Behavioural Issue

Feed when hungry? just feed an hour later and food becomes a lot more attractive

Well OP honestly I think the problem is that 40 minutes is just too long of a time to leave the food out. It doesn't give her a sense of schedule/urgency in eating her food.

I recommend leaving it out for only 15 minutes, then taking it away. Feeding twice a day is good.

That said, some dogs just don't have as much of an appetite as most do. As long as you know it's not a health issue, I wouldn't be too worried about it. When I was raising my puppy, she went through a period of being disinterested in her normal dog food. I did the 15 minute thing and after a little bit of this, she was back to being eager to eat.

The dog will get hungry eventually. If she doesn't eat after the 15 minutes, take the food away and don't offer it again until the next scheduled meal time. If you offer it more than that, she will know it will be there and so she doesn't have to eat it "right now." You want her to understand that food is only available at meal times. I know it can be hard to not offer the food again if she hasn't eaten, but just remember that a skipped meal or two isn't going to hurt her. She will just be hungry, which will encourage her to eat next time.

Good luck with her! She's really cute.

>>2194786
>I know it can be hard to not offer the food again if she hasn't eaten, but just remember that a skipped meal or two isn't going to hurt her
Not OP, but my dog vomits bile if he skips a meal. Apparently it's normal for dogs to do this if their stomachs are empty for too long; the bile irritates their stomachs if there's nothing else in there.

My dog's the type who always wants to hold out for something tastier and will only eat at the last possible second. I switch up his food often, but he always becomes disinterested in it after a few days, no matter how exciting it was when we first opened the bag.

OP, if your dog was previously fed a shitty diet, and she's still having anxiety issues after being with you for six months (and yeah, anxiety is probably contributing to her disinterest in food), maybe it's time to try bits and pieces of human food to entice her. Nothing too junky, but things like a scrambled egg mixed in with her kibble every now and then won't hurt. Sometimes I do a spoonful of greek yogurt, a spoonful of lowfat cottage cheese, etc. I also do chicken broth, but it seems like that wouldn't work since you've already tried making gravy with her kibble.

I also sometimes pretend to bake my dog's food bowl in the oven without turning it on. He gets really excited for this, but don't use it too often as she'll catch on pretty quickly.

>>2194786
this is solid advice. i just wanted to add onto it that you can introduce table scraps to her meals and eventually wean her off of them until it's just her kibble. plus if you want to entice her to eat her meals, add high value treats over things like carrots.

cheese, sausage and boiled chicken breast are all generally regarded as high value treats

you can also add a raw egg to her meal

anyways hope that helps, just my two cents and for what it's worth i doubt her behaviour is due to her eating habits