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!

[Diane and Alma]

Hi Brian,

We free feed our 7 year old doodle, Alma.  I asked my vet about her eating (or lack of) habit and he said her weight and activity level is normal and not to be worried about it.  She is currently on Fromm and I switch around with their grain free kibble flavors.

I once asked our local pet store (not a chain) if I could get some samples of various brands and flavors.  They happily gave me several and I did a taste test with Alma.  It was fun to see her pick and choose - but she never had a favorite really.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

Brian do you happen to have any kongs? Yeti got sick when he was a small puppy and after he was better only wanted his bland diet. He sometimes went a day or two without hardly touching his kibble and it was SO scary for a new puppy owner like myself. I decided to get a little creative for times when Yeti wasn't wanting to eat (and drink for that matter). When he was sick he would hardly drink so we made chicken broth for him (just boiled chicken in water because the canned stuff is supposedly no good for dogs) and froze it into little ice cubes. We would put that in his water to entice him to drink more. We would take the leftover chicken broth water and soak his kibble in it and either freeze that into little cubes (using an old ice cube tray) or we would put it into a kong for him and freeze that. For awhile he seemed to eat a lot of his meals out of a kong. Now he is a little healthier and is eating pretty well on his wellness simple (he ate purina pro plan before wellness, wellness core, and now wellness simple), but he still doesn't eat the full recommended amount (he is only 30 pounds so according to the bag he could eat 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 cups a day) so we give him a cup for breakfast a cup for dinner and then we freeze 1/4 cup in a kong with some pumpkin and yogurt for good digestive health and because he loves the flavor of both! I know it's not ideal to have him eating all of his meals out of a kong, but it might be a fun way to get him to eat something if you are going on a couple + meals of him not eating anything.  

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

That's a lovely mixture!  Mine are raw fed too...always licked clean!

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Olga, thanks for asking...After so many special visits to the vet when Skadi was a young puppy, (ear infections, diarrhea, itching)...I put her on RAW.  Now almost 5 years later, we still make no more "special" visits to the vet.  When we brought "craigslist" Elli home, the owner had given me an enormous bag of dog food with OATMEAL as the main ingredient, telling me "Elli is sensitive to grains...has lots of ear infections"...I gave the big bag of dogfood away, put Elli on RAW (cold turkey...no pun intended LOL) and now 2 years later, have not had any "special" visits to the Vet for her either.  I couldn't be happier and the girls love it!   More money in my pocket for doggie toys!

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Do any of you ADD TREATS to your regular dog food and/or those pouch supplements like Purina Pro Plan or Nummy Tum-Tums ? 

There are these 100% Buffalo Dog Treats from Loving Pets.....like a jerky but you can cut them into super-small pieces....I cut a piece the size of a nickel for Teddy's lunch today and he went from indifference to mowing down 1/3rd of the bowl in 10 minutes.  Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch is also great.  Make sure to mix it up, just don't put it on top.

Been trying to get Teddy to eat Breakfast/Lunch/Brunch a bit and not be 95% Dinner-only since the bloat posts.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Nothing Purina is good.  Use treat brands from those on our approved foods list.  What might seem great nutrition-wise, may have questionable sourcing.  You don't want anything sourced or imported from China, for example.  China exercises NO quality controls.

As to adding stuff to regular dog food.  If you do it regularly, you are creating a pickier dog.  If you have a picky eater, you run the risk of making him more selective.  Quality kibble contains everything the dog needs.  Adding treats - like plain unflavored yogurt as a topper once in a while is fine.  Perhaps putting a bit of plain yogurt on Teddy's breakfast but not other meals might work for you?

Put Teddy's food down for about 10 minutes, stay nearby as most dogs prefer you to be around when you eat (however one of mine wants to eat when alone, and the other two could care less if I am there or not).  If Teddy hasn't come over to eat after those 10 minutes pick the food up until the next meal.  Since I lost a dog to bloat, I understand your worries.  However, the more you try to entice eating, the pickier the dog gets.