Food for a fussy puppy?

[tabulahrasa]

He arrived in bakers, he wasn't overkeen on that (don't blame him) I've had him on Arden grange, he doesn't like that... I've tried wainwrights, fish 4 dogs - wont eat them either.

He did like Orijen but it's really expensive and I have to order it online...

Any suggestions of anything that's not complete rubbish, but won't bankrupt me? Lol

I'm not doing raw, no way in the world - just in case anyone suggests that. :)

I wouldn't mind, but he literally eats any old rubbish he finds outside and turns his nose up at dog food - he's driving me demented, so any suggestions for something I can try him with would be much appreciated.

Sorry it's not much help, but that's how SpicyDog ended up on Orijen! She refused everything else! Luckily I can get it in a coulee of shops here though.

Burns maybe?

How old is he? How much is he fed each day and how long have you had him? Oh, and how much does he weigh?

Our dogs are all on Royal Canin for Sensitive tums. Duck and tapioca. Bought from Pet Planet about £65 for a massive sack. I couldn't recommend Royal Canin highly enough. It. was recommended by our vet for our middle dog who has a VERY sensitive stomach and gets the runs if he looks at any different type of food. It results in small,solid faeces. You can buy a wet food version of it to mixin if you like but we often just add a tin of tuna.
Also I highly recommend Pet Planet. They are very reasonably priced and deliver for free over a certain amount and deliver within a day or two of ordering.
I would recommend choosing a food the sticking to it. Dogs will try to get you to keep changing the food...usually just when you have bought a pile of it in! If it is a healthy dog it won't starve itself.
Some people recommend. putting food down for a short time then removing it. We have food down all the time as our breed of dogs are 'grazers' so help themselves to small amounts through the day. Hope that helps.

My puppy is exactly like this and just will not eat anything in jelly, i think its the smell. We have ended up buying the tins from pets at home there are two ranges one is appledaws (something like that) and spencer's deli. They are about £1.30 a tin, not cheap but we had exausted everything else and were at out wits end with her!

He's 15 weeks, he was 14 kg last week (he's a rottie so although that sounds big, it's not, he's quite small)

Left to it on the foods he's tried, he eats about 3 mouthfuls of food, I do lift it after about 10 minutes. He's tried all those foods because I've been getting sample packs to try, not because I've switched him over.

The Arden grange I can make him eat, about 200g a day...but that's having to encourage him.

I thought that was just how he ate until he had a stomach upset a few weeks ago and when he stopped eating completely we had to try him on anything, just so he would eat, which was when I realised he just didn't like his food.

If I give him tinned stuff he'll eat that, but that works out more expensive - and I then have a storage issue, even Orijen would work out better, lol.

Raw really is surprisingly easy....

and cheap

and your puppy will love it and clean his bowl at every meal

Ah, you dont need to run, its just that I'm a vegetarian - I totally appreciate that dogs aren't and I wouldn't try and feed him without meat, but I can't do raw meat, it's not even an option.

Unless its still cheaper if I have to pay someone to feed him it? Rofl

I am vegetarian too! I do raw 'lite' for those scared of meat

Mine has a pack of this (take out of freezer in the morning, is room temp by tea time) plonk in bowl, do not look or breathe too closely, add two big handfuls of this, two teaspoons of this one scoop of this, mix, remember the breathing thing serve.

=happy dog.

He also has occassional sardines/mackrel/natural yoghurt/raw eggs etc but that is his basic diet. Dp sometimes supervises him having chicken wings which he loves, but you have to hold them for him and I can't do it. In the morning he gets a scoop of this to nibble on when he is peckish.

It really isn't that painful, it's not quite 'raw' proper, but it really is a million times better for them than any kibble.

When our pup was first with us he would only eat if the food was warmed and fed to him off a spoon ! Now he eats anything and everything , I'd find something that doesn't upset his stomach and stick with it , he won't starve himself.

Are you after Puppy or adult food?

I'd need a new freezer for frozen stuff though, that seems a bit overkill, lol.

I was originally after large breed puppy as I didn't want him putting on too much weight too fast... Now he's not putting it on as well as he should... Whatever he'll eat well enough and is ok or upwards quality would do me tbh.

He liked orijen and although I'm not ecstatic about the price, if I could at least buy it in a real shop if I ran out I'd probably go with that. But the combination of the price and being reliant on getting it delivered makes me reluctant.

What I really want is 100g bags of different foods so I can see what he'll eat, rofl, but I thought asking other people might be easier :)

You can get it at P@H I only buy 7 at a time so it takes up hardly any room, but I won't keep harping on if you're not interested, it really is just such an easy and healthy way to feed though

Burns is very good. Both mini bites and the juniour.

If you would like 100g bags to try, can you call the manufacturers and ask for samples?

I called Skinners to check if it was stocked locally and they sent me a few bags of different flavours to try without charge

To me it seems several different foods in as many weeks he's got you on the run. Me I'm hard I would pick one and stick to it for over two weeks. I like Arden Grange that's what mobile mop eats. When he arrived he tried to be fussy soon discovered a) I'm hard b) if you don't eat up the cats will.

Oh he's still on Arden grange... I've got a bag of it to finish yet. As soon as I knew he wasn't feeling dodgy anymore he went back on it. The other ones have been a small handful to see how he reacts before I commit to buying.

If he was just uninterested in food as I know some dogs are I'd stick with what he's on, but because I've seen him getting excited about food now I feel the need to find one he likes and swap him over - if he gets faddy after that he can get stuffed like, lol.

I did think about contacting people for samples, but I wasn't sure if they'd just say no.

They offered me samples, sent one of each sort I was thinking of trying, and were really helpful on the phone.

I only did this with Skinners as they ended up suiting my dog, but I'm sure others brands would do the same.

Dogs very very rarely starve themselves and don't have the human notion of not liking food.

If he's eating any old rubbish when he's out and about, how much is he eating? How many treats is he getting? Biscuits? That sort of thing?

His total intake is low if you consider dog food alone, but his lack of interest in food could indicate he is just not hungry because he is filling up on biscuits and scavenged crap.

But. If he is keen on wet food, not dry have you taken him to the vet to have his mouth and teeth checked out? He will be beginning to lose puppy teeth about now which may not be helping.

What happens if you put a splash of boiling water onto his food and wait for it to soften? Or even liquidise the food - see if that helps. That should give you a hint as to whether it's discomfort in his mouth causing the problem.

I don't like raw food for dogs; it's not something I would consider doing. I have heard too many scary stories about damage/illness caused by it.

I'd suggest trying him on tinned Chappie for now - if soaking or similar doesn't help. It's cheap and very good. Add a bit of plain biscuit mixer to it and see how he goes.

He really does need the nutrition at his age, so I wouldn't let it lie for now.

I have a fussy diva dog too. She eats pets at home own brand (which is actually quite good nutrition wise) www.petsathome.com/shop/advanced-nutrition-puppy-food-with-chicken-1kg-and-2.5kg-51301
with a wee bit of natures harvest wet stuff mashed up and mixed in. She's only 9.5kg so one tray does her 4-5 days as its just to make her food more interesting. www.petsathome.com/shop/nature%E2%80%99s-harvest-puppy-complete-dog-food-with-chicken-and-rice-395gm-18431
She still refuses to eat some days but then wolfs it down the next so I don't worry about her. I treat her like the kids and add up what she eats over the course of a week before i start to worry.

He is teething and his food is softened, he's been to the vets - don't get me wrong he's not starving himself exactly, he's not underweight for his size...just his size is little for his age.

He might well just be a bit compact and will never be piggy when it comes to his food, which is fine, except there's a definite difference in how he reacts to different foods.

I've got another two samples on the way and I now know that they won't just think its ridiculous if I phone and ask for one, so I'll go from there :)