Hi Guys, Bruce is being a bit picky with his kibble. he'll tend to have a couple of mouth falls and then a drink and then trots around the kitchen maybe has a couple of more mouth falls and then comes back into the living room i've tried watering the kibble but all he tend to do is lap all the water up and then leave the kibble. i did leave his feed bowl down the last night and he must of finished it overnight should i be living him in the kitchen on his own for a bit while the food is down? any ideas? Chris
Re: Picky Puppy My mum has a fussy dog and the thing that worked for her was leaving the food down for 20 mins and then taking away anything not eaten and not giving the dog anything until the next meal time. In 2-3 days her dog was eating normally. Being off food can often be a sign of illness, has he been like this since you got him or is it a recent thing? Have you tried mixing in some wet food? He may like that a bit more as it's possible he just doesn't like his current food.
Re: Picky Puppy I would take it up if not eaten in ten minutes, no cajoling, no extras, no leaving it down. He will eat the next meal as he'll be hungry.
Re: Picky Puppy thanks guys, he's been like this since we got him. i don't think he's ill as he'll scoff any training treats or anything that comes out of his kong, i think i'll try some wet food in and also taking the meal bowl up after a time limit
Re: Picky Puppy Mine was the same i always set the time limit but didn't seem to help her the first week or so she was with me, i tried scatter feeding which worked a little but wasn't great. I then tried some wet food in which worked for maybe 2weeks and then she went back to being fussy. Now it's kibble with a little bit of cooked chicken breast flaked and almost ground into the kibble - it has been working great so far and i adjusted the amount of kibble i'm giving her a little to compensate for the chicken. One thing - you mention "comes back into the living room" which sounds like you're in the living room - is anyone with him in the kitchen while he eats? i found mine was more willing to eat when i was with her, than if i popped into the living room (despite leaving door open), it also meant i could be close to occasionally but my hand near/in her meal also so she got used to my hand being near her food and didn't get possessive with it.
Re: Picky Puppy Riley's like this and has been all his three long years I have on occasion added things to his kibble to tempt him but all that happens is eventually that stops working and when you compare that with the scraps that come from my toddlers rejects it all pales into insignificance. I tried picking up his food and yes that would make him hungry for his next meal but then after a few meals when he was full again he'd just leave some again. All this adds up to the fact that now I put his food down and let him sort himself out. He doesn't starve himself, if there are scraps going he gets them and if not he doesn't get anything on top of his kibble. It makes it easy to keep him nice and slim so I'm not complaining. I don't worry about it any more but I probably did up to about 18 months. As long as you can recognise when he's really off his food rather than just not fussed right now you'll be ok. Some people have had problems with Kibble going off, if you've bought a large bag and are more than half way through you could find that your kibble is a bit stale and so less interesting. I've definitely noticed renewed enthusiasm for meals when a new bag has been opened in the past. I don't think there was anything wrong with the old kibble it was just less appetising.
Re: Picky Puppy Warm water on the kibble softens it and really brings the flavour out. Make sure you let it cool down a bit before letting Bruce at it. Yes, it does stink the kitchen out
Re: Picky Puppy Harley did this when we first got her. We changed her food and it made all the difference
Re: Picky Puppy Scout is the same, her breakfast can stay in her bowl till mid afternoon and then some mornings there is still some of her evening meal.. Scout never wolfs or rushes her food.
Re: Picky Puppy I would never leave food down if not eaten in 10 mins. Try some wet food as a mixer and let it soak into the kibble. My sons Lab is a fussy eater, they have two young children and I believe the dog gets a fair bit of food from the table LOL.
Re: Picky Puppy i was wondering if it's because he wants to be close to be and i don't stay around the kitchen long enough I think part of the problem is i've grown up with seeing labradors devour there food like rabid wolves so it's a big strange to see him take a couple of gulps then trot off i've just seem him regurgitate some kibble and then try and eat it again!
Re: Picky Puppy We were advised always to soak the kibble in hot water (about half its volume) and let it cool for 15 minutes - especially while the puppy still doesn't have his full adult teeth. Have you tried that? What food are you using? The same as he had with his breeder?
Re: Picky Puppy Might be worth staying with him, when he has his food. How do you present his food to him? Do you just put it down and leave it? We always make ours (all 3) sit and wait to be called for their food one at a time.
Re: Picky Puppy he's on beta purina puppy with chicken which is what the breeder told me he was eating at the moment i'm just placing the food bowl down and the comes and sticks his nose in. i've just started his sit training today we got him on saturday so he hasn't been with us very long i'll definitely try soaking the kibble for longer
Re: Picky Puppy It could be he is not in competition with his litter mates, you may be giving him too much and you say he wolfs down his treats, so maybe he isn't all that hungry?
Re: Picky Puppy just a quick update after trying gravy and taking his bowl up last night so he didn't really eat he's still turning his little nose up and picking at the kibble i've just feed him a uncooked chicken wing and he's devoured it!
Re: Picky Puppy Now he will hang out for uncooked chicken for sure! So maybe raw is the way to go? My Gavin was a picky eater and would rather be hungry than not have tasty food (in his eyes). He was a Cavalier and they are known to be as greedy as labs - but you get the occasional picky cav too!
