My dog is finicky. Please help! What should I do?

I got a 7 year old Maltese a few weeks ago and she is wonderful….except for the fact that she is picky about food. The former owners fed her only IAMS dry mini chunks. She didn’t seem to be eating this though so I was getting worried. I thought she would settle down and eat it by now but she’s hardly touched the stuff. I tried wet food and she likes it better, depending on the brand.

She seems to like the wet Beneful best, the kind in the small plastic tub with the reclosable lid. It’s convinient and affordable and she doesn’t turn her nose up to is like she has with some ‘gourmet’ or ‘organic’ food. I am worried the Beneful may not be the healthiest dog food but I figure at least she eats it up…most of the time.

She doesn’t seem very hungry in the morning, I feed her twice per day, morning and night. Someone suggested feeding her once per day at night. Is this healthy for a small dog?

Also, should I try switching her dry food? The former owners said she has been eating IAMS for years! Should I try a different dry food and leave some out for her during the day? The IAMS chunks seem a bit to large and hard for her. Is there a softer dry food? How much should I be feeding her?

She is 6.9 lbs and the groomer and other dog experts say she isn’t underweight. I also have all her vet records saying she is a healthy dog. She is energetic and active, like a puppy sometimes.

I just want to do what is best for her. For now I am feeding her the Beneful twice per day. I tried mixing it with the IAMS chunks and she just eats the wet food and leaves the dry behind. Should I just let it be and give her what she likes? Or should I keep trying other foods and see what works? Does anyone else have a Maltese? What food do you feed him/her? I read that they can be picky eaters but nobody seems to have a solution for this. What should I do?
The former owner admitted she was fed ‘people food’ a lot. I didn’t want to get her begging so I never do. Could this have ‘spoiled’ her? She doesn’t beg (now that she knows she can’t have people food she doesn’t try) and she doesn’t have any food aggression problems…It just seems to me, this dog isn’t very into food! She likes soft treats but not hard ones so I am thinking maybe a moist dry food would work. What brand makes this for dogs?
To Laura W…I agree with you about NEVER giving dogs people food! My mom did this with her dogs since I was a kid and even when I was 8 years old, I saw the problems with ‘people food’ long ago. She always ends up with a spoiled, begging, bratty, fat dog! Everytime I go to her house I CRINGE as she says “Does da’ cute baby want a potato chip?” as she feeds her dog. I REFUSE to feed her fat, begging dog! Mom thinks the begging is ‘cute’ but it’s her dog so I can’t say anything. I’ve told her for years and she doesn’t get it. I always vowed to NEVER do this to my dog! Dog food is for dogs, people food is for people! I seriously think my little Chloe was spoiled with food. I hope that over time I can find the healtiest food and get her taste buds used to having DOG FOOD ONLY! For now, it’s just hard to get her to eat anything so I am sticking to the IAMS and Beneful until I learn more.
Oh yeah, I did some research on ‘healthy’ brands and I am aware Beneful isn’t the best brand health-wise. I tried some of the high end, ‘healthy’ wet foods and she pretty much turned up her nose and walked away. I was thinking too that Beneful LOOKS like ‘people food’ with veggies and a rich gravy so maybe it’s a good food for now to ‘wean’ her off of people food until I can learn some more!

How to cut a very finicky dog’s nails?

She’s in desperate need of a nail trimming. I do it at home. She’s a German Shepherd with very sharp teeth and an extremely powerful jaw. I’m the only one she’ll let near her feet, however she doesn’t even let me cut her nails. I have to sit on her and go nail by nail, each one’s a battle, and she snaps at me each time. She’d never bite me but she takes my hand gently in her jaw and applies a very, very gentle pressure. I have a lot of trouble getting her back paws done because I can’t control her head as I sit on her with my back to her head. I’ve tried knocking her out with Gravol but it just makes her drowsy, she’s apparently too thick headed for the medication to actually knock her out.

What do I do? I just need to trim her nails.

my dog is finicky and just threw up. HELP!!?

my dog (molly, boxer/lab mix) is almost two years old. I have had her for three months and the previous owners told me that she had a sensitive stomach. She was on a food made by california natural when i got her but I decided to switch her to the natural kibble (lamb and rice formula) that petsmart makes. Her vet said she needs bigger kibble (shes ginormous… very thin but very lanky!) and recommended i find a sensitive stomach formula so i switched her to science diet which is JUST as expensive as California natural. Then she would go literally days without eating her food so I went back to the store where they recommended purina one lamb and rice because she is a picky eater. She normally doesn’t eat it when i first give it to her and recently I have been giving her less and less. She is a happy-go-lucky lab with a fierce eye for catching and bringing back ANY (literally any) stick she can find. She is so happy and full of energy that I don’t think she is sick.

Tonight i came home (MUCH later than usual) and her breakfast was only half gone. Then about a half hour of being home, she threw up a yellow bile all over the floor. When I looked it up, all I found was that hungry dogs sometimes threw up because they aren’t getting enough nutrients in their food… I don’t know what to do and its late and she has never thrown up while with me. I’ve also never had a problem with any food I transitioned her into. Is this serious? or am I overreacting? What can I do to get her to eat more regularly without teaching her that by not eating she gets attention?

btw, she doesn’t get table scraps at all what-so-ever.