[Kendalle]

So messi doesn't eat much. the bag says he should be fed 1-2 cups of food a day. He never eats a cup a day. He does get treats and he eats most of his food in a treat dispenser, he has a few, a tug a jug minus the rope, a buster cube, an everlasting fun ball.

I would like him to eat on his own though. like go to his dish and eat his food lol.

Today he threw up bile which i assume means he ate nothing today until he threw up.

He has food out 100% of the time. right now he has taste of the wild bison and venison. He likes it in his tug a jug but i wonder if it isn't tastey enough to just sit and eat. he was really lazy today so i gave him egg in his food and he ate his egg plus some food.

I want a good food, not raw.

I work at a shelter so i am always paranoid about parvo, and him not wanting to eat stresses me out.

 

[Dragonrain]

Have you ever tried giving him set feeding times instead of leaving the food out all day?

If you set the food out at certain times, give him a set amount of time with the food out, then pick it up again, it may teach him that if he wants to eat he better do it while the food is out. The other good thing about that is you can watch him eat and not have to worry about him eating when you aren't around and choking or something. I don't know, but I'm so paranoid about Kit choking that I always like to supervise meal times.

Also I've heard that a lot of times the pet food bags overestimate how much food a dog will need. I don't feed my dog based on the instructions on the bag, but you can calculate about how many calories a day your dog needs and then feed the amount of food according to that. If you just do a google search there are websites that tell you how to calculate the amount of calories your dog needs depending mostly on his individual weight and energy levels. It could be that the 1 - 2 cups a day the bag recommends is a bit too much for Messi.

Maybe he's not crazy about the Taste of the Wild, I tried that kind in a different flavor with Kit and he wasn't ever crazy about the taste.

I like Wellness Core for my dog, if you want a food recommendation. It's grain free and Kit seems to really enjoy it. Plus Kit has a sensitive stomach when it comes to kibble and out of all the brands I've tried he does the best, by far, on Wellness Core. But of course each dog is different so what works best for Messi isn't going to necessarily be what works best for other dogs.

What foods have you tried? Kit liked the flavor of EVO a lot but it didn't really agree with him unfortunately. Actually I think out of all the kibbles I tried Taste of the Wild was probably the one Kit seemed to enjoy the least. When we got to around the middle of the bag he seemed to be sick of the flavor, and would only eat it when he got really hungry, which is kind of rare for Kit. Usually he gobbles his food up pretty quickly.

 

[Zylca]

If he eats it out of a puzzle toy like the tug a jug what is wrong with that? I prefer my dogs to work for thier meal than just get it in the bowl. But then again they will eat from the bowl and when I'm in a hurry that's how they get it. So if they didn't eat from the bowl maybe I would wish for that too at times.

Jellybean won't eat out of a deep black bowl. She likes her's elevated slighty and in a shallow soup bowl. Perhaps it's a dish issue like hers?

I also agree with set feeding times with a time limit. Noah will often turn his nose up at dry kibble unless I put some on the floor. Then he eats it all.

 

[Sasami]

If he eats it out of a puzzle toy like the tug a jug what is wrong with that? I prefer my dogs to work for thier meal than just get it in the bowl. But then again they will eat from the bowl and when I'm in a hurry that's how they get it. So if they didn't eat from the bowl maybe I would wish for that too at times.

I second this. Why not just feed his whole meal out of a puzzle toy or two?

I also agree that he might just not need that much food. My dog eats a little less than the recommended amount on the bag (Innova) and also needs less raw food than recommended (0.3 lb as opposed to 0.4 lb). She's a healthy weight now (she was slightly overweight when younger) and I think her activity level is just lower than a lot of dogs. She basically lies around all day except when we go on walks and jogs :lol:.

You could also try a different variety of food. Bison and venison aren't as popular in my house as lamb, chicken, turkey, and fish.

 

[Kendalle]

To mock me, he ate his food as i opened this page.

I like feeding him with the puzzle toys, but the buster cube only holds a table spoon and the tug a jug holds more

but i still would like him to eat some out of a dish. because he doesn't play when i'm gone i don't think and i don't like making him wait all day to eat he has a food dish just eat it

 

[Purple-Hops]

Hmm, seems like he prefers to eat it out of a puzzle than a bowl. It stimulates his mind, as if I remember correctly, he has terrier in him right? Coco's eating habits are off too but its more due to age, anxiety and stress. What I do is take up his food at night before bed (I soak his kibble overnight so its nice and squishy by the morning) then after our morning walk I put it down with a bit of can food. He usually eats it all but I almost always have to pretend I'm going to get it first. In the evening I cook him up a scrambled egg and add it to some rice.
Coco's kibble is Holistic Blend and his can food is Lick Your Chops. they're higher end but cheaper than the pet store brands, I get them in the health section of grocery store!

But I think an active dog should be taking in more calories, if Messi is waiting at home for you then he does not need as many cals and a puzzle toy (maybe both filled) would be suffice for the day. Then when you come home, you can make him supper.

 

[Kendalle]

i got him some merrick food it was on sale 2 for one and it is decent food, no corn no soy but it isn't grain free, i mixed a little in his food and he ate it (think he thinks its treats right now) so i may just get a few little bags of other foods that are good quality to mix in his taste of the wild.

I don't want to feed blue buffalo, because it costs too much plus i don't think it is better food. I also don't want to feed fish blends because it is hard to find out how it is processed and such. Oh the dog food headaches.