What tastes best?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Our puppy has been on Blue Buffalo since we got him. He does well on it, but sometimes has loose stools, which we address by giving him pumpkin. The problem is now he seems sick of it. He has no enthusiasm about eating his kibble, although he devours his training treats. I've done the research of which foods are the best quality, but I'm wondering if there are any that seem to have a really great taste to our Doodles. I want Guinness to really enjoy his food, and right now he just doesn't seem that interested. Hopefully this wasn't a prior discussion. I searched but didn't find anything.

[Lynne B]

I think all dogs get bored with their kibble. I cook chicken or turkey with rice, oatmeal and vegetables for my dogs and put a couple of tablespoons of it with their kibble, they never seem to get tired of that

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I did try mixing some chicken with the kibble. The problem is he actually ate all the chicken and no kibble. It was funny to watch him picking through the dish to be sure he got every piece of chicken....but no kibble. Maybe I should give it another try and see if he does better.

[fergie11]

I use a meat grinder attachment on my mixer (very quick) so it gets really ground up - that way when you mix it with the kibble they can't pick it out and they eat everything.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Awesome idea!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

My dogs always did this as well, If I added yummy human food they would lick the kibbles clean - LOL. Also they stopped eating dog food altogether, refusing it. I dont want to develop bad habits so I just leave the human food as a treat or a snack.

[Lynne B]

If I have leftover chicken or turkey, I boil it until it falls off the bone, then I shred it into very small pieces, but if I don't have leftovers, I buy 1 lb packages of ground chicken at Grocery Outlet for around $1 and cook two packages with oatmeal, rice, and veggies. I slightly moisten the kibble and then stir in about 2 tablespoons of the cooked food, they can't pick out the chicken that way. Also, all of our table scraps that are not overly fatty or don't contain anything that would harm the dogs are saved, chopped up and added to the dog's kibble.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Chopping up a hardboiled egg is easy, too, and always works for us.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree that after awhile, they get tired of the same thing, and who can blame them? When I started Jackdoodle on Orijen, he polished his bowl after every meal for about 10 days and looked for more. Now? Sniffs and walks away.
It's a good idea to rotate kibbles, for several reasons. One, if there should ever be a food recall, an availability issue, or a change in formula, you have other foods that you can go to. Two, vets who stay up to date on these issues now know that repeatedly eating the same thing for long periods of time can contribute to the development of food allergies.
Many of us rotate kibbles with each bag. You can find our brand recommendations in the Commercial Foods section, or read the "Results of TFG Survey" discussion, which will give you some ideas of what many of us are feeding.
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/the-foo...
Part of problem is that the crap brands taste better to dogs because the companies spray them with rancid fat and other delightful things that appeal to dogs. It is kind of like feeding kids...they would rather eat junk food than broccoli. (Come to think of it, kind of like adults, too, lol) Since many of our dogs started off in life with the grocery store brands or things like Nutro & Science Diet, they develop a taste early for the junk. We have a lot of picky eaters here!
Try the rotation and see if that helps. At first, add the new food in gradually over a week; once Guinness adjusts to eating a variety of foods, you will be able to switch from one to another without the "phasing in" period.
And if you want to see that you are not alone, and have a laugh, Read "Come Have a Little Whine With Me":
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/come-ha...

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Mine too, not as enthused as before and unfortunately I do tend to humanify my dogs and say "you need to shake it up" so last week I bought Go Natural Grain Free for a change. About the canned food....My first vet years ago told me that canned food was a no-no because it is nutritionally inadequate, hard on liver and kidneys. That kibble, as an added benefit is good for teeth. Now my inlaws had a dog that was raised strictly on some cheap canned food (years ago) called Rover or Fido or Tuffy or some such thing....he lived to be an astonishing 18 yrs old (peekapoo) He had no teeth the last few years but he didnt miss them because he ate the canned food. So who knows. Someone said to me here on this board before that the canned food of 2 decades ago was probably nutritionally superior than todays, and she probably is right. But I think I will always be a kibble girl because I started my first dog on Kal Kan? canned dog food, she got really ill frequently, I switched her to cheap store brand kibble and she was better.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Personally, I have never understood the feeding of only kibble to dogs their entire lives. My previous dogs NEVER ate kibble at all and I never bought it. They ate canned dog food and lived long lives.

When Magic died from the 2007 recalls, I was feeding Iams and Eukanuba which at the time were considered quality foods. Both were on the Recall Lists. I started Homecooking. Since, I have been researching everything I give my dogs and am still amazed by feeding only kibble to dogs. I know many here do it and that's your choice, I have just never understood it.

And people seem surprised when the dogs get sick of it. I think of it like humans eating Protein Bars or something like that with all the vitamins and minerals a person needs in that one bar and eating it every day for the rest of your life. Like Karen said, dogs get sick of eating the same thing everyday, just like people.

Adding some REAL chicken, fish, yogurt, cottage cheese, fruits and veggies are healthier for the dog and more interesting to them in the long run. My Jack absolutely loves a piece of frozen broccoli right from the freezer. All my dogs love spaghetti sauce or apple sauce poured on their foods, experiment a little and you can find many things they will go crazy over.

It is a myth, started by Commercial DF Companies that you cannot give people food to dogs. Unless they have an allergy, they can eat everything you do. Watch the salt, fat and sugars and feed some whole grains and other whole foods for a healthier and happier dog. That's my opinion.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I feed my dogs Fromm's. Although they seemed fine with chicken a la veg, and duck and sweet potato, they seem to like salmon a la veg less. But they do always love when I sprinkle parmesan cheese, cottage cheese, bits of cooked meat, pizza crust etc. on the food. I think of it like adding condiments.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thanks, I love the idea of the parmesan cheese....I hadn't thought of that, but I'm sure it will help.