Doodle Eating Habits

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I'm curious...Does anyone else have doodles that are a bad eaters?.....Blake will leave his food in his bowl the entire day, sticking his nose up at it no matter what it is....Even chicken!...Then I will either hear his collar hitting the bowl at about 2 or 3 in the morning or I will wake up and the food will be gone.....

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

The only actual non-food item that Blake will eat is rabbit poop!.....I can't get him away from it!!...He absolutely loves it!...Maybe it's crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and he just can't resist....It's a mystery...... Blake did come from a puppy mill rescue and I was told by The Humane Society that mill dogs are accustomed to eating their own feces because they are malnourished and underfed...I never witnessed this......but that rabbit poop habit has to stop!...yuck!
I believe that the habit of eating non-food items is called Pica ( pike-ah)

[Adina P]

That's the term. But with dogs...other-species poop is a great delicacy!

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

oh yummy!

[Kelly]

Molly is the same way, she picks at her food(mostly in the evening). But she's "just right" in the weight department and the vet isn't worried, so neither am I.

[1b6zugvqzi1f1]

Kali is a picky eater too. Always has been. We free feed her about a cup a day of dry Nutro or Innova or both (she won't eat it at all if it's wet). Sometimes she'll eat most of a cup in the morning, sometimes it will sit there almost all day before she eats it. We've tried adding canned puppy food--------chicken, lamb and beef, but she pretty much just turns her nose up at it. She does eat treats (Mother Hubbard peanut butter treats are her favorites). And occassionally when I'm training I'll use very small pieces of hot dog or string cheese and she really likes those. She is a good weight, and is active, so I don't worry much about her.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Hi Norm...Yes, I swear that Blake LIVES on treats!.....I give him the Cadet 100% Dried Chicken Breast...He LUVS them....They are expensive, but at least they are simple, digestable protien with no additives or fillers....The only cookie-like treat that he will eat is the Purina Pedigree Marrow Bones........Not my first choice but he likes them and finding things that he actually likes is a real challenge....

[31w85neadbpsm]

Sunny got to be a real picky eater about six months ago. With 2 other dogs to contend with it was almost eat or be eaten. I started putting in just one forkfull of canned lamb and rice in with her lamb and rice bagged food and now she doesn't even pick her head up out of the bowl. With this a can of food lasts about 5-7 days.

[Marcia Stevens]

Hi,
Yes, my 7 1/2 month old female "Kodie" does the same thing....she'll let her breakfast sit alllllll dayyyyyy....I usually pick it up, and put it in the fridge...and, warm it up for dinner...she then takes a few bites...and, acts like I'm feeding her some sort of gruel....even though it's a very expensive food..(more expensive than my child's food)....she'll take another sniff, and a bite...then walk away! I don't know how she gains any weight!

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I always say, Blake eats better than I do....and still he's such a food snob!..Just the other day I was commenting to a friend on the phone at dinner time how it was quite funny that while I was scarfing down a Stouffer's frozen meal, Blake was sticking his nose up at a lovely meal of beef and chicken baked meatloaf with brown rice that I had made just for him!.......Of course all he wanted was my macaroni and cheese....... Come to think of it, Blake even has better health care than I do!....and better insurance.....lol

[2zw8n9vphfrc6]

Jacquie,
How long have you had Blake? Lincoln was just like this for over a month no matter what we gave him. Oddly then he would even eat something one day and then not the next. He is finally a good eater however still crazy about the whole food thing. I do think his former owners just left dry out all day long for him . We try to feed Lincoln whenever he shows signs that he is hungry ( he will stand by the fridge and give a bark) he also now gets snacks throughout the day too.
I was talking to his vet and he also recommended to feed them on demand

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Hi Michele....I've had Blake for one year as of Aug. 5th.....I'm finding through correspondence that many doodles are bad eaters......You're lucky that Lincoln lets you know when he's hungry.....What kind of snacks does he like?

[2zw8n9vphfrc6]

He loooooooves nori seaweed!!!! but also bananas, nuts, apples, carrots. We do not buy any type of doggie treats.. Oh i take that back he does love those bully sticks lol. For instance right now his tummy was grumbling so i prepared his food and gave it to him however he isnt interested so i gave him some of my sons left over green smoothie which is juiced :

cucumber
pineapple
spinach
apple
banana
spirulina