Hello whomever reads this ; ) Okay, my pup's name is Atticus & I've been blessed to have him. He's been a life changer as I take care of my mom & he's just been a ball of sunshine. I want him to be healthy & happy. I got him when he was 2 months & 4 days young. He was on a diet I did not want to continue as I did not feel it was very healthy. I got him Solid Gold dry food & he was happy with that for a few weeks. Then he turned his nose up at it. I got Solid Gold wet tubs & would mix that up & he seemed very happy. Then his vet said he should only have kibble the wet food is 70 % water. The vet also said since he seemed a bit under-weight, he could free feed. I was not happy with this vet, changed to a different one & he said no way free feeding is bad for many reasons. So, it's been a stressful several months so far as his diet goes. I really felt he was going to become ill from not eating so I added the wet food back again & he started eating & seemed happy again. Back to the vet & TOLD get rid of the wet food. Feed him x3 & pick up bowl after 20 minutes. He was miserable. I switched to Merrick Salmon grain free kibbles. Back to eating only seeming like he had to. Never acted happy with a meal. Funny thing though, my daughter's pup a year older had the same food & he would eat non-stop when with him with the same exact food.....I then tried a blue brand kibble & wet food... He was not interested. Back to the Solid Gold wet tubs knowing this would make him happy & mixing it up with the kibble & not interested. I spoke with the vet yesterday & he said to use just dry, put it down & pick it up after an hour give it back. Sorry this is so long. This has been over the course of him being 2 months til he'll be 11 months young on the 1st of December. I just ordered food toppers in two flavors from Chewy & back to his Merrick & am going to try chicken broth as well. I know I seem neurotic with this. I had a cat once that died at 5 & I think it was from a bad diet. Again, I just want him to be happy when it's meal time & I think my eyeballs will fall out if I look at another YouTube video. All my family & friends have dogs & not one of them has ever had a problem. Hope to get some good input. Thanks ~ Mare
Some dogs are just pickier than others I guess. I free fed my Akitas until I changed foods. I used to feed taste of the wild and I free fed with that, they often wouldn’t finish what I thought was the proper amount for them. I switched them to nutrisource which they like so much more, I can no longer free feed as they’d become obese. So I guess I’m saying keep trying to find something your dog likes as there are so many different foods. Your dog isn’t very big so hopefully you don’t get scared off by price. A bag of nutrisource costs more than the taste of the wild but it’s more concentrated so I feed less and it actually costs less in the long run as a bag goes further. I’d be somewhat careful changing too often as that can upset their stomach but you do need to find what he likes. Maybe a small amount of pumpkin if he’s having digestive issues while you changed diet. I’d ask your vet how much as my dogs are much larger. I gave about 3 tablespoons per meal for an 80+ lb dog per meal.
lol He is the boss ..I have been told by more than a few people he is ruling my life. I'm "starting over" with all. I think the free feeding would be fine except he went from being potty trained to accidents & he needs a schedule. I swear my daughter was easier than my pup..I am not even going into the separation anxiety issues etc. His vet told me, "do not underestimate the intelligence of this dog" he has you wrapped around his paws.....i yi yi thanks for the reply. Akitas are gorgeous. Enjoy! Ty ~
p.s I used a product called "Switch" Pumpkin & he liked that more than his food. Also Primal Goat's milk which he also seemed to like more than the food but, the vet said only for transitioning...I'll figure it out.....& keep reading here ..great reads!
As far as I know, dogs will not starve themselves whilst there is food available I feel the more you switch the fussier dogs will get Is your vet worried about his weight ? Also, don’t take this the wrong way, but, are you expecting him to eat too much for his size ?
Not a popular opinion maybe, but I believe some dogs, like people, like variety in what they eat. There's nothing wrong with wet food - some dogs thrive on a wet only diet. My dog has a tricky digestion and some food allergies, including chicken. She has kibble with a small sprinkling of cheese for breakfast, kibble only at lunchtime, wet food at tea time and kibble only at supper. The feeding regime took me two years to sort out and we've finally found the formula that suits her and keeps her digestion under control. Only you know your dog and once you find what suits her, stick to it
I have had two dogs - both Cavaliers - that were poor eaters, and they were a nightmare! The first one, a homebred bitch, went through a period when she was about 6 months old when the most substantial food that she would willingly eat was ginger biscuits. Fortunately, she did grow out of this when she started to have her seasons, - but she always stayed slim. The second was a bought in male puppy who ate normally when I bought him at 8 weeks, but gradually began to eat smaller and smaller quantities. He was never sick and had no diarrhoea. Our vet was helpful and tried various drugs aid his digestion and stimulate his appetite, but I was often so worried about him that I would make his food into a paste and dose him with it. When he was between 12 and 18 months old, a friend lost their Cavalier, (one that I had bred), and I offered them Jazz on trial. This was a vegetarian family, and they found that he was happy enough to eat their food, and he remained on a veggie diet for his life - not what I would normally recommend though. I buy tray foods to add a bit of interest to the Beagles food, and have to say that I have been impressed by the quality most of the better makes. They smell really good when you open them, and there are plenty of different varieties. I can't see why the ones with a 60:20:15 analysis, (or thereabouts), couldn't be used as a complete diet for a toy sized dog, but you could always crush and blend some kibble into it. Does Atticus chew biscuits? If so, he could even have his kibble ration in that form. You probably won't have the same makes, but these are the type of product that I'm talking about.
I wonder whether he would like the dehydrated raw food I keep for Tikva for emergencies. Two different brands. Just need re-hydrating with warm water. I sometimes add a spoonful to her evening meal but have also given it as a meal, It is just meat [the ones I can get are one brand turkey and beef, the other brand chicken or turkey], vegetables and fruit. One brand is "I and Love and you - Raw Homemade Dog Food" and the other is "The Honest Kitchen, Force, Grain-Free Dehydrated Dog Food".
These are the products: https://www.iandloveandyou.com/shop/dog/raw https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/dog-food/meals
I feed dry food but always add small amount of something, boiled liver grated, tuna, tripe, butchers tin food ect: It might be worth a try moistening his complete with little water, and then mix in something tasty. I would not leave his food down for an hour, 15 mins at most if he hasn’t eaten it, pick it up and feed him later or next day.
I sympathise my 17 week border just doesn’t t want to eat at all. Started on eukanuba puppy from breeder, but ignores it, tried Caesar mixed picks not interested. He s very quiet no energy as he doesn’t t eat enough I guess! Vet checked nothing wrong and occasionally very energetic if out or early evening otherwise sleeps.
I would cut out all tit-bits for the time being, might be worth trying some green tripe, most dogs can’t resist that or tinned butchers tripe mix.It's great for putting weight on too and mixes easily with puppy biscuits.It smells foul to us, but yummy to them so it may just kick start his interest in food. Put his dish down if not eaten within 10/15 mins take it away ant try later, repeat for a few days it is a case of persevering. If you are really worried ‘Dyne’ is a high calorie dog supplement for dog recovering from illness or dogs that doesn’t eat much.
