Wellness and similar brands

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I'm coninviced yeti doesn't like wellness. I'm pretty fed up with the will he or won't he eat game. It's been going on since the beginning of the month. We have half of a bag left of wellness puppy core left but am considering a switch to another brand. Does anyone know of a brand similar to wellness. I've seen the recommended food list and studied it carefully. I'm just wondering what worked for your dog.

[Carrie]

We use Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy (NOT grain free). We've never had a problem with our 18 mos or 4 mos doodle.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Remember this from 11 days ago?

Reply by Haley&Yeti on August 6, 2016 at 1:25pm

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I picked up a bag of wellness core puppy this afternoon!
This morning he got his usual 1 & 1/4 cup of wellness complete health and only ate about 1/2. Mixed in 1/4th cup of core to his dinner and he ate it all in under 10 minutes! Not getting too excited yet but I'm very happy and thankful for your suggestion!

Permalink Reply by Karen & Jackdoodle on August 6, 2016 at 1:58pm

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It's a good start. :)

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/still-not-eating-well-afte...

[Haley&Yeti]

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[Karen & Jackdoodle]

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[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

First, you have to stop thinking in terms of brands and start thinking in terms of formulas. Wellness makes a dozen different formulas or more, so it isn't that Yeti "doesn't like Wellness", it's that maybe he doesn;t like this particular formula. This is true of every brand, they all make different formulas. 

There is no magic brand or food that every dog is going to like.

But this is really not about what food you feed. There are some dogs, and I think Yeti is one of them, who are going to play games with you about food their whole lives if you let them. No matter what food you give him, he is going to refuse to eat it, sooner rather than later. No matter what anyone here recommends to you, if you switch, two weeks from now you are going to be back here looking for something else because Yeti doesn't like it. 

He is not the kind of dog who loves food and always eats whatever he can get. He's never going to get excited about food. He's picky. It's time to get tough and take back control of the food bowl. You are in charge, not the puppy.  A normal healthy dog will not starve himself. 

I would continue to feed the current food, at his regular mealtimes, with nothing added. Give him 10 minutes, keep him company, eliminate any distractions (people coming in and out of the room, noise, etc) and then pick up the food and do not offer food again until the next scheduled mealtime. limit treats, especially big things like Himalayan chews (LOL) that will fill him up and help him continue to play you by not eating. 

We have many discussions about this here in TFG, but this one is the best. Please read it and think about it, it's the best advice you could get on this topic: 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Thank you for the confidence boost. I'm mostly worried that were stunting his growth (if that even is a thing). There are some days he will eat 1/4 cup for breakfast and then only 1 cup for dinner. The bag says he should be gettin about 2 2/3 cup a day which is why I'm worried. How do you feel about me putting some of his left over kibble in a Kong and freezing it with some water or maybe some soft food mixed in? Or is that considered a treat? I don't mind not giving him treats but it's especially hard when we're supposed to be training him. We do use positive reinforcement a lot. On Mondays we have puppy class and were supposed to use treats treats treats. Should I just use kibble?
We have been trying the 10 minute method out for a couple weeks now. Some days are better than others but I think he has only finished his whole bowl once or twice. A lot of times he will act like he needs to go potty. Should I not let him out?
He plays and is excited and has lots of energy like a normal dog so I'd like to think he isn't starving himself it just makes me worried some days.

Also how do you feel about getting him one of those balls that you put kibble in and he would have to roll it on the floor to get it out? I'm not sure that he would even like it just trying to exhaust all of my options. I have never heard of a dog who doesn't like his food haha but I believe you. Thank you so much

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've had dogs who ate anything and more dogs who never "liked" their food no matter what I fed them. I have that kind now. And talk about worrying, Jack has several serious health conditions including the mother of all digestive diseases, Inflammatory Bowel Disease. He has to be fed 4x a day, with various meds given at each feeding. He gets the meds because i put them down his throat, and sometimes twice if he spits it out the first time, lol. He doesn't always eat. I've stopped worrying about it, because in spite of everything, he's as healthy as an 11.5 yr old dog with serious health issues can be, lol. 

You are not going to stunt his growth, I assure you. 

You can use the kibble in a Kong if you want to, it's his food, not a treat, even if he doesn;t know that, lol. 

You can add a bit of canned food too. Just stick with the Wellness canned version of his kibble, I think they do make that. Subtract the calories of whatever you put in the Kong from his regular meal amounts.

I can't help with the treat ball because I've never used one. 

For training teats, use the smallest thing you can find. Pure Bites has some really teensy pieces in the bags, more like crumbs than treats, use those. Or boil some chicken and dice it into teeny tiny pieces, like a quarter inch square, and use those. :) 

And DO read that discussion, I promise you it's worth it. 

[Carolyn and Sadie]

Does Jack eat Wellness Simple Solutions Salmon and Potatoes or Salmon with Peas?  I am feeding Wellness Ocean Core which contains white potatoes  and I am wondering  if white potato is a culprit of my cockapoo Sadie's general itchiness and inflamed, but not infected inner ear flaps. Could be environmental and most likely is but I thought I would change and see.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack eats the Salmon/Potato formula. The one with peas is for weight management. It's lower in calories than most other kibbles, although it's an excellent food. 

It's extremely doubtful that Sadie's itchiness would be related to her food, and even more doubtful that it would be related to the potatoes in the food. If it has anything to do with food at all, it would most likely be an animal protein source. 

[Joan Bollaert]

I use Orijen red. Have never had a problem with any Orijen product

[Anita Lee]

"He is not the kind of dog who loves food and always eats whatever he can get."

It may not seem like advice, but this is solid advice. If you just accept whatever his choice is, then it's not a game of will-he-or-won't-he-eat. If he doesn't eat one meal or one day, he'll eat more the next. It's all fine. Some dogs don't get hungry until late in the day. That is also fine - feed him a bit more in the evenings if that makes sense for him. He's not going to starve himself so you don't need to worry about that. Most people say to be consistent but some amount of flexibility in timing of meals will not spoil him.

Use the bag's feeding guidelines as just that. It's not that they need to followed 100% and if you don't your dog will be stunted. People of the same weight also have different appetites and different caloric requirements!

Overall, I'd recommend being patient and accepting, whatever he chooses to eat. I believe dogs benefit from some self-determination even if we are their caretakers, and that both dogs and humans are happier for it. Frankly, I've learned that pickiness can be a virtue sometimes. I don't want my dog eating random stuff she finds off the ground, and fortunately Zoe never does that - maybe thanks to her refined palate! ;)

[Laura and Angus]

They have given fabulous advice. I felt exactly as you do when Angus was younger and now that he's 2 we've accepted that there will be days he's just not feeling a meAL here or there. And that's fine. When he gets hungry enought he eats. We use Earth born Holistic and used to switch around the proteins, but due to some tummy issues we currently only use beef/bison protein for all food and treats. Angus likes it, but again he has days where he's really hungry and other days he eats mostly the half sweet potato off the top and then doesn't want anymore until dinner.