Dog Food

[sara8]

Quote: Originally Posted by corgimom I wonder if we need to stop offering her each meal 2 or 3 times. Maybe she'll pick up on the feeding schedule better if she learns that if she doesn't eat now, she has to wait for the next meal time. Sarah, funny that you mention what you do for Allie sometimes. When Ein was a tiny pup, he was a very picky eater. I remember adding rice krispies (just a few) or cheerios to his dish in order to entice him to eat. Then he was neutered. And became "Piggy boy", as we affectionately call him. Piggy boy with muscular rear thighs that are called "porkchops". (Tucker likes to bite his legs so we always joke that he is trying to eat pork chops.) We'll try the kennel thing first.

those are the two suggestions i was going to offer. if she only has one chance sooner or later (and probably sooner) she will learn. but i totally understand worrying about her being underweight too. we adopted a puppy mill puppy about 6mo ago and he was a little thin when we got him and i was worried if he was getting enough, i still do sometimes. that's why i was going to suggest adding something to make the food more appealing to her. the thing that came to my mind was the gravy type stuff that iams makes in just very small amounts for more flavor.?? just an idea. hope you figure something out but don't worry too much it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job with her and she will come around to your routine.

[corgimom]

Colleen picks at her food, unlike Ein, who is a PIG and Tucker, who used to pick but has been turned into a pig for fear of Ein trying to take his food (and yes, we fuss at Ein every time he sits and watches anyone, human or dog, eat).

Today, Lucas has offered Colleen her breakfast several times, and she hasn't eaten anything. Many times, she stares at it for several minutes before beginning to eat. Sometimes she eats it all, other times she eats 1/4 to 1/2 of her food and walks off. Take her food away, give it back later and sometimes she'll eat sometimes she won't.

In your opinion, is this leftover behavior because her foster mother filled her bowl in the morning and left it out all day for her to eat whenever she wanted, or do you think she does not like the food we use? It is easiest for me to feed all 3 the same food, but if she doesn't like it, I am willing to offer her another flavor. (We use ProPlan for Sensitive Stomach and Skin, due to Tucker's tummy and nail problems-both of which have greatly improved). The main ingredient is salmon, whereas most dog foods are lamb or chicken. So I am wondering if maybe she doesn't like the salmon? But she has been like this since we got her, even when her food was 75% Purina One (from the exact bag the foster was feeding her from).

We CAN NOT leave her bowl out all day for her to eat when she chooses (Ein and Tucker will both eat it if we do not make sure they leave it alone), so if that is what the problem is than she needs to learn to eat at meal time. Any suggestions on how to do that?

I worry about her because she is already underweight, so I'd like to figure out what I can do to help convince her to eat.

Disclaimer: If I do switch her food, it will probably be to another ProPlan formula. We just switched her to ProPlan, and I don't want to upset her stomach by doing another swap. If we do leave ProPlan, it will be another premium food that is around the same price, and is available at PetSmart, such as Nutro or Eukaneuba. Just adding that so that I don't get tons and tons of comments about holistic dog foods that we can't afford and that I can't even find in the store. I know alot of people love foods like Wellness and Chicken Soup, but they are not for us.

[petpredicaments]

How long has Colleen been with you? My first thought would just be to try her for a few days on a different pro plan formula to see if it is that

[corgimom]

I picked her up at 8pm on September 20th (a Wednesday), but on Friday the 22nd at 8pm, the shelter made me give her back to the foster, because she was harrassing them that she wanted her back. The very next day, Saturday the 23 at 8pm, i went and got her back from the foster. Apparently the foster freaked out because it was her first foster dog and she was very worried about whether or not she made the right choice. Once she saw how happy Colleen was, she realized that she couldn't give her as good a home as we could and she gave her back to us.

So she has consistantly been with us for 2 and a half weeks, but got "shuffled around" for a couple days before permanently coming to be with us.

Do you think it may just be because she's still trying to settle in?

I'm going to go to PP's website and check out their other formulas. They sell 5 pound bags, so I'll get a small bag of something else for her. Even if she won't eat it any better than this, Ein is already on a proplan as well, so it shouldn't make him sick if he eats a different flavor.

[corgimom]

We are supposed to be getting a free sample of one of the new ProPlan select flavors. I sent away for it last week. When it arrives, I'll have to let her try it and see if she likes it.

Hurry up, free sample!

[Leo]

Have you thought about crating her while she eats? Leo is the same way he will take a few bites and then walk away from his dish and then the other dogs will eat his food up.... so now we crate Leo for about 45 minutes to an hour so he can eat it at a slow pace, it is actually better to have a longer feeding time like that because it is easier on their stomach, which could explain why she only wants small amounts at a time perhaps she knows if she gobbles it down she will be paying for it with a tummy ache and if she was starved for a while eating big meals might not quite agree with her yet, so she may need several smaller meals throughout the day. Crating while she eats would be the easiest solution in addition to smaller more frequent meals.

I would not switch foods or formulas because, switching formulas could upset her stomach.

[corgimom]

We'd have to put Sebastian back into Ein's tiny corgi-sized kennel with a cardboard litter box in order to do it (he lives in the big kennel), but it is possible. I could put her in when I leave for work at 7:30 and Lucas can let her out when he gets up around 8:30.

[Angelnstuff]

When my aunt got her new dog, she had to adjust its eating time as well, cuz it was used to alwaysing having food out. she said she jus offered food at meal times then took it away. and sooner or later she'll get the hint. makeing sure not to give her anything else to eat, no treats or table scraps, aounds like what youve been doing tho, might just need to stick in there a little longer?
With allie, sometimes it seems she'll go a day or to jus picking at her food. (shes our only dog so we jus leave her food out all the time for her) when i notice shes jus picking at it i will dump her dish and put just enough in it for a meal, then either put some warm water on it. or put a little treat mixed in, like a piece of bread crust, or maybe a bite ot two of lunch meat. i mix it in so she cant jus pick out pieces and she will eat it all. then i do the same thing the next day. and by the 3rd day she will usually eat her food as soon as i put it in the bowl, kinda boosts or appitite or something. i dunno, but it works.

[Leo]

Quote: Originally Posted by corgimom We'd have to put Sebastian back into Ein's tiny corgi-sized kennel with a cardboard litter box in order to do it (he lives in the big kennel), but it is possible. I could put her in when I leave for work at 7:30 and Lucas can let her out when he gets up around 8:30.

I would give it a try to see how it goes.

[corgimom]

I wonder if we need to stop offering her each meal 2 or 3 times. Maybe she'll pick up on the feeding schedule better if she learns that if she doesn't eat now, she has to wait for the next meal time.

Sarah, funny that you mention what you do for Allie sometimes. When Ein was a tiny pup, he was a very picky eater. I remember adding rice krispies (just a few) or cheerios to his dish in order to entice him to eat. Then he was neutered. And became "Piggy boy", as we affectionately call him. Piggy boy with muscular rear thighs that are called "porkchops". (Tucker likes to bite his legs so we always joke that he is trying to eat pork chops.)

We'll try the kennel thing first.

[Angelnstuff]

lol thats cute! never thought of giving her cereal like that, prolly healthier than the bits of bread. i like using jus warm water the most tho, that way i know shes getting enough water as well.

[corgimom]

When Ein was teething, he liked when we added water to his food to soften it up some. Sounds like Ein (as a puppy) has quite a bit in common with Allie.

[Angelnstuff]

well maybe allie will turn into a piggy someday then! well i can hope anyway, shes got a vet appointment next week im gonna talk to him about getting some weight on her. shes a whole 8 pounds now (we weighed her when we stoped to make the appointment) but i think shes only an even 8 pounds cuz she drank a bunch of water on the way there!

[corgimom]

Quote: Originally Posted by sara8 that's why i was going to suggest adding something to make the food more appealing to her. the thing that came to my mind was the gravy type stuff that iams makes in just very small amounts for more flavor.??

We do have some Iam's savory sauce. Previous owner of the trailer had bought some for her dog. We inherited everything she owned (the good and the bad) and decided to keep the doggy gravy.

Every now and then, I'll add some to her food, but I don't do it every meal. Ein got so used to having rice krispies (or similar) in his food (as a puppy) that it got to the point where he would look to see if they were there. If the weren't, he'd sit there and stare us, waiting to see if we'd add them. I don't want Colleen to come to expect gravy in her food every single time, beacuse I don't want her to decide some day that he is never going to eat if it's not there. If she has only eaten a small part of her meal for 2-3 meals in a row, I'll add savory sauce, and she'll eat it up right away.

Last night, she stared at her dinner for a few minutes, ate about 1/2 of it (after having only a few bites of breakfast), but this morning, she ate all of her breakfast without leaving the bowl once. It took her a minute to decide to eat, but she did eat it all.

[Angelnstuff]

thats great news nicole, maybe shes got it figured out now best of luck with her