Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Pets

Join our community on the Pet forum to discuss anything related to pets.

Original poster

Talk to me about Dog food for the worlds fussiest dog!!

23 replies

galen · 14/10/2009 18:07

We have a wonderful new 7 month old puppy We rehomed her from a lady who had got a new job with long hours and couldnt look after her anymore. Originally she had been rescued from the pound at 10 weeks old having been abanonded with her 6 brothers and sisters She is a cross breed - not sure what of LOL People have suggested a bit of Staffie, a bit of JRT, and a bit of collie, and actually someone said today a bit of lab...but I am not sure on that, and DS1 seems to think she has a bit of greyhound but again that is dubious if you ask me LOL
Anyway she is truly wonderful and we are enjoying her sooo much. BUT she is a seriously fussy eater. When we got her she was on winnalot tinnede meat in jelly with mixer. Her poos were TERRIBLE and she did the SMELLIEST farts (sorry TMI )
So I attempted to change her onto a good quality dry complete - I tried a gradual change, NO JOY she wouldnt touch any of it if I mixed it in her food. Tried just the kibble - she ate a handful out of curiosity then walked off. I have tried 4 different good quality dry completes(JWB, Pero, Joe and Jacks and now on Orijen)
She will eat the Orijen if soaked and with some mince mixed in ...but never really looks as if shes enjoying it and she isnt eating very much. I have tried for days putting the food down twice a day and picking it up after 20 mns - giving no treats etc... and it honestly makes no difference.
I really want her to eat her food with enjoyment, but also want her to eat a good food...
I am now considering looking at BARF as I am fairly sure she would love that, but also looking at possibly finding a good wet food.

Any suggestions?
Any tips from any BARF lovers....or any suggestions from those that use a good quality wet food (that doesnt lead to disastrous wind!!)
Or any other suggestions I havent considered for the worls FUSSIEST eater (although she would eat ANY crumb dropped on the floor everytime LOL)

OP posts:
DLI · 14/10/2009 18:43

hi, i have a very fussy eater as well, we have tried him with all the big brands going from pedigree to butchers etc and he refuses to eat it. we bought him some cheap dry biscuits by weebox (about £2-£3 for a bag) and add hot water and he will eat this. he also tends to get our left overs which he will eat. have you thought about going to a weighhouse and buying loose samples for her to eat?

DailyMailNameChanger · 14/10/2009 18:51

If you look on the BARF site you can buy packaged frozen meat and veg all ready to go. You can use it with the Orijen if you want to use a kibble but it is fine without. THe site has all the instructions with amounts and so on. You can use meat with bone in or the mince, I would recomend you try them out and see what your dog likes.

I know the worlds fussiest etaer (he starves himself on the wrong diet) he loves this diet!

LittleRedCar · 14/10/2009 19:05

I have found with my pups that, in the early days, they are not really very excited about their food. They settle down later, and I feed them and my adult dogs Royal Canin dry food.

tbh you can easily end up with a very fussy eater if you do as you are doing. If the pup is keeping enough weight on then I wouldn't worry about how interested they seem in their food - some dogs just aren't that excited by food, and young pups are often too interested in everything else going on to get seriously excited by a bowl of biscuits!

There are health advantages to using a dry food (e.g. dental health) but a good wet food is Naturediet. Not the cheapest, but very good quality and highly palatable.

Be careful of overfeeding - this in itself can cause runny poos.

Good luck.

Original poster
galen · 14/10/2009 19:11

thanks for the replies. I just really dont think she likes any dry food at all LOL Buying samples would be useful though. I have just given away 2 huge sacks of rejected kibble to rescues....
Will have a further look into BARF. I have heard thought hat it isnt a good idea for puppies though....but then agsin she is 7 months and not a tiny puppy....
off to do some more research!

OP posts:
DailyMailNameChanger · 14/10/2009 19:25

Puppies do have different needs to adult dogs... I am sure you will find something about it somewhere!

I do agree with LRC that puppies don't usual;ly have the same enthusiasm about food as an adult, the image is of a dog jumping in and scarfing down the whole lot in seconds but pups are easily distracted and there are far more interesting things than dinner sometimes!

FWIW, I use Royal Canin puppy and my pup eats it - it has a very strong scent which is good for attracting them.

GrimmaTheNome · 14/10/2009 19:28

my previous dog was really fussy...and he was a skinny pup, so I'm afraid we pandered to him (the odd asda rotisserie chicken!)

The only pre-prepared dog food he liked was Asda Hero - which TBH always smelled nicer than the others (cesar etc).

His fussiness diminished considerably after he'd had the snip!

LittleRedCar · 14/10/2009 19:47

Thank you, DMNC

minimu · 14/10/2009 19:50

I would definately go down the BARF route. Pups do very well on BARF. There is a BARF group on google which is really useful and full of info

Original poster
galen · 14/10/2009 20:19

oh thanks for the new replies. Sorry LRC I X posted with you!
Yes I do know what you mean about not creating a fussy eater. I have for thjat reason kept her on her orijen for a few weeks now. " meals a day. Bowl down for 20 mins. All low key. NO treats or scraps at all....and she will eat it...begrudgingly! It's just that she used to wolf down her tinned meat when we first got her(what she was on before from previous owner) and I do feel mean having to be so strict just to get her to eat half a bowl of kibble - which I do think looks so boring LOL

You are right about her getting distracted though . She would ALWAYS rather play than eat LOL So maybe she will settle down as she gets older.....

will ponder some more....

OP posts:
Original poster
galen · 14/10/2009 20:20

2 meals a day that should say!

OP posts:
GrimmaTheNome · 14/10/2009 20:55

I'd never heard of BARF before... I suppose its a good name for dog food given their unsavoury recycling tendancies

DailyMailNameChanger · 14/10/2009 21:14

It stands for Bones And Raw Food (or something like that) it is supposed to replecate a more natural diet for a dog without grains, gluten and so on...

I don't know really, some people swear by it, now that there is a nice neat packaged way of feeding it I am a bit more tempted...

LittleRedCar · 15/10/2009 13:01

D'you know, I'm a bit of a BARF sceptic, but I looked at that site and you can buy frozen sheep heads on there - how cool is that?

Can't decide who would love them more - my dogs or the dc at Hallowe'en

Original poster
galen · 15/10/2009 18:38

well after another morning with NO breakfast eaten... I went and got some frozen beef chunks from PAH (yeah I know cheaper on line but I wanted a bag to try...) and she had 4 or 5 chunks for tea - and she LOVED it!! Wasnt as gruesome as I had expected - she did drag one larger chunk out of the bowl to chew up , but not too bad

LRC I know what you mean about being a BARF sceptic....people can be very forceful in their pro-BARF views and initially everytime I asked about choosing a dry complete on another forum they just kept telling me to use BARF - and I was really dead set against it.....BUT having seen the big range of frozen prepared food available I think it will be do-able! And it was soooo lovely to see her enjoy her food again....so I'm going to give it a go for a while and see if it suits her....fingers crossed...

Must say though....a sheeps head Not sure I'm quite ready for that yet LOL

OP posts:
LittleRedCar · 15/10/2009 19:03

Keep us posted

DailyMailNameChanger · 15/10/2009 20:59

Will be very interested to hear how you get on, I am a bit on the fence TBH, sounds like it makes some kind of sense but then.....

Does anyone have any tweezers?

LittleRedCar · 15/10/2009 21:27

Aaah - a wooden fence!!!!!

Gawd, that took me ages

DailyMailNameChanger · 15/10/2009 22:21

lololol my favorite place dontca know

Original poster
galen · 16/10/2009 19:30

Well ladies so far so good!! She had another bowel of beef chunks this morning - LOVED them again, and minced chicken for tea - again loved it!! Will gradually introduce more foods slowly .... no change on the poo front as yet ...(was a bit worried about transition and dodgy tummy etc...)
Will keep you all posted!
It's proving very simple and easy too so far - and I must be a softy but I do love to see her enjoying her food!! (I'm much stricter with the DC - they eat what they're given or go hungry - NO negotiation LOL)

DNC hope the tweezers worked and you can sit again...

OP posts:
Original poster
galen · 16/10/2009 19:31

.....checks freezer for lurking sheeps head...

OP posts:
sowhatis · 16/10/2009 19:36

My 2 dogs 9bullmastiff and Dogue de Bordeaux) were fussy, tried all the 'best' brands, but to no avail!

they are now fed a mix of BARF (Chicken wings, beef mince, ribs, turkey drumsticks, whole chickens! all raw, along with cottage cheeses, nat yoghurt, cheese, carrots, brocolli, eggs, tuna, white fish etc) along with skinners working dog muesli. once or twice a month they get cereals and milk! they alos get any left overs from us (apart from bread)

skinners was the only food they consistently eat, its a muesli mix so coated and not as 'hard' as some dry foods.

hope it goes well.

teamcullen · 16/10/2009 19:56

And I thorght I was posh giving my dog IAMS and whatever he can scroung from us

He does make me laugh. He take a mouthful of biscuits, walks away from his bowl, puts them on the floor and eats them one by one.

No stinky dog breath and no smelly wind

DailyMailNameChanger · 17/10/2009 12:29

That is great news galen! I am now starting to think that BARF is a good thing for picky eaters as much as anything else... I have also been speaking to a friend with a boxer who had exactly the same problem but flourished on a BARF diet... hmm anecdotal at the moment but worth some thought I think!

I can sit now thank you but I am not quite ready for all the plasters to come off

New posts on this thread. Refresh page