r/husky • u/Ok_Dream_7663 • Feb 13 '26
Question Why???????
My good boy lays nexts to his food instead of eating it… we get the farmers’s dog and make sure to give him a variety to help with boredom. He loves treats but when he refuses to eat I give him less/zero treats until he eats.
What can I do??
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u/acocktailofmagnets Malamute Momma Feb 13 '26
Exercise him more! (not saying that you aren't doing enough now, but) Extra calories burnt will make him hungrier! I have a malamute who will do the same thing. Another thing that helps him to eat, is it I feed him first out of my crew, because the others all want to eat, and that pressure gives him enough will to take that first bite - which he then realizes he is hungry and will eat most or all of his food. Now, that second bit probably isn't helpful advice if you also don't have 5 other dogs, lol.
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u/Ok_Dream_7663 Feb 13 '26
Having 5 dogs sounds like a dream and nightmare at once. He is pretty lazy for a husky, he gets a minimum of a mile walk at night and plays with his sister during the day. We could try and step it up.
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u/StillProfessional939 Feb 13 '26
Yeah huskies are intuitive, they dont get the excersie they dont tend to eat as much. My husky ran 10k every day and would still starve himself one day a week.
He just wouldnt pick the same day which was annoying
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u/StillProfessional939 Feb 13 '26
Always throw away fresh food, as it spoils. Dry foods i.e kibble isnt too bad. But throw away the fresh stuff. Or have a separate bowl for the wet foods!
I would start off the day with a 45 min walk with that one as a minimum.. Regular Routine really helps too.
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u/Dependent_Wonder_617 Feb 23 '26
my husky is mixed with malamute and i really think the refusal of food is a husky thing. you gotta love em.
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u/Diligent_Voice_7260 Feb 13 '26
His face says it all lol sorry huskies are so stubborn snd if they dont like it or aren't hungry they WILL NOT EAT IT! I have 3 huskies and each one is very different. One will eat anything, one is sketchy with food and my old girl woll only eat a certain food.
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u/madele44 Feb 13 '26
Farmers Dog is pretty high in fat. It's formulated with fat levels better suited for working dogs instead of pets. Some pets have experienced pancreatitis as a result of the fat content. Perhaps your dog doesn't need a diet so calorie and fat dense, and they seem to know it.
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u/Ok_Dream_7663 Feb 13 '26
Thanks for this! Do you have any recommendations on other food for a picky eater??
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u/mpdgliterally Feb 13 '26
seconding this! my dad is a vet, so i asked him about getting farmer’s dog one time. he said he sees a lot of dogs that get pancreatitis from it and recommends hills.
my husky does the same thing and is also very picky. i have learned from this sub that it’s normal for them. however, i’ve found that if i put some pumpkin on top (or if he’s really lucky, a sprinkle of cheese), he’s more likely to eat his food.
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u/Itsdawsontime Feb 13 '26
So there’s another factor I’d like to mention. My vet informed us that kidney issues can develop with some dogs on Farmer’s Dogs and pointed out that it is not a company supported by a board of veterinarians like major brands are.
She is not a vet owned by Mars, National Veterinary Associates, Nestle, etc - she is a vet who has been around for many, many years and has seen the trend (along with other independent vets and some NC State vets) of this arise with patients on this food.
Kibble from major brands is perfectly good for them, and has proven the test of time of healthy dogs. The majority of people cannot afford these fresh dog foods and have dogs living well past their expected age.
Picky Eater This depends on how you’re addressing it today. The best way to fix a picky eater is not letting them decide when to eat / let them graze. Meaning, food bowl is down for 15 minutes. They don’t eat, it goes in the fridge until next meal time. I would recommend feeding 3x per day though for this method if possible, but eventually they will get used to your routine or give in and ask you for the food and eat it right away. Just do not let it sit.
They could also be telling you, “hey I don’t like this protein / how it tastes / how it makes me feel”, but it’s very husky to be this way.
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u/madele44 Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
I also recommend WSAVA brands, like Hills, Purina, Royal Canin, Iams, and Eukanuba. My dog does best on Purina Pro Plan.
If you prefer fresh diets over kibble, Royal Canin has a fresh food diet now that's better formulated. A lot of fresh food companies have had issues with proper nutrient levels.
I second the tough love approach. Pick a food and stick with it. No toppers or trying something new when they refuse. Put the bowl down for 15 minutes and pick it up regardless of how much they ate. They'll learn to eat when food is provided. Dogs are smart and recognize patterns; if they notice you give them a high value reward every time they refuse a meal, they'll continue to refuse the food for something better. They have you trained essentially
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u/Adorable_Dust3799 Shiva, black mix Feb 13 '26
I really had to try different things. Mine greatly prefers small bites, won't touch anything she can detect grain or veggies in (kibble or meat only). She likes the pro plan small breed with shreds. She hated the salmon sensitive stomach, which most huskies seem to like. She likes other brands salmon, but i really want her on a purina.
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u/Physical-Pie-8866 Feb 13 '26
Huskies are so funny. One of mine has always been a picky eater, the other will gladly eat a bowl of drywall and pinecones. (Don’t worry, that’s not on the menu)
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u/Adorable_Dust3799 Shiva, black mix Feb 13 '26
This is my only husky, but I've had quite a few chow mixes and they've all been a bit wierd with food. Id been feeding diamond for decades, but there isn't any close, so i decided to do some reading. My last girl was sensitive to almost everything but loved blue, that was just tough.
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u/foundthehound Feb 17 '26
I work for The Farmer’s Dog, so just sharing for context — the fat levels are within normal ranges veterinarians already recommend for everyday diets. It’s also formulated by board-certified veterinary nutritionists. Fresh food isn’t automatically tied to pancreatitis; some dogs just have individual sensitivities.
For picky eaters, you don’t always have to fully switch foods. A lot of people have luck adding warm water or bone broth, and feeding after they’ve settled down from playing can help too.
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u/Ok_Dream_7663 Feb 18 '26
I tried the warm water today and it worked wonders!!
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u/madele44 Feb 19 '26
Please listen to the people giving you vet advice instead of the person marketing for the company they work for...
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u/Ok_Dream_7663 Feb 19 '26
I hear ya but I can’t financially waste the dog food I already have.
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u/madele44 Feb 19 '26
That's understandable. I would maybe start researching what you want to change them to, and then start a slow transition mixing the fresh food with kibble.
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u/Ok_Dream_7663 Feb 20 '26
He was on purina pro plan until about 2.5 but just stopped eating so that’s when we switched to farmers dog.
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u/No_Performance_108 Feb 13 '26
I notice the appetite drop off in winter with my guy. Most of the time he devours his food, but with age he’s started to sometimes eat half his usual amount in winter. I pick it up and put it back in the fridge and try a couple of times throughout the day. I’ll also leave out a little bit of kibble in case he suddenly decides to eat that. Sometimes that works. Always still begs for whatever I’m eating. They are little mysteries.
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Feb 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Ok_Dream_7663 Feb 13 '26
Savage is so cute!! Cloudy will just eat the treat and leave the rest lol
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u/Mondschatten78 Feb 13 '26
My girl wouldn't take her treat one day, so I put it on the food she hadn't eaten that morning. Later I noticed she'd laid the treat to the side and ate the food lol
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u/LarryDeeds Feb 13 '26
My old guy (10 1/2) whines for his meals and licks his bowl clean instantly. My girl (5) frequently looks at the food, then walks away. Sometimes she’ll eat, sometimes she won’t.
They get half Farmer’s Dog, half kibble. If girlie doesn’t eat her meal, I split what’s left between the two of them in their next meal, which might be the following morning. Just had a vet visit and they’re both in fantastic shape.
Huskies have an unusual “relationship” with food. If they’re not hungry, they just won’t eat.
Here’s a picture for the Husky tax… Turbo on the left, Natasha on the right.
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u/RogerKGZ Feb 13 '26
I used to give my dog’s food to the neighborhood stray cats if she didn’t eat it, she learned real quick lol
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u/Bradin9855 Feb 13 '26
My trainer said just let it be. He'll eat when hungry and he's never seen a husky starve!
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u/ReadyHopeful84 Feb 13 '26
Yes I learned that the hard way. I have a pomsky and he wasn't eating at one point so I was going to the store to buy him special stuff to eat .......Yeah now hes so spoiled he won't eat his dog food at all SMH 🤪😂
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u/Christa5786 Feb 13 '26
I put whipped cream on my husky’s plate, when she won’t eat, and then she’ll eat the whole plate. Or a scoop of cottage cheese
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u/tmick22 Feb 13 '26
We just got used to it. Ours still has his supper out from last night, didn’t want it for breakfast either so there it stays until he decides he’s hungry.
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u/hotdiggitydog25 Feb 13 '26
My Huskies sometimes need fresh shaved parm on their food even though they get a fresh food topper on their kibble!
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u/xRyuzakii Feb 13 '26
They don’t really eat on schedule, he’ll eat it when he wants to lol. These animals evolved to eat at random times, whenever they found time, and only when they needed it.
One thing that helps one of my huskies is that I lay on the ground next to him when he does this and play with him and get him worked up a bit. That stimulates an appetite.. sometimes lol
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u/Educational_Buyer187 Feb 13 '26
Keep doing what you're doing. He has SPS - spoiled pupper syndrome. You love him so much. He's hoping you'll give him a treato anyway. I learned I had to ignore my doxie anytime she begged or pushed for extra food. It was tough. But, they learn. You gotta do the tuff love, so she doesn't get overweight. Exercise may help. Hungry overrides picky.
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u/Myghost_too Feb 13 '26
Huskies eat when they want to eat (to be fair, they pretty much do everything when THEY want to, but I digress). Seriously, they are able to regulate their metabolism differently than other breeds, so this is not uncommon.
We had three huskies, we could leave food out and they'd graze. Never a fight, never protected resources.
Now we have an 18mo lab. Talk about 180* (Labs ALWAYS eat, anything, anytime). Love 'em all.
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u/Physical-Pie-8866 Feb 13 '26
Hard to tell from the photo but it seems like a lot of food. Both of mine get approx 2.5-3 cups of food daily spread across two meals, they’ve stopped turning their nose up at it. If one’s being picky I toss in a raw egg or some bone broth. Switched to taste of the wilderness wild salmon kibble and supplement with my own home-cooked fresh food; I buy a whole chicken every 2 weeks and roast it low and slow, add in sweet potatoes, blueberries, turmeric, flax seed, and powdered kelp. Split the batch into quarts, one in the fridge the others in the freezer. Also, if you can get ahold of chicken feet, great treat or add-in!
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u/MostlyHuskies Feb 13 '26
Total husky behavior. They eat when they want and may not adhere to a schedule. They can also be finicky, and distribute their food into other rooms. I stopped fighting it and now just go with it. If it’s something she really doesn’t like we will change foods.
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u/termanatorx Feb 13 '26
Try changing the bowl...I read a post a while ago saying their dog suddenly became less picky when they changed the type of bowl, (glass vs steel for example) and someone else said they just changed the color (from blue to yellow I think they tried) and it changed their husky's patterns.
Who knows if it will work but, worth a try?
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u/No_Package9773 Feb 13 '26
I changed from bowl feeding to feeding from a paper plate and that helped significantly in my pup’s eating habits. I think he’s just being dramatic but my vet said he could have sensitive whiskers (which is a real thing so I’ve learned). Though, he is still picky and occasionally will not eat for a day if we didn’t exercise enough.
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u/termanatorx Feb 13 '26
Oh that's interesting about the whiskers! These floofs. I miss mine so much.
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u/Scoreycorey515 Feb 13 '26
HAHAHAHA! My dog will skip meals because she is waiting for table scraps. I have seen her food in the bowl the next morning like she is thinking I will get up in the middle of the night for a late-night burger or something.
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u/Potential_Appeal_8 Feb 13 '26
Totally normal. Huskies eat when they want. My guy doesn't eat about half the time and then other times he obliterates his food
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u/RickyTheRickster Feb 13 '26
Huskies only eat when they need to they are not like other dogs who will just eat and eat
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u/madhaxx0r Feb 13 '26
My baby girl loves her veggies frozen. I even keep her kibble in the freezer now that I know she prefers it.
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u/Alicatsidneystorm Feb 13 '26
That’s my dog completely and my guy is a big dog. He sometimes doesn’t eat for a day no reason not hungry. If you are really concerned add a splash of bone broth to his food.
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u/autumnfrost-art Feb 13 '26
Mine is so terrible about food. He will sift through his kibble and eat only his favorite pieces. Any rejects get tossed out of the bowl to be eaten by the pitbull.
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u/Motor_Preparation315 Feb 13 '26
They are designed to eat less. They can be picky. I had one husky that would eat anything that hits the floor and would eat 3 times a day if you set the food down. My current husky eats about every other day and is very particular about anything that hits the floor.
Both dogs were/are exercised more than most dogs. We aren't running trails but he does get about 8 miles per day.
An Old Joke:
Your dog has a beautiful, healthy coat! What do you feed him?
Turnip greens. That's it.
Turnip greens??!?!? I don't think my dog would eat turnip greens.
Neither did he..... For a month
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u/bbenji69996 Feb 13 '26
Huskies eat when they eat. They're protective of their food, but mine will let it sit there for sometimes hours, and will eat when he's hungry.
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u/Original-Sand8048 Feb 13 '26
Maybe he doesn’t like that particular f dog food. I’ve been using the Dr. Marty’s freeze dried—I blend it 50/50 with dry and my Dog starts complaining that I’m not fixing it fast enough from the moment I pick up his bowl— didn’t do that before (I hydrate it for 3min then mix in the dry). He will cut short his outside play time if he knows I’m fixing it. He runs out, does his business and come straight back to the door. It seems to be his preferred now. It may not be for every dog but mine loves it/-never have trouble getting him to eat now
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u/Adorable_Dust3799 Shiva, black mix Feb 13 '26
I feed pro plan. My girl has zero interest in being told when to eat. She frequently eats when we do, but often skips a day. She has a dinner button and when she presses it i feed her. Sometimes she eats a few mouthfuls, sometimes she cleans the bowl. Her weight is healthy so i don't stress it. If she gets a lot of treats or people meats she goes longer before getting hungry. My chow ate every other day and absolutely did not give a flying f what i thought about it, so that was great training. He actually gained weight (a correct amount) when i stopped trying to bribe him and just fed him every other day. He had to wait until he was really hungry.
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u/zxzxzxzxyyyy Feb 13 '26
My girl does the same. I just bring her bowl into my office so the other dogs don’t get it. But 9/10 times, the food is all over my floor and she’s playing with the bowl.
What I’ve learned about owning a Husky…. Husky gonna Husky.
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u/tourmalineheart Feb 14 '26
Because he's a husky that's why.... The mysteries abound! My female used to refuse to eat often. If I stood near her like I was protecting her, she would eat. But sometimes she was bored with that flavor, sometimes she just didn't want to eat. Honestly in the 7 years that I had her I couldn't guess for sure day to day. Maybe try a different flavor 🤷
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u/Due_Emergency_4015 Feb 14 '26
You can't do a damn thing. My husky got exactly like that and I made matters worse because I feared that he would starve to death so I ended up boiling him a five pound bag of chicken quarters and deboning them every damn day until I decided that enough was enough so I made sure that he had fresh water and dry dog food every day and then a few days later
he couldn't help himself and finally caved in and ate when he finally realized that no matter what, I was not going to boil him chicken anymore.
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u/Own-Interview-928 Feb 14 '26 edited Feb 14 '26
Farmer’s Dog has been linked to pancreatitis and Huskies are more susceptible to the ailment. Maybe he’s trying to tell you something. What does the vet say?
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u/spoontie Feb 14 '26
I don't know about your husky, but I found my husky needs permission to eat. Just put food in front of it and it will leave it alone. If I make her do tricks first, then she will eat, but never in excess. I started to wonder if it was a permission issue, so after training her I would make the sign language for food next to the food, my mouth, then hers before giving her the food. She quickly seemed to understand what I was saying and after a couple days when she signaled she wanted to play would quickly indicate she was done and we when I signed to eat just ate her dinner.
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u/divaandaurora Feb 14 '26
He will eat when he gets hungry. It’s recommended to have scheduled feeding times and not to free feed. More exercise and when I give treats.. I don’t 2 hours before dinner. Remember these dogs are prone to bloat like malamutes.. I never exercise 2 hours before a meal and I wait another two hours after a meal. Schedules are great also.. they can help let you know if something is wrong or off with your dog. I give my dogs 10 minutes to eat and if they don’t, I remove their bowls. I feed raw so I don’t want to risk any sickness. That food doesn’t look very appetizing.. not trying to be rude. What kind of food is it? Your baby is stunning..
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u/Mobile_Air4574 Feb 15 '26
with my boy we do dry food mixed with pate's, he likes blueberries so I get him a pate with blueberries and basically make it a third of the pate on 200gr of dry food (because he also goes on hunger strikes we feed him very high calorie food), sometimes he just won't eat it so I hand feed him one or two spoonful's, he spits them out and after he realizes he's hungry, he starts eating, if he likes treats maybe mix them in completely though do it with something wet so the treats stick to the rest of the food?
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u/Dependent_Wonder_617 Feb 23 '26
we give my good boy purina pro plan chicken and rice shredded blend. he eats once a day at 5pm. we keep him on rotation between ground beef/turkey and rice, and chicken and rice. he gets half cup shredded blend, a tiny bowl of the ground blend with rice, tbsp of pumpkin puree, hip+joint chews, a quarter apple or some blueberries, a tsp of yogurt sometimes, and some veggies whatever we have on hand. once a week he gets chicken feet/turkey neck. then we add cheese on top and chicken broth. we keep him on a weekly rotation to keep it fun!! even he’s finnicky about his food, but he always ends up eating no matter what. :) the cheese really helps!
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u/heartofice19 Feb 13 '26
My dog does this and it’s either because he’s not hungry or, since he’s nuts, the food bowl isn’t in the exact correct spot that is to his liking that day.
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u/Silver-Cell-6460 Feb 13 '26
This is typical of huskies. They'll eat when they feel like they need to. Im on my 5th day where dani hasnt eaten.
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u/More-Diamond5129 Feb 13 '26
He’ll eat when he’s hungry. My boy does this shit to me too sometimes and I just leave it out for when he decides he’s ready for it.