Minature Schnauzer Princess

Question
I have the sweetest most well behaved Minature Schnauzer with one except
she is such a picky eater she drives me crazy.  She ate the same dry food her
first 6 months.  Then it happened she was having trouble losing her baby
teeth and cutting teeth. We softened her dry Eukenuba.  She ate it for about a
week then refused.  We bought canned Eukenuba and she ate it for about
three weeks.
Then refused and we tried another canned food and other dry food.  Basically
we change foods about every two weeks until she refuses.  I am running out
of different foods?  One vet says nothing wrong with her she will eat when
she is hurgry.  I can't stand to let her go days without eating.  It drives me
crazy.

Answer
You pretty much nailed it with your heading of "Princess". That dog of yours has you totally wrapped around her little paw. I speak from experience here... as this has happened to me many times over the years... usually when I was showing a young male and he would turn his nose up in the air at his food. Since one cannot show a skinny dog, I did some really ridiculous things to get those dogs to eat.

My first really bad one was finally tempted by mixing (usually) Chicken and Rice Chunky Soup into his food. Left to his own devices, he was satisfied to eat only 1/4 cup of food every day, and he was a good-sized boy. Eventually he outgrew his need for that teaser as he got older.

The second really bad one had me practically standing on my head and whistling the National Anthem to get him to eat. I was pretty much hand-feeding him one piece at a time... IN THE BATHROOM. And he still wasn't eating enough to keep himself in proper weight. Feeding time was an absolute nightmare. One day I took an honest look at the two of us and said, "This is NOT me; what in the HECK am I doing?" The next morning I put his dish of kibble down in front of him, next to the other dogs who were also fed loose. He walked away and I picked up his dish. "See ya!" I said. Same thing the next day.... and then the next. On the fourth day that dog dove into his bowl, and I don't think he ever missed a day of eating after that. Problem solved. In fact, he became rather a bit of a pig in regard to eating and would try to steal from some of the others<G>

So if your dog is in good health and you want to truly solve your problem, that is exactly what you must do. Put the bowl of food down and if the dog walks away, pick it up and do not offer ANYTHING until the next scheduled feeding. Harden your heart; **it is the only thing that will work**.

Schnauzers have a *LOT* of patience and are most skilled at getting their own way. You totally MUST outlast that Princess of yours; it is the only way.

Do make sure that you are feeding a good-quality food such as Eagle, Canidae, Wellness, Solid Gold, or Flint River Ranch. The first ingredient should be a meat or meat meal, and there should be NO by-products in the food. If you can stand the smell of fish, I highly recommend Eagle's Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon Meal Formula. When I have brought it in here on rare occasions, the odor alone drives my dogs into a frenzy.

Karen