he was eating (a few bits, not nearly enough)  and picked it up after 5/10 minutes if he didn't eat it.  After a week, he was having his meals increased slowly and by the end of the next week, he was eating normally.

It's much harder for you as your pup hasn't finished growing, so it may be worth seeing the vet first to make sure that there really is nothing going on.

Thanks for the reply. We have used dry food with a little canned meat added. And have tried raw feeding think she just like to have different things and gets bored which I can understand! Lol I think I'll stick to csj as my other dogs eat this as well and just add different things to it to give her a mix up to keep her interested. She is quite willful as well so think it may be part of her personality trying a bit of one upmanship with me! Little devil!!

I can remember her mum being slightly fussy at this age but not quite like this.

Sadly I have come to the conclusion that fussy eaters can be genetic. Have seen it a few times. The worst I had was a bitch pup that was fussy from the day the pups were weaned, and just got worse and worse. NOTHING worked -and I  feed raw but with her had to try everything. She was getting skinnier and skinnier and not growing due to not eating well enough. Then a friend asked if she could look after her for a while and see if she could get her to eat -my friend being retired and having more time on her hands with just 6 toydogs. Well she started eating there. Gained weight and grew. Then she came back here, and she stopped completely again. In the end I had no other choice but to let my friend have her back and keep her, as she was literally starving herself to death here. :(

I have another bitch from the same sire, and she has been very difficult to get to eat as well, but there I did find a way. It was a case of HAVING to give in (just removing uneaten food etc did NOT work) and giving her a different food every day.  Being a toydog, it was easy of course -I appreciate it would be a LOT harder with a giant breed....... I bought every single can in the supermarket, good or bad quality didn't matter, and she had a different meal every day. It worked. Once she had got used to eating at every meal for a few months, she started eating properly and now she is eating raw at every meal and finishes all her food, every meal. 

My dog started being iffy about her food round about 5-6 months and this is a GR who rarely refuse anything edible. Initially I started putting some warm water into the kibble soaking it for a short time to release the flavours. That only worked for a while, so then I put about a teaspoon of Natures Menu wet food into the kibble with a bit of water and stirred it around with the teaspoon. Gradually I reduced the amount of wet food, but still stirred madly with the teaspoon even when there was no wet food left in there. It fooled her, well GR's are simple souls, and apart from when she had her season, her appetite has remained good, bordering on greedy. In fact I now feed her from the Green dog feeder to slow her down.

> Sadly I have come to the conclusion that fussy eaters can be genetic.

I think I have to agree.
Mine have never been fussy eaters up until my youngest lot(3) who are now 20 months. They have been difficult & fussy from about 5/6 weeks & we have broke all the rules with them. Their sire is totally different breeding than the lines I usually follow & it shows in these pups eating for certain.

Thanks for all the advice and experiences. I've tried the picking food up after 15 mins I have to as I have a greedy lab here as well and her mum who now needs to lose some weight as she has been eating pups left overs!! Life is never easy with dogs is it? Well not if you are trying to do the best for them! Im going to keep her on her csj for a while as my other two dogs have different csj foods. And try out the smaller portion and slowly up it this week see if that works, she does need to put some weight on so fingers crossed this will work. She's still on 3 meals a day at the mo so can make each one smaller, and still get enough food into her.
Thanks again
Sian