Dog Information

How do I get my dog to eat hard food?

My dog is a dachshund and he is a 3 year old. He never eats the hard dog food I put for him unless I feed it to him. He's getting a little skinny so I don't know what to do. How can I get my dog to eat his food?

Public Comments

1. mix it in with his wet food
2. First, make sure you're feeding a quality kibble like Artemis, Canidae, Innova or Wellness. Second, don't feed your dog ANYTHING else. Your dog won't starve -- but he may try to trick you so you give in. My dog skipped almost 3 days of meals (morning and night) before finally giving in and eating her kibble (she was being fed table scraps exclusively by the people who rescued her from the street). I offered her a bowl of kibble twice daily, once in the morning and once at night. Left the bowl down for 15 minutes each time, if she didn't eat, the bowl came up - try again at dinner. Repeat. The 6th time she ate, and has not skipped a meal since. You just have to be consistent. It's easier for us to give in to our human sympathies... but the dog instinctively will not starve itself. Stay strong.
3. pour a little water on it
4. If you mean hard food as in dry food, then you can mix some kind of food that he likes in with it and gradually ween him off of it. OR, you can mix it with a little bit of water and the gravy it creates is usaully appetizing for them.
5. Quit feeding him the soft stuff or anything else. By offering him the choice you are pandering to him. No hound will starve to death with food in their bowl. Best to break him of it now. A steady diet of soft food leads to nasty dental problems. Feed a good quality food.
6. Mix a little chicken baby food in. Then gradually decrease it until he is eating the food. Also, make sure you're using a good hard food. I like Natural Balance -- all my dachsies love it.