I'd like to take a moment to whine about Duncan's eating habits...

[Theresa & Duncan]

I know there is a ton of great advice about this topic in the forum and food group (which I have read and am putting into practice), but this is less about seeking advice and more about just venting.

Duncan is in one of his "picky" phases right now, and it has me bummed out. He was a great eater until he was about my months old, and now he goes through periods of time where he wants nothing to do with his kibble. I am fairly certain that there is nothing actually wrong with him, because he is acting just fine otherwise. He is quite interested in human food, and will usually eat his kibble out of my hand if I offer it to him that way. This time has lasted longer than the others (a little over a week) so I am going to stop being a softie and bring out the big guns. No toppers, no hand feeding, no leaving the bowl out all day until he is ready to eat. He gets his bowl for 15 minutes and then I am taking it up until the next time.

Having said all that, it's still very nerve wacking when he doesn't eat. Even if I know deep down somewhere that he isn't going to starve himself, I still worry. I have never "waited him out" for more than a day, because I convince myself that something is wrong and top his food or hand feed him just to make sure he's ok. I know a lot of doodle parents out there know where I'm coming from. I think a lot of the worry stems from the fact that I've never had a dog who didn't wolf down his food the minute it was placed in front of him. I've been spoiled in that respect :). But I must face the facts: Duncan is a picky eater, and it's time to show a little tough love.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna is most definitely not a picky eater. :p  She is what Karen called a "chow hound" and will eat pretty much anything.  Her digestive system will generally only tolerate grain-free food, but she will happily chow down on anything that's given to her (ok unless it's green peppers or beans.. she hates those).

She started showing signs of being picky when she was a puppy, then we instated the "15 minutes to eat or no kibble!" regime and it quickly cured her of her "pickyness".

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, they are not a breed, they are a mix of breeds. And if "they ARE picky eaters", then how do you explain all of the doodles who are chow hounds and eat anything they can get? 

[bonnie adcock]

I disagree that we create this picky problem. They ARE picky eaters. Any other breed would chow down!

[bonnie adcock]

Chessie also likes Merrick as opposed to the other gd brands. I gv him the pork as he is allergic to chic beef eggs fish. really difficult and it's taken awhile, poor fella. Merrick is the only one he wont sniff and walk away from. Also likes Taste of the Wild Bison and it has a lot of Omegas -gd for dry, flaky skin and lots of other problems. They need oils just like their humans.

[bonnie adcock]

I can relate. I am hvg same problem. I lv their kibble out but I started taking up their wet fd if they didnt eat it no handouts anymore because they were waiting to see what we r hvg to eat. So today at noon i put downChessies bowl and he ate it all and so did his 5 mo old sis Suzie who eats puppy food. And I hv to serve them in difff places because one is on puppy fd and the adult, Chessie, is on a special diet because he is allergic to most proteins (found this out thru allergy testing). I spent a lot of $$$ to get to the point where I found something he would and could eat. Now I hv learned to put Omega 6 under his food. Its gd for skin- he scratches a lot. Hope this helps and gd luck and u r right he will not let himself starve. They r too smart formtheir own gd. We had two labs and as soon as u put bowls down, np and no allergies and no scratching, no matting but we think Labradoodles r exceptionally funny and smart dogs. We got them because husband got allergic to animals when he got old.

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Absolutely no judgement here!!! A few drops of bacon juice MAY have ended up on my boy's kibble yesterday too `:-(0}

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Sorry, I really don't have any advice for you!  I can imagine how bad that would stink to always worry about that.  I am lucky that mine both scarf down their food like I'm starving them!  I always thought that if mine were like that, then I'd have a hard time not putting human food on top of their dog food.  I suppose that might be the wrong thing to do if you are trying to get them to eat their dog food?  Good luck.

[Theresa & Duncan]

Thanks everyone for the support and words of wisdom (and the links!). I know pickiness is hardly the worst problem out there, but is sure isn't fun and its helpful when others understand. Oh and it didn't help that in the midst of all this the groomer decided to cut Duncan's fur down to shorter then what we are used to. I was overall pleased with the cut, but it also looked like instant weight loss! I know, I have issues :).

Lynda - we feed him twice a day, also something I never did with the few dogs who came before him (family dogs). I have considered going to one feeding but don't want to change too much at one time. I'm going with tough love for now and see where we end up. We did find that taking him for his walk before his meal helped a little, so we'll be keeping that up.

And it looks like project "tough love" will be starting today as opposed to yesterday. It was a holiday, after all, and some hamburger patty MAY have ended up on his dinner...

He ate every bite.

Don't judge me :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

How often are you feeding him?  My dogs have always eaten twice a day, but I know some dogs do not want to eat twice a day and once a day is fine.  Dogs have very slow digestion.  If he is not active, he may not want to eat frequently.  As long as he is healthy, don't worry about it.  And don't get into the habit of bribing him with treats or toppers.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

P.S. When I admitted the toppings to our vet, all she said was: well, he would go hungry in our house.

But it truly is hard to NOT put anything on the kibble. When we took our road trip to San Diego last summer, all if had was kibble and freeze dried lamb patties. Monty cleaned his bowl twice a day, and I think it's because he got a LOT of excercise every day and was starved by the time the day was over.