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Picky Dog won't eat! HELP!

5K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Patt 
#1 ·
So here is a back ground on it. I have a english setter that i adopted from the animal shelter a couple months ago, and she weights 35 lbs. I would like her to be atleast 45 lbs.
But she is extremely picky. I had her on taste of the wild but she had the runs on that. So i swithed here to EVO red meat, and she really loved it at first, then i started putting some high calorie toppers on it, to get her some extra fat. But now she will just suck it off the kibble and spit it out. EVO is a little to expensive to keep throwing her meals away because all she does is suck the good stuff off.
So now what i am doing is feeding her just kibble and if she eats all of her meal she gets half a BP sandwich. And if she doesnt' eat all or any of it she doesn't get a treat. She will sometime skip 1-3 meals before she will eat everything. Is this the proper thing to do? I want her to gain weight but i don't want her to develop bad habbits and make her more picky!

Any suggestions!!!
 
#4 ·
I find some dogs are picky eaters (unless they are truely hungry and have to eat) Did you try mixing canned food into the kibble ? With mine I have to really mix it in there (I also do this because I add vitamins and supplements) If I just plop the canned food on to they will just eat the canned or the extras and leave the rest.
 
#5 ·
I haven't put wet food, on reason I don't want her to start doing the same thing she was doing with the other topper just licking it off and leaving the kibble.
If i knew she would actually eat everything i would put it on there. It is just crappy that i have to entice my dog to eat was already is great food.
 
#6 ·
My dogs are aghast at the idea of turning down food. Sassy isn't big on water drinking which is important with her health issues but she happily laps it up when added to her homecooked food. I would mix your goodies in well and moisten the food slightly so the goodies are more incorporated into the kibble.

It is hard but try not to worry about the feeding as your dog will get anxious as well. Engish Setters can be very sensitive dogs, right? Sassy must drink the water and it is so hard not to encourage it and watch her closely to make sure she is okay. Just make a mental note and try something different next time if you are convinced whatever didn't work was a really bad idea.

Sassy did have trouble getting used to eating as a new addition to our household. It was hard but we picked up her food and saved it for next time if she left it. Inside a week she was eating all of it when it was put down. We moistened her food so it was really nasty looking if we had to pick it up and save it but she ate it anyway. If she had consistantly only eaten part of the food I would have just given her that much until she cleaned the plate and then added a bit more. It is possible she doesn't understand you want a clean bowl and only feeding the amount she will eat may help her understand to eat until the bowl is clean. Restaurants have been doing that to us for years, making us eat larger portions than we really want because we are conditioned to clean our plates.

Evo is very rich. I just talked to a seller of Evo and she feels my inability to put Maxwell on it several years ago was I was trying to feed him too much, the extra food caused loose stool. I don't remember if I just fed the same amount as I did the other kibble but she may have something there. She may be eating the right amount, some animals do eat the amount they need.

Oh, how old is she? Young dogs may not have developed muscle yet and will ideally be light. A young dog with undeveloped muscles that is the 'proper weight' is fat! If she is otherwise healthy just keep up the good exercise, training and regular routine and she will be looking perfect soon.
 
#7 ·
Thank you for the long explanation!
She is approx 1-3 years old. From what i know Setter are notoriously picky eaters!
I feel her 2 1/8 cups of EVO a day.
Since I put her on EVO she hasn't had a loose stool yet. When i had her on Taste of the Wild she would regularly have loose stool's.

It is very hard not to care, or coax her to eat. Since right now is just a sack of bones and muscle. She barley has any fat on her.

It is weird sometimes she will clean her plate, only eat part or none at all. It is never the same amount every time. But it might be that EVO is so rich that she doesn't feel she needs to eat.

Am i doing the right thing by hold off the treats if she doesn't eat her food?
 
#10 ·
Update,
Good news, i stuck to what i was doing and she is finially eating. In the last 4 meals she has eaten everything i gave her except for on meal she ate half. But progress is progress!!

Weird thing i found if i feed her in the bath room she will eat her food. Must be less distractions..
 
#11 ·
YAY thanks for the update. I'm glad to hear she's doing okay and just wants a little privacy. Although I think I would find another place to eat besides the bathroom. LOL :)
 
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