Mini and Medium Doodles

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Comment by Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie on September 4, 2014 at 6:52pm

I do the same thing when Ned MUST eat before doing something. I just don't make a practice of it. Oddly, once we switched to Orijen a couple of years ago, he usually eats within a short time, except in our RV.

Comment by Gwyndolyn Morasko on September 3, 2014 at 7:56pm

I agree, Nanci. There are many days when I come home at 6 pm and Kona and Maggie have barely touched their morning meal. I don't add another whole serving. The only time I add broth or chicken is when I want them to finish a full serving before a long day of playing at daycare or for a pill

Comment by Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie on September 3, 2014 at 6:47pm

PS Ned weighed about 27 pounds at 8 months and at age 6 weighs 28 pounds.  Not giving in to picky or encouraging him to eat more than his body said he needed, has obviously been the right thing to do for him.

Comment by Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie on September 3, 2014 at 6:37pm

If the dog is healthy, you shouldn't give into the picky.  It doesn't get better if you do.  It doesn't hurt them at all to miss a meal if they aren't hungry.  It is way, way better to be thin.

Comment by Veronica Z. on September 3, 2014 at 5:48pm

@Linda And Callie - Thanks for the recipe! Yeah she's been getting homemade for over 1.5 years with no problem but there is also the added benefit of no more tummy/poop issues with The Honest Kitchen. M.J.'s tummy is definitely more sensitive than my last dog.

@Olivia & Chanel - Yeah that's kind of what I've been suspecting. Like maybe it's a smaller dog thing. I have tried putting some parmesan cheese on top and sometimes that works but M.J. definitely has a lot of willpower. At one point I started thinking that she really would rather starve than eat something she doesn't approve of. Definitely a silly doodle. :)

Comment by Olivia & Chanel on September 3, 2014 at 1:09pm

Sorry joining this conversation late, but talking with many doodle owners both lab and golden doodles…many of them especially the smaller sized ones are just now that food motivated.  Our 8 month old needs to be enticed to eat as well.  After trying various things including raw food, fresh food…what seems to work now and is the most doable for our busy lifestyles is just adding a little "treat" mixed in with the kibble.  For example chopped up salmon and carrots or chicken and snap peas.  Sometimes if I don't have anything, I'll use a tiny bit of grated cheese.  Once she gets going eating, she'll eat everything including the kibble.  I'll keep a small container of whatever mixture in the fridge and just use 1 tablespoon or so of it.  And I'd say half the time, she'll eat her entire meal and sometimes just leave 1/2 or 1/3 of it….

Comment by Linda And Callie on September 3, 2014 at 12:55am

I do 50% ground turkey and 50% veggies (cauliflower, broccolli, carrots, spinach, sweet potato). Sometimes fish instead of turkey. Got this recipe from a wonderful lady I board my dog with. Also, I add ground eggshell for the calcium. I think all the nutrients are there and then some. And I cook it all in virgin coconut oil. In the three years I've had her I've never seen her eat so well!

Comment by Veronica Z. on September 2, 2014 at 6:35pm

I'm glad it's not just me and my pup that face this problem and I'm glad that despite being picky all pups sound perfectly healthy. I was so frustrated for so long that I finally decided to venture out and see if this was just M.J. or there were others. I was starting to wonder if it was a symptom of something else but it really doesn't sound like it. Especially since she's perfectly healthy in every other way. :)

@Gail and Bailey - Yeah, I would be happy with her eating in the middle of the night but basically if she doesn't eat with or around us (preferably with) then it isn't happening.

@Gwyndolyn Morasko - I tried the chicken stock trick and it only worked the first time. If I add any sort of scraps of something she loves in order to motivate eating it doesn't work because she will either reject it entirely or pick out what she wants and leave the rest (something my last dog used to do but M.J. never met him so apparently he's communicating from the Rainbow Bridge).

@Helga and Nimbus - Yeah, the pretending to eat her food trick has worked a number of times though I'm afraid to overuse it because I don't want it to stop working.

@Linda and Callie - Yeah we've actually been going the homemade route for quite some time simply because we had to but I'm worried about her getting all the nutrients she needs and would rather just supplement with homemade. I am definitely not one of those people who refuses to give her any people food. As long as it isn't too high in fat, sugar or calories then we're fine.

Again, I am so glad to hear the picky doodles community is in good health! :D

Comment by Gwyndolyn Morasko on September 2, 2014 at 5:41pm

Wow Helga!  He is catching up to Kona's "normal" weight of 24 pounds.  But I'm starting to think Kona is liking his extra weight and "owning" it at 28 pounds.  

Comment by Helga, Nimbus, Sierra, Clooney on September 2, 2014 at 5:38pm

I already had a picky eater with my German Shepherd, so I was very thrilled that Nimbus wolfed down his food at first. But I guess as soon as he realized there was no competition he started getting picky. I feed Orijen. Sometimes he completely leaves out a meal. He loves to get treats, though. And with those he's not picky at all. I tried the broth trick. Sometimes he likes it, other times he won't touch it. He gets boiled chicken for his agility training. He'd do just about anything for that. LOL. If I have chicken left over after the agility class, I'll add some to his kibble. He devours that. At night I feed him the Orijen freeze dried food. You soak it in hot water until it's soft. He always eats that. And sometimes my daughter pretends to eat his food. Then he gets greedy and eats. It's hilarious!
And even though he has tons of energy, he managed to gain about 2 lbs lately. He now weighs 22.3 lbs.

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