5 Foods That Are Best for Fussy Dogs

All of us who have a furry friend know for a fact how their behaviour gets affected by mood or the time of the day, just like us. This is why it’s important to feed them food that is healthy and ideal for them.

A hungry pet who won’t eat is every pet owner’s worst nightmare come true. On one hand you’re worried for them, on the other you’re frustrated at their stubbornness.

I know you care a lot about your pet and wouldn’t feed it something knowing that it would cause harm but the fact of the matter is that most dogs with picky eating habits are used to “luxurious” food items such as table scraps that they receive at the end of our meal.

Here are a few strategies that involve trying different types of food and understanding the difference so that the next time you pick up something to feed your friend, you’d be reassured knowing that they’d love it.

Human grade dog food for the spoilt friend 

Given that most of us feed table scraps to our pets, it’s not strange for them to develop a taste for it. Once your pet develops a liking for food that we eat, it will be very tough for them to look at that bowl of dog food with the same excitement.

An alternative to feeding them something that they’d consider bland or not worthy of their palate could be the perfect substitute.

The next time you’re in the supermarket look for dog food that’s using human-grade food materials or simply put, food ingredients that are fit for human consumption. Such delicacies are bound to reduce their dislike for dog food.

Cucumbers, carrots and everything veggie

Our paw buddies aren’t able to tell you verbally whether they’d prefer a veggies based diet or a meat-based diet or a blend of both. We just try to figure that out as we try giving them a little bit of everything in the hopes that they’d eventually love something.

My friend had been facing the same issue which is when they tried offering cucumbers and other salad grade food which their pet devoured and since then, in addition to the regular dog food, some form of salad is always given to ensure that they get that extra hit of fresh veggies while getting the nutrition that’s needed.

The basic point, experiment with fresh food and see how they respond to it.

Natural ingredient based diet

With ingredients being the main focus of our discussion, I’d be remiss to not add another factor. How much of your dog’s food is based on natural ingredients and how much of it isn’t.

If you read the ingredients section of any packaging you’d find yourself as surprised as I was the first time I read the backside of one of those packages. Barring the basic raw material, there is no relevant information like where was it sourced from, how long was the raw material processed for or what form of processing was undertaken to obtain the final product.

It’s easier to do that in a supermarket, how do you manage to do it with online pet stores? The best place to start would be by reading product reviews or the list of ingredients and where you find them.

You could begin your journey from here to understand what to look for when you’re buying pet food online.

Avoid corn

A corn-based diet is healthy for humans but when it comes to dogs, feeding them corn won’t be doing their digestive system any favours.

If you’ve noticed your dog’s eating behaviour change after being introduced to new dog food, you’d want to check the list of ingredients to be sure.

It’s also possible that the dog food that you’ve been serving them all along has made changes to its ingredients, so be sure to look out for that as well.

Go easy on the treats

Another proven fact is that dogs who get habitual to eating treats often develop a flawed eating habit which prevents them from looking at their designated meals with as much gusto as they’d eye a treat.

Try regulating the treats and you’d notice a world of a difference when it comes to eating that same “bland” food regularly.

Dogs are dear friends and need to be treated with love, but too much of anything is never a good idea which is why, if you truly do care about your pet you’d be a little stern with them every once in a while.

If you’d like to understand more about what causes a change in the eating habits of your pet, read this article wherein  Lousie Murray, a doctor of veterinary medicine explains the various factors affecting a pet’s behaviour.

Conclusion

The basic takeaway from this article should be that love can not always be gentle, it needs to be stern as well, to help your paw friend develop good eating habits. The other main thing to look out for is which ingredient suits your pet and what doesn’t. I hope you find what you’re looking for as does your pet.