I have mentioned that Harley has refused to eat dry kibble. She will eat it if we soak it in water. Since we have had her she has been on Royal Canin Maxi Puppy. We have recently changed her to Hill's Large Puppy (sic). We hoped that she would like the change and eat her kibble dry. I want her to enjoy her food. But, as with the RC, she has started not finishing her food, and today eating very little of her meal. She doesn't get a lot of food treats at all so I know we haven't filled her up on other things. There are a few issues at play here: - We have been slaves to cats for 8 years and are well aware of giving in to our animals "preferences" and ending up putting a lot more time and effort. We don't mind within reason but sometimes our schedules are really hectic and I will forget to soak her kibble. We don't like to do it over night because I am worried about the food spoiling. I use hot water and so I have to time it right so that it isn't too hot for her. We rush out of the house sometimes to get to work in the mornings. I am not proud of my "chicken without a head"like behaviour in the mornings but it is the truth. 90% of the mornings it is fine but I do slip up. - We have been told that feeling a wet food diet is not good for her teeth. Every night she gets a Hill's dental health large kibble as a go to bed treat but I don't think that is enough. Can anyone substantiate the dental claims? - She is a picky eater, she will not just hoover up anything she comes across and we are very limited in what "good" brands are available in our city. It is basically Hills, Royal Canin and Eukabuba that we will even consider. At this moment we can't afford to put her on a raw diet. - We have taken her to the vet, she does not have any problems with her mouth or teeth and she chews/eats her frozen Kongs and other chewies without any issues. I don't think it is a case of can't eat it, I just think she doesn't want it. Yesterday I grabbed a couple of her kibble to treat her for carrying something for me (packet) and she spat them out. Then her feline brother (who thinks this dog kibble is the best thing ever) came passed and picked up on to eat. Once he wandered off, Harley ate all the kibble off the floor (about 4 pieces) - The food is fresh - We have a Kong wobbler and she won't even bother if it has kibble in it. So it just stands. She isn't telling me that she is hungry, so maybe she is eating as much as she needs? She hasn't lost weight and she is playful, healthy and well. So I really don't know. Harley is now just over 9 months old and weighs 29 kgs. She is a spayed female and has never been on heat. The issues with kibble started when she was about 4 months old, we blamed it on teething, and temperature (it was summer) but teething is now over and it is winter.
Sorry I don't have any easy answers for you. It could be that Harley really just isn't keen on the kibble . You could try adding a little salmon oil or perhaps some of the liquid from a tin of tuna to see how she eats it. You could try adding some tasty topping and reducing the kibble amount - something like a sardine or even add a couple of spoonful of a good wet meat and mix with the kibble. I'm not sure what the latest really is on the dental health aspect and kibble I do remember back in the 80s and 90s we told that kibble was better for their teeth. Perhaps it was in comparison to what many dogs were fed on . I feed a goid quality kibble for breakfast and then kibble with a giid quality wet meat for dinner.
Thanks JoJo83. Especially because she is still under 12 months I want to make sure that she is getting a good quality food. Locally produced food in our country is not of great standard (as far as I know - according to the brands we have access to). I will try adding a spoonful or so of tinned food to her kibble and see if that peaks her interest. When we were feeding her Royal Canin I would buy small bags of Hills puppy kibble to use as low value treats for basic training. Harley responds very strongly to praise and so for a quick sit, down, stay training she will be happy to have the Hills kibble. But when we bought her the same stuff as her food she loses interest.
I was just chatting to a friend this morning about how their Lab x Poodle is so very picky, and won't eat kibble. They have tried many kibbles, toppers, freeze dried raw etc etc. I have another friend whose dog is like that too. If topped with canned food, he will eat the canned stuff and leave the kibble. I think some dogs are fussy or just do not like kibble, but won't starve themselves and will graze on it over the day. What about adding some steamed veggies to the kibble? Quinn likes her food, but she isn't all that excited for meal times except when I add something special. I frequently reduce the amount of kibble and add a bit of canned food, some steamed green beans, broccoli, sweet potato, a bit of tuna. Basically, whatever I'm cooking I keep a little bit plain for her. However, once you start this I think it's even harder to get them interested in plain kibble...
Maybe she is full up? Perhaps try giving her a little less? When the growth spurts slows down they don't need quite as much. I feed my dogs to what they look like, if a bit thin, then a bit more food, if a bit plump, then cut it down. Mine have kibble with warm water splashed on and about a tablespoon of tinned food on top, more for my benefit than theirs My one Lab eats his food fast, the other one has always been picky, looking at his dinner and saying "do I really have to eat that"! Once I just took it away and gave it to him a wee bit later. He has much less to eat than the fast eater one!
It's must be something about the name Harley! My Harley went through this stage for months. I tried different kibbles, toppers, wet food over the top etc. Nothing worked. I ended up changing her on to wet food for a while and slowly introduced a new kibble. Generally she now has 'Barking heads' kibble with a small amount of wet food or fresh fish for tea and BARF for breakfast (Natures menu frozen blocks of raw meat & bone crushed). I had to go careful due to her sensitive tummy, but this works for her and she looks very healthy. I give her raw bones once a month which help keep her teeth clean.
I don't think kibble really helps clean dogs teeth. There was a programme on TV recently where they explored this in more detail. They split dogs into 3 groups. Group 1: Dogs using a dental dog chew. Group 2: Dogs eating kibble and Group 3. Dogs having their teeth cleaned, I think daily. Forgive me for not remembering the precise details, however what was very obvious was the benefit of teething cleaning over the other two groups. All groups had their teeth cleaned professionally prior to starting the trial. I think the trial lasted around 6 weeks and teeth were measured at the end of the 6 weeks for percentage build-up of tartar vs baseline for each dog. The difference was really significant.
Luna came on RC Maxi too. She wasn't that keen on it, to be honest. She became more so when I scatter fed, or hid it around the room, but she was never massively interested - and I didn't like its ingredients list, so was happy to change off it as soon as I could. I would agree that it's not what your dogs eat but whether or not you brush their teeth that is the most significant thing with dogs' dental health. After all, you don't say "I've had a cracker, I don't need to brush my teeth today". I can't think of a good reason not to brush the teeth of an everyday dog (one without existing dental problems, aggression, severe head shyness etc). Most will be a bit unsure at first, but over time get very used to the process, and even come to enjoy it. Willow was very resistant at first, so I just let her lick the paste off the brush, then I moved on to lifting her gums while she did that, and now I can brush all her teeth quite happily. It takes about a minute per dog.
Thank you for all the info. We have given in an started mixing a very small scoop of Hill I/D tinned wet food into her normal ration of kibble. And now she eats it all. And I know we have given into her but I just can't watch her not eat when such a small change can encourage her. @snowbunny we do brush her teeth. She has a very cute toothbrush in the shape of a crocodile called Curt the Croc. A little joke on the biting puppy phase she was in when we bought the first brush. She doesn't love it but she doesn't resist so that is fine. And we all brush, one after another, at night. The cats are not as happy about it. We didn't bush their teeth from kitten age and they HATE it. So we do it every few days because I honestly can't stand the nightly screaming (by them) and fighting. They have regular oral checks and they are problem free so I am just going to leave it be.
It's not giving in to her, you've found a feeding system that works for Harley. She's happy, you're happy that she's eating better - that in my book is a Win/Win
