Dog doesn't like her dogfood, shall I keep trying or is this just the way she is?

[Jennytailia]

She is 6m, when she came to me she was on Chudleys, she wasn't bothered about that, never ate if as soon as I put it down, it took her a few hours of half heartedly nibbling at it.

I changed her to Royal Canin, she's been on that for 3 months, same thing, not bothered.

Last week I changed to James wellbeloved. Again she's not interested. But she does love other food, even the kids cereal she will sniff the floor for any bits dropped.

Also gave her some shepards pie last week which she loved!!

Shall I keep searching for a food she likes or just get used to her being not that bothered about dog food?

Stop feeding her human food! She's not going to eat her dog food as long as she knows there's a bowl of shepherd's pie in the offing!

We have a 7 year old lab x springer (so greedy by nature) and he turned his nose up at both Canin and James Wellbeloved when he was a pup. We eventually settled on Bakers Complete - probably not quite so wholesome but better than feeding human leftovers, which he only gets as a very rare treat.

Leftovers would be infinitely better than Bakers! Bloody stuff ought to be banned, no dog on this earth should be expected to survive on 96% unnamed cereals, 4% meat meal, sugar, salt and carcinogenic additives.

OP, if she's a good weight then I wouldn't be too concerned, a healthy dog will not starve itself. Mixing in tinned fish in oil, Fish4Dogs salmon mousse or some raw mince etc. may help the palatability without getting her hung up on human food. Or try a raw diet, will she eat raw chicken or mince with more enthusiasm?

I always give my dog a mix of wet (tinned) & dry dog food, remember reading somewhere about the mix of textures & tastes being more enjoyable for them.

I realise that the tins are mostly moisture but I think naturally (ie scavenging) dogs would be having a real mixture of tastes & flavours (decomposed rabbit anyone? yeuch!) so thats what I try to go for.

Really big fan of Raw food here, the dog loves it and it is cheaper than the expensive complete stuff we were buying. Huge added bonus is that he has stopped stinking the house out with noxious pongs.

Some humans love their food and eat it all up quickly, so eat it slowly. Dogs are the same, to be frank it is much easier to own a dog that eats slowly and just has what it wants than one that eats everything in sight.

another raw 'human' food feeder here.

ralph loves proper food. raw meat, veggies, eggs etc.

the way i see it, i try not to feed my kids crap processed food, why would i feed my dog that?

Can you raw feeders tell me more about it? Do you buy 'raw' frozen dog meat at a pet shop or supermarket human food?
What do you feed and how?
Do you need to add any additives/veg/vitamins etc?

Sam is on Arden Grange and likes it but it is costing me £14 per month. And I supplement it with tinned pilchards / sardines / grated cheese / the odd raw egg etc, so total feed cost nearer £20 a month.

Would feeding raw be cheaper? And more importantly, healthier for him?

my lab seemed to lose interest in his food at around 6 months, he'd eat it eventually but not enthusiastic. Changed to JWB, no difference, then read the pack which suggested moistening with warm water just before feeding (not soaking) so dog could smell the food. Worked brilliantly, food gone in 30 seconds.

I had this problem with Peppa, chap at pets at home told me to put the food down, leave it 15 minutes if it's not eaten, it goes in the bin and nothing till next meal. I tried it and it worked a treat within a couple of days I would put her food down, she would crack on and anything she left I knew she didn't want. It doesn't work with food she doesn't like though.

behindlocknumbernine surely £20 a month is not that much to feed a member of your family well? thats about 66p a day.
A friend's spaniel used to be fed on sainsburys basics dog food. When she took him on, and did a mixture of raw feeding and dry his coat was better and glossy, his temperment changed and he is a much happier dog!

behindlocknumbernine get to know your lcoal butcher. mine supplies us with raw meat bones (carcasses and chicken wings make up the majority of ralphs food) supplement it with veggies from the reduced section etc. we used to spend around £30 a month on quality kibble, now its nowhere near that amount. its about finding the right balce for your dog. atm ralph is a bit fat from the summer holidays (he took full advantage of the kids being off for 6 weeks), so is back on food being weighed for a while until he loses a bit of his chunkiness. he is a lab x so is prone to over eating at times, saying that he is getting better at regulating his food intake and not scoffing it all done in one these days.

www.darlingsrealdogfood.com/article3.php i like that article but dont buy food from there

box of tricks, no it isn't, I was just pondering the fact that it is £20 of kibble. Just kibble (well, and the odd egg, pilchard etc) It seems a lot for just the same old thing every day. Sorry, perhaps not making much sense...

Tbh he is doing well on Arden Grange so I may leave him on it for breakfast but make his evening meal a raw meaty one?

Behind... I get meat offcuts from the butchers and spend half an hour a month cutting off the fatty bits. I then blitz it for a few seconds in the food processor with a head of broccoli and about 4 large carrots. I add a bit of cooked rice too as Old Lady loves this. Then bag up and freeze into portions.

It's far far better for her than any commercial food and she wallops it back. There are no bad smells from her rear end and her poos are nice and neat and pickupable.... except that one day I gave her fresh pilchards..... maybe go easy on those

One of the reasons I switched her to it was she started to turn up her nose at Nature Diet, which was costing me about £1.80 per day. Raw feeding, which she loves costs me in the region of £12-£20 per month. (cost goes up to the high end when I forget to defrost a bag and have to give her a chicken breast instead but I'm new to this so I'll get used to it eventually. Reminds me.... I'm just nipping out to the freezer..... )

If your pup is otherwise healthy, stick to one food. Chopping and changing can cause tummy problems. It seems that a lot of people here like the BARF method of feeding. We feed a hypoalergenic dried food to our 3 dogs at a cost of about £50/month for all 3.
A dog will eat when it is hungry and most fussiness is caused by us. If a dog is not hungry, it is not always a good idea to give it something super-tasty, as the dog may be trying to get rid of a bug.