I have a 6 month old rescue puppy. The only thing we will ever know about her breeding is, “her mother looked houndish.” We got her at 6 weeks old. She has never been the best eater, but recently has become super finicky. We have been feeding her Purina One puppy (dry) with some Purina Pro Plan puppy (soft) mixed in. She walks over, sniffs it and walks away. If I leave it down, she may walk back over and take a couple bites but that’s it. I can’t leave it down too long or the other dogs will eat it. Any suggestions…
[QUOTE=Berry0317;6442112]
I have a 6 month old rescue puppy. The only thing we will ever know about her breeding is, “her mother looked houndish.” We got her at 6 weeks old. She has never been the best eater, but recently has become super finicky. We have been feeding her Purina One puppy (dry) with some Purina Pro Plan puppy (soft) mixed in. She walks over, sniffs it and walks away. If I leave it down, she may walk back over and take a couple bites but that’s it. I can’t leave it down too long or the other dogs will eat it. Any suggestions…[/QUOTE]
how much are you feeding her?
I used to have the same issue with my corgi. He was fed high quality food before I got him and I switched to beneful and he would not eat for 2 days. I found out that pet stores sell or even give away pet food samples. I would try these out. I went through at least 5 or 6 different dog foods before I found that max likes Eukenuba. I know Petland, Petsmart, and Jacks all gave away samples of foods to try. I also know changing their food often is terriable for dogs especially puppies, but if they won’t eat I would do anything possible to get her to eat.
Also, If you buy a bag of dog food and your dog will not eat it call the manufacture and they sometimes will give you your money back or coupons.
Petsmart will take dog food back. Maybe try a better quality canned food and use dry for treats for a while. Has she had a vet check? Maybe rice and chicken for a while and gradually add in dry?
[QUOTE=LauraKY;6442416]
Petsmart will take dog food back. Maybe try a better quality canned food and use dry for treats for a while. Has she had a vet check? Maybe rice and chicken for a while and gradually add in dry?[/QUOTE]
I do not see how giving only soft food and feeding dry teats can be beneful for the dogs helath. I would never try this, in fact my vet has always said to avoid canned food. I would try feeding regular dry dog food first and never ever feed dog treats as a meal. Rice and chicken is always great for dogs. There are many people who will cook meals for their dogs daily. It’s actually healither for them in the long run. When I worked with puppies regularly the ones who wouldn’t eat we gave them boneless skinless chicken instead of dry dog food.
She may eat better if placed in a crate. Some dogs just do. Also, add some warm water, it releases the fat in the food and makes it more palatable. You do not have to drown it in water. Also, my dogs have a 15 min time limit to eat. If it is not gone then, it is picked up and no food or treats are offered until the next meal. Once dogs get in the habit of promptly eating that which they are given then you can add the treats back in. Very few dogs, unless they are ill will starve themselves. Protracted periods on uninterest in food usually is a signal to an underlying issue. Toy breed puppies however should be closely monitored for food intakes. They can have serious issues with blookd sugar if food is not being consumed regularly.
[QUOTE=snydere02;6442432]
I do not see how giving only soft food and feeding dry teats can be beneful for the dogs helath. I would never try this, in fact my vet has always said to avoid canned food. I would try feeding regular dry dog food first and never ever feed dog treats as a meal. [/QUOTE]
If you re-read what Laura wrote, I believe what she meant was to feed wet food for the time being, and use dry food AS treats. Not to only feed treats.
Vets aren’t always the most knowledgeable about nutrition.
OP, our puppy was on Purina Puppy Chow when we got him two weeks ago. He was also itchy, and had dry, flaky skin underneath a dull coat. We slowly switched him over to Taste of the Wild and he’s already put on a shine and stopped itching altogether. You might try a higher-end food. Our pup is somewhat picky as well, but he seems to love the TOTW puppy with some warm water added.
Maybe try mixing the dry with some wet - Wellness chicken and sweet potato canned food makes a really nice soupy ‘gravy’ when you mix it with some warm water.
I do this with my picky eater and he cleans up his plate. I use maybe a good sized tablespoon of wet food, that’s all. Then the usual amount of kibble, which for this dog is 1/2 cup.
Adding chicken and rice to the kibble is a good idea too - start off with a small amount of kibble then gradually increase the kibble and decrease the chicken and rice.
Good luck ! It’s tough when they’re picky …
My last dog was very finicky. I found what worked the best for her was a flat pan(she didn’t like the food to be to “deep”-who knows where that came from) and I would take about a couple of tablespoons of canned food and add a little water to make a thick “gravy”. Something that may be adding to the problem is the heat. My current dog who normally will eat anything that isn’t nailed down has been reluctant to eat lately since it has been really hot. I put it down and if she hasn’t eaten it in a few minutes will pick up(other dogs) and offer later. Today she actually ate both her meals, but still didn’t want her food right away.
Both my 8 year old dog and my 5 month old pup are getting Fromm’s Beef Fritatta. The 8 year old has always been picky, then she developed an intolerance to chicken and got REALLY picky (basically stopped eating) and she LOVES the Fromm’s. I’ve become something of a dog food snob lately. Most of what are considered “high end” dog foods really aren’t, in fact, seems a lot of them get some of their ingredients from China. Love Fromm’s - they are a small company in Wisconsin and the ingredient list looks like my grocery list.
My young BC mix has been picky on and off since we’ve had her. She eats better if I wet the kibble first and put a bit of canned in with it. She likes expensive food…the only dry foods she consistently likes are Wellness Core and Acana Grasslands, she wants nothing to do with supermarket food. She came thin from a hoarder’s yard, you’d think she’d just like FOOD, but she has her certain tastes. When she’s in a really picky mood, I use canned green beef tripe for the small wet portion. It STINKS, but she cannot resist it and will decide to start eating.
[QUOTE=snydere02;6442432]
I do not see how giving only soft food and feeding dry teats can be beneful for the dogs helath. I would never try this, in fact my vet has always said to avoid canned food. I would try feeding regular dry dog food first and never ever feed dog treats as a meal. Rice and chicken is always great for dogs. There are many people who will cook meals for their dogs daily. It’s actually healither for them in the long run. When I worked with puppies regularly the ones who wouldn’t eat we gave them boneless skinless chicken instead of dry dog food.[/QUOTE]
Maybe you should hold the snark a bit and re-read what I said. Feed the dry AS treats. As in temporarily. How is rice and chicken better for dogs than a good quality canned food? I’m afraid there is a bit more to feeding a good quality home cooked meal for dogs than just feeding chicken breasts
you could try feeding a better-quality food. Purina One is a low-quality food, in that nebulous area between “true garbage” and “mediocre”. Even if the dog liked the stuff, consider that it is priced as if it were a higher-quality food and thus you’re just throwing your money away. If you want to feed a low-quality food, there are foods that are the same quality as Purina One but are actually priced to match their ingredients.
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-one-dog-food-dry/
whatever you decide to feed, canned food is an excellent choice for any dog, it’s usually far healthier and more palatable than dry kibble. Mixing in some fresh food, such as table scraps, can also improve the quality of the dog’s diet and will improve the palatability of the food.
After that, it’s all about “tough love”. You offer the dog the food, give him 15 minutes to eat, and then take it away until the next meal. It won’t hurt a dog to skip meals for several days, after which most will cave and eat whatever you want the dog to eat.
What dogs want to eat is not always what you think is healthy to feed, so choosing a food solely on the basis of whether the dog eats it or not isn’t your best criteria. That should only be ONE of your criteria for picking a diet.
For example, some of the cheap “garbage” foods are eagerly eaten by dogs because the manufacturers spray them with flavors and scents to get the dogs to eat them. If your dog gobbles up junk food, that doesn’t mean you should choose that food for your dog. You make your kids eat healthy food even if they don’t like it (I hope).
Dogs bodies run on fat, and they thrive on high-fat diets, and most dogs will seek out and eat higher-fat foods. Many of the lower-quality foods are low in fat (it’s expensive), so if you offer a higher-fat diet the dog will prefer it. Look for something with a fat% that is at least 18%, preferably higher. Dogs also need protein, not carbohydrates, so look for foods high in both protein and fat (which mean they have fewer carbohydrates). A good diet for a dog should be 30% or more protein and 20% or more fat (as written on the label of a dry kibble).
I know it sounds really annoying but you just need to find something he likes. Dexter was picky as all get out (going 2-3 days without showing interest in food) and I made a post very similar to this one just a month or so ago.
Combination that finally worked for my guy:
- 1.25 cups Precise Foundation Chicken and Rice
- 1/3 cup Wellness 95% Turkey
- Probiotic
- Fish Oil
Throw in a couple of quick prayers and do a little dance and usually he’ll eat it all.
Picky eaters are a pain in the rear. Maybe ask around and see if anyone you know would be willing to give you a few cups of kibble and you can try them out as treats.
Taste of the wild seems to be well liked by dogs transitioning from grain-heavy foods. Might be worth a try.
Second Wendy’s suggestion for higher quality food. It seems much more expensive, but, in the long run isn’t quite as bad as it seems as I’ve found I don’t need to feed as much on the better food. Our older dog will eat anything and DH (she’s his dog) had her on Alpo and Purina Dog Chow when I met him, she was eating it happily, but she was eating a lot of it and always looking for more food (she was EXTREMELY active far into adulthood, ACD/JRT mix, enough said!). She’s been switched to Core or Acana kibble + grain free canned food and/or green beef tripe + meaty table scraps once and a while for quite some time. She doesn’t need to eat as much of it as she did the cheaper food, to maintain her weight AND not be begging. She begged all the time on the Alpo/Dog Chow, now she leaves us alone while we’re eating ;). I think they must process the higher fat/protein food more efficiently, not only is she not hungry all the time, but the quantity/size of poop is reduced, she must be actually making use of most of the food, whereas she wasn’t on the cheaper stuff.
Wendy- Thank you for the dogfoodadvisor link. Very helpful & actually just what I was looking for.
Another question…what is the difference between feeding a no grain food or a food with grain in it? Is it just an allergy reason? From what I’m reading the Blue Buffalo is good, quality food, yes?
Both of my recent puppies actually hated puppy food - they both wanted “big dog food”. I even put down a variety of choices and they just wouldnt even touch the puppy kibble at all. It didnt matter what type. (1 5 years ago, a about 6 months ago.)
My concern was the lower level of protein and calcium in food for older dogs wasnt sufficient for them.
So I made them porridge (the real way not using anything instant) with full fat/cream milk and beef broth added every morning. (Originally it was a baby porridge that we have in NZ called “Farax” - used for weaning babies off milk.) They slurped it down in very short order. Every other day, I added a fresh egg - shell and all - (from my feral chickens - they take free-range to the max) for calcium. At night, they would be fed “big dog” kibble and some fresh meat or dog roll depending on what was around. I used the amount of these that were appropriate for their weight. They have thrived on this… and each of them absolutely still love a bowl of porridge on a cold morning :).
Albeit my cat at the time also loved her porridge 
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