Getting picky

I feed my pup Canidaie all stage dry kibble. It seems in the last week he just does not want to eat it. All of a sudden he has become picky, and it,s not that he has lost his appetite because if you sat a whole chicken out on the floor he would devour it. I,ve heard good things about this food so would like to keep him on it . I was wondering maybe what I could mix with it to make it more appealing to him, maybe canned food??? I know if I put a few little pieces of chicken in with it he will make a total mess picking through the food to get the chicken and putting his dry kibble everywhere. I find this strange considering a week or so ago he would eat anything put in front of him,, I mean anything,,lol. Any suggestions ???

 

good example, I just put a bowl of purina puppy chow down for him and he ripped through it,, go figure!! lmao

 

Did you read about the problems with Diamond food, the problems that happened, oh last year? Maybe you have a bad batch of Canidaie. I once had a dog who lost interest in her food, later I found out that the food was recalled... Perhaps you should get a new bag of Canidaie and see if that is acceptable to the dog... He might be trying to tell you something...

 

sounds like the canidae is bad. how long have you had the bag? how do you store the bag? is it stored in a dry cool place or a hot place? how it is stored will depend on how fast the bag goes bad.

i feed canidae to my crew , and have not had a problem yet, but i store it in an airtight container in a cool dry place. i did have a problem with timberwolf when i got it at a petstore, none of my dogs would eat it, it was a old moldy bag and they wouldnt touch it.

 

If you still have problems after ruling out bad food, you might be feeding too much? You could try adding a bit of water to the food, or olive oil. (Easy on the oil, though. It makes their coats really shiny, but can cause them to put on weight if you give too much.)

One more thing, free-feeding can lead to finicky eating. So if you do that, you might want to stop. Put down a cup (or whatever amount) of kibble, and then if she doesn't eat it in 5 minutes, take it up. That way she knows when you feed her, she has to eat, or go hungry.

 

I'm not sure about your dog but do know Texasbulldogs has introduced that kibble the most APBT owners and preaching about it since the late 90's. He himself stopped feeding it and according to him their quality dropped, texture, color, smell, and the dogs desire to eat it. This was all back a March when he was telling me. So I'd say it with the food and stop feeding it like many have been advised to do.

 

Well after you try getting a new bag, and if the dog is still not interested, you could add a tablespoon of plain yogourt. I give my dog 1.5 tablespoons of plain yogourt very other day. It's a little treat for him, plus it's good for him. And if you're not dead set on keeping the Canidae, you could try a Wellness food. They have different kinds and are supposed to be pretty tasty compared to a lot of health foods!

 

Of course the dog isnt going to want to eat it if you are feeding him raw chicken moments later. Its the same as an infant, if they whine at the brocolli in front of them until you give them a pepperoni pizza-then they are gonna cry everytime they want something other than whats placed in front of them. You are the pack leader, you give your dog what you choose. If it wants to survive it will eat it. A healthy dog will NOT starve itself to any real danger. Start a schedule, put the food down at certain times every day, leave it down no longer than 5 minutes. If the dog refuses to eat, simply pick it up and take it away. Dont give treats, dont give anything except dog food, he'll get the hint quite quickly.......

ETA-I know the quality of their line is declining (as it evident by their new formula release), I understand the new formula (Chicken and Rice I believe?) is not as good as the original, but as for them changing the original's quality, I have no idea.

 

Good point. Definitely don't free feed. I feed first thing in the morning and then about 6:00pm and Boss inhales his food. Then again, he'll eat anything...he eats hair for God sake haha.

 

Thank you for the feedback folks. This started coming on the end of a bag of food last week, so he ate most of the bag before this started. He is now on a new bag I bought saturday past. The food is stored in a cool dry place in a container with a sealed lid. I feed him in the morning between 7 -7:30 before work, then he is fed at about 1 pm, then about 8 pm. This is the feeding pattern he,s been on since a small pup. Being over 6 months now, maybe I should cut back to twice a day, maybe we are feeding him too much. Thanks again.

 

i would say you are definately feeding too much, too often. i would cut back the amount, and the frequency to 2x per day. early morning, late evening. once the dog gets to a year it shouldnt need to be fed more than once a day.

 

how many pounds is he and how many serving sized cups do you give him total a day?

 

He,s a little over 40 pounds. We give approx about a cup and 1/4 per serving right now by measuring cup.

 

Thats alot of Canidae, 3 and 3/4 cups of Canidae for a 40 lb. dog is massive. Cut it back to twice a day and slowly work the feed down, I'm picturing a pot belly pig on a APBT's body. LOL

 

My largest male at a little under 2 cups a day and he's 55 lbs unconditioned. It sounds like the dog isn't eating because he has an excess amount of food. Feed twice a day approx 1.25 cups each serving and I bet his appetite will come back in no time. Adjust the amount until he's eating and maintaining a constant weight.

Regards,

B

 

Thanks for the advice all,, we,ll deffinetly take it!!

 

my 65 lb. mutt eats about 3 cups total a day and he's also unconditioned. it probably sounds cruel to you but probably 2 feedings of 1 cup in morning and 3/4 cup later . good luck.

 

My dog weighs 70lbs and he only gets 2 to 2 1/2 cups of Innova EVO a day. I think once u lower ur dogs servings he should be just fine.

 

My best dog was always a picky eater, even though his kibble was a great quality. I added chicken broth to it and he ate it. A can lasted a few days and it's cheap and healthy. Don't add too much, just enough to coat the dry food. You can get low sodium but I never bothered.

 

mine are picky but they really like pedgree small chunks,,,,if i put alpo or anything else,,, it sits and they won't touch it,,,,