Does your dog turn their nose up at some foods such as offal and veggies?

It's crazy frustrating when your dog doesn't appreciate the effort you go to when you're trying to feed them a healthy fresh food diet!

The most commonly refused ingredients are offal and veggies. Offal is an acquired taste and if all you've ever eaten before is bland highly processed foods, it's going to take some time to to get used to it if they're not the greedy type of dog who will eat everything in their way!

What we need to do is put the effort in to get them used it and I have a method that is 100% guaranteed but many pet parents don't like the labour involved so don't do it...

Step 1: Blend it, this way it cannot be picked out
Step 2: Mix it in well into your meat or whatever the base of your diet is.

If these 2 steps alone do not working then proceed to step 3...

Step 3: Only mix into a meal an amount that is not offensive to the dog, this may be something as small as the head of a needle...if you need to go that small then so be it, and then gradually increase from there. If your dog refuses the inclusion in such a small amount then we recommend you refer to the fussy dog file.

Here I am trying to get a 10-year-old foster dog off processed foods and onto fresh food but so far he has refused, he seems to have a real texture aversion. So, I have gone to Prime100 cooked roll, I add in a very small piece and hope he will eat it when he's eating the other air and freeze-dried foods.

And there it is at the bottom of the bowl....the little bastard. So, the next time I have go smaller and smoosh it up with my fingers to make it into crumbs and then mix it in.

With his process, you have to be prepared to keep going smaller until it's consumed and then stay at that point for a few days or even a week and then very slowly increase.

Using this method means you're not wasting food!

If you've been trying this method for at least a week and the dog is still giving you the finger then we may need to employ some tough love...

Put the food down and walk away
Give the dog 15 minutes to eat
Come back after 15 minutes, say nothing, and take the food away
Offer this food at their next meal, no earlier
Rinse, repeat

Healthy adult dogs can safely go 3 days without a meal even though this will be emotionally tough on you. If your dog is still refusing at 3 days, call your Vet and ask if they're comfortable with you going 1-2 more days which even the toughest dog will typically cave at. Whilst this is super harsh on the pet parent, if you get this out of the way then you probably will never have to deal with these issues again. Small dogs should get the ok from their Vets when you are considering fasting as some have issues with blood sugar drops.

Puppies - we're generally ok with 1-2 days but no more, they need nutrients to grow but that doesn't mean they should be pandered to either. It would be quite unusual if your puppy got to 2 days without eating.

Always consult your Vet for more assistance. You'll probably need to consult with one who is supportive of fresh food feeding otherwise they're likely to tell you to just give the dog kibble. Bentons Road Vet Clinic in Melbourne does distance phone consults and this can be a great option for support.

Other tips you can try:

Frozen offal can surprisingly work!
Cooking the offal could be an option
With veggies, use 20% sweet fruits like mango and berries etc.
Serve warmed up, dogs prefer warm foods which probably relates to how their ancestors consumed food
Blend Veggies
Cook in butter