Dog seems to dislike food...

[snowyowl]

We fed our dog Wellness for awhile and then tried some other foods because she has never been a very enthusiastic eater. She likes food just fine, it just isn't a priority if anything else interesting is going on. Recently we bought a very large bag of Wellness for her again, thinking that she had liked it fine the first time. 
Now she seems to barely touch her food, and I'm pretty sure I hear her stomach rumbling right now and she had a full bowl available. It was a pricey bag of food and there is an awful lot left. Is there a way of making this food more palatable for her? It would put a dent in our budget to buy more dog food right now, but I hate the idea that she is hungry and not eating. As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with the food. It doesn't smell rotten and the pieces are still firm (I'm not sure how else to test it). 
Dumping perfectly good dog food seems crazy, but I obviously want the dog to eat. Is it possible that she'll come to like it? She ate it while we were mixing it with her former food to adjust her to it.

[patches31709]

Pour a little chicken broth on it maybe? Or add some plain yogurt or a little canned food.

[mala]

First, does she have any dental problems or allergies that would make it painful for her to eat? Does she have a history of vomiting or diareah?

Could you try a different flavor? If the food you have is chicken based you could switch to a beef or lamb based food.

In the meantime, try mixing something with the food you have to make it more appealing. Salt free chicken or beef broth, a bit of cottage cheese, some crushed pineapple (canned), frozen veggies like carrots or green beans. You want her to have enough of it to taste, but not so much that shes mostly eating the additives. You could also try mixing in plain cooked chicken as a last resort.

How old is the dog? Does she have food available all day or only at certain times? How big is she? What breed is she?

Also, some dogs just aren't big eaters.

[snowyowl]

She doesn't have any dental problems or history with stomach issues. She's always eaten enough, but she just grazes and gets easily distracted. Have a few bites, what are the cats up to... have a few bites, is there is a squirrel in the yard... Etc. When she was younger we would only feed her at certain times and she would still eat a few bites and leave the rest, so we just started leaving food down. I'm sure that is not a good habit for her to be in, but my husband is the one who is primarily home during the day and his schedule is constantly changing so it just ended up happening that way since she was such a grazer. It is important that we get her on a set schedule?
She's a year and a few months and 22 pounds, she looks just like a small border collie, so we assume she at least half that, but we don't really know.
We will definitely try a different food next time, but maybe the veggies will help for now. When we go over to my Mom's place she feeds her dogs some green bean or carrots with their food and our dog seems to enjoy those.

[mala]

Try the veggies and see if that works for now.

Personally, I dont like free feeding for animals. I think it is better for them to eat twice a day at set times. But that is your decision. My dog eats at 9 am and 8-830 pm. You can try switching her to food twice a day, but I warn you it is going to take her at least a few days to figure out that she only gets to eat twice a day.

You could try getting her more exercise. Collie's are very high energy and if you can burn off more energy she might be less destractable and hungrier when mealtime rolls around.

Some dogs just aren't big into food, though. She may never eat a lot. If that's the case I would switch to the highest quality food you can afford. She will get more neutrital value in a smaller volume of food that way. You can also try a canned/wet food and see if she prefers that over dry food.

(Sorry for all the typos, I'm on my kindle and its being a douche this morning)

[dearprudence]

My dog is not a great eater - he's not really food driven. And it doesn't matter what food we use. He seems to like it, and will eventually eat it, but he certainly doesn't come running at mealtimes. Our issue is always that when he doesn't eat for 24 hours, he gets sick - throws up yellow bile. So we really encourage him to eat if he's skipped a meal. Our two tricks are:
1) Parmesan cheese. Sprinkled over his food usually will get him to eat it, because it's not like he can pick out the parmesan.
2) We treat for finishing a meal. So if he eats breakfast? He gets a "cookie"/"biscuit"/whatever you call dog treats. Same goes for dinner.

[katietornado]

My dog seems to resent eating. Loves treats, but food...not so much. He goes on hunger strikes not infrequently, and conditions have to be just right to get him to eat his regular meals.

You can mix in some wet food, chicken broth, a splash of milk, etc. These all entice him to eat when he's not feeling like it.

Some dogs are nuts over food, and some just aren't that into it.

[awick14]

Our puppy will eat human food any time you would offer it to him, but he could care less about his food. We have tried multiple kinds and he always eats it like crazy when we have a new kind. I think he thinks its a treat, then after a while he realizes its not and doesn't care anymore.

The main thing that has helped is making sure he exercises more. We are also thinking of switching to a raw food diet and see how he likes that.

[brittmk0922]

I have one dog that won't eat her kibble unless I add just a little warm water to create a 'gravy'. She's just picky

[regina22]

Our dog turns her nose up at breakfast once or twice a week. For a while my husband wanted to start grating cheese over the food or some other ridiculousness, but we kept firms at bowl comes up 20 minutes after it goes down, and if she doesn't eat, she doesn't eat. She's all about dinner that night - unless they're sick, dogs won't starve themselves. But they can "train" you to give them plenty of attention and fancy foods if they ignore your first offer, so stay strong.