Dog food for picky eaters

Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe has the best record for picky dogs: 11 of 11 owners said their dog ate it readily. Purina ONE SmartBlend Small Bites Beef & Rice is next at 9 of 9, and Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Beef & Brown Rice Recipe at 10 of 11. All three rest on small groups of owners, so read them as a good sign, not a promise.

  • 256 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Dec 2016 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did the picky dog eat it? What owners said
  1. Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe 11 said either way
  2. Purina ONE SmartBlend Small Bites Beef & Rice 9 said either way
  3. Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Beef & Brown Rice Recipe 11 said either way

Share of pet owners who stated an outcome for picky eating. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Best record Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe 11 of 11 say their picky dog eats it See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Beyond picky dogs, nearly every reviewer says their dog eats these eagerly: 100% of reviews for the Nutrish chicken, 92% for Purina ONE and 97% for the Nutrish beef.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points pet owners repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe

Rachael Ray Nutrish

Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe

11/11 say their picky dog eats it

Every picky-dog owner who weighed in said their dog ate it (11 of 11), and reviews on the brand's own site agree at 5 of 5, which we show but don't count. 20% of reviews praise the ingredients.

What pet owners praise

  • Dog eats it eagerly 100%
  • Good ingredients 20%
  • Good value 17%
  • Better stools 7%

What pet owners complain about

  • Too expensive 7%
Where pet owners said it
  • Target 11 of 11
  • Brand site 5 of 5 shown, not counted
2 Purina ONE SmartBlend Small Bites Beef & Rice

Purina ONE

SmartBlend Small Bites Beef & Rice

9/9 say their picky dog eats it

A clean record so far: 9 of 9 picky-dog owners said their dog ate it, and 16% of reviews call it good value. Reviews on Purina's site agree at 6 of 6, which we show but don't count.

What pet owners praise

  • Dog eats it eagerly 92%
  • Good value 16%
  • Good ingredients 8%

What pet owners complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where pet owners said it
  • Target 9 of 9
  • Brand site 6 of 6 shown, not counted
3 Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Beef & Brown Rice Recipe

Rachael Ray Nutrish

Dish Beef & Brown Rice Recipe

10/11 say their picky dog eats it

The beef version of the Dish recipe did nearly as well, with 10 of 11 picky-dog owners saying their dog ate it. 14% praise the ingredients and 14% call it good value.

What pet owners praise

  • Dog eats it eagerly 97%
  • Good value 14%
  • Good ingredients 14%

What pet owners complain about

No repeated complaints yet.

Where pet owners said it
  • Target 10 of 11
  • Brand site 1 of 2 shown, not counted

Where these numbers come from

The 3 products ranked here carry 5,290 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about picky eating, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Dec 2016 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

We count what pet owners report. Nothing here is veterinary advice: if a pet stops eating, gets sick or keeps scratching, ask your vet.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most pet owners here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Target (30 reviews counted)
  2. Purina ONE SmartBlend Small Bites Beef & Rice Target (25 reviews counted)
  3. Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Beef & Brown Rice Recipe Target (29 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

What dog food do picky eaters like?

Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe has the best record (11 of 11). Purina ONE SmartBlend Small Bites Beef & Rice (9 of 9) and Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish Beef & Brown Rice Recipe (10 of 11) follow.

What if my dog suddenly stops eating?

Ask a vet if your dog suddenly stops eating, loses weight or seems sick. Do that before you try another food.

Is Purina ONE Small Bites good for picky dogs?

Owners say yes: 9 of 9 picky-dog owners said their dog ate it, and 92% of all its reviews say their dog eats it eagerly. Fewer owners weighed in than on the Nutrish chicken recipe.

Is Rachael Ray Nutrish Dish good for picky dogs?

Both recipes do well with picky dogs here, the chicken at 11 of 11 and the beef at 10 of 11. Both groups are small, so your dog may still have the final say.

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HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.