Last Updated on February 26, 2024 by Kieran Beckles
Do you have a picky eater and you’ve tried lots of different pet food brands but just can’t find one that your dog will eat consistently?
My Alaskan Klee Kai dogs can be fussy at mealtime (especially my female mini husky) and I’ve spent the past six years trying to find the best dog food for picky eaters to avoid digestive issues.
Before I discovered fresh dog food and raw dog food, my Klee Kai would eat regular dry dog food or store-bought wet dog food but would usually stop eating it after a few weeks.
With my Klee Kai quickly growing bored or uninterested in their regular kibble or canned dog food, I’d end up having to go to the vet and sometimes the emergency vet because my female dog would have digestive issues, vomit bile and start to shake.
However, a chance meeting with a Samoyed owner at the park introduced me to the concept of human grade dog food and I quickly started to test different fresh dog food brands that provided tasty food for picky eaters.
While we found a British fresh pet food brand that my picky eaters loved in the UK, we had to start our search afresh when we returned to California in 2023, and after some trial and error, I found a handful of brands my Klee Kai would eat.
We had success with all five brands mentioned in this best dog food for picky eaters article – they’re ranked in order of Skye and Copper’s preference and I’m confident your fussy pup will enjoy at least one of these fresh dog food brands.
Cut To The Chase: My fussy eaters loved We Feed Raw and you can save 25% on your first order when you click here.
1) We Feed Raw
Of all the dog food brands that we’ve tried since returning to California, We Feed Raw was the clear winner with my picky dogs.
I’ve never seen my picky dog Skye show such incredible mealtime excitement. We Feed Raw make raw feeding convenient for pet parents, even if you haven’t given your pup raw dog food before.
They offer a custom meal plan based upon your answers in their sign-up questionnaire, have an impressive range of six recipes (beef, chicken, duck, lamb, turkey and venison) and provide feeding guidelines customized to your picky eater.
We Feed Raw will store your picky eater’s balanced and nutritious diet in meal pouches. To serve, you just cut open the meal packet and pour direct into your dog’s bowl.
Skye loved We Feed Raw and devoured her meals leaving no leftovers for Copper (which used to be the norm). But why was she so obsessed?
The range of recipes allowed me to vary the protein source, which was great. I believe the texture helped as it was easy to digest and had a high meat content.
Life With Klee Kai Savings: You can save 50% on your first We Feed Raw order via this link.
2) Sundays Food For Dogs
Sundays Food For Dogs was another resounding success with my Alaskan Klee Kai, which surprised me because they had been inconsistent eaters of dry dog food in the past.
But Sundays only use human grade ingredients in their dog food such as USDA meat, sweet potato, apple and much more. They use ingredients we’d recognize as human food and eat as part of our diet.
Unlike some traditional brands make dry kibble at harmful, high temperatures. Sundays use a gentle air drying method to lock in all the natural flavour and retain all the essential nutrients.
Just like all the best dog foods here, Sundays offer a subscription plan and tailor your dog’s food to meet their needs, which can help to tackle your dog’s picky eating.
I believe Sundays was a big hit with my picky eaters because their air dried dog food has a high meat content of 90% and a treat-like texture, which my fussy eaters really enjoyed.
Unlike some of the other best dog foods for picky dogs in this article, Sundays doesn’t require fridge or freezer space as it can be resealed and stored in the cupboard for up to six or seven weeks.
I believe it’s a really convenient option for dog owners who want to ditch their dog’s regular food such as canned food or dry kibble in favour of a new food but don’t want the hassle of fresh food or raw food.
Life With Klee Kai Savings: You can save 50% on your first Sundays order via this link.
3) The Farmer’s Dog
My picky eaters really enjoyed a fresh food company when we lived in the UK. Unfortunately, they don’t operate in the UK so we started our search for a new food by looking at The Farmer’s Dog.
There are a lot of fresh dog food delivery companies in the USA, but of all the brands we tried, The Farmer’s Dog was the most popular option with my picky eaters. Here’s why.
The Farmer’s Dog have created high quality dog food comprised of human grade ingredients in recipes formulated by board certified veterinary nutritionists, perfect for feeding picky eaters.
Unlike some regular dog food, The Farmer’s Dog don’t use any artificial additives, nasties or preservatives in their recipes. It’s just natural ingredients like sweet potatoes, fish oil and more.
They’ve got four recipes on offer for picky eaters, which is about par amongst fresh dog food companies – although I’d like to see slightly more protein options in their range of dog foods.
Skye and Copper like fresh dog food and I wasn’t surprised to see them clean their food bowl.
What set The Farmer’s Dog apart is the labelling of Copper and Skye’s individual meals which gave me peace of mind my Alaskan Klee Kai were eating dog food customized to each dog’s specific nutritional requirements. (You can read how they compare to Ollie dog food and Nom Nom dog food here).
The Farmer’s Dog provide a portion guideline to ensure your furry friend is eating the right amount – when feeding new foods, there can be a tendency to overfeed if you see even the pickiest eaters getting excited about their new food!
Life With Klee Kai Savings: You can save 50% on your first order of The Farmer’s Dog via this link.
4) Maev Raw Dog Food
Maev make raw feeding extremely easy even if you’ve never fed raw to your picky eater.
Unlike some fresh food and raw food brands, you don’t need to defrost or thaw Maev when you take the bag out of the freezer.
You can simply serve direct into your dog’s bowl – Maev explain the frozen food encourages fast eaters to slow down and promotes good dental health.
Skye and Copper showed a lot of mealtime excitement with Maev, which wasn’t entirely surprisingly because their dog food looked the most natural of all the brands in this best dog food feature. I could spot human food such as green beans, blueberries, potatoes and chunks of meat, of course.
Maev offer specific health formulations to target potential health benefits and optimal health. Seeing as Copper and Skye struggle with anxiety, I liked having the ability to get their anxiety and calming formula to see whether it had an impact (I did notice a slight improvement). They also offer bone broth (beef broth and chicken broth) and supplement bars.
When you take a peak inside the Maev dog food bag, there’s lots of vibrant colors. Before I served their dog food for picky eaters to Copper and Skye, I had a good feeling that they’d enjoy Maev. I was proven right as my picky eaters devoured their beef and chicken recipes.
Ultimately, Maev didn’t prove the right dog food for my Klee Kai and my particular circumstances. Although my picky eaters liked Maev for the most part, I found that Copper and Skye started to pick out the fruit and veg, leaving it in their bowl or on floor by the bowl. With an inquisitive toddler happy to pick up their table scraps (or dog bowl scraps), we stopped buying Maev because of my dog’s eating habits.
But if you’ve got finicky eaters, I recommend pet owners give Maev a try because I do believe it could be the right dog food for picky eaters. Copper and Skye showed a lot of mealtime excitement with this dog food brand and I’m sure most dogs would eat all the fruit and veg.
Life With Klee Kai Savings: You can save 20% on your first Maev order through this link.
5) UnKibble
Completing our list of the best dog foods for picky eaters, I wanted to include another dry food to cater to pet owners who don’t like the idea of feeding fresh dog foods or raw dog foods.
UnKibble is a custom grain-free dry food using natural ingredients, balanced and complete for good digestive health, tailored to cater to dogs with food allergies or sensitive stomachs, and delivered to your door.
If you’re dog’s old food is traditional kibble, UnKibble provides elevated premium food that won’t require as big a transition as fresh dog food or raw dog food where you need to consider freezer space and thawing meals before serving.
Spot & Tango are the brains behind UnKibble and they created grain-free dry dog food to give pet parents the option of dry food and fresh food (you can read our fresh food review here).
There are four grain-free UnKibble recipes – Chicken & Brown Rice, Cod & Salmon, Beef & Barley and Turkey & Sweet Potato. They use limited ingredients in their recipes with natural flavor, balanced and complete to cater every dog’s diet and meet AAFCO’s nutritional standards.
Unlike traditional kibble or canned dog food, you won’t find any artificial preservatives, fillers or additives. So you can feel confident your picky eater is only eating real, whole ingredients. Also, all UnKibble recipes are grain-free.
UnKibble is a more affordable than fresh dog foods, so you can save money feeding it to your picky eater and save on fridge and freezer space. You can store your dog’s food in the shelf!
So did my picky eaters enjoy UnKibble? Well, I’d say UnKibble was a reasonable success. Copper is the less fussy of my picky eaters and he’d happily munch on his grain-free dry food recipes, but Skye was a little more hit and miss.
She enjoyed the Beef & Barley and Chicken & Brown recipes – but my picky eater didn’t touch the fish or turkey recipes. So although their grain-free kibble was competitively priced, I decided it wasn’t the right food for my really picky eater. If I only had Copper to consider, I may have continued.
Life With Klee Kai Savings: You can save 50% on your first UnKibble order via this link.
Our Recommendation
So we’ve listed our favourite dog food for picky eaters but who do we recommend and which brands do we currently feed?
Well, in the spirit of transparency, I wanted to share what my Alaskan Klee Kai are currently eating in their dog food bowl.
We decided to stick with We Feed Raw seeing Skye’s incredible reaction to their raw meals, how their recipes cater to their sensitive stomachs and the other benefits we’ve noticed.
Alongside We Feed Raw, we ditch canned foods and decided to use Sundays For Dogs as a dog food topper to provide extra texture to Copper and Skye’s meals.
We also use Sundays as treats throughout the day when we go on our daily walks or we play scent work games at home.
So if you’ve got a really fussy eater and you want my advice on which of these five brands to start with, I’d recommend We Feed Raw or Sundays (or both!).
Anything Else To Consider?
If you’ve got picky eaters, whether your furry friend is a pup, or you’ve got adult dogs, or even senior dogs, I hope one of these dog food companies can help improve your fussy dog’s appetite.
If you’re worried about your dog’s eating habits, you should speak to your vet before you decide to ditch their kibble or wet food in favour of one of the pet food brands mentioned in this feature.
While I’ve had great success ditching wet food and dry food and feeding my adult dogs fresh and raw diets, every dog is different and dog owners could risk harm to their furry friend if they change their diet without transitioning slowly.
Your vet can provide guidance on how to make the transition if you’ve got pups with sensitive stomachs.
Wrapping Up
So there we have it, we’ve reached the end of our article on the best dog food for fussy eaters.
My top pick is We Feed Raw because their raw recipes improve my picky eater’s appetite and mealtime excitement, as well as giving her more energy, healthier coat and firmer stools.
However, we also feed Sundays For Dogs as a dog food topper to add more texture to their daily meals.
Having said that, I’ve tried all five brands in this feature and I believe they’re all good options for fussy eaters.
Kieran runs Life With Klee Kai on social media and other online platforms alongside his wife Yasmin. With over 10 years of experience as a journalist and a passionate dog owner, Kieran loves to combine his passion for pets and writing to share useful insights and product reviews to help other dog owners.