Food issuses?

[Taylor & Huff]

Okay, so I think most all of you guys know that Huff gets home cooked meals. I think any dog would die over what he gets: meat (or chicken), sweet potato, kale, green beans, and the broth it has been cooked in (or rice). Pretty much every night he has to be dragged over to his plate and spoon fed to finish his dinner. When we first put it down he might take a bite (if you are lucky) and walk away or go to the cookie cabinet and beg for a cookie (he stares at the cabinet and sometimes whines, I don't know why he does this because we never gave him cookies when he does that). We don't even give him many treats (maybe like 3 or 4 through the day before his dinner). So last night I got him to wake up from sleeping and we gave him some kibble and he ate it! I know you are saying don't spoon feed him but even when we spoon fed him, he was acting like the food was disgusting refusing to put it in his mouth. I don't get him! He is so frustrating sometimes! I just think maybe he wants to eat kibble? He didn't used to like it though... I have never even heard of a dog being so picky and I am around dogs everyday! What would you do?

 

 

[Taylor & Huff]

We tell my grandma don't spoon feed him but she is a little stubborn. And we can't let him free feed because the other dogs at the shop will eat his food in a flash.

[Taylor & Huff]

I don't think I would like to eat ice cream and chips covered in gravy lol:) but I get your point. I would do that but my parents or grandma don't believe in going to bed hungry. Oh well!:)

[Adina P]

Right, but if he refuses food he's NOT hungry.  So he's not going to bed hungry.  He'll wake up hungry =)

[Taylor & Huff]

I guess so but it wouldn't make sense for him to refuse food after not eating all day and then going to sleep for a little while, waking up and going to eat kibble and leftover chicken? I am just beginning to think he doesn't like his food...

[Adina P]

A truly hungry person is rarely picky about food.

[Taylor & Huff]

And he eats VERY late so he will be hungry the entire day till 10:00 pm 11:00 pm.

[Adina P]

Can you take the leftovers with you to the grooming shop?  Do you have a microwave there you could reheat it in?  I guess with all the obstacles to his eating, it seems someone has to make a change with something. If you're not willing to just do a kibble he likes that's high quality OR put his food away after 10 minutes if he's not eating OR take food with you to feed him at a different time then I don't know what else to say.  If you want HIS eating to change, then something in his feeding routine or what you feed him has to change  You can't keep everything the same and expect different results.

[Taylor & Huff]

ya, we could but I tried that once and he didn't want them then either. I think we are just going to start feeding him whatever we are eating (making sure there are no onions in it) and some kibble. The one thing I worry about with kibble is the recalls. An kibble can get recalled, you just never know. We will most likely be feeding him Canine Caviar though and I think they are very careful about what they put in their food.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Oh Taylor, I hope Huff gets better, Chloe did this as a puppy and we were told to take her food away and it was SO hard to do knowing that we will be gone all day and she will get hungry. We were feeding her too large amount at the time and did not know it. She was not hungry at all. Looking at her today she is a garbage gut and finding a fur ball makes her happy. I would store the food and do what the others are saying. It's worth a try-hopefully it's a phase. Good luck. Hide the spoons from Grandma!!!!

[Taylor & Huff]

haha:) I truly do think she likes to spoon feed him... Last night he ate without having to be spoon fed and without any problems. I am so glad!:) We just gave him what we were eating...

[laurie lehr]

Sometimes my Jasper acts this way , we feed him no treats and if he doesn't eat his food we take it away and thats it .

 

[Dori & Rua]

So, after giving the whole time some thought, especially reading posts on how people entice their dog to eat, I started wondering, what if Rua doesn't like her food.  I just never thought of it.  She never seemed hungry...just figured with all of the training we have been doing, she was "consuming" enough and I do give her healthy training treats.  I am now concerned that she hasn't been getting enough though her ribs aren't sticking out or anything.

 

A month or so ago I went to a grand opening of a natural pet food store and purchased some Orijen & Acana (I mix it) because they were on special.  They gave us a "bag" with some samples and a few cans of food.  Well, the other day, I opened one of the canned foods - Canidae (ick...it looked like what I thought dog food used to look like).  I put some one top of Rua's food (didn't mix it in) and she ate it...but not all of the kibble.  Once we were finished, I opened a can of Weruva Jammin' Salmon...it looked so good that I wanted to eat it.  Since it was more liquidy, I took a couple of tablespoons and mixed it in with her kibble.  I can now feed Rua breakfast...and she will eat it all.  And then dinner...and she will eat it all.

 

Rua is supposed to get 1-1/4 to 2 cups of Orijen, which has 480kcals per cup a day.  I haven't been measuring before...just always making sure there was food in her bowl.   

 

Because she now is EATING, I am measuring out about 2/3 a cup of kibble at breakfast and at dinner now with the Weruva on top.  There is 120 cal in the 5.5oz can of Jammin Salmon.  So, she is only getting about 22 cal from the topper.  She gets a peanut butter kong 3 - 4 times a week (2 teas at about 63 cals).  Then, lots of treats (freeze dried liver, venison jerky, etc) while we train.  (She also gets 1/3 of a cup twice a week at daycare.)

 

So, how does this Jammin Salmon look?  Should I continue to give it to her or find something else she likes.

http://www.weruva.com/dog-cuisine-jammin-salmon.php