Hello everyone, we recently got a 8mo old Black Lab. We got him 12 days ago for free from a guy on Facebook. We immediately took Buddy to the Vet for a wellness check get his shots since his previous owners didn't have them available and nor did they send them to us like they said. Buddy's is in exceptional health the vet said. No worms or anything. Pre surgery blood work came back fine. We had this done since we are getting him fixed once he's about a year old. The vet recommended waiting till then. Only thing possibly wrong with him is he may have allergies which we will start treating this comeing week. Our problem is we believe he got fed tons of table food becuse of the begging he does and the fact he is only really interested in wett food outta a can and not dry food. The vet wants us mixing it together and when we do he hardly eats any of it. Given separate he eats the wett food well, but not dry. Has anyone had a picky eater or this type of situation? We even tried mixing his dry food with chicken broth which the vet recommended and he wants no part of it. The Purina One Smartblend is the wett food he loves but wont eat the samething in the dry version. The Vet said he can have Adult Dog Food since he's got all his Adult Teeth as well. Other Brands we have tried in the dry food is Purina Dog Chow, Science Diet which the vet gave us a sample of and he didn't eat any of it. We tried a pouch of Purina Moist and Meaty tonight and he ate it all but after further research online see its a bad food to give them. Others have told us try Blue Buffalo Dog food. Before we go getting it i wanted to see if anyone else uses it for such a picky puppy. Thanks so much for any suggestions. Daniel
Hi Daniel and welcome to the forum. Will he eat the dry biscuits if you hand feed them? Maybe start with that, if he does. You can use them as training treats. Making it a bit of a game, hiding the biscuits around the room can also help. He has to sniff them out, which works his brain and will help tire him out, as well as being an engaging game. I'm afraid I disagree with your vet's advice to use an adult food. It's nothing to do with teeth; your puppy is still growing and needs the nutritional balance provided by puppy foods.
I agree with @snowbunny - introduce the kibble slowly as treats in training and for him to find then you can gradually start adding to his wet meat. I also disagree with your vet. Changing from puppy to adult food is not about having adult teeth, it's about balanced nutritonal levels at different life stages. In all honesty at this point in time if he enjoyed and ate all the Purina Moist and Meaty; presuming it's a puppy version, I would stick with it. The best food is the one your dog eats happily, grows steadily and is healthy on and that's not necessarily the same as what a website says is the best for your dog
Thanks for the reply and welcome, My wife and i were abit shocked that the vet told us that he could have adult dog food but figured she must know what she's talking about since she is a vet. She did state he may not get to much bigger then he is now and stay under 50lbs. As of last week he weighed 36lbs. The people we got him from did say he was a picky eater with them as well but when asked what he did eat the guy just said Chow. He's even picky when it comes to treats. We have tried Puppy biscuits and Adult biscuits and break them up and do play games like hideing them and he still does want them eaither. We have tried softer treats and he eats those for a day then stops. We have sprinkled alittle shreeded cheese on his dry kibble and he eats it abit but we dont wanna give him to much dairy. I gave him a scrambled egg yesterday and he ate it right up. I did nothing to the egg just scrambled it in the microwave. When i put it in his kibble and mixed it alittle he didn't want it then. The Purina Moist and Meaty that he did enjoy wasn't puppy formula it was adult formula. We are willing to do whatever it takes to find him the right dry kibble that he will eat. He's very playfull. Full of energy. Gets plenty of exercise and 2 30min-1hr long walks just depends how far i feel like walking when i take him. He loves his rawhides like a kid does a candy bar. He's just so darn picky with his dry kibble and we know he needs a balanced mix of both dry and wett.
Hi @Daniel just wondering whether the vet checked your pup's teeth and jaws as it could be that it's hurting him when he eats hard biscuit type food preferring wet food which would be easier to eat. As he enjoyed he Purina it might be worth researching into one of their moist recipes for puppies - their website has their range if you search on 'puppy food'.
Hey JoJo, She said his teeth looked great with no tarter build up or anything. She said he's got all his Adult teeth as well but with him being 8mo how long he's had them is anyone's guess and can understand if maybe his teeth hurting could be what the problem is. I will look at the Purina website and look at there softer foods and see what all they have. One funny thing is he loves it when we give him a ice cube. He plays with it for abit then chews it up and like i said he loves his rawhide bones that he spends alot of time chewing on..We are his 3d owner's in his short 8mo. Poor guy has been threw alot and who knows what he was feed before us. I guess the guy we got him from said he got him from someone who kept him in a cage and he was stick thin when he got him. With us it's me and my wife who are his main care takers. We have my wife's mentally handicapped older sister liveing with us as well but Dawn's responsibility is the Cats care. I'm permanently disabled and home with Buddy all day when my wife works. He's been a blessing and such a joy to have. He's our baby and want nothing but the best for him. So this food deal with him is majorly important. He's a super loveing and playfull. Play bites abit but settles down pretty quick too.
Hi Daniel and welcome from me and my boy Bailey, a 12 month old fox red lab. Bailey is a picky eater with kibble and has always been a grazer of food rather than a typical lab of scoff everything down in milliseconds - unless it has some of our food in it of course, then his true lab colours are shown! We have just swapped to raw feeding - he loves it. Particularly the chicken mixes. Have you given this any thought? It's no more expensive than a good quality kibble and in our case it is more economical as Bailey actually eats it. We went through various brands of kibble including Taste of the Wild, which he ate for the longest - he had that for about 7 months but then just stopped eating it suddenly. I know this is slightly different from your situation but it may give you something to think about. Is that Buddy in your profile picture? If so he looks adorable!
Hi @Daniel it does sound as if his teeth are hurting him as he is chewing a little and also loving ice cubes. It's not widely talked about but some dogs do sufierce ithought ain even after the new teeth are through as everything grows and settles down. I was having thoughts along the same lines as @Samantha Jones . The ready prepared raw meals may be the answer to your boys problems. Soft for him to eat but totally balanced and nutritious. May be worth looking into with no need to worry about finding a kibble he likes and eats
Hey Samantha and Bailey Thanks so much for the welcome and compliment on Buddy. Yes that is him in my profile photo. My wife took it just the other day. Sounds like you have been threw the ringer like us with finding the food you're Bailey will eat. I have thought about going raw with his as a last resort if nothing else works first. My wife did mention to me abit ago that it seems he's more hungry and eats more towards night then during the day. I try and feed him twice a day if he lets me. She also said his tummy may just be on the smaller side and that could be a reason why he mainly eats once a day. The Vets office just called me back and they said if the moist and meaty stuff is all he will eat right now then its fine for now. We did just get him it will be 2wks on this Wensday so he could possibly still be getting used to us and getting comfortable. He seems happy. I keep him busy playing as well as his walks and daily roundhouse time on the floor with me. I remember growing up haveing dogs and they ate anything. Buddy's going to eventually become my service dog. I have alot of physical health issues. Im only 34 and have alot of things you get when you're older. My wife did give him one puppy treat biscuit and he ate it for her earlier. Guess this is going to be a waiting game and alot of trial and error. Thanks again for the suggestion. I hope Bailey is doing well He hasn't had any accidents inside the house or anything and loves car rides. My mother in law passed away the beginning of the year and my wife and i got the house and she's in the process of becoming her mentally handicapped older sister's guardian who also lives with us. Buddy's help ease the pain of losing momma. He really has helped us alot in the short time we have had him and we wanna do right by him. It's just frustrating this food deal. As i said i will look more into the raw diet and will try it if everything else fails.
Hello Daniel. I can attest to Blue Buffalo WILDERNESS with Cooper. I buy the Salmon or the Duck or the Beef. I do NOT get anything with chicken.....many dogs are allergic to chicken. I did have trouble a few months ago where Cooper would not have his breakfast..he was around 2 years old then (he is 3 now).....I thought he had got tired of what I was feeding him....Fromm Gold Duck/Lamb....and started on Orijen 6 Fish which he totally LOVED but it was so expensive. So now I have decided on Blue Buffalo Wilderness. I wish you luck with the "trial and error"....and you are doing a fabulous job!! And welcome to this Forum....wonderful people on here....you will get answers on everything!!!
Hey JoJo i totally agree that his teeth must hurt abit especially if they are new. It happens that way with humans so. I will definitely really start looking into the raw food stuff and if by the time he gets his boosters in 3wks is still this way then we will make the switch if not sooner. Im not sure if i can take going that long. He's averaging about 1/1/2 cans of wett food a day and alittle kibble when i can get him to eat it mixed. Thats been when i hand feed it to him or he eats it off a spoon. See I've really been trying hard here. His furr is shinny and everything as well. Right now i we have some of the moist and meaty mixed with alittle dry kibble. Hopefully later today he will eat like he did last night for me. Fingers crossed.
If you are considering trying different kibble to see if he is interested in any, ask your local pet store if they can give you any free samples. Ours always has a ton, and we got about 10 different ones to see what Quinn liked before settling on an adult food. It may save you from buying and wasting any larger bags of food. Blue Buffalo definitely has sample sized bags.
Thank you very much for the welcome and reply Yvoone. When talking to the vet's assistant this afternoon i mentioned possibly trying the Blue Buffalo stuff and they said it isn't one they really recommend. But at this point im libel to try anything. I think im the one who needs to be more patient and wait it out abit longer. I have noticed on other sites as well as the 2 Facebook groups we joined this seems to be a issue with alot of Labs. Some wolf down there food and others graze at it and are finicky and just plain picky. I did give him some duck mixed with Brown rice and other veggies in the wett stuff that he ate up. His wett stuff brand the Purina One stuff is what he's been consistent with in eating and he loves the chicken and rice mixture of stuff that comes in that can. He's like a newborn to me and we want nothing but the best for him. We hope he's around a good 10+ years. My wife is saying to wait it out more. She's got much better patients then i do. Me and him have a close bond already. He always is by my side unless he's super tired then he stays by the front door when i go outside to smoke. We get him a new toy whenever we shop and even got him a 2nd bed today. Now he has one by the front door in the liveing room and the foot of our bed. This place seems great with alot of great people and those who know alot. Im sure I'll have plenty more questions and i will keep everyone updated on how it goes with this food deal.
I will definitely give the ones around here a call and see what they say. Yes its been pretty expensive trying out the ones we have. What pet store did you use that gave you the samples? We have alot of Petsmarts and Petco's around here as well as some locally small ones as well. Thank you very much for the suggestion. I never thought of asking for samples or anything like that. Only sample bag we got was the science diet dry stuff the vet gave us and the funny thing is she says he can eat adult dry and canned food but gave us the science diet large breed puppy formula. I just got back from walking him in a heavy snowstorm but he loved and is loveing the snow and pretty much begged me to take him for his walk. He's not spoiled at all
I'm in Canada (not sure where you are - the States maybe if you have PetSmart). I got most of the samples at Pet Valu and Global (which I think may be Canadian) and quite a few of the independent one-off pet stores had them as well. PetSmart has this puppy package you may want to check out - you get a large bag of puppy food, but can try a list of puppy foods and exchange at no fee and get some other items in the package (something like that - I didn't get this but someone in my training class had bought it). Definitely ask around - it's how we got our samples and lots of other tips There are canned puppy foods available as well - Wellness definitely has one.
Hi Daniel, welcome to the forum from me and Lilly. Have you tried soaking the kibble you have? To make it soft and mushy? Just a thought. The kibble has teeth cleaning properties if it is crunchy, but wet food doesn't so you might want to consider brushing or cleaning his teeth to compensate. Raw eggs are good to mix with kibble too, or a mushed up sardine with a bit of the oil from the tin (I'm sure he wouldn't complain about a fresh sardine though if you had one ) I don't feed raw, but use a lot of raw food as extras - chicken wings, meaty bones, whole fish. It might just float his boat. jac
Ha ha! No, he's not spoiled at all, the lucky boy. Sounds like he's really landed on his feet with your family. I'm sure you'll find something he loves and does well on.
Thank you so much for the welcome from you and Lilly. I have tried soaking his kibble in luke warm water to soften it up and he says no way in his own way. Now tonight i did do something just to see. I put some of his original kibble down that we got the night we got him that he refused to eat on the kitchen floor not even in a bowl. Just a few peices at first since previous to that i gave him a puppy bone type treat and he ate that. So i put some of the dry kibble down which is Pet friendly puppy formula and he starts eating it. So i put more down and he kept eating it untill i put some in a bowl and id guess he had probably the equivalent of a cup and half of that dry food plus the half a can of the Purina pro chicken and Brown rice and other veggies mix. He honestly ate tonight like id expect a normal non picky eater too. Maybe just maybe we are on the right track and he wants his dry stuff puppy formula and wett adult. Right now im just ecstatic that he finally showed interested to something other then his wett food. As a treat i offered him a diced up apple that he didn't want. I did call around and will be getting a sample of some other brands for free as a backup incase this is a fluke thing. Atleast for today i know hes got a full tummy. We are very convinced though that he got tons of table food from the people he was with. I do greatly appreciate everyone's great suggestions. Fingers crossed that tommarow he eats like he did tonight. Since he didn't want any apple my wife gave him a ice cube which he played with then at it up. He's working on his rawhide bone as i try this. It's his 3d one since we got him and its a large rawhide bone too.
Thank you so much for the welcome from you and Lilly. I have tried soaking his kibble in luke warm water to soften it up and he says no way in his own way. Now tonight i did do something just to see. I put some of his original kibble down that we got the night we got him that he refused to eat on the kitchen floor not even in a bowl. Just a few peices at first since previous to that i gave him a puppy bone type treat and he ate that. So i put some of the dry kibble down which is Pet friendly puppy formula and he starts eating it. So i put more down and he kept eating it untill i put some in a bowl and id guess he had probably the equivalent of a cup and half of that dry food plus the half a can of the Purina pro chicken and Brown rice and other veggies mix. He honestly ate tonight like id expect a normal non picky eater too. Maybe just maybe we are on the right track and he wants his dry stuff puppy formula and wett adult. Right now im just ecstatic that he finally showed interested to something other then his wett food. As a treat i offered him a diced up apple that he didn't want. I did call around and will be getting a sample of some other brands for free as a backup incase this is a fluke thing. Atleast for today i know hes got a full tummy. We are very convinced though that he got tons of table food from the people he was with. I do greatly appreciate everyone's great suggestions. Fingers crossed that tommarow he eats like he did tonight. Since he didn't want any apple my wife gave him a ice cube which he played with then at it up. He's working on his rawhide bone as i try this. It's his 3d one since we got him and its a large rawhide bone too.
