Choosy Eater - Any Advice Please?

[Rosie]

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Our 8 month old whippet pup has always been a choosy eater, sometimes she refuses food, sometimes just eats a little. She's really well in herself with a good coat and loads of energy :lol: but sometimes looks a little 'ribby' and I would love for her to just scoff her dinner as I thought all dogs did!! For example today she ate a really good breakfast so didn't want any lunch which I wasn't worried about so just took it away, but she didn't eat much for dinner. Is it time lunch was phased out completey and how should I go about that?

She is on complete food (currently Royal Canin which she had a baby). She then went off this and started loving Hills Science Plan, now has gone off this in favour of Royal Canin again! She will eat anything she finds on the ground including rabbit poo, leaves etc :- " and will always eat fresh meat eg. chicken, pork but my vet says just get her on Hills and stick to that however this doesn't work with her!

She loves treats like gravy bones, pigs ears, tripe sticks but is very suspicious of new food and will play with it for ages before eating it!

Advice welcome, although I have to say I favour a complete food if possible because I'm a novice owner and it's what the vet tells me! :wacko:

 

[~JO~]

I personally wouldn't have her on 3 meals a day at her age. Just breakfast and dinner probably.

I have to say most of the fussy eater problems are people that feed dry food :- " as its not the most appealing in the world!! Perhaps feed complete for one meal if you are happy to do this and for the other meal feed something like tripe (frozen from pet shop - nearly all dogs love it) or if you don't fancy this perhaps Naturediet or Forthglade which are 'proper' meat and might take her fancy - come in vacuum packs from petshop.

What you should NEVER do though is leave the food down for her. This just makes them worse or hand feed her again this makes them worse as they like the attention from hand feeding and so the vicious cycle continues...!

If she hasn't eaten within say 10 minutes just take the food away and try again at the next meal. Also don't give her too much, give her small amounts and when she is clearing her bowl happily, slowly start to increase it but not too fast.

You find fussy eaters are often only dogs, they haven't got the competition so they start messing around.

Dorwest produced a licenced medicine also to help increase the appetite - give it about an hour before the meal, it is called Malted Kelp tablets Link is here!

Sorry its a bit long, but as you can see theres quite a bit to think about!!

Good Luck :luck: :luck:

I forgot, also do not keep changing her food to get her interested, it again can make them worse, they get fussier!! :lol:

 

[littleminx]

Hi,try not to worry to much, some dogs are like people and are natrually slim, hounds more so than other groups. My parents worked for years with race greyhounds and some are better "doer's" than others.

Kylie my 10 month whippet is just the same, i have got her on 3/4 meals a day as little and often is better for them than trying to pack downa big meal once or twice aday. I give her a complete meal with tripe as two of the meals and tin, chicken or sausages etc as the others depending. She looks well, her coat gleams,has tons of energy to the point i have to restrict her playing so she dosn't burn the weight of, she is just on the slight side, also my bitch is a much lighter frame to alot of whippets, my last bitch was much bigger depth and bone.

Sometimes a bitch will start to do better after the first season too :thumbsup:

Vicki

 

[littleminx]

Me and Jo are thinking on same lines, i say more feeds to put weight on a dog, Jo is saying less often if they are being piccy and need incouraging again to look forward to meals.

Maybe you are adding too much in one go so it seems she isn't eating a lot when in fact she is getting what she needs...little and often... not too much in one go???

 

[jade]

hi there i have 4 dogs and my puppy is very fussy never eat all his dinner and just picks at his food i breed him and he had 5 brothers and they all eat fine and are big and chunky and mine is very ribby i also breed his half brother who would eat the bowl if i let him and is huge so i think dog are like people they all are different some eat loads some not a lot try some gravy on his dried food this may work there worst then kids as long as he eat some and my puppy would eat sweet allday and rubbish funny that

 

[kris]

dogs arent like cats who will starve themselves to death before theyll eat a food they dont like.when we had dogs in for boarding the owners would say to me he wont eat this and he wont eat that,id smile sweetly and listen then as soon as theyd gone and the dog was safely in his kennel id put down a bowl of complete diet mixed with fresh cooked meat.if doggy didnt eat it in 5 mins id remove it and give it to one of my dogs next door.(the look on the dogs face was indescribable!) (w00t) i might have to do this for one day sometimes even two,but after that never.the dog would eat whatever was put down in front of it.we make rods for our own backs,ive known folk to put 6 different bowls of food down for a dog and the dog was sat there smirking and waiting to see what was dished up next!put his food down leave it for 5 mins if he dont eat it hes NOT HUNGRY.remove it and feed again at the next mealtime.dont become a martyr to your dogs appetite.sometimes at that age theyre teething and they dont feel like eating cos their gums are sore anyway.if hes healthy and happy then dont worry about how much hes eating,every dog is different,but ive yet to hear of a dog starving itself to death when there is food available.if you get him into the cycle of if he dont eat this ill give him something else,then hell learn very quickly that if he dont eat whats given him then something better might come along.let him know if he dont eat then hell go hungry till his next feed.hell soon learn that this is the consequence of him not eating so he should then learn to eat at the right time :thumbsup:

 

[~JO~]

dogs arent like cats who will starve themselves to death before theyll eat a food they dont like.when we had dogs in for boarding the owners would say to me he wont eat this and he wont eat that,id smile sweetly and listen then as soon as theyd gone and the dog was safely in his kennel id put down a bowl of complete diet mixed with fresh cooked meat.if doggy didnt eat it in 5 mins id remove it and give it to one of my dogs next door.(the look on the dogs face was indescribable!) (w00t) i might have to do this for one day sometimes even two,but after that never.the dog would eat whatever was put down in front  of it.we make rods for our own backs,ive known folk to put 6 different bowls of food down for a dog and the dog was sat there smirking and waiting to see what was dished up next!put his food down leave it for 5 mins if he dont eat it hes NOT HUNGRY.remove it and feed again at the next mealtime.dont become a martyr to your dogs appetite.sometimes at that age theyre teething and they dont feel like eating cos their gums are sore anyway.if hes healthy and happy then dont worry about how much hes eating,every dog is different,but ive yet to hear of a dog starving itself to death when there is food available.if you get him into the cycle of if he dont eat this ill give him something else,then hell learn very quickly that if he dont eat whats given him then something better might come along.let him know if he dont eat then hell go hungry till his next feed.hell soon learn that this is the consequence of him not eating so he should then learn to eat at the right time :thumbsup:

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Yep, completely agree Kris :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[~Helen~]

didn't someone recently say they put a bit of grated cheese on top of their meal, and never had a problem with feeding since?

 

[littleminx]

Kris and Jo

Yes, so do i :thumbsup: You then need to work out amounts :thumbsup:

 

[littleminx]

Kris and Jo
Yes, so do i  :thumbsup:   You then need to work out amounts  :thumbsup:

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As in how often, right i am going to shut up now LOL :lol: :lol:

 

[doris]

naturediet is fantastic, smells good enough to eat (chicken does, not the tripe :x )! it would probably cost the same as hills per day a single whippet.

but have to agree with the advice about removing any food not eaten in 5 mins, it feels like natural competition to a dogs stomach!

:luck:

 

[Rosie]

Thanks everyone for your comments :thumbsup: I think on reflection I am pandering to her as I do tend to leave a few bits of food on the floor if she doesn't finish or try her again with a 'snack' before her next meal etc. It's just really hard to take away the food when all I want her to do is eat but your advice makes me think I have to do what's best for her in the long term and that is to get into good eating habits now. So from tomorrow food goes down for 10 mins only and I'll try some Nature diet stuff ( I think I have some in the cupboard from previous meal experiments....!) and also I will stop worrying and fussing as I'm sure this doesn't help as she does look to see what else she may get.

 

[alfyn]

My first reaction is,i bet your vet happens to sell Hills complete (w00t)

Your whippet is so obviously telling you that she doesnt like dried,but will eat fresh meat,which is natural to a carnivore.

I suggest that you feed her twice a day,& give her raw tripe,which is excellent for putting weight on,a natural biscuit & veggies.If you supplement this with half a kelp tablet(seaweed) & some wheatgerm oil,you will find that she will blossom :thumbsup: You could also give her a raw chicken wing every day & a marrow bone occasionally.

 

[~Helen~]

My first reaction is,i bet your vet happens to sell Hills complete (w00t) Your whippet is so obviously telling you that she doesnt like dried,but will eat fresh meat,which is natural to a carnivore.

I suggest that you feed her twice a day,& give her raw tripe,which is excellent for putting weight on,a natural biscuit & veggies.If you supplement this with half a kelp tablet(seaweed) & some wheatgerm oil,you will find that she will blossom :thumbsup: You could also give her a raw chicken wing every day & a marrow bone occasionally.

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what natural biscuit do you recommend, debs?

 

[OEH]

My puppy came on Hills and our vet sells it so she was on that of a while, but never seemed very keen on her food, and while she had tons of energy and was very bouncy her coat was a bit dull and scurfy. I changed to Royal Canin and while she isn't terribly keen on it her coat now gleams. (Just so you don't think I'm mean giving her food she doesn't like she has beef or chicken every other day as well) And since I have stopped leaving the food down all day she has taken to shovelling it down, but still with one eye on me hoping for something better.

 

[alfyn]

what natural biscuit do you recommend, debs?

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Laughing dog is the only one i know that is completely natural,the only ingredient is wheat.

If you look at the ingredients of a lot of them,they have additives added & are sprayed with fats (which are usually discarded restaurant fats etc ).Suppose it's one way of getting rid of human waste products,just chuck it into pet feeds (w00t) :rant:

 

[~JO~]

Yep, I use Laughing Dog too - I think the size is terrier, but they also do a puppy. I usually soak the bisuits in the tripe/beef blood! - mmm nice :x

 

[~Helen~]

Laughing Dog - that's great. Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[~JO~]

Here is their website.... [SIZE=14pt]LAUGHING DOG[/SIZE]