How To Coax Your Finicky Dog To Eat His Kibbles? – 2

Getting finicky dogs to eat their plain kibbles is like getting a child to like her mouth checked by the dentist. Finicky dogs are smart individuals; they know how to push your limit into giving in. Not to rub it in, but getting your dogs to like eating his kibbles is quite easy if you think two steps ahead and outside-the-kibble.

Now that we have got the fundamental requirements and rules iron out, the next thing is getting you to the presentation and preparation of your dog’s meal.

Basic Rules To Feeding and Cooking For Your Finicky Dog

Meat to Kibbles Ratio: How much meat should be added to the kibbles depends how picky your dog is. You could start with 1/4 to 3/4 ratio and slowly work the way up to 1/3 of meat to 2/3 of kibbles when your dog doesn’t buy into your scheme anymore, however, avoid going up to the 50:50 ratio. If you really must, do it very sparingly. Once you start giving in too often, sooner or later your dog wants nothing to do with kibbles. You either have to cook homemade meals daily or switch to BARF diet.

Pick One: Unless you have all the time in the world to create different recipe for your dog daily, then this advice may not be your fancy. Having said, I strongly advise you stick with one main meat. More varieties, more work for you, hence more finicky your dog will be. It’s a vicious cycle. As you see later in the following post, my main meat is either chicken or fish as they are easily accessible to me and very economical. So decide which main meat is the most comfortable budget for you to lavish your dog, but mostly important he must love it!

No More Than Three: Ideally, one meat and one vegetable! Dog don’t have exquisite palate like we have so avoid introducing too many meat and taste in one meal. Doing so will only result in more finicky behavior in turn jeopardizing your time and effort.

Keep It Fresh: If you have the time and effort, cook daily. If not, cook no more than two-day meals. Overnight foods lack freshness and aroma even when you heat them up well. Less fussy or not-at-all fussy dogs can gobble them up in no time but finicky dogs like their meals “fresh-out-of-the-oven.” The strong aroma that emitted during cooking tantalizes their appetite; as you know digestion begins from smell.

• Storage: This is very much personal preference but I shall say it anyway. I don’t fancy storing leftover in plastic ware (i.e. Tupperware); even if I let it cool completely before the transfer. If you decide to cook for two-day meal, please put the leftover in an aluminum or porcelain container and have it properly covered up before putting in the fridge. You don’t want other food smell travel into your dog’s food.
• Heating It Up: I donated my microwave almost four years ago, and I never regretted a moment of it.  Yes, it’s about personal preference again, however, for health and nutritional reasons, try using the old-fashion way of heating up—steam or reheat through pot.

Supplementation: If your dog loves his daily supplement (especially those tablets form) like he loves his treats, then this can be an easy remedy. Instead of giving him the tablet as it is, crash them and sprinkle onto the kibble-and-meat meal. I’ve written extensively on the importance of supplementing our dogs, here are some of them:

• Dog Supplements: The Importance of Giving Supplements To Our Dogs
• Dog Supplements: Fat-soluble Vitamins
• Dog Supplements: Water-soluble Vitamins
• Dog Supplements: Minerals – Macrominerals
• Dog Supplements: Minerals – Microminerals

This is a rather short post but what’s next is just as long as the first post of this series. The next post is where I revealed my secret ammunition to coaxing finicky dogs to eat their kibbles. Keep your eyes peeled!