Dog Food For A Now Picky Eater?

[Ali]

Hi Everyone!

I need you help with Lola's eating habits. She does not like her kibble. I feed her Holistic lamb (or chicken) and rice formula for puppies and small to medium breeds. She used to like it, but now I am thinking she hates it. It is the last thing she will eat. I used to feed her once in the morning and once in the evening and she would start eating right away. She wouldn't eat all of it, she has never finished her food all at once unless she has wet food mixed in. At the moment, she has not touched her food. When she goes over to drink her water she occasionally sniffs her bowl to check it out but won't eat it. It seems like the only way I can get her to eat is to mix it with wet food, but I don't want her to get used to this so I am trying to hold out. I think it is time to get off puppy food and get a new yummy tasting food. What are everyone's suggestions? Help, my dog needs to eat something.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hi Ali, It has been said over and over that they will not starve. It has my experience that it is not unusual for appetites to wax & wane and it is not necessarily a response to food, though you are VERY WISE to pay attention to these details. Our doods definitely seem to favor what I fondly refer to as nocturnal eating, I have come to not be overly concerned by their preference of this. Depending on your dogs age this could be a result of many things, some examples might be the end of a growth spurt, teething or even an eagerness to explore their growing awareness of the world ~ sometimes when we settle in the evening and are not so busy that is when they do so also. We put dry kibble out in the am and a 'gourmet' meal at night with kibble and all of our preferred add ins. If your dog does not have symptoms that would lead you to believe their is an underlying health concern and you are happy with your food you may consider riding it out. Some picky eaters have this enforced by free feeding or by us being soft with them. I honestly do not have a strong opinion about free feeding vs picking it up after limited time as I do not think you can ever state there is only one proper way and each case may have unique circumstances but it may be useful to pick it up after a time in your situation.

There are many great foods out there (unfortunately many more lousy ones) and you will likely receive many recommendations. Perhaps if you set some parameters first you can weed out those that would be the best fit for you and your doodle.
First you need to determine how you want to feed her, do you want to remain with commercial food ~ kibble and canned? Does your dog seem to exibit any conditions that may lead you to select grain free over a kibble with good grains? Are you interested in raw? Homecooked ~ either completely or as a compliment to your routine? What is the age of Lola and activity level? Do you have other dogs that will share these meals? What price point do you have? Access to shopping and consultation for food? Well that is little 'food' for thought that will help you to begin your search.

[Ali]

Thank you for answering me Dianne. To answer your questions my Lola does not seem to exhibit any conditions that would make me think she needs a grain free food, but would want a food that had good grains. What do you consider commercial food? Right now her kibble is not found everywhere (not found in grocery stores, petco, petsmart, walmart). Her food only comes from local pet stores that has only natural kibble available, so I guess a higher quality of food. I am not interested in raw or giving her home cooked food. I barely cook for myself, I wouldn't mind cooking for her once a month, but I don't know what would be healthy. I guess I could check out the recipes. Lola is 8 months old, and I would consider her level of activity moderate. She goes to the dog park once a week, and we go on a walk every day, and will occasionally run for a few minutes just to start getting her used to different paces. I would like her to start running with me soon, but that is not going to be for a while or every day once we start. I do not have any other dog or pets. My price would be for a higher quality food but not over the top. I don't want something cheap like purina or something like that. I have a lot of local pet stores that would give me food consultation and maybe some samples if that is possible.

[Lake Girl, Lizette]

Ali,
I can speak from experience...believe me...about a picky eater. I now have two doodles. My first doodle, Molly, came to us in October and was nine weeks old. She was really little and I worried about her not eating enough. She picked at her food and so I decided to change...well months later and a pantry full of dry and canned (high end) dog food enough to start my own store....she still was picking around. I even tried to cook my own to no avail. She would eat the first new meal and than go back and nit pick and skip meals entirely. When I got our Nestle I thought things would change and they did for a couple of days. Than the same thing. So I finally did tough love and I mix two dry kibbles...Wellness and Evo with a little warm water and throw in some ground up cooked chicken and hamburger meat for different texture and flavor...oh, I add a scoop of Wellness can no grain chicken. My vet beleives in mixing dry and wet and I have always done that. I do not leave dry kibble down all day because they won't eat it anyway and I would not be able to know which one is eating in case of an illness. She eats what she needs and is doing fine. Of course, we went three meals w/o eating and I was a nervous wreck. I also know she doesn't eat as much now that her teeth are falling out. I find them all over the place. Just be careful to select products that are not filled with junk and things that are bad for our pets. I researched products a lot and then finally decided on my choices. Good luck.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Lizette & I have laughed and agonized over this (read Come Have a Little Whine with Me and some of our other discussions here in the Food Group...you will at least get a laugh out of it), and her advice is right on the money, as is our dog food guru Dianne's.
I honestly don't think the particular brand of food makes any difference in these cases, as long as it is a high quality food...no matter what you choose, eventually Lola will turn her nose up at it. Here's the proof: I chose to feed Jackdoodle Nature's Variety Prairie kibble partly because it comes in 5 different flavors that can be rotated for variety. Of the 3 flavors we have already tried, he has refused to eat two of them. I also give the kibble in the morning, and feed a more gourmet dinner, with add-ins, or sometimes just cook for Jackdoodle. I was recently advised not to leave the bowl down all day for free feeding, and was told that healthy adult dogs can easily go for days without eating, with no ill effects. I have noticed that Jack doesn't eat any of it anyway when I'm not around. Give her 20 minutes for the a.m. feeding, and then pick up the bowl. Sometimes, they appreciate the food more when it's not always there.
I also don't see anything wrong with adding some wet food to the kibble on a permanent basis, unless you don't want to have to do that. I personally can't stand wet food, it makes me gag...so if you're trying to stop it for that reason, I understand. But it IS a good idea to feed a variety, including wet, dry, and homemade meals and/or additions.
Lola will NOT starve; relax and feel free to vent to us any time. Good Luck.

[Ali]

Yeah it is just frustrating. I keep her kibble pretty consistent, but I need to start picking it up because right now she is free feeding. I try to keep it a variety by switching her food up a bit, by putting wet food in, cheese, some treats, etc. Just to mix it up.

[Marion Carmickle]

I can certainly identlify with this discussion and it is JUST what I needed to read...Riley is definitely a picky eater and since we removed the wet food that had a bad preservative (becasue of this group I recognized the name and got her off it), now she is even more picky. I am trying to transistion her to TOTW...doing it slowly to help with the transistion and she ate out the TOTW and left the remainder of the old stuff, which was the majority of the meal. My husband talked me into picking it up after 30 min. That is going to be my M.O. from this point forward...she is 8 months old and, hopefully, she will be more hungry later in the day. Dianne...how much food would recommend that an 8 mon. old should have per day (given they decide to eat at all)?

[Ali]

What do all the abbreviations mean? And what is a good wet food.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

TOTW is "Taste of the Wild"
For wet foods, try the same brand you are using for dry, or if there isn't one, Evangers makes a really good chicken & rice canned food.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hey Marion, sorry for the delay = ( I would use the guidelines on the bag, less if you are mixing it with canned or other goodies. Had you heard back from TOTW? I was able to get a response from my friend who contacted them today.

[Joy Williams]

Ali, I have 2 GD's - one is a real chow hound and the other is a very picky eater. She has not always been that way though. When i try a new food for them, she's as big a pig as her sister. But after a couple of weeks, she seems to lose interest. For some reason, I have found that if I pick up a few pieces of her kibble out of her bowl and offer it to Maddie or pretend to be stirring it with my finger, she seems a little more interested. I'll hand feed her a couple of pieces and just rave over her nibbling on it, and pretty soon, she goes over to the bowl and starts eating it. Very strange, I know! But sometimes she has gone more than a day without eating, and eventually, she decides its time to eat. I can't leave her food down for her though, b/c Maddie ( my little piglet) will eat hers too. It does not seem to affect her at all and she is fine otherwise - no health problems.