Helping a Finicky Dog Transition to a Raw Diet

If you’re convinced your dog won’t eat raw food because he or she is just too finicky, you’re not alone. Here’s a comment from a real customer who had labeled her Pug, Duke, “a serial selective eater.”  She wrote:

“When we mixed Darwin’s into Duke’s food for the first time, he just stared at it like it wasn’t even food.  Now Duke loves his new food so much he cries like a baby when we take the Darwin’s container out of the fridge.  He inhales it like he’s been fed this by mistake and any second we’re going to take it away.”

Like humans, all dogs are different. Your dog may never inhale its food like good old Duke.  However if you’d like to give raw food a try (and we hope you do) we’ve compiled a few tips to help transition your dog to a raw diet.

Five easy steps for easing raw food into your dog’s diet:

1. Mix in a little bit of raw with their regular food (dry or wet).
2. Leave the room. Sticking around to cajole or persuade only makes it more stressful for both you and your dog.
3. Wait about 15 minutes.  If the food is still untouched, stick it in the fridge until the next meal.
4. Don’t feed your dog anything until the next meal.
5. If it happens again, repeat the process the next day with fresh food.  Don’t worry – it’s perfectly all right for a healthy dog to miss a meal or two (in fact some might benefit from it!).

Some of you may already have your dog a raw diet without any transition issues. However, sometimes we hear from customers that their dog will stop eating raw food after a few months. From our experience, these tend to be dogs who once ate kibble or canned food for the majority of their life. For those of you who have experienced this, here are a few tips to get your reluctant eater back on a raw diet.

Five easy steps to reintroduce raw food back into your dog’s diet:

1. Temporarily place your dog back on food they originally ate prior to a raw diet.
2. Keep them on this diet for about 2 weeks.
3. After 2 weeks, slowly add back a little bit of raw with their original food.
4. Observe to see if your dog begins to eat their raw food portions.
5. Each day, add a little more to their bowl until they are 100% back on a raw diet!

Many dogs are uncomfortable with change (especially finicky ones), so take it slow and be patient.

TIP: Occasionally add some superfoods like eggs, salmon, oysters or sardines.  It’s great for them and will make them even more interested in their new food.