Picky eater?

[bckrazy]

Gonzo was a very picky eater, he ate less than 1 cup of kibble a day and he was still usually a few lbs overweight. I've definitely noticed that when he gets raw in the morning and kibble at night, he eats the kibble a lot more happily.

Could you feed raw for one meal, or raw every other day, to just Kaige? You could also try adding an egg, chicken broth, pulped veggies, meat, scraps, etc to make his meals more tempting every once in a while. Have you tried soaking it in warm water?

[mruffruff]

Scruffy eats about a half cup of kibble in the morning, sometimes less. And about 3/4 cups at night. He's only 22 lbs and looks very thin. But he's healthy and the vet says it's OK for him.

When he doesn't want to eat breakfast, I drop about 6 pieces of dry cat kibble in his bowl to get him started. If that doesn't work, I don't worry.

At night, I add a sprinkle (just a very little) of garlic powder and a spoonful of plain yogurt. Most of the time he eats it all.

As long as your dog gets a variety, he will expect a change every few days. Stick with one GOOD kibble and he will eventually eat whatever he needs.

I can't leave food out because Bella Mae would eat everything and she's already overweight abit.

[pnance]

I had a similiar problem with Nikka. She's extremely picky and eats when she feels like it not when I want her to. I can't leave the food out since Bear is on a diet and if left out he'll wander around and finish everyone elses bowl as well. In addition Nikka is exteremly energetic and part pointer so already runs on the very slim side because of body type, so any skipped meals and you know it. I now feed Canidae and she loves it, but I went through about a year of trying just about every food (even the cheaper lower quality food (I was desperate)) Before I found Canidae I started adding sauces, some sort of gravy, or even soup broth to the food (, not much, and usually low fat and not heavy, just enough that it coated the food and made it more appealing to her). You might try keeping the same food just alter the type of coating/sauce you put on it so he wont' get bored. It's usually easy to do/inexpensive and you can make it in advance and put it in the frig. For me it worked well until I found a food she'd eat.

[Misty_Pearl]

My poms are very picky also and being older I can't get them to go to raw food. Anyway I just recently began using Solid Gold and they love it. I agree with the variety statement. I try to give my dogs a variety of different foods all the time. Have you tried the California Natural food that comes in a roll? My dogs LOVE it but usually only get it for a treat but it is actually a food.

[lv4dogs]

Thans for the tips everyone. I've been discussing this with another site as well and got some great ideas there too, although most of them do not belive in variety and most don't feed raw either, just more people with different opinions than I.
I thought I had a plan all worked out, sticking to just one food, feeding him seperatly, as soon as he walks away from the dish take it away from him, feeding him any left over food as training treats throughout the day. But after thinking about it I'm not sure if that's what I want to do, even so I'd have to wait a week or two to start it as my b/f is moving in with me this week & my house is a mess. There really isn't room to seperate him until we get things set up & straightened out. That and if I pull the dish up right away I know he will eat even less as he walks away as soon as I put the bowl down.

I think what I am going to do is add a tiny bit of gravy or canned merrick to his food once a day. While still possibly searching for a new diet that he truely loves to eat.
And I will also try hard to get my house & pocket book situated so that I can afford & fit a chest freezer or at least enough money to feed only Kaige all raw again.