hi to all, as always this forum is best and people are nice always helps me.. ok, female 9 month lab, dont like any feed, i dont know why she dont eat it, she just smell it and gets away, some time she push the bowl with his mouth away, she eat other things like dog buiscuits,eggs,yogurt,milk,etc. but she not eating commercial food. what to do? how to convience her to eat it, what happened to her, her stomach is totally fine.. any advice?
Hi there, first check that the kibble (commercial dog food) is fresh. Sometimes if it is old dogs don't like the smell or taste. Secondly, some labs (not many, but some) are picky eaters. Yours has decided she likes human food better.. but that is not necessarily the best thing for her. Some eggs, yogurt and so on are actually good for her in moderation, but milk is not good and she cannot digest wheat products properly. So it would be best if she could be encouraged to eat the kibble. I had a labrador who wouldn't eat dog food, and it was a bit of a struggle, but I got him there in the end. It helps if you feed small amounts. You could try putting a small dollop of yogurt on top of her kibble, or soaking it in a bit of meat stock, so that it smells more appetizing to her. Above all, don't worry. She will not starve herself. If you can be strong and ONLY give her two or three small meals of kibble a day, nothing else, and take the bowl away if she has not eaten it after five minutes, I guarantee that after a couple of days she will eat the kibble when it appears!!
If it is a new bag and she was fine before I agree the food itself may be off. Here most retailers would take that bag back and offer you a new one. Is there someplace you can check lot number on line to see if there is a problem? Where I would check probably won't work for you, your food is probably made somewhere else. You could contact Royal Canin too. At 9 months her metabolism might be slowing down and she needs less food. Also around the teenage stage ( which in my reading 9 months is the worst for) they can just start getting picky. A trick for finicky dogs is mix the food up with lots of yummy, yummy sounds from you, set it down, if she hasn't eaten in 20 minutes pick it up and throw it out. No treats in between. It won't hurt an otherwise healthy pup to miss a meal. Next meal do the same thing. A key to this is your preparation. You don't have to really do anything but pretend and draw it out a bit. Anticipation of a meal gets digestive juices flowing and will aid in digestion as well as make her think something wonderful is going to be set down for her to eat. Be prepared for lots of drool, drool is good. As per my Vet when my dog had severe dietary issues. Good luck.
thanks for reply, really meant for me.. so i was going to update, she still not eating, i also tried to become harsh but nothing helped, the food which was given to dinner, she didnt ate it, but what i saw she ate it on morning when she got wake up. but evening diet she do same, she dont eat, she wants cheese, she want honey, i also did a trick, i have k9 chicken buiscuits, i crushed it and mixed with diet and added half spoon honey, she dont even like smell now, but.. if i feed her with my hand, she ate half bowl.. but only with my hand.. for that i bought new bag of feed, new date. but she did same.. if i make balance diet i mean home made, that will still not as power as commercial one.. + home made will become so many time expensive.. strange situation at that time..
I do believe fussy eating can be a learned behaviour, especially if precedent has ever been set that if she refuses her bowl it gets swapped or topped up with tasty extras! It's a slippery slope once they catch on! Definitely good advice to stay strong and use an eat it or lose it approach! You could also try soaking the kibble first in warm water, it will enhance the smell, make a tasty gravy and serve whilst still warm at around blood temperature. The theory behind the temperature is that it mimics their wild ancestors tucking into a fresh kill, making it more appealing all round. Also is she still on a Puppy or Junior food? Like Snowshoe says, although she'll certainly still have plenty of growing to do, it'll be slowing down a little bit and her body won't be demanding quite so many nutrients. It's possible a puppy food could be a little on the rich side, and you could think about moving her onto an adult food now. She might just appreciate the change anyway (but don't make a habit of it!)
I hope you manage to sort this out, and get your dog to eat the kibble - Karen has given you good advice there. If you are feeding Royal Canin labrador junior or a large breed puppy, please do not be tempted to switch early to adult food. It is a myth that it is beneficial to switch early, the junior formulations encourage slow growth of bones including balancing the amount of phosphorus in the food - important to guard against joint problems. Switching to an adult food early will encourage quicker growth, and this is a bad thing to do for larger breed puppies, including Labradors.
Totally back to front. The whole point of puppy food is that it is higher in fat and protein to support the developing body, without overwhelming their little tummies in terms of quantity. Adult foods are lower in both.
thanks aton i feel glad to be a member of this forum, very helpful people. im feeding Drool Focus Puppy and Royal Canin Junior, i tried warm water in feed, she hate it so much than dry.. her stool are fine, even her digestion is great, no issue with stomach, i mean i cant say that she is not eating because of any disease, but dont know what happened, i think she dont like me eating human food, i think she know that the food i give her is different from her diet. god dammit.
No, sorry, and this is quite dangerous advice. I can recommend a good reference book - Linda Case, dog food logic. Please do have a look. Properly formulated large breed puppy food takes account of the need for larger breed puppies to grow slowly. That's the point of large breed puppy foods.
mandeep148 you have to be really strong! Your dog will not starve herself - if she s hungry she will eat. She sees you love her and will give her what she wants if she waits it out! Honey and eggs and chapati is far more tasty than kibble pfft! Healthy food never seems so tasty as the foods that are bad for you Be strong - if she doesn't eat her kibble, don't give in and giver her something tasty just to tempt her to eat (clever girl, she can be sneaky). Go with the advice already said. Put her kibble down, moisten with some warm water (maybe a little yoghurt). If she hasn't eaten it in 30-40mins, pick it up and put it away. Don't feed anything until next mealtime. Give her kibble again next mealtime, moistened, again pick up if not eaten. Most dogs will start eating within 1-2 days. Hope this gets all sorted out. jac
Well, I do have a copy of Linda Case's : Canine & Feline Nutrition. In there, for large and giant breeds, she clearly refers to 3-6 months of age as being the rapid growth period where your concerns would apply in respect of avoiding excess intake and growth, and requiring less calcium and phosphorous than an adult or non-large breed food may offer for optimal skeletal development. That does nothing to support your claim that my suggestion that an early change to adult food at 9 months of age is "dangerous"! Not sure I'm the one giving out bad advice
I'm glad you like Linda's work - please see dog food logic, she explains very clearly why it is bad advice to recommend a larger breed puppy is moved from appropriately formulated puppy food (not any old puppy food) onto adult food early. I think we've both had our say on this, and I would urge readers to research the matter properly, before switching off appropriately formulated puppy food to adult food for dogs (such as Labrador Retrievers) at risk of joint problems. * 15 months is the recommended age to switch for royal canin junior which is what the OP may be feeding
So sorry to hear that non of the usual tricks have helped encourage her to eat just yet. A dog that suddenly goes off their food can be a warning that they are ill and should go to the vets for a checkup. But as you've said that she will eat breakfast and other food stuffs, and kibble from your hand, let's hope that's not the case. You can never be too careful though so it would be prudent to take her in for a health check anyway and see what the vet has to say regarding your options for a change of food. Until then I can only re-iterate what everyone else has said - cut out the any spoiling with treats and human food, serve her meals on a "take it or lose it" basis and all being well it won't take long at all for her to start filling up on her kibble p.s. What's the deal with the Drool Focus Puppy? Are you feeding her half that half Royal Canin? Any particular reason why?
Thanks everyone, I will also take her to vet, also will become bit strong. I dont mix both royal canin and drool focus, I always used drool focus but since she stopped eating, i purchased another brand i though she would eat it may be problem in drool focus, but she did same she didnt ate. Im becoming strong now, i would update soon a good news.. Thanks alot, really helped me..
Update. She just hate the smell even, She keep throwing bowl, I don't know how to deal with that, vet suggested me home made balance food but its too expensive, m atleast 10 times. + im veg i cant buy chicken and cut it, im not cook, she like curd but if i put some diet on curd she dont eat curd/yogurt, What to do
Hi, no healthy dog will starve itself. If she is poorly or has undiagnosed illness that's different. It's all learnt behaviour. I have a Malamute who won't eat maybe every forth meal. I just pick it up and he his hungry next meal. He is a fit healthy strong lad. Maybe you are expecting her to eat too much....have her on 2 meals and lift it up if she does not eat, she needs to get hungry. Kibble is a balanced meal for a growing dog...all the foods you are currently tempting her with will not add up to a nutritional diet unless you totally decide to go down that route and plan meals accordingly . Try and be strong for her sake really or you will be juggling about forever....good luck and keep us posted.
