Do you have a picky eater? What kibble brand do you feed your dogs?

Corea99

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Aug 26, 2018
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Finley
I have come to learn two things about Finley. The first is that he is a follow-the-leader kind of pup. Meaning, he does as the other does as other dogs do. [He young, 14months.] Second, he is a picky eater at home and home only. Although he has maintained his weight 40 pounds (+/- 2 pounds) over the past 8 months, the pickiness/not eating at home continues to concern me. When at doggy daycare Finley eats what I provide without issue. He is much more active there and does the follow-the-leader thing. This makes sense to me.

When it is just the two of us, he hardly eats. I get that he is not as active, and needs downtime to recover from all the play. But, it can be just the two of us for a solid 7 days, and I am lucky if he eats his evening meal. I keep the same feeding schedule as the daycare of 8 AM and 4 PM. Also, it is the same food. The last few days I have tried something different. I gave him a different brand and flavor (chicken), and he is more inclined to eat at home. However, this makes me nervous because Finley is known to have a sensitive stomach. It takes about a month to switch over to a new food. If I mixed it, he would not take it. If I gave the food right out of the bag he ate, some.

What are your thoughts? Crate him for meals like at the daycare? The daycare owner seems to think he might be depressed and misses his friends when not there.

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2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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8-4 might not be enough of a distance in meal time... Iā€™ve always done 12 hour separation. Have you tried that


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Corea99

Corea99

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8-4 might not be enough of a distance in meal time... Iā€™ve always done 12 hour separation. Have you tried that


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Yes, I have. In fact 7a-7p meals are my preference. If I put the bowl out for 20-30 minutes and take it up or not, he isn't eating at home. :(
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Yes, I have. In fact 7a-7p meals are my preference. If I put the bowl out for 20-30 minutes and take it up or not, he isn't eating at home. :(

So bizarre... maybe it is the bowl? Have you tired feeding on a plate or cookie sheet


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Corea99

Corea99

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Finleyā€™s a peculiar fellow. He has 2 bowls he eat out of and thatā€™s it.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Finleyā€™s a peculiar fellow. He has 2 bowls he eat out of and thatā€™s it.

What a stinker!!


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2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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What a stinker!!
We had a bulldog at a day care I worked at, he would not eat out of his bowl from by.. we had to use a paper plate

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Vanillagurilla

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My dogs get fed at 6am and 6pm, sometimes my older girl wont eat breakfast so we will set it aside for later and so my boy doesnt eat it. She will eat dinner later that day though. Shouldn't be an issue unless he doesnt eat for 24hrs. Sometimes if I'm worried I'll put a little bit of cheese or some left over meat in her food but 99% of the time shes ok.
 

Cbrugs

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Iā€™ve never had an issue with my boys not eating.


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Lalaloopsie

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I think he shows that he doesnā€™t like the food. At some point my Tank started to refuse to eat food just because he was tired of the same recipe, and he usually inhales food. I changed protein and everything.
Did you try all the tricks like putting a splash of yoghurt, or raw egg or cup of broth on kibble? Did you try adding some wet or raw food? Or, may be, cooking some broth with pieces of meat and veggies to add to kibble?
I would try something else, because I donā€™t think he is being just picky, I think kibble makes him feel uncomfortable in his tummy, may be he eats and feels bad after and gradually starts to refuse to eat at all.
 
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Corea99

Corea99

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Aug 26, 2018
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Finley
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I think he shows that he doesnā€™t like the food. At some point my Tank started to refuse to eat food just because he was tired of the same recipe, and he usually inhales food. I changed protein and everything.
Did you try all the tricks like putting a splash of yoghurt, or raw egg or cup of broth on kibble? Did you try adding some wet or raw food? Or, may be, cooking some broth with pieces of meat and veggies to add to kibble?
I would try something else, because I donā€™t think he is being just picky, I think kibble makes him feel uncomfortable in his tummy, may be he eats and feels bad after and gradually starts to refuse to eat at all.

The thing is, I have considered and implemented different foods, wet, yogurt, gravy, and so on. However, I have never tried a raw egg. The last couple of days I have been mixing kibble with freeze-dried raw. He ate more yesterday. He seems to only want human food which he cannot have. I will keep you posted.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Maybe something like The Honest Kitchen might be an option


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