Feeding time help

[stooshiecat]

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I have a male shih tzu aged 16 months. We've been engaged in an ongoing battle during meal times. His breeder had him on Royal Canin when we got him at 3 months but he never seemed all that interested in it. He'd nibble bits here and there but that was about it. When he hit 9 months I put him onto Wainwrights. Again, he'd eat it for a few days and then go off it then eat it for a few days, etc. I've tried him on Wainwrights meat and dry food. I've tried lower end foods like Pedigree, Bakers, Butchers. I've tried higher end foods like Evolution and Eden. He eats sometimes but other times he'll go a day or two without eating.

I'll admit that when he was younger, my Nana would feed him scraps whenever she was eating (something we've had many arguments about and she's finally stopped) but he's on a no human food diet now. He's been for a check up with the vet and he's healthy and not underweight so there's no medical reason he's not eating. He's a nightmare when we're having our dinner - always trying to steal and trying to climb up onto us or onto the table. He'll climb over everything trying to get a the cats dinner but he still won't eat his own. I tried putting some of his food on the floor tonight to see if that would help and he ate it no problem. In the past when he's been eating okay, he'd take chunks of food from his bowl and eat it off the carpet. I've tried him with different bowls - metal, plastic, ceramic - and I've tried moving his bowls to different places in the house like the living room and the kitchen but nothing works. He'll eat for a couple of days and then lose interest.

He isn't interested in his dog treat either. My trainer had my giving him chicken and garlic sausages for treats when training him but he'd lose interest in this after about 10 minutes.

I know the main thing is I have to be strict with him (and my nana) and keep persevering with the dog food but is there any way I can make meal times more interesting/fun for him? Are there toys/puzzles out there to make dinner more like a game? He's never really got into Kong but he did like playing with a ball with kibble in it and he loved his rawhide candy cane stocking that was all tied together and he had to pull apart. Do you have any recommendations for dog foods that are healthy and smell/taste good to picky eaters?

All advice is welcome. Please tell me how you dealt with your spoiled pooches and finicky eaters.

 

[goldenbear2013]

Hi there!

Well my pooch eats ANYTHING so thankfully I have never had this problem, however making meals times more fun and interesting is where I may be able to help

Popping his food into a ball that makes the foood fall out when he plays with it is always a winner, so if he liked that keep that going as much as you can.

Under no circumstances give in and feed him human food if he is not eating his own. This sounds cruel now, but if he wants to starve himself to try and get you to feed him what he wants then let him go hungry. He is a dog afterall so he will eat eventually!

Try a new bowl. I have one for mine as he eats too quickly but it is also good for their minds and makes them work for their food and keeps it interesting.

There are few bowls you can try, I have popped the links at the bottom of this page and see how you get on.

All foods are very different and each dog will react to each food differently. Please do not feed your dog Bakers as its full of rubbish! Wainwirghts is very good as is Royal Canin. I feed mine on a Swedish dog food called FourFriends (link at the bottom) as it has a very high nutritinal value. However, saying all this I dont think the dog food is the problem, its the fact that you dog wants any other food other than his own.

Keep him in another room, or in bed/crate when you are eating and do not let him near you during this time. He will soon learn that meals times for you are not meal times for him.

Put the cat food is a raised place if you can, somewhere he cant reach and steal it.

Try a new bowl and the ball with kibble (well his dog food) in it and see how you get on.

At the end of the day he is a dog and a born scavanger so he will eat eventually!

http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/Products/CN0315/aikiou-junior-dog-bowl

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog-bowls/green-feeder-%28online-only%29?pageSize=122#

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog-bowls/-p3450--1?pageSize=122#

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/dog-bowls/-p3452--1?pageSize=122#

http://fourfriends.info/

Good luck!

Sophie x

 

[stooshiecat]

Thanks Goldenbear. Those dishes look like fun. I've been trying him on wet food for the past couple of days and he turns his nose up at the bowl and tries to eat it out of the tin or he'll only eat it when the cats try so I definitely think making feeding time a challenge will help

 

[eingana]

The other thing to think about is whether all of this changing food to try to get him to eat properly is actually training him to turn his nose up so that you'll change his food.

Shihtzus aren't half as thick as their reputation (well, most of them aren't, anyway, I did know one who never learned a thing in his whole 8 years) and if he stops eating his food it seems that you bring him something new to try at the moment.

Have you put him on one food and just left him on that food for a few months, whether he wants it or not?

If he's the right weight for his size then where is he getting the food from? Are your expectations of what he should be eating much more than he's actually hungry for?

Personally I'd get him the food you want to give him, then weigh out the amount that the pack states for his body weight and see how big it looks (also bear in mind that this is the total daily amount, which will split into 2 for meals, then also have some removed for whatever treats he eats). Small dogs don't actually need very much food, so it's quite possible that he's eating plenty but just not as much as you're putting down for him.

Lots of people seem to think that dogs are always greedy whereas cats don't overeat by choice but I've got a GSD who is the least food motivated dog I've ever known and a cat who eats as a hobby.

Another thing you could try is teaching him what behaviour you expect from him at human meal times. My dog is simply not allowed to beg (including approaching, making eyes, whining or any other begging behaviour) and if she does then she's removed and put in another room. If he gets away with ruling your meal times then that's a victory of sorts for him, but if you are consistent with teaching him what is acceptable at meal times then that can make life a lot better for you and gradually change his expectations of getting human food.

 

[stooshiecat]

He was on the Wainwrights food for months but he was only eating about half the RDA every couple of days. I know my Grandmother has been slipping him parts of her meals up until recently so I know it's a matter of training her out of that as well as training the dog to eat his own. At meal times he's put into the hall where he'll beg to get back in. I have no problems being consistent and strict with him but my Nana is the one who spends most time with him throughout the day and she gives in way too easily so stopping that will be half the battle.

He seems to enjoy it when he has to work a bit for his food so I'm going to get one of those bowls Goldenbear suggested after the holidays and see if that works.

 

[gypsysmum]

No amount of training will work if your Nana will not comply.

I would just give her some dog food to feed him from the table. She will be happy and so will he.

To be honest sharing our food will not hurt a dog as long as we are eating a balanced diet. Dogs can even be vegetarian! The amount of stress involved in training Nana and the dog makes me think, as long as his human food is reasonably well balanced that there are bigger problems than this to worry about. Perhaps just make her aware of food he must not have like onions, grapes, chocolate etc.