Dog food

[Excitedannie]

My 14 month old cocker spaniel has recently moved from puppy kibble to adult. She was never a massive fan but seems even less enthused now. I tend to mix it with something wet which makes it slightly more appealing - especially if it's chicken! I've tried all these ideas of yoghurt, blueberries, pumpkin etc but she's really not bothered.

Can you tell me what your dogs eat? Has anyone ditched the kibble altogether?!

Lots of dogs are picky at that age. They grow out of it again.

Personally, I wouldn't keep trying new toppings but instead start to get her to earn her kibble - dogs enjoy food more when they've earned it (contrafreeloading).

That said, there is no specific reason you need to keep to kibble if you don't want to. Lots of wet food options out there that are just as good.

I feel Millie's wolfheart dry (70/30 of varying varieties as advised by them) with a bit of high quality wet or yoghurt mixed in. My coming up to a year puppy is quite picky - she doesn't eat much breakfast but wolfs down her tea.

We have tried various dry foods and she won't eat them alone. She won't work for them either.

I just make sure her treats are high quality and let her get on with it. She is a good weight, looks good, poo solid and has bags of energy so she's eating enough. You can just feed wet but it is more expensive.

Thanks - I think I'm inclined to stick with kibble, but maybe use wet food to top it up and make it slightly more interesting! No end of her being hungry or reward will make her eat kibble dry and on its own!!!!

Mine have two separate meals. Dry food and wet food which I add water to aid digestion and I add salmon oil for taste and nutrition.

The bowls are licked clean and I know the salmon oil has done them good and the water keeps them hydrated too.

Mine are terrible drinkers otherwise.

Have you tried adding something smelly, like salmon oil or a little bit of tuna

This is the one that I buy.

Four pumps for our large breeds. Three puns for our medium sized dogs and a couple of pumps for our smaller ones.

They all love it and it lasts ages.

Pets Purest Scottish Salmon Oil For Dogs, Cats, Horse, Ferret & Pet - Pure Omega 3, 6 & 9 Fish Oil Food Treats Supplement for Natural Coat, Immune Support, Itchy Skin, Joint & Brain Health (1000ml) amzn.eu/d/b7NQoqz

I would try a bit of boiled water over it , releases the smell

I have ditched the kibble, and suddenly my dog loves every meal. I feel pretty bad about sticking with it so long. I feed about 2/3 - 3/4 complete wet food then add in fresh food trying to keep it balanced, so chicken and greens, egg and carrot, yogurt and apple. I add in cooking water too so she drinks more.

Mine is generally quite food orientated but she doesn't particularly like kibble.

If we gave her dry kibble she'd refuse to eat it. We just can't afford to feed her fully on wet food though...

She's 27kg so would need 3 cans a day which easily gets into some quite significant monthly spends!

Having tried eleventy million things and types of kibble we've realised she has to have something tasty and wet mixed in.

We vary between half a can of Lily's dog food which she loves. Mix a splash of water in and then mix the kibble through it so it's all coated with the wet food.

A couple of times a week she has tinned sardines in tomato sauce which are about 39p(!) from Aldi. She loves them and they're very good for a shiny coat.

Sometimes she gets leftovers as her wet 'topping' with or without a raw egg.

As long as it's mixed in well she's very happy.

Interesting.

I've just bought the same salmon oil for my dog and cats as the cats in particular have quite dry dandruff prone skin at the moment.

We use butternut box. It's basically cooked food. So wet in consistency but doesn't smell like.dog food. Our dog likes it a lot and eats it all.

So we have gone off kibble completely

Forgot to say I feed my dog different tins of Butcher's grain-free which has salmon oil and different vegetables in - costs me £1.50 a day. And yes to the sardines - they're great. I often share a tin with my dog.

Cockers are notorious for fussiness! My girl changes her mind from breakfast to dinner what she likes 🙄

Butternut has worked well here too, but I keep tins of mackerel in oil on hand to mash a bit in if she’s getting fussy. Usually helps.

We do 50/50 kibble with raw foods. We hydrate the kibble with bone broth or water, and add different things day to day. Greek yoghurt, mackerel or sardines, salmon oil, raw meat, liver, raw bone once a week like a duck neck or wing, egg.. always gets wolfed down.

If you’re going to stick with dried food, maybe try it in a snuffle mat so it’s more entertaining for them?

We do nature’s harvest? Bounty? It’s raw and comes frozen. She wolfs it (didn’t do kibble)

We raw feed but it’s not for everyone.
Ddog loves it and he’s lost weight (he needed to) and is generally very well.
He does tiny inoffensive poos too, which is nicer to deal with but also suggests that there is very little that is being wasted.
Most dog food is very processed

I also add salmon oil to both my dog and cat's food. I won it in a competition and will be sticking to it as they both love it.

https://nutsforpets.co.uk/products/salmon-oil

Thanks all. She used to love pilchards but has decided nope, she's not keen. Same with Salmon oil - loved it, but not today!

You can add salmon oil to the kibble to make it more appealing
Just a thought Is the adult kibble much bigger than the puppy?
Might have to change over more slowly

We have a 6 month old golden retriever who flat out refuses to eat kibble no matter what brand it is, what we add, just won’t eat it whatsoever and never has.

We feed a mixture of wet food and homemade. Mainly she eats variations of chicken/ beef/ fish with rice and vegetables. To be honest although it can be inconvenient I’d rather her eat home cooked food which I know the ingredients of rather than kibble with lots of unknown additives

I give mine his morning kibble soaked. And his dinner is kibble dried mixed with a tin of fish either Tuna, salmon, sardines or mackerel. I Chuck some veggies in too.

I raw feed my cocker spaniel. He never did very well on dried food and had a constant upset stomach, no issues since switching years ago. Apart from when the little bugger picks up something unmentionable on his walk.

One of mine is so fussy and hated kibble, switched to raw and never went back. I use Natural Instinct usually, although they had M&S chicken wings for breakfast today.

Our dog was always picky , we eventually have landed on NatureDiet wet , he loves all the flavours , it’s a reasonable price , good quality and his poos are excellent .

We use kibble with wet. Local brand of grain free dog food and 1/4 tin lillies kitchen cottage pie (our boy has a grain allergy). Had a super fussy boy to begin with, kept changing it around to entice him because I was so worried about him not eating. In the end we chose one formula that he appeared to love and then stuck to it. In the beginning he ate it a few times then did his usual protest, only this time I stuck to my guns and kept with the same food. I put his food down twice a day at meal times and he didn't eat for 48 hours. Then I think he realised I wasn't going to budge and decided he would eat it as he was starving and hasn't refused it since. He hasn't had it change for 6 years! Much to my dismay as lillies kitchen has gone through the roof 😂