# PICKY EATERS? do you have a picky eater



## Sam375

I just wanted to share something to those who have picky eaters....
Has anyone watch the dog whisperer?
He had an extremely interesting episode on tv and you can rent it on dvd....
It was a large breed dog (can't remember the type) who was driving the owner crazy with picky eating.

EXERCISE was the answer. Exercise the dog (even training on a treadmill) BEFORE you feed your dog.

It took a little while I think within a few days and the dog ate whatever cesar fed him, and ate it all!


----------



## marisoma

Yes, I have a picky eater. In fact, he is on a kibble boycott right now.:frusty: I have tried every quality kibble out there to no avail. I do walk Giotto before he gets his breakfast. Maybe I am not walking him enough? His pickiness though is driving me nuts. It is not that he isn't hungry because he will go to his food bowl throughout the day, but he just smells it and walks away. If we are eating he begs for food. He's also throwing up bile. I know he wants food, he just won't eat his dog food. At night after his not eating all day I give him chicken or some hamburger and he gobbles that right up. I do mix it with his kibble hoping some of that will sneak in but he spits all of that out to the side and just eats the meat.

I am kind of at the end of my rope with his eating (or lack of). I don't know what else to try. I even cut out all treats during the day in hopes that he'd eat, but he's not.

I will try and tire him out more during the day and hope that helps. If he's exhausted and starving then maybe any food will look enticing to him.

Thanks for the suggestion.


----------



## Sam375

What about grinding some of the kibble or even mixing canned dog food with it? Or watering it down even with chicken broth? Also, you giving in at the end of the day, what if you were consistant with no homecooked food at the end of the day for a few days along with the exercise...


----------



## Scooter's Family

We're now mixing in a bit of canned food with the kibble and Scooter is eating it. We were doing cottage cheese but this is easier and we know he's getting quality meals. He loves the canned food.


----------



## maryam187

marisoma, these dogs are very smart. Giotto knows you will give him something yummy in the evening and will therefore skip his 'yucky' kibble. Why eat dry crumbs if he can have juicy meat? That's how he sees it. You should put his food out in the morning (maybe add 1-2 TBL of hot water and stir) and leave it out for 20 min. If he eats it, great, if not, put it in the fridge until his next scheduled meal. NO TREATS OR OTHER GOODIES! Try this for up to 3 entire days. Good luck!


----------



## micki2much

Seamus is my pickey eater, Finnegan eats just about every thing!!! But now I have found what he LOVES!!!! I mix kibble, cooked ground meat or chicken (I change up a bit), cooked carrots AND now that I mix yogurt in...He has NOT skiped a meal since the yogurt!!!


----------



## patsteo

my two havs went thru a picky stage last summer that lasted several months. It drove me crazy. I now feed them a mix of two different dry foods (Royal Canin and Nutros). I add shredded organic carrots and a spoonfull of unsweetened applesauce to this for breakfast. I substitute sliced bananas at dinner. They gobble this down and are doing just fine now. FYI they love raw baby carrots as a treat. Good Luck 

Mickey & Annie's Mom


----------



## Sandi Kerger

*picky eaters*

Boy, I hope I am not doing anything wrong and I hope my dog is getting enough to eat. If we have steak, turkey, etc.. left over from a meal, she will get that too - cooked.

She is on a raw diet, and loves the meat (but won't eat chicken raw). She doesn't eat bones - she just buries them everywhere, and she loves cottage cheese, yogurt, but she spits out carrots and hates fish of any kind.

I grind some veggies up now and add them to her food, but not every day - is that okay?

How can I tell if I am feeding her enough and if she is healthy enough.

(I give her egg yolks as well and she loves peanut butter toast - I suppose that is bad - but it is just a little treat). Cheese on toast is a favourite too - but just as a little treat - is that okay?).

When do they stop gaining weight - she is 9 1/2 months old now, and hasn't gained anything since she came here - she is 9-10 lbs.

I gave her a Flossie - she ate it the first time, and now she has buried the last one.


----------



## Sam375

I am not much help here in this thread, especially since mine eats deer dropping, dried dead earthworms and loved having the dead bird in his mouth that he was so proud to find....


----------



## mellowbo

Mine were the two pickiest dogs on earth! I tried everything! Finally I just decided I couldn't please them so I bought Evo small bites chicken (because it is rated so high) and just put two bowls full down. It took three days and they were both throwing up bile but I waited it out. I didn't give them any snacks or anything. On the evening of the third day they ate.
Now I just leave the kibble down and they eat when they are hungry. It really worked!
Carole


----------



## lfung5

My guys are so picky too. They used to be on raw, but refused it one day. Bella gets her own lame diet, because she is the worst offender. She also has an eating disorder.
I tried all kinds of dry with the boys. the latest being Fromms and Orijens. They would touch the Fromms, but they LOVE the Orijens! Finally, a food they both love.

I can't wait to try Acana, made by Orijens.


----------



## Eva

I used to stress over Todd's finicky eating habits. I tried about 10 different kinds of food, added canned, chicken, cottage cheese, treats...anything that I could think of to entice him to eat more...well, I created a monster that wouldn't eat anything! 
I finally gave up, put down a bowl of plain EVO and waited him out. It took three days but he started eating and eats pretty well most of the time now.
I've become much more relaxed about it and if he chooses to skip a few days, so be it...he'll eat eventually 
I notice a big increase in his appetite when I have a foster dog around for him to play with. He burns off A LOT of calories wrestling..lol


----------



## Leslie

Eva said:


> I used to stress over Todd's finicky eating habits. I tried about 10 different kinds of food, added canned, chicken, cottage cheese, treats...anything that I could think of to entice him to eat more...well, I created a monster that wouldn't eat anything!
> * I finally gave up, put down a bowl of plain EVO and waited him out. It took three days but he started eating and eats pretty well most of the time now.*
> I've become much more relaxed about it and if he chooses to skip a few days, so be it...he'll eat eventually
> I notice a big increase in his appetite when I have a foster dog around for him to play with. He burns off A LOT of calories wrestling..lol





mellowbo said:


> Mine were the two pickiest dogs on earth! I tried everything! Finally I just decided I couldn't please them so *I bought Evo small bites chicken (because it is rated so high) and just put two bowls full down. It took three days and they were both throwing up bile but I waited it out. I didn't give them any snacks or anything. On the evening of the third day they ate.*
> Now I just leave the kibble down and they eat when they are hungry. It really worked!
> Carole


Am I detecting a pattern here? ound:


----------



## rdanielle

Yep, a house full of them!? 4 out of 5, could be worst I suppose.. Anyone spoon feed? lol


----------



## Scooter's Family

No but I've thought about it! They eat off plates, I've tried every bowl, dog and people, and Scooter won't touch them!

Much less picky now that we have a second dog here, he plays much harder so I think he's hungrier. Works out well at mealtime though, they both eat well!


----------



## rdanielle

I practically 'cook' for my dogs its pathetic how long it takes! Seriously, never spent that much time fixing for myself when I was living on my own.. I have found that if they hate the food exceptionally if you grind it down and mash in some tripe that they'll usually eat it. I add a lot of fix ins..


----------



## HavaneseSoon

Dexter still has some days he will not finish up his meal. We are exercising more, so his appetite is better and he is finishing up the food. 

But, then again.....I am still treating for tricks. I do not worry about it, as long as he is playing, poos and pees, he will be fine.


----------



## LuvCicero

I refuse to talk about Cicero's eating habits. ound:ound: All I will say is after a year of trying everything...he now picks the meals and we eat them...and I'm getting tired of chicken. ound:


----------



## Scooter's Family

LOL Dale, Cicero sure has you and your DH trained well! It's so hard to resist their little faces looking up at you though!

We have never given the dogs anything from the kitchen table and they don't beg. When we eat they'll both come over and lie under the table but don't bother us or guests at all. I'm so glad because my MIL feeds her dogs from the table and they go nuts at mealtime.


----------



## DAJsMom

I'll mention one other thing I don't see already here. Dusty will refuse her food if it is stale. When she was the only dog here, it would take us six weeks to get through the small bag of EVO. By the time we got to the end of the bag, Dusty was giving us dirty looks at mealtimes, not eating all her food, or refusing to eat. A new bag of food would solve the problem. I think we just weren't going through the bag fast enough to keep it from getting stale. With two dogs, that never happens any more. Maybe MHS is the cure for some of these picky eaters? Also, buy no more food than the dog can eat in a month, and store it carefully. The manufacturer should be able to tell you the best way to store the food.


----------



## baxterboy

I had a revelation this week. We've been on a special hyperallergenic diet this week and Baxter isn't allowed ANYTHING except his special kibble. The only added treat is the canned dog food which I line his kong with during the day while I'm at work. Before this week Baxter was really picky about eating his dinner. We only gave him treats with training, and in the Nina Ottosson game we also leave when we're at work, BUT we would give him a bully stick or flossie to chew on at night. NOW, all he gets is his kibble.... kibble for treats, kibble in his games, and no chews.  I feel sorry for him, and he is driving me crazy at night chewing on the kids toys etc. but he is gobbling up his food and even enjoys training with the treats being his kibble! So I guess the revelation is, the more 'extras' they get, the pickier they become.... holding out for something better maybe? I hate not giving him treats, but I do enjoy him eating his food ... no more pushing it away with his nose etc.

We were also over-feeding him. 1/2 cup a day for an 8 lb. dog is supposedly what he needs (but I was giving him at least double that. He wouldn't always eat it, but I was assuming he wasn't eating what he should.)


----------



## casey

Lola (2 years old) is a picky eater, and has thrown up bile too. We are now feeding her By Nature Organics mixed with sweet potato and she just loves it. We have gone through 2 vets and a canine gastroenterologist. We also give her a Zantac (15m) in the morning, and feed her 3 times a day. So far it seems to be working.


----------



## HavaneseSoon

Dexter now has me cooking! Very picky about his food, he would eat a few bites and walk away hoping for better food after we would eat later. He wins, I give in after two days. I am now topping his kibble with Homemade Chicken & Rice mixture. He finished off his meal tonight and looking for more.....licking the plate clean and even licking around edges of plate! 



Mom is happy!


----------



## SMARTY

I do not believe in picky eaters, I do believe in spoiled dogs. Smarty had me cooking for her. She will throw up yellow bile when she missed a meal. With one dog I totally catered to her eating wants. Now that Galen is here and I say if you don’t eat it Galen will, I mean it. Galen eats anything put in front of her. If Smarty does not eat she is not going to sleep in my bed. I know what was coming. Guess what after a few times of this Smarty started to eat when the bowls go down.

I have a story from my DS. He had very large Rottweilers, he had raised them on very pricy foods which was fine when they were puppies. As they got larger and larger the food bills kept going up. He had a reversal of income and had to choose a less expensive food choice for his dogs. When shopping one day, a man told him his dogs would not eat the food my son was buying, and my son said to him “my dogs didn’t either for the first week. Now they love it.”


----------

