[Liz S]

My 1 1/2 year old chihuahua won’t eat anything besides Science Diet Toy Breed Tiny Bites.
I know it’s not the best. But I have tried so many “tiny bite” kibble over the last year. ( I took breaks of course I wasn’t changing her diet every other month. )

The last few months her and my IG have been eating Whole Earth Grain Free Chicken & Turkey ( it’s made by Merrick. ) She has lost weight. I don’t think she’s crazy about the taste and she definitely doesn’t like the large pieces. I started giving her Natures Recipe grain free wet packets at night. She’s barely eating the kibble. I started giving her the wet about 2 weeks ago because she was losing weight and I am a SAHM so I have watched and she hates the kibble.

Anyway tonight I broke down and bought a small bag of the SD toy breed tiny bites. Mixed with the kibble they have now. She immediately started eating. Picked through and ate the SD.

Several months ago we tried Blue Wilderness Chicken ( small bites ) and she wouldn’t eat it. We buy it for our cats though and she got into it and loved it. So I thought, ok I know it’s cat food. But it’s a decent brand so let’s try the same in dog formula. Nope. Wouldn’t eat.

I was in Petco tonight and my head was spinning and my anxiety was just through the roof! I want to try the Wellness… or the CORE? Small Bites? It’s pricey but if her and my IG will eat it and I don’t have to give her wet every night I would be happy because…. it’s much better than SD, right?

My posts always seem to be all over the place ( rambling IMO ) so sorry about that.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Liz:
I like Wellness products; both my dog and cats do very well on both their kibble and canned.

She might be a picky eater, but I wouldn’t be concerned with the kibble she likes. Many picky eaters will not eat anything consistently which in turn affects their health. Knowing she has a food she eats consistently and does well on will gives you an opportunity to look for other foods she might like to add to her menu.

You have listed several kibbles that you have tried and one you are looking at. If I had a picky eater I would reduce the amount of kibble and add a topper to each meal to hopefully entice them to eat other foods. I don’t have a picky eater, but I believe in using a topper for each meal to reduce the amount of kibble I feed and add a more healthy species appropriate food to his diet.

Check out Freshpet; my dog loves this food. It is a cooked food that is refrigerated and sold in plastic wrapped tubes (slice and serve) or pouches (small, soft kibble form). Many pet and grocery store chains carry it. It is rated very well on DFA:
/dog-food-reviews/freshpet-vital-complete-meals/
/dog-food-reviews/vital-dog-food/
/dog-food-reviews/freshpet-select-slice-serve/
/dog-food-reviews/freshpet-select-roasted-meals/

I feed a rotational diet of kibble topped with, commercial freeze dried/dehydrated/frozen raw, canned, or lightly cooked fresh meats for each meal. I change the animal protein, carb source, and brand of kibble every month; toppers every day or two. Rotational feeding also ensures my dog will have no issues switching foods when a dog food recipe inevitably changes; they always do. I can just move onto a food he has done well on in the past if any digestive issues occur. Good luck with your pup!

[Karen T]

Halo makes a Small Breed kibble that my mini poodles like very much. It come in Chicken and Turkey/Duck/Pheasant. I sometimes put just a spoonful of the Halo Spot’s Stew canned food on top if I need for them to eat instead of graze.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by Karen T.

[Mom2Cavs]

I also am feeding Wellness. I’m using Small Breed Core and Small Breed Simple. The kibble is small size. I have one Cavalier that can’t eat larger sized. They also have Toy Breed, which may be even smaller sized, but I don’t believe it’s grain free if that’s desired. I also like Fromm 4Star. Very tasty (at least to the dogs, lol) and small sized. Annamaet is on the small size and they do have a small breed formula (non grain free) now. I always top their kibble with canned food to add variety and more moisture. I usually use Wellness Stews, Simply Nourish, Weruva, Fromm 4Star and also Vital Roasted Meals by Fresh Pet. Sometimes they just get a meal of Vital. I’ve never fed Science Diet and probably never will, but if it is truly all your little dog will eat then go ahead and feed it. Ultimately it’s your decision and your dog and we all have to do what we think is best for them.

[Dori]

Liz S. Have you tried Nature’s Logic. The kibbles are really tiny and I remember my dogs (all three) really liked it when I was feeding kibble. Another food they really liked was Brothers Complete. The kibble size of the Brothers is not small but my three toy dogs had no problem whatsoever eating them. Good Luck!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 7 months ago by Dori.

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