is it ok to bribe your dog when...

[schelmischekitty]

he won't eat??  diesel is a really finicky dog when it comes to dog food.  he'll eat it SUPER good the first week we start a new food to see "if he likes it," but then he won't eat it.  it's really taking a toll on his weight, especially with him in a growth spurt.  so, i was wondering.  the past two or so nights i crumbled up 2 vanilla wafer cookies (put them in a ziplock back and make it into a fine "dust" to put in with is food) and mixed it in with his innova and he has eaten REALLY great, and consistently which is super new for him.  i guess it's the way the wafers smell, but either way it works.  my only concern is that i know vanilla wafers probably aren't really good for a dog to have all the time, but it's the only thing i've found that will get him to eat consistantly.  he even turns his nose up to it when i put meats in it, he won't eat tuna, eggs, gravies, nothing.  any thoughts??

[2Criminals]

What about vanilla yoghurt?

[schelmischekitty]

he barfs it   diesel doesn't do well with anything cold, or even chilled.  he even barfs his water if it's cold so we have to give him luke warm water one bowl at a time. 

[2Criminals]

vanilla extract sprinkled on? Don't know if that's better.

[schelmischekitty]

i can try that, i'm up for trying anything by now!

[marypyrs]

Have you tried poached or baked wild atlantic salmon? My Guys love it! Or roasted duck? (w/steamed brown rice, or red potatoes smushed with skins on & vegies & yams). My Pups are Pyrs so perhaps their tasteS are different.

Never have a problem w/Whisper. He'll eat ANYTHING!

[schelmischekitty]

i'm not so sure about the salmon, only because he won't eat the tuna, and when he does take a little lick he gets a cross look on his face ha ha.  we tried a little duck, with no luck.  he won't eat potatoes, not even ones with something on it to make it yummy.  here's what we've tried.

pork, beef, tuna, gravy, the gravy for dog food, bullion, beef stock from cooking, various bird meats (turkey, duck, chicken), we tried yogurt after i read a post, but he barfed.  we've tried potatoes and other veggies, eggs, vanilla wafers, i even mixed a few pieces of cat food thinking the smell might entice him.  we've tried adding a little warm water.  we've tried grounding up a hotdog, sausage link.  we've also added canned dog food, but nothing.  we did the supplements that our vet recommended, but we were spending $20 per week on JUST that one container, so we were spending $80 (which added up to over $200 a month on food and supplements) a month and the second we ran out he stops eating.

[marypyrs]

In desparation, there is a new food out from Solid Gold called Howling At The Moon. Check it out on the web. See if you might want to give a small 5 lb bag a try.

My female won"t touch tuna. But she loves Salmon. Then. Again. She's s differrent Breed.

[schelmischekitty]

i'll have to look into that!  the only thing about that is it has over 100 less calories per cup in it    thanks for the suggestion!  i'm definately going to look into that!

[2Criminals]

Phelan is really picky too, somedays he'll gobble up his food (after we've added cottage cheese or wet food) and other days (today) he'll leave his food for hours. The only advantage here is it's only him eating it so it's safe to leave until he decides he wants it. We add: finely cut up hotdog with hotdog water, meat stocks, wet food mixed in as a gravy, cottage cheese& bananas. I hate the idea of adding things to his food so i try to minimize how much i put in and try to make healthier choices for him but he's picky. Last night I was at work so my boyfriend fed him around 10pm, (he was fed late so should have been hungry) gave him his plain kibble, the lucky puppy managed not to be put in his crate last night and ALL his kibble was still in the bowl at 7am when i got home!! So I totally understand where you are coming from. My only other idea for you is if you feed bones to scrape out some marrow and add that to his food?
 Good luck, Ann

[schelmischekitty]

we haven't tried bone marrow, honestly i've never even thought of it!  i'll have to try it, because he typically really loves bones.  diesel HATES his fish oil.  sheeba axle and caine will eat their's no problem, we buy it in the gel pill.  scout is good if we put it on her food, she loves it.  but diesel (once again) has to have his given to him, which he usually spits it back out 5 or so times since this way it's kinda hard to bust the pills and pour it in!  he's really frustrating, esp. since any sounds or movement make him stop eating for the night no matter if he's eaten a whole bowl or just two bites.  he started this about a month and a half ago, so we now put ALL the other animals outside, and wait for the kids to go to sleep because we found that his nervousness (he used to shake and prance when he ate) about his food goes away like this.  since axle won't take his food we've also tried to leave just him inside to kinda make diesel realize that he's not the only dog in the house and eat, but that doesn't work either.

[Gevaudan_Jo]

Something we do for memphis (and used to for zeus who was the pickiest in the family), is when we'd cook, we'd pour some juices of whatever we were cooking on top of his food (or in the middle of it and pour more food on top). bacon grease works well. we also will warm some water and put it on top so it makes sort of a nice warm smell to his food... He loves that also... but not too much water or else it becomes soup. hahha. Good luck

[marypyrs]

Here is one receipe that I did use for Joe and Quanah. Joe was almost 15 & Quan was having some problems. It's Vet approved.

1 lb browned beef, bison, chicken, turkey, or fish. drained.

1 C cooked black beans. Drained & smushed.

1 medium potato cooked (baked or boiled) smushed w/skin on OR 1 C cooked brown rice.

2 eggs. Scrambled or hard boiled. And smushed.

1/2 C cooked Old Fashioned Oatmeal/Or 1/2 C cooked, cracked barley.

1/4 to 1/3 C shredded fresh greens. (beans, spinach, brussel sprouts, broc. etc)

1/4 C shredded carrots

2T Virgin Olive oil

Mix together. Can be served as a topping or by it'self.

[schelmischekitty]

thanks!  i'm gonna try that.  i tried the satin balls but diesel now turns his head up at them.  they worked for a while though!

[schelmischekitty]

i'm so glad i'm not the only one who has a picky dog!  diesel went a week and a half without eating a SINGLE bite of food, so that's how this all started.  he lost a lot of weight and was looking pretty nasty again.  he's been eating for 6 days now (ever since i changed to innova, the last dog food i got he up and decided he didn't like anymore and wouldn't touch it!) but he's starting to back off of it ARGH.  with scout around and also the kids, it's impossible to leave dog food out all day.  if i leave it where i can watch all the other dogs, the kids play in it.  if i put it where the kids can't get it, scout eats it, so i "try" to get diesel to eat 2-3 times a day, depending on whether he eats breakfast or not.  jo (zero's mom) gave me the idea of finding gravies that he likes and switching them out throughout the week, maybe if i combine that with switching out with a 1/3 or so new kibble i can get a diff type ever day per week.  worth a shot!  thanks for all the great advice!