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BPO Food Forum => Food Discussion & Information => : schelmischekitty February 05, 2007, 11:47:09 AM
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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??
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What about vanilla yoghurt?
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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.
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vanilla extract sprinkled on? Don't know if that's better.
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i can try that, i'm up for trying anything by now!
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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! :o
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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
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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.
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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 ;)
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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.
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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!
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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!
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Adicus seems to be having fits of this himself. It makes jme feel guilty... My thinking is that he must not be working hard enough for his food. I've been trying to tire him out each morning, as he seems to eat better when he's "worked" for it, but that's not always the case... Today we threw the stick until he no longer wanted to run and then just drank water, didn't look at his Innova. And now he's been whining to me, either to go out or cause he's hungry. I don't know. Yesterday he couldn't eat enough...
Boys will be boys... Best of luck to you guys. I am going to keep on the tough love thing and not resort to bribing, just yet.
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Cinder is a pretty picky eater also. I used the satin balls as a way to put weight on them and also to entice Cinder to eat. For us, using the Merrick canned food has helped a lot with her picky eating. I also put a bowl of food out over night so if she gets hungry she can eat all night. Could you do something like that for him? That way it's down while the kids are asleep and they can't play in it. Mine all eat the same food and I don't have a real food hog that will eat it all just because so I don't worry about any of the others eating the food. I hope that makes sense.
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\I also put a bowl of food out over night so if she gets hungry she can eat all night. Could you do something like that for him?
unfortunately, i have three food hogs. because i feel scout and diesel a different food from my other dogs, anyone else will gobble it up the second i turn my back. also, scout it a huge HOG and has eaten so much she's made herself puke all night, because she'd go and eat more right after she puked a huge pile up (they found out how to open the trash can we keep all the dog food in, mind you it "locks") as for the merrick food, i'd like to try it, but i'll have to see if i can get it here! we only have one store in the entire county that sells innova UGH.
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Oh I know exactly what you are going thru.Butt is a very picky eatter too.Heck lots of the goody toppings I have tried he eats off the top and leaves the dog food and his is always a mix of wet and dry.We have been using California Naturals Chicken and Rice for awhile now and he is just starting to say nah to that.If you try that in can it smells sooooooooooo good,I think that is why he liked it.Now he is starting to turn his nose up at that too though.I would like to try Nature's Variety,but no one around here carries the canned food.The only thing I have found that works with Butt on a regular basis is for me to sit on the floor and feed him his food out of my hand,and that doesn't work everytime.I wish you luck,if you find something that works,please let me know,you never know it may work for Butt too. I will say this thread made me feel better knowing I don't have the only picky dog.
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have you tried one of the Mixables™ Variety Packs? i just saw them on the petsmart website and thought maybe it would work since it's a variety pack.
Wet food that's made to mix with your favorite dry dog food. Transforms your dog's ordinary bowl of food into an extraordinary meal!
The unique gravy found in Mixables has been specifically formulated to trickle down, coating the dry food kibble while chunks of beef, chicken, turkey or lamb and garden grown vegetables, pasta, rice, potatoes and other irresistible ingredients stay on top to tantalize your dog.
The 12-pouch Variety Pack contains four servings of each recipe. The 5.3-ounce (150-gram) pouches provide the perfect daily portion for medium to large dogs.
Country Flavors variety pack flavors:
Grandma's Country Stew
With hearty cuts of beef, savory potatoes, garden carrots, green peas and smoked bacon in our juicy meat sauce.
Outback BBQ
With tender marinated chunks of beef, delicious spiral pasta, smoked pork and farm raised carrots in our hearty pan gravy.
Cape Cod Picnic
With delectable cuts of turkey, sweet candied yams and garden cut green beans, blended into our special pan gravy.
International Flavors variety pack recipes:
Colorado Cookout With cuts of braised beef, hearty steamed potatoes, country carrots and peas in a rich beef gravy.
Greek Banquet With slow cooked lamb, garden grown carrots, green beans, and brown rice served in our chef's special sauce.
Tuscan Grille With tender seared chicken, delicious egg noodles, steamed potatoes and green peas in our Italian-style sauce.
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I haven't seen that,I will have to give it a try though.Heck I'm wiling to try anything.All the other dogs I know love me,because I give away all the food Butt won't eat ;)
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TRUST me i know how you feel about dogs loving you ha ha. my other dogs think diesel's food must be a treat b/c it gets switched so often. i'm going to try to go to petsmart and get some of the mixables. it says it's made just to coat dog food, so maybe it will work ???
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I've never seen the Mixables either. I order the Merrick food from their website and they are delivered right to my door. I usually buy the variety pack of foods like the Lunch Box and the Mix boxes.