Help With Fussy Eater

[fruitsalad]

My dog is 4 years old, I am pulling my hair out as to what give him to eat, I have tried the best mincemeat, cooked chicken, tinned foods, dry foods, sometimes he will go 2 or 3 days without eating, but my question is can I give him a raw egg and milk or similar when he's refusing to eat, he would eat treats all day long if I allowed it.

[woofgang]

what does your vet say? is he losing weight?

[Vagus]

If it was me..and I’m not an expert, just a dog owner.. I’d cut out all treats completely, split his daily food allowance into two, put half down in the morning and leave it there for half an hour. If he doesn’t eat it after 30 minutes remove it. Put the second half down at teatime, leave it down for 30 minutes and again, remove it if he doesn’t eat it. I’d do that for three or four days, maybe a bit longer.
Dogs rarely starve themselves to death, if he’s hungry he’ll eat.
We were over using treats to train our dog meaning he needed tempting to eat his meals, and subsequently put on weight. On the vets advice we stopped all but a very few treats and cut his (dried) food by a third.
He now relishes his meals and has lost 3 kilos.

[dannyk13]

Every dog I have owned has found Butcher's tripe irresistable.
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/search?query=butchers%20tripe&icid=tescohp_sws-1_m-ft_in-butchers%20tripe_ab-226-b_out-butchers%20tripe

[andy-hughes]

Is it possible your dog is eating elsewhere?

As advised, a hungry dog will eat - they are not 'fussy', that is a human trait put on them by anthropomorphising owners.

The advice about putting his food down and timing it is a good one, if he is hungry he will eat it when it's there, if it not, and he's not eating something else somewhere else, he will be hungry the next time food is there.

Scientists advise that, unlike us, animals think about food when they are hungry, and forget about it when they are not, they are not 'fussy', they are either hungry enough to eat, or not.

All you have to do is educate him into eating regularly, and educate yourself into not worrying about this too much.

He is a dog, he won't go hungry, it's not in his nature.

[ToraToraTora]

you have to be strict, he'll eat when he gets hungry enough.

[Zacs-Master]

Ours is being a bit strange with his eating lately. He’ll sometimes eat a full bowl straight away and other times he’ll take all day over it. He’s fine within himself so we’re not worried. I don’t think the hot weather helps.

[ToraToraTora]

I've got 2 JRs one will eat anything no questions asked the other one is very fussy but we don't play his game, food is there when he gets hungry enough he eats.

[ladybirder]

If you're still looking in FS, please read the advice I got on here with the same problem.
https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Animals-and-Nature/Pets/Question1754782.html