Food options

[Brian P]

My goldendoodle is about 1.5 years old and has never been motivated by food. Sometimes he eats and other times he leaves it. I have tried to do various things to get him to eat it like putting water in it which works sometimes. Heating it up. Etc. I have tried 3 different brands and several flavors and he hasn't really liked any. Anyone have this problem? What brands and flavors have you found to work if your dog was finicky about eating? The vet says he's perfectly healthy but I just wish it wasn't such a challenge to get him to eat anything. Thanks for your replies!

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Really ?  Why is that ?  

Define "vigorous exercise" -- I presume playing fetch or running/chasing me or time at the Dog Park, right ?  Not a regular walk, right Karen?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's because it is a risk factor for bloat, and all of the doodle parent breeds are susceptible to bloat, which is deadly. 

Exercise also disrupts the digestive process. That's why your mom didn't let you go swimming for half an hour after eating, lol, and why women in labor can't eat or drink anything. 

I would not feed any doodle within 30 minutes of even a regular walk. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Not only is bloat deadly, it is a quick killer. So if you suspect your dog has it, time is of the essence and you need to get them to a vet asap. It is a scary thing, most dogs don't survive it, because they receive medical care too late.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Thank You Karen and Amy....would never have known about bloat without your prodding.  Unreal how many things a new dog owner has to worry about.

1 more question:  you are saying don't feed him 30 minutes BEFORE or AFTER any activity ?  I presume that means a long walk, running/fetch, or playing with another dog....but what about a short potty walk if he needs to go ?

It seems like you are saying that there should be no activity surrounding his eating, both before and after.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A short potty walk is fine. 

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Thanks....you think having these Phazyme tablets to release gas makes sense ? They're not that expensive.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

All dog owners should keep Gas-x (simethicone) tablets in the house, it's part of a dog owners' emergency kit. And you pray that you never need it, lol. I wan't familiar with Phazyme, but I just looked it up, and that's the same thing: simethicone. It might buy you enough time to get to the ER. 

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

I'll get some, thanks Karen.....what else in the Emergency Kit ?  My biggest worries are eating cigarette butts (less of a problem now that he has tripled in weight) and mushrooms.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't think we should hijack Brian's discussion by taking it into a whole other topic. lol. We've had discussions here before about what you should have on hand for emergencies, we had one not long ago that you can probably find by doing a search. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

TeddyToyDoodle, look up bloat.  That is one huge reason NOT to exercise your dog immediately after eating.  Little dogs are not prone to bloat and neither are English Springer Spaniels, yet I lost a dog to it.  I am hyper concerned about ways to prevent it and NOT exercising immediately after eating is one of those. :-}

[Brian P]

Thanks for the replies and for telling me about the other area that people were talking about food issues.

[Wendy and Myla]

Myla is not a fussy eater and loves her food!  After her puppy stage and I don't remember how old she was anymore, we went from three meals a day to two meals a day.  We feed her at 7:00 am and 6:00 pm every day.  We feed her Acana and for her weight she takes 2 1/4 cups a day.  We feed her 3/4 cup in the morning and 1 1/2 cups at night.  We found out this formula by following the advice given here.  We would feed her 1/2 of her daily requirement in the morning ( 1 1/8 cups) and what she didn't finish after ten minutes, we would take it away and at night add the other half (1 1/8 cup) to the morning leftover and she would gobble it up.  We found that she was hungrier at night than in the mornings.  It took a while to figure it out but we have been doing this for years now.  If she doesn't eat all of it now, we just put it away and feed it to her at her next meal.  It rarely happens that she doesn't finish her food but when it does, we watch her to make sure she isn't sick.  The link that Karen gave you is awesome.  Don't start fixing his food with treats etc. if he's healthy and at a healthy weight or you will create a very picky eater or a very overweight dog.  I'm not sure what kind of dog food you're feeding him, but make sure that you are feeding him the correct amount.  We were very surprised that we only needed 2 1/4 cups per day to feed Myla when we switched to Acana.  The food we were feeding before was a bit over 3 cups.  Please read the link Karen gave you in her post - it's awesome and definitely join the Food Group - so much good information there!