Hi,
I rescued a 1 year, 9 month old Treeing Walker Coonhound yesterday (Sunday) from a great no-kill shelter in my area. It's in Rhode Island and they pull dogs out of high-kill shelters in the south, particularly in South Carolina.
Before I adopted her, I visited her a few times in the shelter and noticed that she wouldn't eat a full meal in one sitting, and her dog food would end up on the floor in her cage. And, when someone would give her a treat, she would only eat some of it, and leave the rest on the floor.
So when I brought her home and gave her dinner (frozen chicken drumstick), she only eat some of it. Thinking she wasn't used to raw, I figured breakfast today would go better. So I gave her Nature's Variety Instinct, which is a frozen "raw" dog food. She wouldn't eat that either.
When she was brought up from South Carolina, the transport people gave the shelter a bag of awful commercial food, which they then passed along to me. I experimented a little bit, and she would eat some of that -- but again, not in huge bunches. However, I have no intention on feeding her that low-quality food. She's also eaten a little pasta that I had leftover, just so I could get some food in her. I bought some turkey breast today and I'm going to cook up and see if she'll eat that.
Her energy level is off the charts. All her tests came back fine. She's happy. But she's basically a puppy. There's been no obedience training and doesn't even know her name. I'm assuming she's never had any feeding structure also.
It's worth noting that I have two other hounds, and they are on a set feeding schedule.
My Q: How do I get this new girl to eat? And how do I get her to eat the good stuff? It seems like her current preferences are for the crappy stuff.
Thanks in advance for any tips.
I rescued a 1 year, 9 month old Treeing Walker Coonhound yesterday (Sunday) from a great no-kill shelter in my area. It's in Rhode Island and they pull dogs out of high-kill shelters in the south, particularly in South Carolina.
Before I adopted her, I visited her a few times in the shelter and noticed that she wouldn't eat a full meal in one sitting, and her dog food would end up on the floor in her cage. And, when someone would give her a treat, she would only eat some of it, and leave the rest on the floor.
So when I brought her home and gave her dinner (frozen chicken drumstick), she only eat some of it. Thinking she wasn't used to raw, I figured breakfast today would go better. So I gave her Nature's Variety Instinct, which is a frozen "raw" dog food. She wouldn't eat that either.
When she was brought up from South Carolina, the transport people gave the shelter a bag of awful commercial food, which they then passed along to me. I experimented a little bit, and she would eat some of that -- but again, not in huge bunches. However, I have no intention on feeding her that low-quality food. She's also eaten a little pasta that I had leftover, just so I could get some food in her. I bought some turkey breast today and I'm going to cook up and see if she'll eat that.
Her energy level is off the charts. All her tests came back fine. She's happy. But she's basically a puppy. There's been no obedience training and doesn't even know her name. I'm assuming she's never had any feeding structure also.
It's worth noting that I have two other hounds, and they are on a set feeding schedule.
My Q: How do I get this new girl to eat? And how do I get her to eat the good stuff? It seems like her current preferences are for the crappy stuff.
Thanks in advance for any tips.