Have you ever excitedly filled your dog’s food bowl with a new diet just to watch them turn away without even trying a bite? It’s a frustrating routine, especially if you’ve spent time and money trying to find a food that will appeal to your picky pooch.
There are a number of reasons a dog may not eat. If you can solve the underlying issue, then you can often return your pup to the voracious eaters canines are supposed to be.
But what if there isn’t anything wrong with your dog and they just happen to prefer other pleasures in life overeating? Finding a tasty diet that will appeal to your dog’s instinctual drives can help.
Keep reading to see our list of the best dog foods for picky eaters.
Best Dog Foods for Picky Eaters
- Best Overall: Ziwi Peak Air Dried Food
- Runner Up: Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Dinners
- Best Canned Food: Nutro Wild Frontier Canned Food
- Best Ingredient: Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Canned Food
- Best Dry Food: Crave Adult Dry Food
Ziwi Peak Air Dried Food
Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Dinners
Nutro Wild Frontier Canned Food
Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Canned Food
Crave Adult Dry Food
Reviews of The Best Dog Foods for Picky Eaters
#1. Ziwi Peak Air Dried Food
Best Overal
Contains tripe for an attractive odor
96% animal ingredients
High in protein and fat
Expensive
When it comes to foods with high levels of animal ingredients, tasty fats, and strong, appeasing odors, you won’t find better than Ziwi Peak’s air-dried dog food. This diet is number one on our list of best dog foods for picky dogs not only for its highly-palatable taste and enticing aromas but also for its quality ingredients to keep your pup in peak condition.
This food comes in six great flavors, but it’s the tripe and lamb recipe we guarantee your picky eater will love.
When it comes to ingredients with a particularly ripe smell that your dog can’t deny, tripe easily tops the list. This ingredient is made from the stomach lining of cows and has a strong odor you would expect from the digestive tract of a particularly stinky animal.
In addition to a scent that will attract your picky eater to the bowl, this food is made with 96% fresh meat, organs, bones and green mussels. That’s a lot of meat and fat to love!
Best of all, this food is air-dried, a processing technique that leaves many of the nutrients and their associated smells, intact. This means an attractive and tasty meal for your dog with nutrient-dense pieces to help them thrive.
All that quality does come at a price. This food is priced at the high end of the spectrum, but well worth it for any dog owner desperate to get their picky pooch eating consistently.
#2. Stella & Chewy Freeze Dried Dinners
Runner Up
Freeze-dried to retain taste and smell
Patties with an appealing texture
High protein, high fat
Expensive
Must add water before feeding
Even if you provide tasty, odorous dog food, many dogs will balk at anything that resembles traditional kibble. Our second choice of food is meant for those kinds of picky eaters.
Stella & Chewy’s freeze-dried diet is perfect for dogs who hate the texture of kibble because it is made with airy, dried patties that are mixed with water to serve. Not only is this food softer than traditional kibble, but it retains much more of the scent and flavor of the natural ingredients.
Like our first choice food, this one comes in multiple flavors, but we especially like the beef recipe for picky dogs as it contains smelly, rich ingredients like liver and tripe.
This is also one of the best tasting dog foods because of the high animal ingredients and added fruits for a touch of sweetness. The first six ingredients are various beef meats, organs, and bones and the recipe also contains cranberries, beets, and blueberries for pups with a sweet tooth.
All told, this formula contains 95% animal ingredients. And because it’s freeze-dried, most of the nutrients remain intact and bioavailable to your pup, which will keep them happy and healthy for the long term.
This food is slightly more expensive than Ziwi’s Peak, but an excellent choice for owners who want a food that won’t just entice their dog to eat, but also help them maintain exceptional health.
#3. Nutro Wild Frontier Canned Food
Best Canned Food
High in animal ingredients
Gravy for added palatability
High protein
Higher price
Added starch
Many picky eaters find canned diets more appealing because of their heavy odor and squishy texture. Our number three pick is the best of the best canned dog foods for picky eaters for its ultra-high meat content.
Like all our choices so far, Nutro’s Wild Frontier canned food comes in a variety of flavors, so you are sure to find one your dog loves. We do recommend the salmon and liver for the pickiest of eaters for its strong scent and unique flavor.
This food gets almost all of its protein content from animal ingredients like salmon, chicken, liver, and eggs. This means an extra helping of protein and fat to entice your picky pup.
Beyond the quality meat ingredients, this food also contains dried tomatoes and broths for an extra taste explosion. The broth also gives this food the consistency of a gravy, which many dogs prefer over traditional congealed style wet foods.
Like all quality canned diets, this food will cost you more to feed by itself than many quality dry diets. This food, in particular, is higher on the price spectrum.
#4. Wellness Simple Limited Ingredient Canned Food
Best Ingredient
Limited ingredient to avoid stomach upset
Multiple protein varieties
Higher fat
Lower protein
Contains some filler ingredients
Higher price
Another great canned diet we had to include on our list is Wellness’ Simple limited ingredient wet food.
Many dogs avoid certain foods because they contain ingredients that upset their stomach or make them itch. With this food, you get the benefits of a palatable wet food diet along with a short ingredients list that makes avoiding allergens much easier.
This food is available in four flavors: duck, lamb, turkey, and whitefish. The duck and lamb formulas include oatmeal, while the whitefish and turkey flavors are grain free.
If your dog is a picky eater and sensitive to grains, we recommend the whitefish recipe for its appeasing fishy odor and allergy friendly ingredients.
This food does not contain as much protein as our number three choice but does contain more fat which many dogs are more attracted to anyway.
As a limited ingredient diet, this food is priced higher despite less protein and will cost you slightly more than the Nutro wet food.
#5. Crave Adult Dry Food
Best Dry Food
Affordable
High protein and fat
Added fish for appeasing odor and taste
High in plant-derived protein
Less palatable kibble form
No sweet fruits added
If you’re looking for a traditional dry food that your dog will actually eat and fits into your budget, then Crave’s adult dog food is a great choice for you.
This food also comes in a variety of flavors, but we consider their salmon and ocean fish recipe one of the best dry dog foods for picky eaters because it has the strongest odor and a high-fat taste dogs love.
This food is protein packed and contains animal ingredients like salmon, chicken, lamb, and fish meal. These meats add to the overall levels of protein and fat and make even these traditional kibbles more palatable.
And, because this food is grain free, sensitive dogs are more likely to do well on it.
Unlike some of our other choices, this food focuses on savory ingredients and does not contain any sweet fruits or vegetables. If your dog has a bit of a thing for sugar, another food on this list might be a better choice.
But if your dog is all about the meat, you’re not going to find a higher protein food at this price point. In fact, this is by far the most affordable food on our list.
What Can Cause a Dog Not to Eat?
Has your dog suddenly stopped eating or is less interested in food than they used to be? This can be a sign that something more serious is going on.
Dogs that once ate like champs who suddenly turn their muzzle up at the food bowl are likely experiencing health or dental problems. If your dog’s appetite does not return within a couple of days or they start showing other symptoms, it is best to get them to your vet right away.
Sometimes “anorexia,” or refusal to eat, is prompted by stomach upset caused by a snack of rich human food or a passing virus. Vomiting and diarrhea often occur when this is the case.
Pain caused by dental problems like a cracked tooth, gum disease, abscess, or a lodged foreign object in the mouth can also cause a dog to suddenly stop eating. Check your dog’s mouth for signs of redness, bleeding, or bad breath that indicate a trip to the doggy dentist might be in order.
Stress is another big contributor to dogs not wanting to eat. If your dog is nervous because you’ve been packing your suitcase or still anxious from a recent vet visit, they may fast for a couple of meals until they feel comfortable again.
Even if your dog is a frequent or long-term picky eater, anxiety may be playing a role. Many dogs get nervous around meal times because of consistent stressors like another food aggressive pet in the house or an aversion to their food bowl or the room they are fed in.
Before you try switching your dog’s diet, try changing their feeding environment. Change their bowl for a different type (like metal to ceramic), move them to a different room, and feed them alone.
Can Dogs Taste Food?
If you have a habitual picky eater whose anorexia is not caused by stress or illness, you may have wondered to yourself if dogs can even taste food the way humans do. The answer is both yes and no.
Like humans, your pup has taste buds on their tongue to help them determine if what their eating is good or dangerous. Dogs, however, have only about 1700 taste buds compared to a humans 9000.
Dogs taste buds are also geared to detect different flavors than the human tongue. They seem especially focused on tasting things like meat and fats as well as sweeter substances like fruit.
Our canine companions do not seek out salt flavors the way we do, likely because meat contains an excess of salt already. They do, however, have special taste buds on the tip of their tongues that can actually taste water, something humans lack.
How to Use a Dog’s Taste Preferences to Find a Food They’ll Eat
If you’ve wasted money on new foods trying to find something your pooch will eat, you’re not alone. Picking a diet for your dog can be a challenge when you don’t actually know if the food tastes good.
When looking for an appealing, palatable food for your picky eater, start by focusing on their instinctual love of meat and fat flavors. Look for diets that list meat as the first ingredient.
While dogs are attracted to sweet flavors and many dog foods add sugar to increase palatability, sugar is not healthy for dogs and can do damage to their system. If your dog seems very attracted to sweet foods, look for diets that contain added fruits and tomatoes instead of sucrose or corn syrup.
When picking a food for a reluctant eater, it’s also important to take into account the smell of the food. Dogs have a superior sense of smell and often use this tool to decide if something is worth eating.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Best Dog Food for Picky Eaters?
When it comes to finding the right food for picky dogs, you need a diet that packs high animal protein and fat with a desirable odor and texture. Ziwi Peak’s tripe and lamb formula contains an impressive 96% animal ingredients and the strong taste and odor of tripe that dogs go crazy for.
This food is easily one of the best dog foods for picky eaters because of its appetite stimulating benefits and nutrition-packed formula. And the air-dried processing technique keeps nutrients and odors intact while maintaining a more appealing texture than traditional kibble.
If you have a super picky pup or one that gets bored with foods easily, try mixing one of our wet food choices with any of our dry foods to create a powerful taste explosion your dog can’t deny.
