Very picky eater malinois cross

[ash160808]

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Hi all so i have a female belgian malinois cross. She's 16 months and has been picky with food since we got her as her pup. She seems to start being picky after she is on heat. I saw a vet early this year after she was on heat and became picky with her food and he recommend a brand of kibble and for weeks she ate it all and was brilliant. Then a month or more ago she started a phantom pregnancy so the vet gave her medicine until she could be spayed. She was spayed about 10 days ago. So she hasn't had much exercise while she recovers. She is still very picky, she will eat kibble sort of if I hand feed her and then she just picks. She has recovered from being spayed very quick and very well. I wonder if its related with her hormones while she goes if food. Like I come home from work today and she didnt eat much of her morning meal and I have encouraged her and she has had it all. I just dont want her to loose weight and not eat.
Any advice would be great

 

[JoanneF]

There's two schools of thought on picky eaters. One is that a healthy dog will not starve herself so you pick up the food after 10 minutes and only put it down at the next mealtime. But personally, maybe I'm soft but I prefer my dog to enjoy his food rather than just eat to survive, so I favour the other approach of finding something my dog enjoys.

Have you tried different types of food, wet, dry, raw? Would she eat better from a puzzle toy? Although, that approach doesn't work for all dogs, some don't want to have to work for their food and if that's the case, that's fair; I don't think a basic right to food should be conditional on having to do that.

What foods have you used so far? Maybe she likes variety, have you tried swapping between several foods?

 

[JudyN]

Could the warm weather also be affecting her appetite?