My dog

Gabbatek

Gabbatek

Gabbatek

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Urrrrghhhh!!
So i've got a labrador retriever and i've also taken on my childs mums dog for a few months. Mine has always been a fussy eater, will try a new brand but then he wont eat it after a few weeks.
Thought i'd try him on the other dogs cheap rubbish food and he loved it but both of them were stinking the house back to i've switched them both to what mine was previously on (its mainly duck and rice, no wheat or cereal).

The other dog loves it, but mines really holding out on it this time. Hasn't eaten since yesterday morning!! Normally he will eat a double portion during the night when hes really starving and thats how its always been.

Why does he want cheap nasty food thats bad for him and not decent stuff with a high meat content?

Am i being cruel by holding out until he gives in?
 
diamount said:
Are you sure it's because he is being fussy? Could have stomach problems.
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Yeah he's always been like this with kibble. Gone from bottom of the barrel pedigree all the way up to science plan and wainwrights

I know if i got the other cheap stuff out he would dig in, but then i'd have to put up with diaroeaha and farting every half hour stinking the place out.

Sensitive stomach, he gets this normally
http://www.skinnerspetfoods.co.uk/store/working-dogs/duck-rice/
 
I have a cat that is a pure pain to feed and had me questioning my own sanity. After speaking to the vet and making sure there was nothing physically wrong with the little bugger, he told me she is hardly likely to starve herself to death so if she does not want to eat something she previously wolfed down then that is fine, this is her choice.
Obviously you do need to keep an eye on the situation, something I have never heard of in a dog before now, being natures waste bins in that they generally eat everything.
If the non eating goes on then a visit to the vet is probably needed.

Have you thought of mixing the crap food with the good food?
 
mine couldnt tolerate wainwrights or lidl dog food they are on james welbeloved (maybe thats the duck and rice you refer to) and sardines also stew my ex makes up (without harmfull onions ect)
 
Have you tried proper food?

We've always been big believers that dogs should have variety and proper fresh food, tending to cook extra and give the dog that (fresh vegetables and meat, maybe a little gravy sometimes). If we're having an expensive meal or one we don't want him eating, break out a tin for variety.
 
moon man said:
mine couldnt tolerate wainwrights or lidl dog food they are on james welbeloved (maybe thats the duck and rice you refer to) and sardines also stew my ex makes up (without harmfull onions ect)
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lidl dog food is the cheap rubbish i tried to switch him to, full of stuff thats bad for dogs! Silly me.

I've tried him on j.w but he would eat it for a few weeks then go off it! After some research it seems a lot of the cheaper brands spray the foods with msg and meat extract to give it that smell that makes them wolf it down. Just like us, we are attracted to junk food,

WantoN said:
Have you tried proper food?

We've always been big believers that dogs should have variety and proper fresh food, tending to cook extra and give the dog that (fresh vegetables and meat, maybe a little gravy sometimes). If we're having an expensive meal or one we don't want him eating, break out a tin for variety.
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yeah when i cook a roast or anything i'll chuck him some meat and stuff, i think hes holding out for some bacon this morning hmmm
 
Hasn't eaten since yesterday morning? Jeez, that's nothing, give him a few days and see if he'll be less fussy then! Cheap dog food has flavourings in it to appeal to animals, and fragrances to appeal to the owner whop thinks it must be good because it smells tasty to them.
 
Our dog is the same, would rather follow us around endlessly staring at us trying to get our food rather than eat his own. Sulks if not successful.

We just ignore him, he normally eats his own food once we head up to bed realising nothing else is coming.

He has some kind of food intolerance so he's on expensive grain free stuff that he doesn't like, will happy chow down on Baker's though if at the inlaws, with predicatable consequences.
 
Chris Wilson said:
Hasn't eaten since yesterday morning? Jeez, that's nothing, give him a few days and see if he'll be less fussy then! Cheap dog food has flavourings in it to appeal to animals, and fragrances to appeal to the owner whop thinks it must be good because it smells tasty to them.
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Exactly!! I'll only give him tiny bits off the plate like normal and keep his bowl full

Minstadave said:
Our dog is the same, would rather follow us around endlessly staring at us trying to get our food rather than eat his own. Sulks if not successful.

We just ignore him, he normally eats his own food once we head up to bed realising nothing else is coming.

He has some kind of food intolerance so he's on expensive grain free stuff that he doesn't like, will happy chow down on Baker's though if at the inlaws, with predictable consequences.
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glad im not the only one, the amount of times i've woken up to the sound of him munching it down at night because he's starved himself all day.

I've given in and let him have two bits of bacon, but im sure he will eat tonight.
 
We had a retriever which went on hunger strike for a while.

Bloody thing wouldn't eat decent dog food, only the cheap nasty stuff for some reason.
It caved in eventually but was proper grumpy for a couple of days :)
 
I have ten dogs, so they tend to have a pack mentality and once food is set down they don't muck about wondering if anything better might be coming ;)
 
My husky can be quite the fussy eater too. Won't eat dry food on its own and would rather starve himself for days if you tried. Was a pain too because he'd be happy with tinned food for a while then get bored of the brand and demand something new... only problem was it'd give him a bad stomach as his system got used to something new each time. I then stumbled upon frozen meat food from "nature's menu" which has a variety of meats and he's been on it for years now with very few problems. Supposed to be very good for him too, he's 13 now and still going strong. I just defrost a pack the day before and give him half a pack with dry food mixed in each day. Seems to be enough variety to keep him interested.
 
Gabbatek said:
Yeah he's always been like this with kibble. Gone from bottom of the barrel pedigree all the way up to science plan and wainwrights
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Science Plan isn't any better (I've never seen one that didn't consist of mostly maize and other rubbish), and nor is regular Wainwrights. As people have said, the very cheap stuff appeals because of chemical additives (smells, artificial flavourings etc). It won't do a dog any harm to fast for a few days while he's being stubborn. Heck in cases of severe obesity even a month without food won't kill a fat dog, but that's only recommended under vet supervision and in extreme cases. They're not people, they're designed for feast and famine.

If you give in now you're just reenforcing the mindset that if the dog is stubborn you'll give in and he gets what he wants; so guess what happens next time he fancies a change? The wheel goes around again, because he knows you'll give in and he'll get treats or human food or the cheaper food he wanted... You need to make a stand. A healthy dog will always eat when he's hungry. It just might not be to your understanding of dietary schedule (i.e. it'll take him a lot longer to get hungry than it would you).

If you insist on feeding kibble (raw food is much better) get a higher end grain free one - that includes rice. I suggest Fishmongers Finest salmon & potato (also from P@H, same as Wainwrights), Akela (Google it) or similar. They're more expensive per bag but you need to feed massively less of it compared to a rice/cereal based food - often half as much - so adjust your price per day on that basis before thinking it's too expensive. You'll find the packets massively over-estimate also. For example my bullmastiff (RIP) and terrier were labelled as 500g and 150g respectively by weight on the guidelines, but in reality did better on 100g and 400g so it was cheaper again.

Just don't give in, or you'll be doing it forever lol. :)
 
We initially had our dog on Burns food but she eventually got bored of that. We're now using Gentle dog food (http://www.gentledogfood.co.uk/) which is another dry food and she enjoys that.

As mentioned before, the important things is to not give in and make sure they eat their own food first before they come begging. Also vary their meals now and again by adding a small amount of tinned food (e.g Chappie) or some leftovers to their own food.
 
Can recommend Lily's Kitchen tinned and dry.
Ours used to be a bit of a fussy one, but she's never had a problem tucking in since we switched to LK a few years back.
She does get a good rotation on the flavours though.
 
Pets like the cheap stuff because it is full of sugars and other crap. Think children and sweets. We ended up with a happy medium with our cats. A lower cost healthier than the cheapest in Iams.
 
To be honest I always think if they are hungry enough they'll eat anything, although I would say if he goes 3-4 days without touching anything then you have a problem - 1-2 days isn't long enough for a really stubborn dog.

Also put down small amounts for both dogs together, that way there is competition for the food, and once the other dog finishes theirs they will go to you dogs bowl - hopefully that'll compel him to eat.

Good luck!
 
Gabbatek said:
Urrrrghhhh!!
So i've got a labrador retriever and i've also taken on my childs mums dog for a few months. Mine has always been a fussy eater, will try a new brand but then he wont eat it after a few weeks.
Thought i'd try him on the other dogs cheap rubbish food and he loved it but both of them were stinking the house back to i've switched them both to what mine was previously on (its mainly duck and rice, no wheat or cereal).

The other dog loves it, but mines really holding out on it this time. Hasn't eaten since yesterday morning!! Normally he will eat a double portion during the night when hes really starving and thats how its always been.

Why does he want cheap nasty food thats bad for him and not decent stuff with a high meat content?

Am i being cruel by holding out until he gives in?
Click to expand...

Our dog was exactly the same. She is a Lurcher.

We never fed her crap food but went through pretty much all the decent stuff on the market including raw food. We had the same problem as you in that she would eat it initially but after a few weeks she would go off the food and just wouldn't eat.

We've got round it by "topping" and switching between two brands every few weeks. So she has 1/2 kibble and 1/2 Canagans / Lily's Kitchen. We'll also vary it up by switching between Salmon and Chicken among those brands. So from her perspective she's not eating the same stuff all the time but because we always use the same flavours/brands she is used to it so you don't get the adjustment period where they have stomach issues while they adapt to new food.

We've had her for two years and this has solved the issue for us within the last year or so.
 
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