Hunger Strike!!

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

I have fought this for a while now, but guess it is time to change foods. I have been a HUGE Fromm supporter for quite a while now. Love the fact that they have never had a recall, are family made in a USA family run company, etc, etc.  Anyway, my guys have done well on this food for 2 - 3 years, but for the last 4-5 months have simply stopped eating this food. We have switched lines, switches flavors, etc. Two of my dachshunds will eat it with gusto. The other two will happily skip a meal or two until they are very hungry. The doodles - the same. Casey eats every other meal, but Cody hasn't eaten ANYTHING for the last 3 meals. He just looks at it, sniffs it and walks away. But is always at the treat table looking for something to eat.  SIGH !!!  I currently have two unopened bags of dog food, so will donate that to a local rescue group and will head to the feed store tomorrow to look for something new. How do y'all feel about Blue Buffalo, Arcada, or Orijen?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Joyce, we have a list of recommended brands in the Food Group, and many discussions there on this topic. Acana and Orijen are made by the same company, Champion Foods, and are highly recommended. Blue Buffalo was removed from the list a few years back after they sold to Mars. There had also been ongoing quality control issues prior to that, which are unlikely to have gotten better with a company that outsources ingredients at the helm. 

The thing is, Fromm has 12 different formulas in their Four Star line, and 2 or 3 in their Gold line. So if a choice of 15 different formulas isn't enough, I don't think that switching brands is going to make much difference. Picky eaters are eventually going to turn up their noses at anything you give them. It really isn't about the food brand. :) 

Here's my favorite discussion on this topic. Food for thought, pun intended: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[Nancy]

Joyce.....I have 2 ALD's, Oliver is not fussy and will always eat, Ivy on the other hand is fussy and will only sometimes eat.  Here is what I do.  First I feed Acana, I do switch flavors, both of my dogs have always done well with it.  I have never had poop problems, they are very regular.  I always add a "mix in" with their  food, I use Primal Freeze Dried Nuggets (Turkey and Sardine), they love it because it is stinky...LOL.  Sometimes use cooked ground chicken or Weruva canned food.  When Ivy gets real fussy and hasn't eaten either breakfast and refuses dinner, I cut up skinless hotdog and add that, she can't resist it.  Also, when she doesn't eat, her tummy will start rumbling and all the more she  won't eat and then she gets acid reflux and vomits.  I try not to let that happen because then I have to give her Pepcid and a very bland diet for a few days.  Good luck :)

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

Thanks for your replies. After reading more on line and the discussions in the food group, I've changed my mind again. I am going to stick with Fromm and the boys just have to "suck it up." I know that this is a quality food. There is one suggestion that we will try - and this is something that we did with another picky eater years ago. We will give a different flavor morning and night. That means that we will have two big bags open at a time, but with 6 dogs in the house, we go through it pretty quickly. We do switch flavors about every other bag, so will begin switching flavors with every bag. When Cody gets hungry enough, he will eat. His weight is stable and he has plenty of energy, so I will just "stick to my guns."

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that's a wise decision. 

Back when JD was on Orijen, I kept two small bags of two different formulas and alternated them at every meal. It was more expensive than buying the big bags, but it was a price I was willing to pay to have a dog who ate his meals willingly when they were "served", and not have to add toppers, cook, or deal with canned foods that turn my stomach, lol. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annie only wishes she had a treat table.

[gigi d]

Something similar happened with Graycie...her eating progressively got worse til one day she just turned her nose up at her food (Orijen) for a whole day.  After reading some discussions, I tried a small bag of fresh orijen puppy (the BIG  bag I was using was a little more than a month "old")...sure enough she gobbled the fresh bag without any problem at all!!  Lesson learned: I will not buy any food she cannot finish within a month, and now I store her food in ziploc bags in a food vault (I believe that may have been Karen's recommendation on a prior post)...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep. You never want to have more open food than they will eat in a month, unless you can freeze some of it.

Jack was always much more enthusiastic about eating when the food was from a new bag.