Help With Picky Eating Dog

[maja]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Hello,

I am hoping somebody can give me an advise...I have 7 months old whippet who is very picky with his food...he is being fed twice a day with cooked meat (beef, chicken, turkey..) mixed either with pedigree mixer, pasta/rice or veg. Also bowl full of Pedegree puppy complete/Eukanuba granules is available all the time.

The problem is, he is very fussy, and many times does not even touch the meat...(his weight is around 13 kg but I am bit concerned as he still growing and needs to eat properly).

Is it normal with whippet that they are not such great eaters?

What shall I give him to make him to eat his food?

Also he seems to like pasta with butter (or anything with butter)....Is butter good for him?

Please, could somebody give me some tips how to make my whippet to eat properly?

Many thanks

Maja

 

[~Helen~]

Hi and welcome to K9 :cheers:

Have a little browse through the FAQ forum, this question comes up quite often and you should find some really good advice there :thumbsup:

You may find that the best advice is not to leave bowls of food available all the time, but to stick to actual meal times so that your whippet is actually hungry for the meal you're offering rather than already a little bit full from grazing. This simple change may sort out the problem

Here's a link for the feeding section, if you scroll down you'll find a sub-section called FUSSY EATERS: feeding

There's a lot of really good feeding advice there, and the rest of FAQ has good hints and tips too.

Good luck, and let us know what helps... oh, and we absolutely insist on pics of your whippie to drool over :lol: :thumbsup:

 

[05whippet]

:cheers: WELCOME TO K9 :cheers:

Hi, as Helen said there are loads of really helpful tips in the FAQ section so I'm sure you will find something that helps,though unless he is very big? 13kg sounds okay to me,

By the way I personally would not give butter to my dogs,it has a lot of salt in it and bad fats,so I can't imagine it would be very good for dogs.

 

[*Lesley*]

Welcome to K9 :cheers:

I would also try giving one or the other Dried complete or meat not both(meat would be better IMO) there is a lot of protein in both foods so you don't really need both of those, I also don't put mixer in(but thats personal preference) just the pasta/rice and veg, you could also try the meat raw mine love it and a lot of others on here feed raw :thumbsup:

Like helen said if he is picking at the complete all day he is probably not hungry for is main meals,

Hope you get sorted let us know how you get on and yes please for pics if poss :wub:

 

[OEH]

I had a similar problem with my Tess when she was little, and as soon as I stopped leaving the food down all the time she started eating properly. BUt you also have to remember that whippets are only small and don't eat as much as some other breeds of dog and 13kg sounds a good weight, so I wouldn't worry.

 

[slimfast]

we had the same problem very picky with is food.

when you only put one bowl of food down at about a year old it will go in seconds

 

[maja]

Hi all,

many thanks for your replies...all is very helpful information..really appreciate it (Helen - thanks fro the links...great info)...

Just one more question: Are the oat flakes/porridge good for dogs?

Hope his eating will improve after few changes in his feeding and diet.

many thanks again

Maja

..will send some pics soon (hope will be easy to attach them)...

 

[snapdogs]

Hi and welcome to K9, I had a very fussy whippet eater.... but he was ill for most of his 18 month life and it took nearly a year of hand feeing to just get him to eat a meal, so I understand how you feel... someone once told me to put his biscuits into the microwave for a few seconds... apparently heating them for a short time brings out the taste? I have never fed my dogs on raw... and was told that if I did it should be frozen first to kill of any bugs! don't know what others think about this though.... I read an article in Dog World some months ago about a chap who just gave a teaspoon size lump of raw mince to his dog and in three days it was dead! there was some microbe in the meat... terrible story and prob very rare but with my luck!!!!

Don't mean to alarm you though!

have you tried tripe.... I used to cook it for mine they loved it... but had a batch that upset their tummies and have not gone to the bother of getting it and cooking it again....

I used to feed roast chicken and rice to the very fussy one! and he occasionally liked a few rings of Frolic! but they had to be broken into 4 pieces otherwise he would not eat them... It was also expensive to keep feeding him like that, but it was all he would ever eat... and really little else.

Anyhow good luck... there are lots of homemade recipies you could try... I bake my own biscuits for my whippys... Garlic and Cheese! got lots of recipies off the internet.

All mine enjoy breakfast cereal.. of any type.

Have a good christmas...

 

[*Lesley*]

Beef mince does need to be frozen first to be on the safe side it carries something with a long name that i can't remember just now :b

I also have to admit before I fed mine raw I wasn't keen on the thought of it to be honest :x but so many peoples dogs seemed to do really well on it so I thought I'd give it a go, wouldn't change now they love it gone in seconds,very fit and healthy on it and have lovely shiny coats (dried food seemed to make their coats a bit dull and dandruffy)but that could just have been mine because I know a lot of people are happy with complete food :thumbsup:

Mine also like cereal :thumbsup:

 

[Pennymeadow Whippets]

Hi & welcome to k9 i think you might be better moving the food that is there at all times & giving just 2 meals a day breakfast & tea your dog needs a regular feeding routine as do people eg if a person sat eating food all day then come meal times they wouldn't want there tea good luck :luck:

 

[Seraphina]

I think many people greatly overestimate how much their dog ought to eat. Once dogs have done most of the very fast growing they do not need that much. At 7 months I like my dogs to be on the slim side. I do not expect them to fill up until between 18 months - 2 years. And Lucca looks in a great shape to me. Just give him his food, leave it for 20 minutes, then take it away. Next time give him less, until you get to the point he eats everything you give him. Feed twice a day with no snacks in between, except rewards when training. :thumbsup:

 

[maja]

Hi there,

I started to give him raw green tripe (frozen minced tripe). First mixed it with cooked meat for him to have gentle change...he loved it (he et everything), but now he has diarrhea..(2 days already)...is that normal?...or shall I cook the tripe?

(I tried to feed him with raw meat before, but he always had runny pooh afterwoords, therefore i stayed with cooked meal).

The idea not leaving bowl of food too long seem to be helping...but still quite fussy..he eats only little bit of breakfast, and than it does not seem to bother him that he does not eat whole day till evening...really funny dog...maybe it is his funny age..kind of puberty period..no?

Also tried cereals with goats milk or white yougurt...he did not like it...(very fussy!)

Hope with age, he will improve..

Thanks again for all your help...I found it very usefull...

Maja

PS: ...tried to attach the picture but did not work...will try again...

 

[Whispersmum]

Hi there,

It's such a worry when they are picky as they are such slim dogs and they can lose weight quickly.

I would carry on with with raw tripe and mix it with either cooked mashed potato or pasta or rice, his tummy should settle.

Hope you get sorted with him.

 

[Nicola]

I think mixing the raw tripe in with something else helps i.e. minced beef/chicken...but any switch to a raw diet has to be gradual.

I remember giving a rather generous quantity of raw tripe to one of my dogs recently, 'cos I'd run out of mince that I usually mixed it with...and it came straight out the other end in a greenish, blackish squirt :x

 

[Jennifer Gregg]

Hello,
I am hoping somebody can give me an advise...I have 7 months old whippet who is very picky with his food...he is being fed twice a day with cooked meat (beef, chicken, turkey..) mixed either with pedigree mixer, pasta/rice or veg. Also bowl full of Pedegree puppy complete/Eukanuba granules is available all the time.

The problem is, he is very fussy, and many times does not even touch the meat...(his weight is around 13 kg but I am bit concerned as he still growing and needs to eat properly).

Is it normal with whippet that they are not such great eaters?

What shall I give him to make him to eat his food?

Also he seems to like pasta with butter (or anything with butter)....Is butter good for him?

Please, could somebody give me some tips how to make my whippet to eat properly?

Many thanks

Maja

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

hello,

you could try making up your dogs food and putting it on a human plate and leaving it on say a coffee table which your whippet can reach-then turning your back. :- " This worked with my dog it seems that whippets enjoy stolen food rather than whats given to them.You might also want to try feeding your dog with greedy dogs-if they all pile into the dish your whippet might be inclined to join them.

hope this is of some use to u :luck: good luck

 

[Jan Doherty]

All raw meat should be frozen prior to being fed as it can contain a bug called Neospora. This has and will kill a dog. It didnt kill my Indy but it certainly shortened his life.

If he wont eat breakfast dont give breakfast. Dont be tempted to keep swapping and changing the food. Put it down and if not eaten take it up again. A dog will eat if it is hungry enough. The squits may be because you are giving him too much especially if he has shown an interest in it and your instinct will be to feed him too much.

There is nothing worse than a picky eater especially a Whippy (they dont do picky eaters in Iggies they are all pigs :lol: ) but the more you offer and the more variety the more they will turn their noses up. Definately do not leave food down.

Age and bloodlines could also be a key factor, Good luck and dont worry so much.

 

[littleminx]

My whippet is very fussy and has brocken alot of the rules of put down the food and pick it up again if not eating after 10 minutes and try again on the next meal so on and so forth!!

She eats to live not lives to eat and would eat the smallest amount possiable, i have tried everything and she has enough excercise and play to build up an appetite and the only thing that works for her to actually put on some weight and look like she has some condition is the raw meat diet i now get meat from my butchers which inludes a real variety of meat meat and bones and she has put on loads of weight and looks fantastic now :thumbsup: good luck :luck:

 

[mtotos]

when we got tank he was vey fussy and we tried him with all sorts of food,but he was still fussy so in the end we bit the bullet and put him on red mills complete with a small amount of chudleys greyhound crunch-this is a dried meat that you soak and mix with the racing food,we put it down to him at around 1pm and any that is left after 10 mins is given back to him at aound 6 or 7pm and he is much more settled with this routine,all our dogs get the same to eat-the 2 fussy ones dont get special treatment!.