My Dog will Only Eat People Food!
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My 10-year-old dog has suddenly stopped eating her own food, but she’ll eat anything I have on my plate and immediately consumed half a boiled chicken I prepared for her the other day. Could she just not be interested in her dog food after six years?
- Adam
We would recommend a trip to the veterinarian for an examination, Adam. If the sudden change in your dog's eating is caused by a medical condition, your vet should be able to diagnose and treat any underlying issues that may be causing this new behavior.
If there is no medical cause, your dog may just be a finicky eater, which can happen when pets are too often given people food. In that case, it will be necessary for you to transition her to a high-quality commercial dog food—boiled chicken and table scraps alone will not provided the nutrition necessary to keep her fit and healthy as she grows older.
You’ll want to make the change gradually, over five to seven days or longer. This will help ensure that she continues to eat her food and that the change does not upset her digestive system. Start by adding a very small amount of new food to the food she's currently eating. Then over the next several days or weeks, slowly increase the amount of new food while decreasing the amount of old food.
Finicky pets may find canned food more palatable, so you may consider purchasing a high-quality nutritionally complete canned food for your dog. This kind of product is often more appetizing to pets and can be fed either alone or mixed with dry food. In addition, there are gravy-like products made specifically to increase the palatability of a pet’s diet, which can be added to dry food.
You’ll find more information about feeding older dogs in our Top 10 Tips for Feeding Older Dogs.