Should I force feed my dog if he won’t eat?
There’s always an underlying reason for this and the best course of action is to solve the underlying issue as force-feeding them food and water won’t resolve the issue. However, dogs don’t always know what’s best for them and it could be that force-feeding them food and water is only a temporary measure while you await the veterinarian or to give you time until you can take them there yourself.
Food Issues And Changes in the Diet
Your dog may refuse to eat if the food is too hot, cold, salty, sweet, bitter, or fatty. It may also ignore food if you are giving it too many treats.
If you’ve switched dog food brands, your pet could be sensitive to one or more of its ingredients—another potential reason for lack of appetite. Notwithstanding food allergies, off-putting smells or tastes may affect the best of eaters.
If you haven’t changed your dog’s diet for a long time and it seems bored of its usual fare, perhaps it’s time for a change.
Mush it up and put it in the mouth
With the use of a blender you can mush their (healthy) food into a paste and using a syringe, fingers, spoon or whatever you want you can simply place it in their mouth. If it’s smooth enough that they don’t need to chew they may swallow it. Other suggestions are to rub it into their gums gently as some of the nutrients can still be absorbed that way.
If you can manage to get vertical to the back of your dog’s mouth you can drip in liquids or semi liquids that will land at the end of the throat or back of the mouth so your dog has no choice but to swallow. This is most useful for water but you can still have some success with liquified food such as the mush you’ve made or you can even use baby food.