My puppy is a picky eater. Any ideas?

Question

We keep our dog food in the kitchen pantry, always shut the door and never feed our dogs directly from the bag (i.e. grab a few pieces and give them the food), yet my puppy is constantly trying to break into the pantry and get to the food. There is always food in her bowl that is changed twice daily and it is the exact same food that's in there, what can I do to make her understand this and stop. My mom has shut her in the pantry more than once because she is very small and very quick, and i don't want her to get hurt. Also, I just got my wisdom teeth out and am out of commission for the next few days, so answers for my mom would be much appreciated as she is watching the dog.

Answer 1

That means it dont like the food; I had the same happen to me.

Now it like puppy chow:)

Answer 2

Mabye there is something else that she smells that she wants to get.

Answer 3

No snacks between meals. Give 1/2 cup food morning and night or the equivalent for the dog's size.  It's definitely going for the other stuff it smells in the pantry. Maybe dry cat food or the trash. I had a dog who would eat bathroom trash stuff so I just had to elevate it and hang a trash bag on a hook behind the door. I also compost all veggie matter and I recycle so the small amount of meat scraps, tin lids, sloppy stuff I put into a tupperware container on the sink with a pretty blue trash bag liner.   I tie it up and dispose of it when it's full.  Or I freeze it if it's hot weather and a few days before the trash pick up day. Having a puppy is like having a child in a way. There are things you do to make life easier for yourself and safer for the dog/child. Also give dry food, that way you won't have to throw any food away. Just refresh it at night

Answer 4

show her the bag let her smell the food in the bag then make sure shes watching and pour the bag of puppy food into her dish and she might eat hope that helps ! =]]

Answer 5

I have a Shiba Inu who is also very picky with his food. First thing to do is not leave food out for her. I also did that with my Shiba at first and it made things worse because he felt that he could have food whenever he wanted, so he just kept holding out for the good stuff.

Another thing you can do is to use sound aversion. Everytime she goes near the pantry door, bang some pots or shake a can filled with some pennies. This will startle her and make her move away. You just want to make sure that she does not see you doing this because you want her to associate this sound with her being near the pantry rather than with you. You can also buy pressure sensor pads that will do this automatically for you. Otherwise I would crate her or keep her in a room away from the pantry when you are not around to supervise.

Some things you can try to make her food more interesting:

1. Add some bits of cheese or bacon bits into his kibble.

2. Add some water to the kibble to bring out the flavor.

3. Mix a bit of wet food into the kibble.

4. Get some dog food gravy to put on his kibble.

Here is some information on different dog diets:

http://hubpages.com/hub/What-to-Feed-You...

Answer 6

Maybe it's not the food - you do store other stuff in the pantry, right? Maybe she wants something else? Every time she goes for the pantry, i would just spritz her with a little water. Eventually she'll stop.