Hi, My new puppy chihuahua x jack russell has an annoying fussy streak. I dont think he eats enough. He'll eat food that i eat, like scrambled egg, rice and a little mash and gravy but he dosn't eat his biscuits with such enthusiasm. I give him set mealtimes and he looks hungry at first but when he realises theres just biscuits in his bowl he eats a few and gets bored. He's beginning to look rather thin Maybe should I try him on a meaty wet food for puppies?

[CorkyMax]

Originally Posted by Hannah_and_Paolo

Hi, My new puppy chihuahua x jack russell has an annoying fussy streak. I dont think he eats enough. He'll eat food that i eat, like scrambled egg, rice and a little mash and gravy but he dosn't eat his biscuits with such enthusiasm. I give him set mealtimes and he looks hungry at first but when he realises theres just biscuits in his bowl he eats a few and gets bored. He's beginning to look rather thin Maybe should I try him on a meaty wet food for puppies?

I think the problem might be that you are feeding him 'good' human food (either as a meal sometimes or just when you are eating it yourself, giving him bits and pieces of what you are eating at the time---either way, I'm sure he prefers the people food. I say this with mixed emotions as I hate commercial dog food and feed my 2 dogs a raw food diet which is 'human-grade' food. My dogs use to get a home-cooked meal but a couple years ago I switched to raw feeding, although they still get a few cooked meals--like oatmeal as the base with egg, or bits of whatever meat I have at the time, a little yogurt or a couple Tbsp. cottage cheese added in--you get the picture.
The mixed emotions come in to play here because your puppy is a puppy and when I started out with my dogs as pups--I did feed them dry puppy food
(commercial--and not a very good one at that). I would never do it again as I have learned a lot since then (My dogs are now 10 and 11). You are young and just starting out on your learning experience with a new puppy and for me to suggest feeding either a home-cooked meal or a raw diet would worry me because it took me a long time to learn all the things 'out there' that a person should know--too long for me to go into now. This suggestion goes against my liking-----(and being as I started out with commercial dog food when they were pups---not sure how I would begin to feed the raw or cooked when they were that young----I'd have to do a little more research.)
I suggest you stop giving any people food at all and for the time being find a good puppy chow---members have suggested some kinds here. And if you would like to know about raw feeding (or home-cooked), get on the computer and check out and learn how to do a 'balanced' diet-raw or cooked. I have given quite a few web addresses in some of my posts (go to my profile page and click on "find all posts by me or also go into the list of forums and find Dog Health and Nutrition----the addresses will be highlighted in blue--just click on them and will take you to them. You can also put words like: dogs/raw feeding, puppies/home cooked diet or puppies/raw food diet, etc. in your browser. I would learn all I could and meanwhile feed the GOOD puppy food and by the time the puppy is a little older and you have learned enough, you could switch to a raw diet or home-cooked if you were interested in doing so. My final suggestion: If you want the pup to eat--Do not feed both--people food and dog food. As he is prob. not going to stop being 'picky' until he finds out he is not going to get people food anymore--you should stick to your guns and not give even one tiny piece--I would not give any doggie treats either until he gets use to the puppy food---GET A GOOD ONE WITH PROPER NUTRITION--One that is appetizing to him. I'm sure there are more members in here that can help you out on a good commercial puppy food---Stay away from grocery store dog foods and vet selling dog food! Hope this helps!

Came back to say: Don't be eating at same time you feed the pup--no smells of human food---no cooking for you either till he has been given his meal. If he doesn't eat in a set amount of time---no more than 1/2 hr. or so---Take food away and he'll have to wait until his next mealtime to get any more.

If you want to, you can feed him human food but it's better to feed him dog food.
Try making him eat dog food and nothing else for a whole day and if that didn't work then try to preted thatyou are eating dog food or let him see other dogs eating it so he would do like them.

I suggest you should have your dog some other meal..
He looks kinda bored with his diet that's why he seems to be quite picky.

The problem isn't the type of dog food, but that he thinks he has a menu, which in his mind is a matter of rejecting his kibble and some time later in the day getting the mashed potatoes and gravy he's after. No dog food is going to meet the taste of good old table scraps, so you're going to run into the problem whether you use kibble or wet.

My advice is to keep your dog hungry most of the day, and only provide him an opportunity for a real mouthful with what you want him to be eating. You can certainly give him scraps. But give him a taste and a taste only. Never let him get the idea that that stuff will actually satisfy his hunger to any degree. As long as the dog is a healthy dog, he will eventually eat what's put down for him.

One other thing is when he sits by you begging while you're having your meal to stand up and walk into him, backing him away from your table. This tells him he has no chance of begging his way to a tastier meal. Dogs need clear and simple messages.