register for free
View our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Our sister sites
Sara1210
Dogsey Veteran
Sara1210 is offline  
Location: Norfolk, UK
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,886
Female 
 
03-08-2006, 07:07 PM

What to feed a dog that doesnt seem to like dog food!

Hi all,
Has anyone got any ideas on what to feed my staffie. I picked her up on sunday and i thought she wasnt eating much because she is missing her family. So i took her for a walk earlier and when we got back i did her dinner. By the way i was told when i picked her up that she was eating webbox chubb (sausage stuff) on its own twice a day. Ive read the pack and it says it should have mixer added. Ive tried her on 2 different dry foods and she just turns her nose up at it. Anyway today i recieved an email from the rescue as she had recieved some notes on tia from her previous owners. According to that, she was having a sunday lunch every sunday and the odd cooked breakfast. So now im thinking maybe she isnt eating because she is so used to eating human food. I did cook an extra sausage at tea time today out of curiosity, and mixed it with her meat and she picked every last piece of sausage out but left the meat. Sorry for mumbling on here but its starting to worry me. She is 4 nearly 5. Has anyone else had this problem, or can someone recommend a dog food that she wont be able to resist?
Reply With Quote
Adele4dan
Dogsey Senior
Adele4dan is offline  
Location: Abingdon,Oxfordshire UK
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 543
Female 
 
03-08-2006, 07:36 PM
Hi,

My staff is 6 and a half months, we could not get him to eat dry food for a while. Now I mix it with a little warm water and it brings out the smell,now he loves it! We feed him a good quality puppy/junior complete dry food and his coat shines and he is his perfect weight. I was really worried when he would eat the dry food, but im glad we persisted. If you were really stuck things like rice and chicken go down a treat but I would be worried the dog would rely on this. Im guessing if they are really hungry they would eat anything! Good luck I hope you get things sorted! Adele
Reply With Quote
Steve
Dogsey Veteran
Steve is offline  
Location: Pancake flat East Anglia
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 10,028
Male 
 
03-08-2006, 08:31 PM
She maybe feelin' unsettled still since only being in your care since sunday and dogs very often loose their appetite when stressed,but anyway...

Despite it not being exceptionally good quality-tinned dog food like Pedigree Chum which contains gravy is normally irrestable to dogs because its quite smelly.You could try mixing tinned to dry food with a ratio of perhaps 70% tinned to 30% dry.If she eats this-reduce the tinned meat a little every few days until she is eventually eating it completely dry.

Also,there is a brand of food called 'Natures diet' which is sold in sealed packs and this is quite smelly so you could perhaps try this also.Smell is very important to a dog!

Im not an expert by any means,but i do think she has been spoilt by being fed human food regulary so it may take a while before she will readily accept normal dog food.
Reply With Quote
leo
Dogsey Veteran
leo is offline  
Location: Long Eaton
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 12,868
Male 
 
03-08-2006, 08:41 PM
i would give her human food such as the barf diet then wean her over to a dog diet.
you could try tinned but i would try dry food mixed with gravy to see if it is enough to get her eating it then wean the gravy down to water.
Reply With Quote
Moobli
Dogsey Veteran
Moobli is offline  
Location: Scotland
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 19,298
Female 
 
03-08-2006, 08:43 PM
It sound as though she is used to being spoiled, ie eating human food. You could try either mixing a little mince with her dry food (this is what I do with my dogs) or you could try her on Naturediet, which is a "wet" complete food and most dogs seem to love. I sometimes mix in a little Webbox chubb sausage with my dogs dry food (James Wellbeloved) but I would never solely feed Webbox as it is mainly water based and won't equate to a balanced diet.

Perhaps, if you are worried, get her checked over by your vet, just to make sure there aren't any health problems preventing her from eating. Most dogs will eat dry food when they are hungry enough, so try to persist.
Reply With Quote
Nursey
Almost a Veteran
Nursey is offline  
Location: UK
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,157
Female 
 
03-08-2006, 09:37 PM
I would agree that having your bitch checked over by your vet is a good idea.

Then assuming she gets a clean bill of health, I'd get tough. Absolutely no faffing about with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I would choose the food I wanted her to eat, and I'd put it down to her at the times I wanted her to have it. If she didn't eat it within 20 minutes, I would take it away. I'd put it down again at the next mealtime, not before, and remove it if not eaten within the 20 minutes.

Healthy dogs will not starve themselves, I promise. It will need for you to be very very determined though, you would have to prove to her that you are more determined than her. It won't be easy. If she can get you to pander to her whims she will. Don't make life difficult for your self. Who's the boss, you or her?

Good luck

Dawn R.
Reply With Quote
Sara1210
Dogsey Veteran
Sara1210 is offline  
Location: Norfolk, UK
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,886
Female 
 
03-08-2006, 10:01 PM
Thanks for your replys everyone. She has got a clean bill of health as she was at the vets yesterday.
Reply With Quote
Brundog
Dogsey Veteran
Brundog is offline  
Location: w
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 10,769
Female 
 
03-08-2006, 10:37 PM
i also have a picky rescue staffie - who loves Nature diet - worth a shot = you can get it at pets at home
Reply With Quote
Missysmum
Dogsey Senior
Missysmum is offline  
Location: near Edinburgh
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 682
Female 
 
04-08-2006, 05:55 AM
My Staffie is also fussy. Tried different kinds of food and the one she likes best is Natures Menu. Pouches of meat (60%) with rice and veg. I add a handful of mixer to it. These would be handy for taking away on holidays too. They come in a variety of flavours and Pets At Home sell it. I've just bought a box of 24 for £11.20.
Reply With Quote
minky
Dogsey Veteran
minky is offline  
Location: Edinburgh
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 7,168
Female 
 
04-08-2006, 08:11 AM
Hi!
I have an extremely fuss staffy! He won't eat dogfood. He used to LOVE Webbox (poooo) but now he won't even touch that!

Lately he will only dine on cooked mince with chicken gravy and mixed veg. I also add a little bit of doggy mixer biscuits for his teeth but i have to hid them in the bottom of the dish
Reply With Quote
Reply
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4 >


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools


© Copyright 2016, Dogsey   Contact Us - Dogsey - Top Contact us | Archive | Privacy | Terms of use | Top