Changing Food

[JPerrelli]

I know I'll get a lot of opions on this, and that's what I need. Murphy is a horrible eater. How he managed to get to 160 lbs is beyond me. He's a big boy and does need to put on a few more lbs. He's 1 1/2 now.
I have to hand feed his meals to him or he wont' even touch his food. I know, put it down and he'll eat when he's hungry. I tried that and he went 3 days without eating. Now even if I hand feed him, he doesn't eat. I'm thinking he doesn't like the food anymore. I don't think there's anything medically wrong because he eats treats fine and anything off my plate. He's going to the vet Saturday to be sure.
He came home from the breeder on ProPlan but had running stools so I switched him to Natural Balance Sweet Potatoe and Venison. His stools firmed up some (brought stool samples to the vet and everything is fine) but not great.
There's just so many choices, I'm not sure what to try. I was thinking of going back to the ProPlan again since it works well with my breeders line.
Ok, ideas??

 

[Leonard and his bud Snuffles]

Have you tried mixing anything in the food. Snuffles has never been one to eat any brand/flavor dry food. These days in the AM, I mix some Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.co...m_canine_formula_with_smoked_salmon_in_gravy/

This looks more like a stew with hunks of ground fish and gravy. I also add just a tad of water and stir it all op real good so all the kibble is coated.. I used this when Apache stayed with us too for 10 days. He is a free feeder at home, but had no interest here. He ate when I added the canned food.

Evening I use the pasty canned food Nutro Natural Choice Herring and Sweet Potato canned http://www.nutro.com/natural-dog-fo...food/adult-dog-food-herring-sweet-potato.aspx I mix it with a little water too to make a pasty gravy, the fold in the kibble till it is all covered.

I have also used 2 to 3 heaping tables spoons of boiled hamburger mixed with some warm water and mix in too as well as cooked scrambled eggs and a bit of water.

 

[mareserinitatis]

We went through a period like that with Ada, and it was because she didn't like the food. (It was Nutro Ultra, FWIW.) She started on proplan before that, but was obviously too pudgy...even for a puppy. We switched her over to Orijen 6 fish, which she ate voraciously but gave her icky stools. So now she's on Acana Pacifica, and she seems to really like it and no more problem stools.

So yeah, I'd try a new food. It might take a bit to figure out which one, but if he's not eating, I'd venture to guess it's for a reason.

If nothing seems to be working, canned salmon will get her to eat anything.

 

[heather pluciennik]

Morgan likes her Proplan. I switch between the beef and rice, and lamb and rice. Because of her chicken allergy. She can't stay on lamb and rice long or her eyes and ears become icky. She does like it when I mix in Natural Balance foods but haven't done that since my short hours. She still seems to be eating so I'm doing something good?

 

[JPerrelli]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I do add things to the kibble. Hamburger and rice with a hint of garlic, boiled chicken with the broth, salmon, mackerel, eggs, yogurt, and canned dog food.

 

[mareserinitatis]

Do you feed anything from a treat ball? We started giving Ada half of her food in the treat ball. Maybe it would be more fun that way.

 

[DAWNMERIE]

Are you sure he needs to gain weight?

 

[Pipelineozzy]

If he's 160 at 18 months..I wouldn't panic. Chances are is growth has slowed, and he isn't hungry.
Sometimes (not trying to be mean here, btw)..the key can be found in the sentence..."he will eat treats and anything off my plate". Why would he eat kibble if he knows there is something more palatable available? It's REALLY hard to convince an already picky dog to eat kibble if they know you will eventually offer them something better, (been there, done that.) I finally had to resort to putting Jessie in a different room while we ate, not eating in front of her at all..and letting her get hungry. That meant no treats for a few days too. She NEVER became a good eater, but she did become much less picky.

 

[JPerrelli]

You're right, but he gets training treats and a few last bites sometimes from my plate depending on what I have.
I've let him have a few more treats than normal, but I wanted to see if it was just his kibble he wouldn't eat.
Could be his growing is slowing down, but sometimes he won't eat for 2-3 days which bothers me. Is that ok for them to go that long without eating?

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Jessie did it all the time :-(
It drove me CRAZY.
Jessie had a bad heart (pulmonic stenosis) and..even with the horrid appetite..and the bad heart..she lived to be 11.
My second picky dog, Mack..used to BACK AWAY from his bowl like it was going to "get him". When the females were cycling...he sometimes went for 4 days without eating, and would even refuse cookies. He made 12, but he was skinny all of his life, and maybe that helped him live that long actually.
If you are going to the vet...have the checkup and make sure he's ok, and then pick a food that is palatable and try to not give extras and see if it works. If it doesn't..go back to doing what you are doing, (topping food etc.)...and then relax and be confident that you just have a healthy dog that has a good metabolism and is energy efficient!! My vet reminded me when I was panic stricken over Mack (i was showing the big skinny brat) that canines in the wild only eat when they can catch something...so they are able to go longer than we would expect.
If he's 18 months..his growth IS slowing down. The growth plates are closed and he is in the stage of filling out. He probably doesn't need as many calories as he did before either.
I seriously don't think I"ve EVER made a poor eater into a good eater.
But if he was normally a really good eater and has become picky recently, it's still good to have him checked out for peace of mind, and to rule out any health issues.

 

[Pipelineozzy]

Oh, and on top of the pickiness...my dogs were fed highly palatable things..raw ground beef. It made NO difference. They were picky anyway!!

 

[CMDRTED]

Janet, I have some ideas when we get together

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

He might be bored of his regular food or, like Cindy said, he may just be a problem feeder. Mila has always been. She loves food out of treat balls and kibble if it's hand fed to her, but not out of a bowl. I had to get tough with her and stop doing that. She stopped eating for a few days but finally started to eat out of a bowl like a normal dog, but to this day, she'll still skip meals here and there willingly and inexplicably. I found that if I switched up her food (recently switched to Nature's Domain Salmon & Sweet Potato-I'd recommend it to anyone-you can get it at Costco), her interest would peak for a while and then wane again. She simply is not an enthusiastic eater and never will be. Maybe Murphy is just an unenthusiastic eater too...

I too would cut out the scraps and, if possible, the treats. That may help. I never give people food to Mila and I think if I did, she would become even fussier about her meals.