Refusing kibble - did I let him train me?!

Moon has never really been much into his food. He spent his first few years in Vietnam living on mainl steamed rice plus a little meat/egg/veg if he got lucky. He's never been overally enthusiastic about kibble.

In quarantine kennel he was on Arden Grange lamb and rice which they fed him half dry/half soaked. He would eat some of it but would never gobble it down in one go. The kennel staff would leave it down for most of the day so he could graze his way through it. This is because he is about 3-5kg underweight.

When he came out he switched on Wainwrights turkey and rice. He again didn't eat kibble very well when we got him home. When I moved to Gloucestershire, we lived with a guy and his rottie/lab cross Tsala. Being half lab, Tsala was a BIIIIIIG foody and would gobble up everything in sight. Moon learned that is he didn't eat his right then, then Tsala would! And for a while he was eating two meals a day of kibble. I used to mix in a bit of JWB pouch but it upset his tummy (very sensitive tum).

When we moved back home and Moon became an only dog, he lost interest in eating again. He wasn't depressed, it just seemed without the pressure of Tsala, he didn't feel the need to eat right then.

At first I tried to be tough, giving him his kibble, if he didn't eat it in 20 mins, take it up. But he went days without eating, and being skinny I wanted him to eat. So i started to mix other things in, low salt gravy, mashed sardines, mashed egg, bio yoghurt. Recently I've started mashing Naturediet with warm water and mixing it through. He still didn't eat a huge amount but he was eating.

Now he's started just picking out anything I mix through, even tiny things like grains of rice of grated chicken! He leaves all the kibble behind. Soaking it makes no difference. Any sauce on it he's started just to lick it off!!!!! I didn't mind adding things to encourage him to eat the kibble but i'm not going to give him to chance to just eat the yummies and leave the kibble!

I'm pretty sure he's training me! I'm torn between encouraging him to eat and letting him now predict mealtimes. The thing is, I know he doesn't hate the kibble because he ate it all with Tsala around!

Should I go back to being tough, offering the bowl for 20 mins then picking it up? Let him go hungry for a few days until he decides to eat? The only thing that worries me is that he gets yummy stuff for training and in his Kong and that he'll try to just survive on that!

Help!

I have a dog just the same. I am sure he could get by on eating treats and raw hide chews.
I have found what works for me is to fed him just once a day late at night. and have lots of exercise throughout the day. He is now eating all his food and not looking like a underfed dog.

I had the same with Ben up until he was about a year old
People kept commenting on how skinny he was

I did find one meal a day last thing at night helped but he was still eating about 1/2 to 1/4 of what he should have been

after months and months I realised that kibble although may have the neutrients in it it is dull, if a dog isnt a great foody then they will just eat it if they HAVE to

In the end I moved him onto raw and he eats great - even better since we got Mia

Have you thought about switching him to a wet only diet? It does work out to be more expensive, but if he's eating better then it may be worth it. If Naturediet suits him, perhaps try that?

I can certainly sympathise. My little dog has trained me to such an extent that she only eats kibble if she's hand fed!!

I hate mushrooms but if it was my only source of food and someone tried to take it from me I'd eat it. He obviously doesn't like kibble but has no choice in what he is given to eat. If you have been trying to get him to eat kibble for such a long time without success then perhaps it might be a good idea to change to something else. I know kibble is very convenient but it's not working in this case.

I personally feed mine raw and yes its more hassle in BUT when you get used to it, it takes very little effort - you just need to remember to take the food out the freezer the night before .

However if you don't want to go that route then there are good quality complete wet food you can feed him. However if you do this I'd suggest that you give him something hard to eat like raw bone or some sort of treat that would help clean his teeth.

How thin is thin? Do his ribs show? II think it is difficult and risky to try to formulate a complete and balanced diet for a dog. He may be better off with his ribs showing a little than getting a poorly balanced diet because you are adding so much else. Dogs don't digest some raw things very well and cooking destroys nutrients, so you can't be sure just what the dog is getting.

I think a lot of dogs go through a phase of not wanting to eat kibble, I know all of mine have had things added to it at one time or another. Adding a spoonful of wet food, tuna, sardines or yoghurt wont do any harm. These days my lot eat theirs moist and still have something added as a treat from time to time.

Just to clarify, I think he will always be a slim dog. He saw the vet last week for his annual vaccinations and the vet isn't worried about his weight. You can feel his ribs but you can't see them. And he is maintaining weight. I have considered switiching him to raw or wet, but the thing is that he DID eat the kibble well for a good four months while Tsala was around, so it isn't that he doesn't like the taste of the food......he just seem to be being plain pigheaded

I've still got have a 15kg bag of kibble left, if he doesn't start eating better by the end of it then maybe I'll switch him onto wet or raw, but I'm not ready to give up the kibble entirely just yet.

I think a lot of dogs go through a phase of not wanting to eat kibble, I know all of mine have had things added to it at one time or another. Adding a spoonful of wet food, tuna, sardines or yoghurt wont do any harm. These days my lot eat theirs moist and still have something added as a treat from time to time.

Tried this and it worked for a while but now he just licks it off! Little so and so

But what choice did he have - either eat the kibble or nothing would be left is what he probably responded to. I'd eat all my mushrooms if I thought there wouldn't be anything else left to eat - doesn't mean I like them

Mushrooms are great!!!!

think that was a good point nontheless!