Adding to food?

[Amanda and Wheatley]

I was just curious.. ever since I bought my doodle, she has been a really picky eater. She has never been the type to dive right into her food. We always try the "if you don't want it then you don't get it approach" and it generally works, but now I'm starting to think she's getting on the thinner side. She's really not THAT thin, but it seems like with her frequent walks and high activity, as well as not eating as much as I'd like her to... I feel like she really should be eating more... I've been giving her the recommendations on the bag and sometimes I even add a little more, but she always turns her nose up at it. I try many different types of foods, I've tried the different flavors of Orijen/Acana, the TOTW, Instinct, etc (I transition her slowly don't worry) and she really doesn't seem to care for any of them. The only thing she LOVES is the crap food (of course) that contains all the fillers and is sprayed with fat, but of course I'm not going to feed her that. So the next best thing I can think of is to add stuff to her food like cheese and a little meat. Of course she gobbles all her food up then! But now i can't get her to touch her dry food without it! Now I would love to go the raw food it route and all but i really can't afford it, and I'd rather just stick with dry kibble. Should I just continue taking her food away until she gets hungry and not worry so much? She really isn't that thin, I cant see/feel her ribs or anything, she just seems to be on the thinner side to me...

[Kim]

I add 1/2 an egg at breakfast, 1/2 an egg at dinner, a little FF plain yogurt, and a squirt of Salmon Oil to Allie's food every single day.  She is the same kind of eater as your doodle... and this has been working for us for about 3 months straight.  DH even dared say the other day "Wow!  I can't believe we have FINALLY figured out what works for her!!!!" I used to bake BS Chicken Breast and blend it in the blender so it resembled Parmesan Cheese so that she couldn't pick around it if she tried!!!  That worked for awhile, but the Egg is the winner!!

 

OH AND... we have had 4 compliments in the past month or two in regards to how much better Allie looks.  She WAS too thin.  2 of the compliments were from our Vet & his tech.  We are very happy!

[Ron Carnes]

We have the same problem. I use the spray I can't beleive it's not butter. Zack loves it.

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

Lucca was the same way until he was about 18 months old. I have no clue what changed but it's much better. I put a TBS of (all meat) canned food in and mix it together so all the kibble is coated. Sometimes sprinkle with cheese, or boil chicken and cut into small pieces. He will eat plain kibble now but  I still indulge, usually with mozzarella cheese or cooked chicken. Yes, we do spoil them!!!!

Now.... with 4 month old Miz Izzy....I'm giving her kibble ONLY. She seems to love her Orijen Puppy so I don't want to jinx it. Lucca hated all kibble and like you, I tried a million brands until we settled on Orijen Adult.. Good luck

[Jodi and Stella]

We are letting Stella free feed and it is working for us, she just snacks throughout the day. I crumble a "Stella and Chewey" patty in with her Orijen kibble. (freeze dried raw meat with some veggies and fruit) I will sometimes add a little baked sweet potato and she really likes that.

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin is just the same.  He will eat when really hungry but he too is a bit thin and he neglects to eat in the morning and then will throw up bile from an empty stomach.  He free feeds and sometimes if I give him an appetizer (a small biscuit that her really likes) he will dig in.  Other times I put a bit of yogurt or mix in a tablespoon of canned food.

[Leigh & Allie]

Hey Amanda,

I haven't seen you post in a while:) Allie was the same way!! I switched her to Fromm and I can switch flavors each month or so when I get a new bag. In the beginning I would just leave what she did not eat out. Most of the time she would eventually eat it. Sometimes I would just add to what was left. About two months ago, she is 18 months now, she started eating what is in her bowl when I put it in there. Another thing, I did quit giving her treats, only food. I think that helped as well. Good luck. I love Fromm by the way.

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

Kirby is a picky eater too.  We just switched food because he had clearly gotten tired of their old food.  We will not add other things to their food.  We've found it backfires because if we remove the additive, he'll go back to not eating.  The only exception is if he has an upset stomach we will add some rice to his food.  Our opinion is that as long as he's not sick or losing weight, we are letting him eat on his own schedule (i.e. he'll eat when he's hungry).  I feel your pain because we feel bad when Kirby doesn't eat. 

Do you have just one dog?  If you do, maybe you should try leaving the food out (i.e. free feed).  We cannot do that because Dexter would eat all Kirby's food.  Good luck.

[Kyoko]

I add some cooked and minced fish, chicken breast, chicken liver, etc.. whatever I have at that time to Butter's food. Since he is really old and because of his UTI he lost some appetite and weight, I add whatever to encourage him to eat. He cleans up his bowl now, and hopefully, gain back his weight.

[Kyoko]

Since Butter has been a bit sick, I have been thinking about stuff to add to his food. Today, I thought about canned Pink Salmon. It said that 270 mg of sodium per serving, and ingredients are just Salmon and Salt. Is this too high in sodium?

He loves fish, but when I boil some fish, people complaint that it smells.  I thought canned fish will eliminate the compliant, but I don't want to give it to him if this is too high in sodium....

[Toby]

It sounds like I wrote this!  I have had the same problem with Toby - have switched foods too many times!  My breeder and vet both advised against add-ins, saying that it will ultimately create a pickier eater.  (Doodle foodies, stop reading now) An associate at Petsmart told me that Bil Jac is very palatable, so I tried it.  Toby loves it.  I feed him morning and evening, not leaving food down at all times (to prevent snacking), and he eats his meals well.  He has a 4 treat per day limit, this helps too!  Good luck, I know this is a frustrating problem to have!

[Joy & Buddy]

I'm having a similar issue with Buddy.  He's on Acana (and was on TOTW before) and at first, he eats it all, but then after a couple weeks, seems to lose interest in it. He is also a little on the thin side.  His coat has always been a bit dry too, which worries me a little, given that he has always been on high quality food.  So I put about 500 mg of salmon oil in to his morning meal.  I've been wondering about top dressing with a raw food, and I wondered if anyone has tried it, and if so, which ones.  I noticed you uses Stella and Chewy, Jodi, but I am not familiar with it. The egg sounds like an interesting idea, too, and I wonder if it would help his coat.  I have been hesitant to add in because of creating more pickiness.  Also, I have been rotating the flavors so Buddy is on one flavor for about 2 months, then I switch.  But he was on a fish-protein food for a long time (TOTW Pacific Stream) and I wonder if he just likes the taste of fish now!  Oh, he's almost 2.