[Noggin]

Hi Dogfoodadvisor folk!
I am writing to ask opinions on finickyness.

We’ve tried every quality food we have available but he always bores of the same thing and we have to switch. We add enticers, like wet food, chicken, and frozen burger, but even with that he will turn his nose up if we mix it with the kibbles.

Recently, we tried the hard love approach, and feed him, and take away what he doesn’t eat. the past several days, he just goes hungry! He lost ~2lbs refusing Wellness. We had left over Acana and tried that and he woofed it down. He had refused the Acana weeks ago and will again in a few days.

Is it common to have a finicky dog that just has to have some change in his diet? We’ve had this issue for almost 20 months.

Thanks for any experiences.

[theBCnut]

What size dog is he? I just want to let you know that your dog is really smart. Just like how it is healthier for people to eat a varied diet, it is healthier for dogs to eat a varied diet too. So plan for switching up his food and you may find that your picky dog disappears. Mine did. I switch kibbles every few days and always mix something different in with it, plus water, fish oil, and coconut oil. He never misses a meal and has only had one very brief bout of loose stools in over a year.

[GSDLover]

Patty, that answers my question as well. Our GSD seems to turn her nose up to the food she ate well just the day before. Seems as though we need to invest it a couple of foods at a time.

[theBCnut]

With 3 dogs I go through food fast, so I don’t think anything of having 2 or 3 bags of food open. Last Winter/Spring I was changing kibble every day, rotating through 4 different kibbles, plus all the different toppers and raw. Over the summer, I cut back to 2 bags of food so they wouldn’t go bad in the higher heat and humidity. Now I’m back to 3 bags.

Gideon used to only eat about every third meal, but once I started rotating, he has never missed a meal.

[InkedMarie]

Patty,
My son is lucking out, he’s getting about 20lbs of free NV LID turkey. I just opened it last week, for Boone but he’s going back on Brothers for the long haul. I still have 3/4 of a large bag of Natures Logic for Ginger to finish so by the time she finishes that, the NV will be a little old. I’ll help the kids out with food. Gemma’s not eating kibble at all.

[theBCnut]

I went through a period of opening a bag just to give it away when we got Micah. There was only so much that I could pass to Gideon before it got old. I’m actually kind of there now. I got an extra bag of Brothers Complete Chicken when it was on sale, but Gideon is the only one who can eat it, so he has to eat the whole bag. I decided that now that I have a handle on what Micah can and can’t eat(I hope), I won’t buy anymore that they can’t all eat, so I don’t have to feed an entire bag to just one dog ever again(I hope).

[Noggin]

Thanks for all the shares!

Our guy is a lean 36lbs. He was 27lbs when we rescued him. He topped out at 37lbs once, after 2 weeks of hearty appetite. Maybe instinctively regulating?

I was told stray dogs may become accustomed to the rich flavors of people leftovers and garbage and may hold out for tastier fare than kibbles. I have read rotating is a good policy, if the dog doesn’t have adverse reactions.

We will keep rotating the kibbles and enticements.
Thanks for the personal experiences!

[OhBichonPlease]

It’s very expensive, but Weruva canned foods worked wonders to get my finicky girl eating again after a recent week-long hunger strike. [I was worried about her nutrition in addition to the fact that nothing going in means nothing coming out.] It looks and smells [and probably tastes] like human-grade baby food and you are obviously paying for quality product. It comes in a variety of flavors – I had good luck with the Steak Frites and the cat variety of Paw-Lickin Ckicken. She ate it straight out of the can, but really goes nuts over leftovers frozen in ice cube trays. Frozen cubes of nutrient-dense dog foods and toppers/additions [like yogurt, pumpkin, tripe, salmon] has become my go-to strategy for getting food in regardless. She will eat frozen what is refused otherwise, which is great since she also habitually licks her toppers off kibble without actually eating any.

I would also recommend changing the dog’s dish in the meantime – sometimes people plates make kibble more enticing. Or the shape might help – try a deep bowl or a pie pan. And maybe relocating the dish might help as well.
Our girl needs to be heartily encouraged to eat each mouthful of kibble, so we moved her food [but not water] into our bedroom so she eats her dinner while we watch movies before bed.

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