Eowyn is a picky eater - what to do?
Hi all,
Eowyn is kinda picky about her food, actually she seems to only like the things which are not good for her. I am feeding her Taste of the Wild, but plan to change between different variants to keep it more interesting.
She will not eat enough, and she is already on the thin side. This would not worry me if she didn't have such a small appetite. She is a young dog and is not supposed to be fat, rather a little towards the lean side. But I worry that when she doesn't eat enough she will loose weight and might get sick or at least have some effects of not eating enough and therefor not getting enough nutrients.
I have tried to add salmon oil, which she likes and she will eat a bit more, but her interest has already lessened. And I do not like to add too much yummy (=yucky) stuff to her food. It's not so good for her, and it will spoil her a lot, so she will never go back to plain kibble. I have also added a little dried meat, to make it more tasty, but I would like to hear your opinions as well.
How much would you add to make your dog eat? By that I mean, where would you draw the line?
What would you add?
Or wouldn't you add anything at all?
Any advice is appreciated
Eowyn is kinda picky about her food, actually she seems to only like the things which are not good for her. I am feeding her Taste of the Wild, but plan to change between different variants to keep it more interesting.
She will not eat enough, and she is already on the thin side. This would not worry me if she didn't have such a small appetite. She is a young dog and is not supposed to be fat, rather a little towards the lean side. But I worry that when she doesn't eat enough she will loose weight and might get sick or at least have some effects of not eating enough and therefor not getting enough nutrients.
I have tried to add salmon oil, which she likes and she will eat a bit more, but her interest has already lessened. And I do not like to add too much yummy (=yucky) stuff to her food. It's not so good for her, and it will spoil her a lot, so she will never go back to plain kibble. I have also added a little dried meat, to make it more tasty, but I would like to hear your opinions as well.
How much would you add to make your dog eat? By that I mean, where would you draw the line?
What would you add?
Or wouldn't you add anything at all?
Any advice is appreciated
Comments
So I guess the line for me is completely changing his diet XD
I don't really know how to get a dog to eat kibble. I gave up on that one pretty quick since I'd read about how a lot of people tried a ton of kibbles and spent a ton of money only to have their dog continue to be picky.
You could put peanut butter in it maybe? (NOT Skippy low fat! They had a salmonella recall recently.) Maybe putting it in some sort of fun toy that she has to work on to get out, make it seem more interesting?
I also tried using Conker's kibble as training rewards. It worked for the most part but I wasn't really up for feeding him dinner one bit at a time.
Sometimes he wouldn't eat it if it were in a bowl but if I dumped it on the ground he's scarf it down. Try putting it on a paper plate, a mat, or in your hand and see if that makes a difference.
We feed some high-quality kibble, some raw. She loves raw, usually tolerates her kibble and detests and despises any vegetables.
I used to worry about her starving. It helped when she got hot spots and I added fish oil to her kibble. Yogurt helped as well. But eventually I got pissed off at her for being such a punk and would just save her uneaten portions for the next meal. Usually, this would work after one or two meals. Sometimes, our garbage disposal (the Labrador Retriever) ends up with her uneaten food.
Try to be tough. She won't let herself starve. Maybe add something she likes (raw egg?) to the mix. Good luck!
Bel, my girl Shiba, is like this as well, and she won't always eat her raw meals, but since they get kibble rarely, she almost always eats kibble. She will sometimes not eat for an entire day, and then only a bit the next day, but then when she gets hungry, she starts again. She will almost always eat pumpkin or sweet potatoes, though, and she likes cheese and/or cottage cheese.
I don't really have advice except keep trying to find things she likes....All my dogs seem to enjoy fish so that might be something to try.
I know, in theory, that dogs won't starve themselves, but I will say my female Akita got so thin that it was worrisome (and my vet at the time accused me of not feeding her enough!). Once, we kenneled her, and when she hadn't eaten for four days, they called us to come and get her! It can get bad with the "anorexic" dogs...
For me, I don't worry to much about spoiling them--I'm just more about trying to get them to eat anything!
I cannot use her kibble as reward, since she doesn't want to eat anything in training or treats at all, I'd have to force it down her throat, which I am not fond of. Dumping on the ground doesn't work either
I want her to have a raw diet, but I cannot start it at this time for several reasons. First, I live with my parents and they have 2 other dogs, and it would be a big circus!! Second, I have been warned by quite a few breeders to not feed big breed pups raw, since they will grow too fast with all the proteine and might have weak bones!
I'd lean towards being tough and just take her food away if she is not interested, but she has to eat! She is already a bit thin, and though I have no intentions of fattening her up much, I'd be afraid of her loosing additional weight. On top of it being worrisome, and unhealthy, I will be starting her showcareer in april (she is bought as a show dog and I love showing) and she will not do well, if she is too skinny
Past few days Mika hasn't been eating her raw. It really upset me cause she usually scarfs it down. I figured she might not be getting enough variety since I still need to purchase a freezer chest so I can carry more variety for her. The first few times that she wouldn't eat Kevin would give her bits of kibble or Stella and Chewys freeze dried dinner patties. After that she kept refusing her meals but would always take treats. I got fed up with it and stopped with all treats and took her food away after 30 minutes. She barely ate yesterday, but when I got home from class last night, I told Kevin to put down her food one last time and yeap she finally ate.
Do you free feed her? If the kibble is always there she might not want to eat yet. I know it sucks to watch your pup walk away from food and not eat, but she will when she gets hungry. Mika was also on the thin side when she was younger but she is starting to fill out now.
Hope it works out for you.
No I don't free feed her, she gets her food 2 times a day, but if she refuses her morning meal I usually offer it to her at lunch time too. I let her eat what she wants (if she wants) and after waiting a bit I take the rest away, as shw will guard her foodbowl if it is still on the floor, even though she does not want to eat what's in it.
@MirkaM
She might be getting close to her first heat, I don't know. I guess I will know in some time, if this was the reason. When I got her, she would practically swallow it all in one mouthfull if I'd let her, and now she doesn't eat much (for like a week and a half) and it could change back again I guess...
This is exactly how Eowyn behaves too!!
Stay consistent and I would recommend the same food. It's your choice on what they are going to eat not theirs. Stick to your guns.
cheers
p.s. we never, never feed them anything but dog food.
How much is she eating...Eira eats pretty good but not like the rest of my chow hounds...I feed straight kibble nothing added in etc.
From reading above...If she skips her breakfast..I would not offer her food again until dinner...If she doesnt eat dinner she waits til breakfast...After 3-4 days she wil figure it out.
Because I have more dog, my dogs eat in the kennel. I feed once a day, BUT...I leave their bowls down there so if they choose to pick at it through the evening they can..,or they can eat it all at once. I feed at night, because during the day hardly anyone is in their kennel, they are out in yards playing.
Donna, she is eating less than what she is supposed to, according to the feeding guidelines on the dogfood. That I am not so worried about, since it can vary from dog to dog, how much they need. But she will eat of her own food, and leave about half of it and if she gets a chance (I try to avoid this) she will gobble the other dogs's food down. So that gives me the impression that she is eating less than she should. She is pretty lean too... She has not lost a lot of weight but I think she has maybe lost a bit since living with Blanka. At Blanka's place she would swallow her food in 3 seconds! But she got fed in her kennel, where she lived with another akita, so that might have something to do with it.
Oh and I should mention that she gets Taste of the Wild and my parents' dogs get the cheapest crap from the supermarket = fastfood for doggies. And I'm guessing this is why it's so interesting to Eowyn...
Also, I NEVER look at what the dog food company tells me my dog should be eating...Selling dog food is their business, and the more they tell you to feed, the more food you buy. Eira is eating approx. 4-5 cups of Pro-Plan Performance right now...
HTH
Donna
And she's a big velcro dog, so she will probaly not eat if she is closed in somewhere. She would be too busy whining...
Eira is pretty clingy too...Im working on having her spend time entertaining her self as well as playing with us and other dogs...so far she is doing great. The first week, she hated her "alone" time...Now she doesnt love it, but she accepts it and happily finds toys to play with on her own.
How do you get Eira used to more alone time??
Don't get me wrong...she always prefers to be by my side
It breaks my heart, but I cannot have a dog, that doesn't know how to be alone. She gets better by the day, so hopefully it will not be problem for long...
I think she does eat more willingly when the other dogs are in the house with her, since she doesn't want them to take her food (and I make sure they don't come close, because I don't want her to feel like she has to swallow it in 2 mouthfuls to prevent the others from stealing it).
I have also found that she eats much more willingly in the evening. Today she ate her whole meal alone in the hallway and she ate it all and licked her bowl. She has eaten all her food in the evening for some time now. Maybe she is not a big morning eater, and I have used the method of taking the food away after like 15-20 minutes if she doesn't eat it. Maybe she is starting to get it