We have had willow 5 weeks now she started off on burns and now on rc but of which she is not keen on! Don't want to keep changing foods. Sometimes eats ok this am ate a mouthful then walked away , I leave down for 20 mins then take away. I brought a few tins and been adding one table spoon to each meal and really mixing it it for a few days she was woofing it down but now not interested. Tried a tiny bowl just can ate all feel sorry for her she's not enjoying her food and not experienced before as my labs are whatever is going Any ideas , she is fed at 7 12 and 5.30/6
Re: Not keen on dry food Maybe try softening the dry with a little hot water , or even a drop of gravy first ? It might just tempt her as it will smell more meaty
Re: Not keen on dry food Putting hot water in her food and allow time to soften and cool down, as Kate said. I do this with Harley's kong ( I freeze it after cooling down) and she goes nuts for it. Keep persevering with it
Re: Not keen on dry food I always add warm water and a tablespoon or so of tinned meat. Maybe you need to lesson the amount you give Willow so that she is hungry for her next meal.
Re: Not keen on dry food She already has it softened and tried the gravy thing still not interested !!! She's eating nothing just now when put bowl down ate at 7 will give her 20 mins then takeaway
Re: Not keen on dry food Hi My old lab was a very fussy eater. Stupidly I fell into the trap of mixing all sorts in his food to get him to eat chicken, beef, ham whatever we had. I think this might have contributed to his colitis it certainly didn't help. When I changed him onto a fish based food for his stomach he loved it ate it with no problems. With hindsight I think I probably was over feeding him and luckily because he was fussy he just didn't eat it. Odd question but what is her poo like. It should be firm and crinkly especial the first one of the day. If its soft or most of it is she's probably getting too much food which may be why she's not eating she's just not hungry. The firm i buy my food from have a very vague feeding guide. I emailed them about it. They told me if they could they wouldn't put a feeding guide on at all because it depends on the dog and the best way to work out if your feeding the right amount is to go on what comes out the other end! : Don't know if I've been of any help Jen
Re: Not keen on dry food Poos not as firm as I think they shoukd be I will reduce her dry but still add some can. As a test tonight gave half a can gone in seconds! Shall I just move her into canned?
Re: Not keen on dry food What do you want to feed Willow on? If you are happy to feed tinned food and she is happier to eat it, then do that. If you want to feed her on dried dog food (and you are sure she is well, if a dog doesn't eat it can be a sign the dog isn't well) then continue with dried food. You may find you will have to harden your heart for a day or two until she gives in and stops training you to give her something she likes ;D
Re: Not keen on dry food Have you considered a raw diet? There are a few people on the forum that feed this diet. x
Re: Not keen on dry food hi she is on RC labrador junor food. not keen to do a raw diet,. she definatley seems well in herself and not worried abotu her that way. she ate her treats ok when we did some training yesterday. can anyone recommend a good canned food?
Re: Not keen on dry food [quote author=Stacia link=topic=3501.msg38724#msg38724 date=1385931892] You may find you will have to harden your heart for a day or two until she gives in and stops training you to give her something she likes ;D [/quote] That's what we had to do after trying to tempt Riley with all sorts after he was poorly to get the weight back on him. I've just gone back to plain old kibble, it keeps his tum in a good way and his weight is easy to manage.
Re: Not keen on dry food When my two male dogs got older they couldn't cope with dry food so well. I had always added some Rinti to their dry food, which is 100% meat, and eventually switched them totally to that, which they did fine on. I'm not sure I'd choose it for a young dog though. Canned dog food is of course wet, and apparently worse for their teeth than dried food. Also, it is expensive (the good stuff at least), and believe me it is no fun dragging endless huge cans of food back home from the pet store. Heavy. And you have SO MANY cans to dispose of all the time… Bones used to get through two big cans a day. I would agree with Barbara - be tough. Willow will NOT starve herself. Just lessen her food, and give her five minutes, no more, to eat, then take the bowl away and don't offer it to her again until the next meal. When she is hungry enough, she will eat it. You are making a rod for your own back by pandering to her tastes… I speak from experience, having gone down that road myself in the past!!! : : :
