non-eaters

[smkie]

anyone else have a dog that could care less about food. Victor is a first for me. Getting two bowls of food down him is always the daily challange. Getting down him and not down Mary requires deligence. At first i tried to tough it out, figuring when he gets hungry he will eat. Wrong. He got ribby again. so that didn't work, nor did changing foods or time of day when he was fed. finally i dropped my level of what i will stoop to. I added goodies, on the bottom, kibble on the top. Only to find that the same goodie time after time wont work either. Even people food he spits out like it is something nasty. In fact he spits everything out the first time to examine it. Makes me think someone tricked him once upon a time. Oh joy, five bites that time and he is done. poor Mary, she will spend the rest of her life waiting for my attention to be drawn somewhere else just long enough for her to saunter by, stick out her tongue, drop her head and hope that a piece or two stick to it as she walks by. last week a sprinkle of sunflower seeds did the trick. Today it is cheez wiz. Have gone through beef broth, and chicken skins (saved by GG) to these items now.

 

[Gempress]

Zeus is like that. He's an extremely light eater. I found that free-feeding seems to be best for him. Even so, he tends to get ribby on occassion. When that happens, I just add some goodies in his bowl for a few meals. Usually it's something liquid like roast drippings or a few ladles from the soup pot.

 

[JennSLK]

I grate a small amount of Rollover onto Emma's food. It's really cheap and I grate it really fine so she cant pick it out.

 

[Cidney]

Cidney

Yes, I have one, he is a 13 year old Yorkie and its a daily challenge to get him to eat. Like you, I tired to not give in to all the things you would do to try to get him to eat but soon found out he would get sick. If I dont get him to eat by 8:00 AM then he will spend with his stomach upset, drinking water and vomiting the water back up. I discovered that if I can get a few bits down then he is just fine for the rest of the day but if I happen to miss and go past 8:00AM, I have hell to pay. He has been a good sport about letting me gently prying his front teeth apart and putting a tiny peice in his mouth.

 

[smkie]

Yup Victor does that too..waits too long and then vomits bile..i try to get even a cracker down put he sticks his nose up in the air like i am out of my mind. There are occasional days when he simply doesn't eat a bite. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that as soon as he is a third or less through the bowl he has to go out and move his bowels. then come back in and maybe he will finish or maybe he will not. It is entertaining for him if i leave the bowl down. He doesn't want it but he sure doens't want the cat or Mary to get it either so he is occupied keeping an eye on his own food unless he is asleep, then i pick it up because Mary is just that good at swiping. EVen if i have the bowl at my feet (which is where i feed him) she will wait till someone comes to the door and then i hear crunch..she even waits until she is in the other room to bite down, but i still here it and tell her what a dirty darn bad dog she is! (not really) but she does know she isn't suppose to and that is the point. mary should have been named Hoover.

 

[filarotten]

Nope, all pigs in this house.

 

[bubbatd]

All my Dogs have been good eaters unless they are sick. I wish I could help. I've had 2 dogs ,when very ill ,I'd try everything . Smkie, could he be picking up some of your stress vibs ??

 

[Kaya-tay]

Have you talked to your veterinarian about this? Dogs tend to refuse something if it makes them feel badly, maybe these picky eaters are unable to tolerate a lot of the food on the market. There is a prescription diet for sensitive stomachs. Also, at night since my cats get to split a can of cat food to supplement their kibble, I use the Iams savory sauce on my dog's food as a treat for their evening meal. They love it and it is good for them. You might give that a try, I just use enough to coat the kibble. Good luck! Oh, by the way, this is my first post, so thought I would mention, this pic is of my 9 yr old boxer, Roxi, not my 4 yr old choco lab, Kaya!

 

[lovemelovemydogs]

Little Girl is the same way shes skinny but she doesnt like to eat.. Lately if I mix like canned food in with some dry food she'll eat it until she becomes bored with it.

 

[Barb04]

CJ wasn't too crazy about her food either. I'm now putting just a little spaghetti sauce on top and mixing it in a bit. She now eats everything. Maybe Vic would like the spaghetti sauce.

 

[smkie]

there's an idea! Thanks BArb, he gives me the LOOK like how can i eat that and not share when i have pizza.

 

[Gustav]

Gus used to be an incredibly poor eater before I had him fixed. He actually went 5 days without eating once!!! I was out of my mind with worry!! The vet said he was just stubborn, geez thanks for all the help was what I was thinking as I paid the consultation fee! The only thing that made him eat was if I boiled up a whole chicken, shredded the meat and added that to his dinner along with the stock. Perle won't eat hers unless it has a little something in it! Oh and warm water! has to have warm, not too hot or too cold!