# Gunther is super picky!!



## Nora (Feb 1, 2015)

My adopted chi Gunther is starting to really come out of his shell and likes to play a little game called: 2 weeks. This mean that he will eat a brand of food for two weeks and then slowly go on a hunger strike until he absolutely refuses to eat! Have you guys had similar struggles with a picky chi?

Let me tell you the whole saga: First he was on Royal Canin (the rescue centre gave us this food) and then he slowly stopped eating it which was ok because I wanted to start feeding him Acana and Orijen freeze dried. Then I got him onto Acana and the Orijen which he loved, until I made the fatal mistake of giving him the Acana Fish flavour. No turning back from there. He now refuses to eat any Acana Flavour :foxes15: . He loved Orijen but my supplier here in the Netherlands finished his stock so I got him onto Ziwipeak Lamb instead. For 2 weeks he would dance around me when I opened the bag and would eat the whole lot in just a few seconds! But now he is slowly going on a hunger strike again. First it starts with him not eating his whole portion and now he just leaves the food in his bowl and won't go near it. 

I know that he's hungry because sometimes I can hear his stomach rumbling and he always loves his treats. I don't know what to do now. At first I thought it was a problem with his bad teeth and gums that maybe were too inflamed for him to chew on hard food, but Ziwipeak isn't very hard and he still enjoys his dental treats. Do you guys have any suggestions? Should he have more variety in flavour? Or a dry meal in the morning and a moist meal in the evening? Any tip is welcome! If this continues I'm going straight to the vet on Monday!


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Al dogs like variety, and Chis more so than other breeds. i don't blame him for not wanting to eat the same thing at every meal for weeks on end.
I would give him more variety, really switch things up at every meal so he never knows what he is going to get.
You can freeze ZiwiPeak and canned foods, so you won't have to worry about waste. If you freeze wet foods in ice cube trays they are easy to defrost too.


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## Nora (Feb 1, 2015)

Thanks for the tip! Before Ziwipeak I was giving him a varied diet and was rotating different Acana flavours which he loved. But as I said, since I fed him the fish variety just to see if he would like it, he now refuses to eat any type of Acana. And now he is doing the same with Ziwipeak. I guess I'll try and buy some different flavours and try and surprise him with different meals every day! Really hope it works because he's so skinny!


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## chiwaamummy<3 (May 23, 2015)

I agree with wicked rotating healthy dog foods with quality meats is your best option. Though you have been! I remember my first chi as a pup was the same. Sometimes it might help to occasionaly home make foods also like casseroles or mince and lightly half-cook or pan fry, though dogs do have really exact nutrient requirements in percentages so I would recommend keeping with the quality dog foods you have already. I was also recommended by my breeder different meat rolls (home made or butcher kinds). But to avoid onions and garlic.


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