My dog is NOT motivated by food and rarely eats

[Emily]

My doodle is never interested in eating ( unless my kids have a hot dog and all of the sudden she will do anything for it- but we don't give people food to her). We have taken her to the vet on a regular basis and they say she is very healthy! She burps a lot but the vet doesn't seem to think that is a problem. I have changed her food over the years ( gradual food change over not cold turkey food switch) to see if she would like a different flavor and maybe be more excited to eat. Tried Taste of the Wild, Wellness, the Wellness Core (wouldn't eat even one morsel of it and would pick out the old food and leave that one behind), Natural Balance, Canidae, Nutro, California Natural...Still not excited to eat. Somedays she doesn't eat at all. Some days she eats a few small portions daily. I know dogs will eat when they are hungry...but as a mom, I worry when my babies aren't eating on a regular basis.

She has allergies in the spring and gets stinky butt every few weeks recently which is why I'm thinking maybe a food switch would be good?

  

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Our dog that is not food oriented LOVES Orijen also. We have been feeding it to him for over a year and he still loves it.  Go figure...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It seems like you've already done quite a few food switches, LOL. Spring allergies are completely unrelated to food anyway, or the dog would be having symptoms all year round and not just at certain times of year. Spring allergies are indicative of an inhalant allergy, most likely to pollen, which is 9 times more common in dogs than food allergies, depsite the misinformation you read on line.

When talking about switching foods, it's important to think in terms of switching formulas, rather than just switching brands. Every brand makes dozens of different formulas, so if your dog doesn't like one, all you have to do is try a different formula. If it's a chicken and rice formula, you try a lamb and oatmeal, or a grain-free turkey formula, within the same brand. So saying you tried Nutro, Canidae, TOTW, Wellness, etc. still doesn't tell us or you what actual ingredients and types of formulas have been tried.

But there is really no reason for you to switch again at all. If a dog has good energy and is a good weight as determined by your vet, there is absolutely nothing to worry about and no reason to try to get her to eat more. Humans attach emotional significance to food and eating; that's why the obesity rates are so high. Dogs don't, although some dogs value food more than others. It's much healthier for dogs and people to have a "take it or leave it" attitude towards food.

You will be interested and hopefully amused by this discussion on picky eaters. It really says it all: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[Emily]

Yes, I didn't include  in my original statement... we have stayed with one brand and tried the different formulas within the same brands.. That is a very good point.  She will not eat lamb anything ever. We have done all Tastes of the Wild when we was very young, she would not touch the fish anything. We have tried 3 in Natural Balance per my Vet and it went well for a while until she lost interest fast. Tried 3 Wellness with the Core being a tad more edible for her with less burping.

Our vet seems to think if she is getting stinky butt a lot recently she needed a food with more protein and fiber... Any opinions on that? 

We do take her food away if she doesn't eat otherwise it sits there for three days.

She will eat if I put a tablespoon of gravy on it ( on rare occasions) I looked at the Orijen website and saw the freeze dried food adds water and gets a little gravy-ish..Have you tried that?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If I had your girl, I would be feeding her the Fromm 4 Star line, which is designed to be rotated from one formula to another with each bag so that the dog stays interested, or I would be doing the same thing with Orijen's three kibble formulas. Orijen is also usually very helpful for firm stools. 

The freeze dried Orijen formulas are great (everything made by Champion is great- they also make Acana) but the cost of the freeze-dried foods is prohibitive for many people. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and one tip for owners of picky eaters. Give the dog 15 minutes to eat and then pick up the bowl, and do not offer food again until the next scheduled feeding. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

We did that with Luna when she was a puppy, worked great!  She is most definitely not a picky eater now.

The only thing I did when she was little was to moisten the kibble sometimes with a tiny bit of water (about a tsp in the whole bowl).  For some reason that made it much more appetizing.

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

My girls aren't big on kibble so I add a scrambled raw egg or plain yogurt or pumpkin to they did and they usually gobble it up. Good luck

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Hurley has never been a big eater.  So I think he is also in contention for being the pickiest dog in the world.  He usually doesn't get to excited about breakfast.  Kind of saunters over; takes a sniff and then decides if he is going to eat or not.  Never finishes no matter how little or how much I put in the bowl.  He doesn't spit it out.  Instead he pushes it out of his bowl.   Oh, he does like salmon.  I will mix a little of my salmon in with his food sometimes.

No matter which food, on the DK Food list, I get he doesn't seem to get overly excited about it.  And I switch periodically just to see if I can find something he might get excited about.

I get the 'seriously mom?' look.

I do pick up organic roasted chickens from Whole Foods (because I am to lazy to buy the chickens and boil them myself).   I pull off all the meat and freeze in small packets for Hurley and our cat.  They both love chicken in that form and never seem to tire of it.  I cut it up in small pieces and add it to his dry food.  I also add different wet food to peak his interest.  Hurley does like cranberry bagels, yogurt and pop corn.  His favorite treat is Stella & Chewies.  At least I finally found a treat he likes.  

I pick up samples and lay them out with a distance between each one to see what he goes for first.  He smells each one and then either walks away or settles on one or two.  Then that is the one I buy but he never gets excited.  He may have liked the sample of the other samples but when it is his breakfast or dinner he doesn't show much interest.  

He stays at 53-55 lbs and he is 26 months old.  The vet said his weight is fine and he just isn't a big eater.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep. And how could there be anything wrong with weight being fine and just not being a big eater, lol? 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Calla and I are trying to attain those very same goals.

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Sign me up!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The more you switch because she is 'bored' the pickier eater you will create.  A HEALTHY DOG WILL NOT STARVE ITSELF.  Really.  If the vet says she is fine then quit worrying.  Feed her a food that you think is nutritionally great (see our list) and then be done with it.  If you want to switch it up sometimes, then buy a food brand that has several flavors and rotate them.   Ned used to be an unmotivated eater.  He liked to eat when by himself - usually at night in the dark!  He didn't eat every meal or even all of his meal.  He was this way for years.  We switched brands a while back (for another dog's health)  and it just happened that Ned LOVES the new food and gobbles it up.  I am glad that he loves what we are now feeding, but if he didn't and continued on his light eating vein, I would be fine with it.  His weight has not changed more than a pound since he was eight months old. He is almost six.