So I was talking to my dad after they looked after Penny whilst I was on my honeymoon and the topic of food came up. My parents have a yorkie who is really fussy. They feed her wet food only as she won't eat dry food except a few biscuits as treats. Penny in contrast is fed dry food only as she's really not fussy and will eat whatever you put in front of her. She's always been fed dry food as she was weaned onto it as a pup and never needed any wet food to encourage her to eat it, therefore I never gave it to her. My dad questioned why I never give her anything different, just for a change - like giving her some wet food every now and then just for a bit of variety. He said she would like a change and a bit of variety in her diet. So it got me thinking and feeling a bit bad that I only give her dry food... I know I wouldn't want to eat the same thing day in and day out... Should I be giving her something different every now and then? I have often thought about giving her a bit of something raw for a treat maybe... What do you think? Do dogs really know that they're eating the same boring dry biscuit day after day?
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Oh, this came up recently on a "things to add to kibble" thread - but it's good you have asked the question directly. Some people definitely think dogs need "nice" things in their diet. I definitely do not think that. I think dogs need to be rewarded for training with nice things - so feeding a "boring" diet and saving the "wow" things for rewards just seems sensible to me. Although the way Charlie puts himself on the outside of his kibble, there is no reason to think he finds it "boring". Charlie gets loads of "wow" things in his life, but for preference, after he has done something I want him to keep on doing! Having said that, I do think that feeding raw is appealing - it's not because I think Charlie needs more enjoyment in his life, he is quite capable of enjoying himself in an empty room. It's because I think that it might be better in terms of health, satisfy a genuine need to chew, and keep teeth clean.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" I read somewhere that while dry kibble food may seem really bland and boring to us, to dogs who have loads more taste buds and a better sense of smell it's nowhere near as unappealing as it seems - to them it's like eating a roast dinner... Or something like that anyway... The truth is that it never really occurred to me to give her something else occasionally. Sure she gets the odd bit of 'people' food sometimes like the last mouthful of a sausage, a bit of veg when I'm chopping it up, a raw egg, that sort of thing but on the whole I just figured she has her kibble for her meals and that's that... I feel, as you Julie, that the good things ought to be saved for training or 'jackpot' treats etc. but that's not to say they can't have something nice for dinner every now and then... My dad made me feel a bit mean because I don't ever give her anything like that.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Interesting topic. I suspect that humans have evolved mechanisms to keep us seeking variety in our diets. Fed the same thing for long enough, we start to feel sick of it*, and to look for something different (I would bet that this is a biological mechanism, not just 'the effect of nurture'). Just a theory though. Do dogs have the same theoretical mechanism? Maybe. My dog definitely prefers some foods over others. So mostly I choose a food that he likes (and that is also healthy). Why not? If a dog is not that keen on a food, why make them eat the same boring thing just to win a battle of wills? However if your dog is eating with enthusiasm and is looking good, then why change it? *unless it's sour cream. I could eat that 24/7.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" I often hanker after a perfectly prepared rocket and goat's cheese salad, with a really good balsamic and garlic dressing. And a glass of chilled very dry white. I just do not think Charlie views his food in the same way - his motivation is to gobble up as much as possible in the least time as possible! He is a well fed very much loved dog, with a life just as full of activities as I can make it, and often gets stacks of fantastic treats for training. He doesn't need me to ring the changes with his kibble to make his life complete. ;D ;D ;D I don't disagree with Rachael about dogs who just don't like a certain food though - "not liking food" and Charlie have yet to appear in the same sentence. Apart from peanut butter, which he hates.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Harley has wet and dry food for every meal. She won't eat dry by itself. Luckily the brand she eats does a wet good to compliment the dry. I would say this is what she has for meals 95% of the time. Occasionally I might add a bit of mash potato or veg or a bit of raw chicken or something similar. I keep things like cheese, liver etc for training treats as they are her favourite
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" I'm a they need variety owner, both in food and activities. One thing worries me is if dog is only fed one food if there is something missing (and no commercial food has everything) when will the dog get a chance to have that thing ? there are some very unhealthy foods out there and anyone feeding those could be storing up a wealth of problems for the future. Also if for some reason they have a change in diet, could happen for many reasons then they may have problems with the change. Had a couple of rescues over the years who struggled to eat anything but what they were used to before they came to us, not good.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" I don't believe they need variety, but I do think they enjoy it. Giving a range of tastes and textures can be mentally stimulating, and especially when they have to work out how to eat something, frozen kongs and meaty bones being examples. Most of our high-reward foods are kept as training aids, though. That way, they don't become desensitised to them ( is it possible for a lab to be desensitised to cheese? ) and know that it's worth doing what they're asked to get something really good.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Slightly off thread, and one thing that has been puzzling me, is why the careful change over when you change their diet? The premium kibble (really premium kibble...) I have looked at have practically the same ingredients, very similar ratios, quality sourced meat...but you have to gradually change them over? Yet the training treats/biscuits come in such a variety. So my question is do we really need this transition over period with some dog food? I completely understand if you are going from kibble to raw/homecooked. I only ask this because Casper originally was on Eden (holistic) adult food, mainly because it had a 5 star review on allaboutdogs. Benson was still on puppy food. Then I changed them both to Eden adult for 3 weeks, then a crossover onto Bob and lush adult kibble for 3 weeks which we have just finished. I didn't transition gradually though, but didn't see any adverse effects as a result, what did surprise me however is the difference between the foods, possibly behaviour,(? hyper) but most certainly wind! Both are back on bob and lush
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Glad you brought this up Kate , I know that the advice is always to change slowly, but this is something I have never done either and haven't yet had any adverse effects
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Same here. I just switch completely, without a transition. My dog barely gets two meals the same on two consecutive days...(mostly raw meaty bones, some leftovers, sometimes veg, sometimes eggs, sometimes kibble).
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Kate raises a very good point. When I was working in rescue kennels we were never able to do a gradual switch between different brands of food. We fed from donated food which was usually 3kg bags (rare for people to donate the large 15kg bags) and one of those shared between the 15 dogs in one kennel block doesn't last long enough!! I had a large black dustbin which I filled up with kibble and it would contain maybe 20 different brands of food in all the different flavours under the sun mixed together. I never really had much of an issue with dogs getting upset tummies and the only special diets we catered for were sensitive, puppy or prescription diets (like gastro intestinal, diabetic etc). It was the same with wet food - I would stick up my shelf with a range of tinned food and if they needed it they could get something different every meal! Imagine how long a 6 pack of tins will last when shared between 15 dogs!
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" No issues here either. Lady just eats what's put in front of her without ill effects (except lamb bones that have truly dire results - see earlier threads on the subject) Today she's on dry kibble, plus snacking on pheasant lower legs with the claws cut off and off-cuts of raw pheasant. No ill effects previously on this.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" Don't you think it is mostly puppies that are affected by transitions rather than adult dogs? I did a straight swap too between Orijin and Eden Hollistic and Simpsons 80/20 without any ill effect. You just need to LOOK at puppies the wrong way and they poop a type 5
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=8890.msg126646#msg126646 date=1416954104] You just need to LOOK at puppies the wrong way and they poop a type 5 [/quote] Hahahaha I love that quote!!! Wish there was a 'like' button lol
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" hhmmm....dunno. I'm really reluctant to say Charlie has a sensitive tum, I'm not sure "sensitive" is the right word at all. But it can get upset pretty often. If I introduce new things that I want to use (latest is chicken frankfurters for clicker training), I'm pretty sure of soft poo for quite a few days then we get back to normal it seems.
Re: "Dogs like a bit of variety" [quote author=Lisa link=topic=8890.msg126667#msg126667 date=1416982401] .....aaaaand we're drifting into a poo discussion yet again.... [/quote] Of course! As all roads lead to Rome, all topics lead to poo!
