Dog food suggestions??

[Barbel]

One of my dogs has decided that she is no longer interested in the food that she is eating. I am not sure what her problem is, because she has been eating the same food for the past two years just fine until about 6 weeks ago. We split our dogs' meals into two, morning and night. Her morning meal is the worst, she just stares at her bowl and then stares at me, then back at her bowl. I tell her to eat and she will eat a few bites and then stop, I tell her again and we keep doing this until she eventually finishes or sometimes refuses. She will eat her evening meal just because she is hungry. She is not ill. Her personality is the same, very playful, high energy, eagerly takes snacks and treats (we do NOT offer table scraps or "people" food other than carrots and treats are only offered about once a week), good poops, no weight loss, just doesn't want to eat.
Since she is almost out of food, we were thinking about switching her to something else to see if that helped. Right now she is on Proplan Sensitive Skin and Stomach. When she was a puppy we tried feeding her Nutro/Natural Balance brands, but none of those agreed with her either.
If anyone has any suggestions of a food to feed her or anything else that may help, I would really appreciate it!

 

[JordanAng420]

Even though it's a little expensive, I use Science Diet Natures Best. It comes in chicken and beef, and my dogs just love it.

Could there be a problem with her teeth or mouth? When was her last dental procedure? Check her gums, are they inflamed, receeded or bleeding?

 

[Daidra]

My dogs all feed on Benefull and they love it everytime I buy it I get different flavors so that they get a variety,I spend $25 for a 50lb bag but there is smaller bags that you could buy for alot less money but I have to buy a big bag as I have 3 dogs,Good Luck.

 

[LizMarie]

That sucks my dog is a picky eater too but part of the reason is because my mom feed her table scraps for like the first 2years in addition to her food against my wishes. After her allergies got worse and she had a bad case of the runs where she lost almost a pound in less then 15hrs my mom decided NOT to give her tables scrap and more and have found the LID Natural Balance Food (Fish and Sweet Potato) to work for her tummy and allergies.

I know that Science Diet makes some specilized foods for animals with tummy problems and a variety of other issues. Ever asked your vet what he might suggest?

 

[Barbel]

Her teeth and gums look normal to me. I compared them to my other dog's and they look the same.
She hasn't been to a vet here since she got her shots last year. We went to that woman once and will never go to her again! Just awful!
We are already spending $40 a bag, so as long as the price isn't much more than that, we don't mind spending a little on her food.
We had a hard time finding a food that worked for her, because she has sensitive tummy and not much agrees with it. We probably tried at least 5 different bags of food before we finally found one that worked! I don't want to do that again.

 

[JordanAng420]

$40 for a big bag is about the same for SD...they have a formula for dogs with sensitive stomachs, and you can try it, but IMO picky dogs don't find it very tasty. I guess it's bland. You could try it, and see how she does...

You could go the holistic route...some people swear by it. Solid Gold is a good one, and so is Innova.

 

[Barbel]

You could go the holistic route...some people swear by it. Solid Gold is a good one, and so is Innova.

I was seriously considering that, but I don't know where to buy it. I don't think the chain stores carry those, or at least I haven't seen them there. I don't know of any local pet stores in my area that carry dog food.

 

[ClownCarOnFire]

Run your fingers under the faucet then drip the water on your dogs food and stick it in the microwave for like...10-15 seconds then try giving it to them.
Heated food gives off more of an aroma and she may want to eat it then.
Or try fish oil or plain yogurt.

 

[Chewbecca]

Run your fingers under the faucet then drip the water on your dogs food and stick it in the microwave for like...10-15 seconds then try giving it to them.
Heated food gives off more of an aroma and she may want to eat it then.
Or try fish oil or plain yogurt.

I agree with this.


I, personally, feed Wellness Core Ocean.
Is it expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? YES.
My dog does NOT stink. Her coat shines. She is strong and playful.
She has solid poops.


See, my dog doesn't get to be "picky" about her food. As long as she is not getting sick off of it, she eats what I give her.
I picked up tough love after about a month of her being in our home.
We went through so many different foods, trying to find one that Princess Ella would eat.

Finally, I got sick of it.
I put the food in her dish, added a touch of water (helps to dilute ash content, so it's easier on your dog's kidneys during digestion), sat it down, and she had 15 minutes to eat it.
If she didn't eat it within that time frame, it got picked up, and she didn't get ANYTHING until dinnertime.
I had to do this twice with her.
Now she eats whatever I put in front of her.


No offense to any here, you couldn't pay me to feed my dog science diet or Beneful.

 

[Chewbecca]

Also, human food isn't necessarily bad for dogs, either.
I understand people don't want their dogs to get into a habit of begging.
But the food isn't bad for them.
It depends on what you give them.

Ella gets to lick the sour cream spoon when I clear off the kitchen table after a dinner with baked potatoes.

She gets left over steak cut up into pieces (no fat, though, she does NOT get ANY cooked fat what-so-ever. It can lead to pancreatitis), but I will also deduct this off of her regular meals as not to overfeed her.

She also gets the occasional frozen kong that has been stuffed with cut up raw meats such as beef heart, deer heart, chicken, lamb, pork, ground beef, or whatever other frozen meats I've picked up for her.

She also gets recreational raw bones to gnaw on. I usually just pick up soup bones when I go grocery shopping.
Hey, they beat the heck out of having to brush her teeth (which she hates and acts like she is a horribly abused dog).

 

[ClownCarOnFire]

I definitely agree with the tough love thing. I am pretty tough with my puppy, Scout.
She's a finicky eater, some nights cleaning the bowl and other nights not having a thing.

I will try the 15 minutes thing though. I am tired of playing this little game with her. My mom pities her and then gives her treats which I do NOT agree with.

When she turns 1 year old I am gonna switch her food though. She currently eats Purina Puppy Chow.
It's good and all, but I want something better.

 

[Barbel]

She has never been picky with food before. This just started recently and I don't know why. Nothing has changed about how we feed them, when they eat, where they eat, or how much they eat. If she doesn't finish her food within 20 minutes or so, I do take it up and she doesn't get anything else the rest of the day. That is why she eats her late night meal, cause she's hungry. It's just getting frustrating. If there is something that she doesn't like about the food or the way it makes her feel, I want to fix it. She also will get a mouthful, chew it a little and then spit it out. She will usually eat the pieces, but she's never eaten like that before.

 

[Barbel]

I wanted to add she is three years old and has been eating this food for two years.

 

[Mel&Keith]

This is probably not the case but you never know....

Check the expiration date on the food to make sure it's not stale. Sometimes the warehouses don't rotate the big bags of dog food so every once in a while a really old one will get out. This has happened to us a couple of times and the food looked fine to me but the dogs refused to eat it. Sure enough, the bag was expired.

 

[Chewbecca]

I second what Mel said.

Also, check and see if they've done anything to "improve" the specific formula that she is eating.
I was feeding Timberwolf Organics food at one point, and then they "improved" their formula (they actually DOWNGRADED ingredients), and my dog wouldn't eat it.
THAT and that specific bag with expiration date had been recalled.

 

[Barbel]

Check the expiration date on the food to make sure it's not stale.

Hmmmm....
I never thought of that. Unfortunately, I don't have the bag. When we bring the food home we dump it into rubbermaid bins and then toss the bag. This is the only bag of this food that she has refused.

Also, check and see if they've done anything to "improve" the specific formula that she is eating.

As far as I can remember, there was nothing "new" or "improved" about the food. We have to go to the store today, so we'll just have to look and see.

 

[Mel&Keith]

I would buy a small bag of the same food and see if she'll eat it. If she still won't eat it then you're only out $7 or $8 and if she does eat it then you know the big bag was bad.

 

[Barbel]

Well, problem solved! We decided to go ahead and switch her to something else. We double checked to make sure the new bag we bought wasn't expired and will be doing that from now on. She ate her dinner last night and this morning for the first time in weeks with enthusiasm! So far her poops are good, but we will have to keep checking to make sure her tummy isn't getting upset.
Thanks for all the suggestions, we really appreciate it!

 

[JordanAng420]

Yay, that's great! I'm glad she's eating. If I may ask, what brand did you switch her to?

 

[Barbel]

We put her on Avoderm Sensative Skin and Stomach. You can actually smell the veggies in it. It doesn't have that "dog food" smell to it and she really likes it.