Dog not really eating

Midnight

Hi it's me again. This time I have a question about my dog's eating habits.

I feed her Beneful and I give her the amount it says on the bag every day. At first she really seemed to love it and ate all of it. She started having digestive problems and it was suggested that we then start feeding her twice a day. So I have, however, I made the mistake of giving her people food instead of dog food sine we had tons of left overs. Eventually it got to the point that I had to start mixing scrambled eggs (fully cooked) into her dog food for her to eat it. Again, at first she really loved it and ate all of it. However, recently she eats about half of her dog food and eggs and leaves the rest. Sometimes she'll snack on it later but there are times where she just won't eat it.

I've cut back on the left overs thinking maybe she was getting full on them earlier in the day and didn't feel like dog food, but she still eats the same amount of dog food. She still has plenty of energy and loves to go on walks and play so I'm not terribly worried just yet but I know not eating can sometimes be a serious problem. Does she just not like her dog food anymore and it's time to try something different, or could there be a more serious problem? Or even worse have I spoiled my dog into only wanting people food?

flipgirl

First of all, people food isn't a bad thing. It's better than Beneful in my opinion! It's how you feed it. What I mean is, don't let your dog see you take food from your plate. Put it in her bowl without her seeing you; pretend it's a separate food. Plus, if you are feeding her leftovers, make sure you are accounting for it when you measure out her dog food. So if you give her a cup of dog food, reduce it by the amount of people food you give her.

Secondly, change her food to something of a higher quality. Beneful, in my opinion is one of the worst foods out there. It contains artificial colourings to make you believe it's healthier but it isn't! Try searching this forum for suggestions but I like Innova, Eagle Pack Holistic Selects, Evo. Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul and Taste of the Wild are supposed to be good too and reasonably priced as well. I have no experience with these.

i'm feeding mine people food essentially as I bake her puppy muffins. The less processed the better but if you're feeding kibble, try a better quality one.

Kathyy

And third, dog food bags usually list more food than the dog needs. Maybe she wasn't hungry. My sister fed her little dog two cans a day when all the dog wanted was one. Turned her into a cute little sausage, poor thing.

GreatDaneMom

i have not fed innova or evo. i have fed chicken soup, and it was a good food and about the same price as low quality foods. i have also fed eagle back holistic which was also good but a little pricier than chicken soup. then i switched to grain free and i feed taste of the wild. its by far the best food ive used and about the same cost as the eagle pack.

i second switching foods. feeding "table scraps" is better than beneful IMHO.

Midnight

Thank you all so much! I'll definitely look into better dog brands and start measuring it out to make sure I'm not feeding too much left overs. Thanks for all the advice!

Puppy & Dog Forums

 

GreatDaneMom

swtiching foods may entice her to eat just her food also. it will taste different and smell different to her so it may be more exciting.

Puppy & Dog Forums