Finnicky Doodle

[Nancy]

Hello Everyone.....I've been a member of Doodle Kisses for quite some time now but have no really posted much.  In 1 more week, my husband and I will be "empty nesters" so I'm sure I will have a lot of free time to enjoy this forum.

My 2 year old Labradoodle, Oliver has become a very finicky and fussy eater.  It seems like since I transitioned him over to Adult food, I have been having problems getting him to eat.  He is a healthy, energetic, 38 pound dog.  Not to mention the best dog that that I have ever owned :)  The problem is that he really is not interested in eating his dog food very much.  He will eat, but certainly not the amount that he should be eating.  I feed him 2 times a day, 1 cup at each serving, at most, he will eat 1/2 of what is in his bowl.  I have tried many different foods, both with grain and without, he would not even touch the grain free.  I have tried Earthborn, Solid Gold, Wellness and currently Merrick.  I have tried mixing in can food, even the smelliest and he only picks at it.  I have also tried mixing in boiled hamburger or chicken and it seems like he eats more, always picking it out the good stuff, but not all of it.  He acts totally normal with no signs of illness and he has been given a clean bill of health from my vet.  I would love to know if anyone else has similar issues??

[Adina P]

I'm of the opinion that if dogs are hungry they will eat and if they are not losing weight or suffering from a disease, then there is no reason to worry.  You could try one of the brands that has a rotation of flavors like Fromm. It also a safe and well respected brand with ingredients sourced from good places. You could also try putting his bowl down for 10-15 minutes and then taking the food away until the next meal.  Does he get treats or scraps or any other food between his meals?  And now I shall offer this up to Karen, our food expert.  She'll have the answer. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You pretty much covered it. When we keep introducing new foods trying to find one that our dog "likes", we create a picky eater. We teach the dog that if he holds out long enough, he might get something better. 

A healthy dog will not starve himself. If he's healthy and energetic, and the vet is pleased with his weight, he's eating enough. He's just not a chow hound.

 I also agree with limiting the amount of time food is available. Put the bowl down, and pick it up after 15-20 minutes. The dog soon learns that food is not available any time he feels like it, so he better eat when he has the chance. When they are allowed to graze all day, they never really feel hungry. 

This is one of the topics most often discussed in The Food Group. We humans want our dogs to "like" and "enjoy" their food, because humans often see food as love. But dogs don't. Those of us with picky eaters need to show our love a different way, lol. Here's my favorite discussion on this subject, full of wisdom and humor at the same time: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[Nancy]

Thank you all for your advice and comments.  I think I will give Fromm a try and probably Sojos.  I know it is bothering me more than it bothers Oliver but I admit......I just can't stand the fact that he wont eat what he should eat!!!  I don't leave his food down, it would never last, I have an 11 year old cockpoo Kasey who is like a vacuum cleaner and she would devour it in a second!!  Oliver has always had his own "private dining room" in the bathroom!!!  Geez.......maybe he doesn't like eating in the bathroom??  Now I think I trying to get too much into his head!!  As for treats, those are limited, I use them as reward for tricks and going outside.......otherwise Kasey would be quite the rolly polly!!!  Funny, Oliver is picky with treats too, if it doesn't pass the sniff test, he won't try it!  

On another note......we had to make a trip to the ER last night at 11:00.  Oliver was a bit tired and just not himself yesterday.  He was slow at getting up from a laying  position and really not interested in doing much of anything.  We went out a couple of times and instead of running to retrieve his tennis ball, he trotted.  He did this only a couple of times before bringing the ball back to the door (which is what he usually does after I say "one more time".  By early evening, he looked so sad and really did not want to move around, he did so reluctantly only to please us.  Assuming he was in some kind of pain, I started to try to figure out where he was hurting and that was when he began to yelp and squeal whenever we touched him.  Long story short, we could not determine where he was hurting so after a bit, off to the ER.  After a thorough assessment from the doc, it has been determined that he most likely has injured a disc in his spine. Although she could not rule out a fracture or even meningitis, without any signs of neurological damage, she decided on a "wait and see" approach.  She also did some bloodwork to rule out Lyme Disease.  So.......anti inflammatory meds and pain meds for week and no activity for a week to see how he does.  Poor Oliver!!! 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Poor baby, hope he is back to normal in a hurry.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Poor Oliver! JD has a ruptured disc in his spine, so we know just how you are feeling. I hope the meds help Oliver feel better soon.

While diet should not be your concern at this point, I did want to mention that being fed in the bathroom could well be part of the cause of Oliver's finnicky eating. Most of our dogs like to be near us when they eat. In fact, as much as JD looks forward to his meals and devours them as soon as his bowl is set down, he will stop eating if I leave the room, and prefers me to be sitting at the kitchen table while he eats. Many others have noticed the same thing with their dogs. I would feed Oliver in the kitchen and sit right there to prevent Kasey from getting near Oliver's food while he is eating. 

The anti-inflammatory meds may help his appetite in the short-term, so this may be the perfect time to make this change of dining room. 

As far as changing to Fromm's and/or Sojo's goes, the Fromm rotation diet may help keep Oliver's interest in food up. The Sojo's probably won't however, and in fact if you read that discussion i posted carefully, you see that Jarka mentioned that Monty did lose interest in the Sojo's very quickly, lol. 

[Nancy]

Hmmm...I never thought about the effect of dining alone, you're right he ate every bite this morning (of course it was topped with hamburg), this is certainly the right time to try feeding him in the kitchen again.  That is how he originally was fed but he gobbled so quickly even with someone standing guard that I was afraid he was just swallowing whole.  Then we switched to the divided bowl and that didn't work, it took so long for him to eat and by the time he finished, Kasey was pretty much hysterical!!!  Kasey is a whole other story LOL.....She was almost 9 when we got Oliver and not only was she a senior citizen, she was also used to being Queen of the Castle so she was not the least bit happy to have the annoying toddler around!!!  But you are right......this is a good time to bring Oliver back to the kitchen :)  

So how long did it take for JD to get back on his feet and does he have limitations?  One thing for sure is that the pain meds have certainly made Oliver more comfortable :)  It looks like Filet Mignon may be on the menu for tonight!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Fromm Four Star line is designed to be rotated, a different formula with each bag; it's an excellent quality food and many of the formulas do contain some grains. Most dogs love it. 

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Welcome to my world, LOL! As you see, our food guru Karen uses me as an example of a notorious "picky eater creator". And I'm guilty as charged. :-)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You know I love you, Jarka! Honestly, I just use this discussion because I think it contains the best info on the topic, especially Adina's brownie analogy. :)

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

And I know I'm guilty! I keep telling myself every day that I'm NOT putting any toppings on the kibble. It's hard. But we are getting to the point where Monty needs to lose some pounds. We love our doodles, but overfeeding them is NOT showing them love. Dogs are great manipulators and some of us are more susceptible to fall into their traps. I'm still working on becoming a better doodle mom. I sure don't want my boys to have health problems because of obesity.  Just like you said, a dog won't starve himself.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Jarka we are so much a like... I did that with Jack forever... I don't know I enjoyed trying different things with him... Even on Bravo, I rotate his proteins sometimes a different one with each meal... I love adding things in for him like freeze dried venison or throwing some cooked sardines on his meal.

I think we have that incredible nurturing desire in us and it makes us feel just as good as the dogs when we think we are doing something great.

As far as a picky eater. Jack was so, so, picky when I first got him.. that is when I started with the toppers but even then, he didn't eat much.....no where near what he was supposed to according to the labels but as he has gotten older, he gained weight.. before I knew it my little guy that looked like a squirrel when he was wet, was really thick...... 

I agree a healthy dog won't starve himself.. You have to decide what you are willing to or wanting to do with the dog.. They will eventually eat what you put down, or you can keep trying to keep them interested with adding new foods...

I like adding new foods because it makes ME happy and he seems to enjoy it but if I didn't want to I would be fine with leaving the kibble down and picking it up after a certain amount of time and doing it that way.....

I just don't have anyone else to spoil at the moment so Jack is it.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I just saw this post and hope that you have a diagnosis for Oliver and that he is recovering.