Tosca is officially bored with her Canidae

[ToscasMom]

...and I just bought a 40 pound bag. I think she needs a rotating brand of food. She has become increasingly bored with it. I have had to mix things in for her to eat it during the past weeks, but lately she doesn't even care what I put in it, she isn't eating it with gusto anymore.

Suggestions welcome. I want her to be happy. I know others have said you have to switch foods now and then to keep them interested.

 

[SizzleDog]

Ronin will only eat the Canidae if I mix it with K9 Superfuel and then add a teensy bit of water to make it gooey and stinky. Go figure, he LOVES the super-pricey Eukanuba Puppy he got on the road, and he dug right into the friggin' Diamond he got for a few days when his Puke-a-neuba ran out when he was with his handler...

... crazy dog.

 

[showpug]

I have tried over and over to feed Canidae, but my dogs just don't really like it and after a while, my male refuses to eat it. I have many friends with the same problem. It's a great food, just not very tasty I suppose.

What about adding in canned?

 

[ToscasMom]

She was fine with it until recently. The thing is, she looks great on this food. Her poop doesn't even smell, looks perfect and practically crumbles. VERY easy cleanup, which tells me that she is getting a lot from this food. I started mixing some dog food roll in and that worked for awhile, but today she nearly went on strike with it. It wasn't for lack of appetite. She chomped thru a raw meaty bone with no problem at all. I suppose I could start mixing canned in with it. I really hate the thought of switching her after I finally found a food that keeps her weight just right and her digestion on target. Sigh...

 

[Barb04]

Mine love the Chicken & Rice formula better than the regular formula Canidae.

 

[DanL]

It doesn't hurt to fast them once in a while. Recently Gunnar was snubbing parts of his dinner. 24 hours with no food and a lot of exercise, he ate everything in his bowl at his next meal.

 

[Herschel]

Are you sure you aren't overfeeding? We were feeding Herschel 1/2 cup per meal and he eventually did the same thing that Tosca is doing--he wouldn't eat it even if we put amazingly tasty goodies in it.

We let him skip a meal and then cut him down to 1/3 cup and he eats every single piece--with or without additions.

Try feeding less. And like DanL said, let her fast. If she doesn't eat her dinner within 20 minutes, pick it up and wait until the next day.

 

[ToscasMom]

She eats 3/4 to 1 cup twice a day, depending on her actvity, with dog food roll pieces mixed in, which I don't think is too large an amount for a Collie. It is definitely the right amount for her personal weight though. I noticed she can gain or lose easily if I don't feed her the right amounts, so I have experimented with this. If she gets a raw meaty bone, I cut her kibble down a bit, dependent on how large her raw intake was. The reason I think the canidae bores her is she has no problem eating the other things she gets--with gusto. But she has become luke warm with the canidae. I just think she's tired of the same kibble and probably wants a change for awhile. But I could be wrong. I did take her food away last night. This morning she ate it but I added a raw egg and some cottage cheese to the mix.

 

[Beanie]

We mixed in the canned to keep Auggie interested in it. I know some people rotate the ALS, chicken, and lamb varieties of Canidae without any problems. Maybe that would be enough? Or just rotate canned varieties..?

If she gains weight easily, I think you'll have to be super careful adding in canned and taking away kibble to make sure it's not too much.

 

[Spirit2010]

Spoiled dog. lol, I think Hershey is also getting bored of his diet.. And Blue Buffalo is the only food, that is quality we can get him, unless we go to Speck's, or get the AvoDerm stuff. I don't know, get her something else. Which I am sure you already know.

 

[ToscasMom]

I might buy a bag of the chicken and try mixing them, see what happens. I have also been leaning toward some home cooked in her diet so I might just go that way and spice her kibble up with some ground turkey and veggies. She loves veggies.

 

[Baxter'smybaby]

On occasion, I add olive oil to the Canidae--the dogs think it's from heaven!

 

[ToscasMom]

Oh really Bax? I will try that. Thanks!

 

[dk666]

Thor gets that way too, eats his Canidae for days no prob then gets kind of tired of it been that way with most foods only food he goes nuts for is Timberwolf Wild & Natural but it costs so dam much !! I pick up a small bag of it and toss a handful in with the Canidae when he's like that he goes right after it then also works with EVO Red Meat have several packs I picked up for that, guess we would get bored eating the same thing every day too

 

[ToscasMom]

Well I got her gobbling it up this morning. I mixed a chunk of canned salmon in. I think I will just have to get more creative if I want her to stay on Canidae. I just like what it has done for her.

 

[ACooper]

Heh.......my two will eat the toaster if I mix some canned Salmon or Mackeral with it

I see no reason to buy her canned or rolls of Dog food TM. Save your money and search your cupboards.

Save the broths from dinners you cook for yourself........Ie..roasts, chicken or turkeys........any meats like that. I have done this even before I started cooking for the dogs. I just freeze the broth in little freezer bags, and whip it out to pour over dog food when necessary. Lots of flavor.

Nothing wrong with frying up an egg if she likes them (my two don't care for raw eggs) and toss it in her canadae.

You have already mentioned cooking up some ground chicken, turkey, or whatever with veggies.............great plan.......but.............

When you have a meal at home, chicken, bison, whatever..........bag up the leftovers in individual baggies, just the right amount to toss in.

Another thing I used to do with bored doggie pallets...........get some peanut butter, just a tablespoon......mix with some water to make a sauce, instant gravy that mine LOVE!

Don't make it too hard on yourself...........use what you have since she is getting what she NEEDS from her canadae, you can give a tidbit of something she enjoys mixed in

 

[ToscasMom]

I do use dog food rolls mixed in but lately she was picking it out of the food. lol

Great ideas though, Cooper. I will just get creative.

 

[parkgt]

My 22 month old Dobergirl does very well on it also. She gets about 3 1/2 cups a day plus the extras mentioned.

I spice things up by:

1) Mixing in a little olive oil and then spinkling some garlic powder on it

2) Almost every evening putting 4 to 6 onces of rehyrated Honest Kitchen's Embark on it.

3) Most mornings make a gravey using 1/4 can of Canidae or Chicken Soups canned.

4) As mentioned above use any broths or appropriate leftovers.

5) Occasional treat ingredients added, beef heart, salmon, etc,

I made the rounds of many other more expensive foods and she did the best on Canidae, she did not like the Chicken, and Lamb causes a lot of gas.

So I will stick with the ALS and just work on not letting her get bored with it.

 

[DoggyDaze]

Some good tips. Thanks everybody.

CeCe has also gone tepid toward her dry food. I was mixing my new bag of Canidae with my old pag of Purina one (my bad, I got sucked in by the labeling but know better now.) She generally gets raw in the evenings and human scraps for desert. I figure she is just getting spoiled. Generally a spoonful or two of yogurt or cottage cheese mixed with the dry kibble will entice her to eat it all up.

 

[ToscasMom]

Well she fell for the cottage cheese thing for awhile, but now it's not doing it for her. So now I am adding salmon. I do think that if I started adding the kitchen sink to her Canidae, particularly things that add calories, I would have to reduce the canidae by a great deal in order to keep her caloric intake stable, so what would be the benefit of the canidae then? She is already getting spoiled with some of the things I add, picking thru the canidae to get the "good stuff". Maybe what I need to do is switch to homecooked meals like Cooper does and just contine with her raw meaty bones.

Incidentally, if I could have gotten to my camera this morning, I would have shots of Mojo in her crate with her helping himself to some of that salmon while Tosca ate. It was really cute.