So I'm still having some feeding issues with Nellie, and I know for a fact she can't be getting enough nutrition during the day because she usually doesn't eat much of either breakfast or dinner and I try not to give her too many treats in order to have her be hungry for dinner. I do half Honest Kitchen and half Taste of the Wild kibble for her normal meals. I leave it down for 10-15 minutes and usually she'll go and lick at it for a bit then run out of her crate/pen and start playing or rubbing herself on the carpet. She'll occasionally come back to it but just to lick at it again. Very rarely she'll polish it off or at least eat half of it. Sometimes she'll wander back after it's gone to look for the food bowl, but even after a month she doesn't seem to get that the food goes away after a few minutes if she doesn't finish.

I know I shouldn't be doing this, but then I give her a food toy ball about an hour later with just the kibble in it. She LOVES that and she'll eat every bit that drops out of it, but she just won't eat from her bowl. I do it because I worry she's not getting enough food, especially since she already grows really slowly (less than 1/2 pound a week) and is smaller than other (female) corgis her age.

I'm pretty sure it's not because of the food because I've tried lots of different flavors of HK already and there are some flavors she really doesn't like and some that she'll polish off, and even the flavors she'll eat she will sometimes snub to go play. Like I said she'll eat the kibble from her food toy so she probably likes that as well. Should I just shut her in the crate so that she has no choice but to eat and then make it an obvious gesture of taking the food away? Or is there a very good reason why she prefers playing over eating?

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Just cut down on the amount of food you give her at each meal until you figure out at which quantity she is eager to eat, then adjust upwards gradually as she grows and seems to require more.  Trust her body  to tell her when she is hungry.  Too much food will create more problems than too little and there is no problem at all with her slow growth natural pattern.

I'm inclined to continue experimenting until you find what your puppy likes.  Some people might say it's indulgent, but feeding time is important and you want it to go as smoothly as possible.  I think it's no different than buying Nellie her favorite kinds of toys.  It makes her a happier dog.

I had a lot of problems getting Ellie to eat, and it took patience and experimentation on my part.  (In addition to her lack of interest, she has a sensitive tummy.)  It could be a lot of things: too hard to chew, doesn't digest well dry, the bowl is too big, the bowl itself (dogs are foragers which is why treat balls are so much fun). Wet dog food did the trick for us.  I put a tablespoon on her kibble and mix it together really well.  She scarfs it down now.  

Keep trying.  You'll find what Nellie likes.

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