My JRT is such a fussy eater - we're at our wits' end!

 How many treats are you feeding per day? If your feeding a lot, it might be she's not getting hungry enough to eat her meals. Honestly, if she's otherwise acting normally, I would continue with tough love. Definitely speak to your vet if your concerned about malnutrition, but my philosophy always has been that meal times are meal times, and if you don't eat then oh well you'll get another chance at the next meal time. I assume you feed on a routine for the most part? 

 Is she on an eating schedule? The rule of thumb for picky eaters is set it down for 20 min., if shes a no go, pick it up and put away until next meal. Also dogs will not starve themselves. Another thing, if shes refusing to eat no treats.

Yep, same thing as some of us old farts being told we couldn't have dessert unless we finished our dinner.  No eat food, no eat treats.  Simple as that.

A healthy animal will not starve itself simply b/c it doesn't like the food.  There may be a medical or behavioral/psychological problem...or...just offer it to her for a while and tough it out.

I will admit to catering to the puppy I am currently raising.  I've been busy and the time I am home I prefer to be playing with her and training her, not trying to get her to eat.  So, each morning I put some of her kibbles in a plastic container and mix in some water, some pumpkin (breeder gave it to me to firm up poops), and some tiny bits of the organic food roll we use for treats (it has a yummy smell that attracts her to eat).  The kibble absorbs moisture and this all becomes sort of like a soft doggy casserole or stuffing.  This is what I offer her at mealtimes.  Whatever she refuses I put back in the fridge and offer later.  Basically it's her regular food, just softened up and mixed with a small portion of her daily treats (food roll) ration.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has made suggestions and I hope I'm posting this in the right place!

 We are still giving Gemma some treats but only very occasionally, i.e. when she comes back on recall whilst on a walk or when she returns from her walk, but we have cut them down considerably. 

She's STILL not eating!

I will try some of your tips and report back to you but I feel a trip to the vet coming on.

Agreed....no food = no treats!  My Charlie is exactly like this almost everyday.  He'll take a few bites and look at me then walk away.  After about 10 hrs he's usually good and hungry and will eat it.  If he gets treats too early in the morning he won't eat any of his food.  Today for example we went out to Tim Hortons and usually whichever dogs are with will get a treat....a donut was his treat thismorning...plus some of mine.  When we got home and fed them he did his normal and wouldn't eat.  By the time thisevening comes around he'll eat it up.  No treats all day till he eats though.

 Instead of treats, take some kibble with you for recall work and such.  I agree with everyone, tough love.

The other thing, with a small dog,  Gemma may have reached a point where she doesn't need as many calories a day, and has begun to self regulate herself.  At 10 months, she's likely close to full grown no?  With big dogs its later, so I'm not sure.  But at one point, Crusher cut himself back from like 12 cups of food a day to about 4.  It worried me, but he just didn't need the extra calories he did when he was growing.  And it happened almost overnight too.

Could it be that Gemma is more of a *grazer* than an *eater*?  If I took Max's bowl up after 20 minutes he'd never be able to eat.   He tends to take a bite here and there and goes over to the rug and chomp.  It usually takes him over the course of the day to finish off the 1-1/2 cups I but in his bowl in the morning. I don't think I've ever seen him go to his bowl and stand and finish whatever was in there ... unless of course it's some kind of very yummy people food.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Could it be that Gemma is more of a *grazer* than an *eater*?  If I took Max's bowl up after 20 minutes he'd never be able to eat.   He tends to take a bite here and there and goes over to the rug and chomp.  It usually takes him over the course of the day to finish off the 1-1/2 cups I but in his bowl in the morning. I don't think I've ever seen him go to his bowl and stand and finish whatever was in there ... unless of course it's some kind of very yummy people food.

Joyce

Man, Tootsie eats all her food within 2 minutes. If she didn't do this, it would definitely be a red flag that somethings wrong. Joyce, how would you know if Max was feeling icky?

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Could it be that Gemma is more of a *grazer* than an *eater*?  If I took Max's bowl up after 20 minutes he'd never be able to eat.   He tends to take a bite here and there and goes over to the rug and chomp.  It usually takes him over the course of the day to finish off the 1-1/2 cups I but in his bowl in the morning. I don't think I've ever seen him go to his bowl and stand and finish whatever was in there ... unless of course it's some kind of very yummy people food.

Joyce

 Welcome to the forums :)

How much are you feeding Gemma, and how big is she?

My little guy is about 8 pounds, and he gets 1/2-2/3 cup of food daily, broken into two meals. Could it be that you're just feeding Gemma more food than she wants/needs?

When my guy was going through a picky spell, I also switched him to a grain-free food - I used Timberwolf Taste of the Wild and Innova EVO, and he really liked both of them. They smell pretty strong. Another one he really liked was Royal Canin, again because it's very aromatic, but IMO the food is overpriced so we switched off of it quickly ;)

Turns out my dog was a really "picky eater" on foods like Science Diet and Purina (which are very high in grains and low in meat content), but when I switched to a better brand of dog food, his appetite picked up considerably.

He also tends to get tired of certain flavors of food, so I tend to rotate between bags - right now I'm rotating between Wellness Core Ocean, Wellness Core chicken flavor, and Innova Small Bites. He's definitely less excited about his food by the end of the bag, and perks right up when we switch to a new flavor.

 My dog is 13lbs, and eats 1/2 cup a day. that's it. if he doesn't eat, it gets picked up, and we try again in the morning.

I don't give treats unless we're doing some training. routine things don't get treated. If my dog wasn't eating, I would be highly concerned... 

have you checked hsi gums and teeth? it COULD be an issue with the teeth/gums, that is making it painful to eat kibble...

Otherwise, depeding on how much he really is eating (as in a little vs. nothing at all) I would just tough it out... Some dogs are just fussy eaters. Jason often doesn't finish his food. Being stressed, overexercised, underexercised or just plain old having an off day can all be reasons for him to not finish his meals. i just put it back up and offer again at next meal time. no biggie...

 Not Luke, but our other dog is a picky one. She is about the same size as Luke (Luke is a cavalier). If Luke didn't eat for a day, I'd know he was sick. Her on the other hand, we got samples of a few things to see which she would take even a few pieces of, and went with that. She still took a day or two to decide to eat it. She doesn't gobble up her food now even, but is getting better at the whole idea of you better eat now or wait till later. We were able to get her to eat more if Luke was around and eating, or if the cat came by and tried to take her food.

I'd try to get her to eat and not allow the grazing thing. It helps me to know whether something is wrong with my dog. The other week, I switched Luke from Blue Buffalo Wilderness to Wellness Core. I don't actually often bother with the transitioning of the food, and I usually just put some pumpkin in it for a few days. When I stopped putting pumpkin in it, he stopped eating, and his stomach was off for a few days. I gave him some babyfood meat, rice, and pumpkin for two days, and switched him right back to Blue Buffalo, and all is well once again. So, if you made a switch, and things were ok before, that might help.