Appetite

[Padfoot]

My pup Viggo is 15 months old. I've been feeding him Nutro Natural Choice mixed with Natural Balance dogfood (both dry). He gets 1 cup of dry food in the morning. Maybe once every week or so, he will go straight for the food and eat it all down. But most of the time, he acts really hungry, but when I put the food down, he runs over, sniffs it, looks disgusted, and then backs away and doesn't eat even a bite. Maybe a few hours later I will check, and he might have eaten 1/3 to 1/2 of it. By the end of the day, he might finish it all off, or he might just leave it. In the evenings, he gets a Kong stuffed with canned food and then frozen. I'd say about 90% of the time he spends a good 45 minutes to an hour working on that Kong to get that very small amount of food out. If he has left his food all day, and then eaten it up after 5:00pm, he's not so interested in the Kong. Since this is my little trick for keeping him out of trouble in the evenings, it can be a little frustrating.

I've seen discussions about different brands of dog food here in the forums, but not much about HOW everyone's dogs eat. Is mine the only "picky" eater out there? I'm kind of frustrated with him, but I really don't want to go to canned food, and I simply don't have time to make him a special "people food" diet.

By the way, he is a very healthy and active 17 pounds of pure muscle. So while it's hard to be worried about a dog that is this healthy, all the same it would set my mind at ease if I felt like he actually liked the food I give him.

[wags]

That's how Wes acted. When we found out he was allergic to the dry stuff, the vet gave us prescription canned. That was the first time I actually saw a smile on Wes' face! He was so happy!

I was also worried about canned and his teeth. Then I read that dry food gives cats dental problems. I also read that dry dog food, if the dog drinks too much water (which is what mine did) makes the dry dog food swell up in the stomach.

I give Wes a stuffed Kong as a prelude to dinner. The inside has a dog biscuit stuffed in it and a little canned food on the sides.

[Padfoot]

So you're feeding canned now exclusively? What do you use?

Viggo too had some digestive problems as a young puppy and was given prescription canned food by the vet. And he too did the "happy dance" at dinner time and wolfed down his food. So after that, I fed him canned food for quite a while. Eventually, he got to where he didn't want to eat that either! That's when I switched back to dry.

I guess I could go back to canned, but it's so incredibly expensive, it's kind of painful.

[wags]

Canidae lamb, chicken and fish. I tried him on some other canned food but there was something wrong with the canning process once and the food smelled like gasoline. So now he's back on Canidae.

At first he ate it twice a day, then- when he began to get picky- just for dinner. At other times I give him milk bone dog biscuits- a half at a time.

This costs 1.09 a can, but I have no choice. And it's supposed to be the best under the circumstances- He's healthy now.

When Viggo had problems, what brand dog food was he eating?

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! My dog is a special needs lil guy - - he was born with a liver shunt - - had a couple of operations to correct it - - and is now pretty normal. He has always had dietary problems. My vet suggests natural foods - - I feed him "Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul" food and "Natural Balance" - -both dry. I give him a cup of either one in the morning and will alternate the next day with the other one. Sometimes I will dice a little bit of chicken or hamburger in it. He actually loves this food and will eat most of it in the morning.

I too give him a "kong" in the evening that is filled with frozen "wet" dog food - - he likes Cesars. There are days when he won't eat right away but I know it is because of his condition - - when he was a puppy he couldn't keep ANY food down for days - -

These foods are a little bit pricey but after all we have gone through together - - he was critical for several days - - and wasn't given any chance of survival without the operation - - I feel it is worth the money. Riley doesn't eat all that much if you consider 1 cup per day plus half of a Cesar's container for the "kong". He was also on several prescription foods following his surgeries - - he got tired of them too. The vets at Cornell University suggested mixing a little bit of "baby food" into his dry food - - or just putting a couple of tablespoons on top - - and he loved it. Might be worth a try! Good luck!

[kayharley]

Winnie, 10 years, would not eat just dry food in the morning. I mix it with a little canned Iams and it's gone in seconds. Same with Madison, 7 months. At night I offer both of them about 3/4 cup of just the dry food. Madison wolfs it down, Winnie picks. A few treats during the day and that's about it.

[LORI]

Brandy, Who will be three years old, this month, eats Solid Gold. It's alittle pricey but we figure that if you put the best in you will get the best. This is a natural food, with no additives. It doesn't have that over powering smell when you open the bag. She get 1/4 cup in the am and 1/4 in the pm.

She loves her baby carrots and really enjoys celery. I try to give her as many different types of veges and fruits as I can. No orange slices though. I have read that Cairns cannot physically use the vit. C. When she was younger we would give her some fat free yougart mixed with her food plus water.

Shes a stinker though! Even when she needs a drink she won't take one until I put cold water in a tall glass then she will drink from it. I guess I am wrapped around her little paw!!

[Rob D.]

We have always fed Murphy dry doog food. It not only keeps his teeth nice and clean but it keeps him happy and with always lots of energy.(sometimes too much)

He sometimes will go a day without eating and my vet said that they can go a

week without food but keep pleanty of fresh water around which we do. Lately,

I was watching a program by Dr. Stanley Coren a pschologist, who specializes in

dogs, as well as humans, said to put the food down in the morning for ten minutes and put it away and do the same after your dinner time. Make sure that you eat before he does so he knows that after you've eaten he gets his. After a couple of days he'll get the idea and he'll eat when his food is down.

[CathyAnn]

My older Cairn is little miss picky.....just wants to munch here and there. Used to just leave the bowl down.

But.....enter puppy! This almost one year old has been a little piggy from day one!

Cathy

[LORI]

I know this question is very simplistic, but how do you get the food frozen in the kong? Do you freeze scoopfuls then put it into the kong?

We are going for the puppy this week and everyone raves about the kong so I wonder how do you keep the frozen food in there? Thanks,

[Rob D.]

The first thing you do is the put the food in the kong and then freeze it. When you want to give it to your dog take it out of the freezer. You may want to have two

kongs to keep one at room temperature and one frozen. These are great when you want to go to work, put him in his kennel and give him the kong. These will also keep them preoccupied while your eating getting ready to go to work or whatever.

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! I put a half container of Cesar's dog food in the kong and then freeze it. I just take it out of the freezer when he is ready for one and give it to him frozen. It helps with teething if they are going through that but Riley doesn't seem to mind it frozen - - it just keeps him at it longer!!!