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Picky Eater on my Hands ??? Likes Cheap Food !!!

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Mac Lassiter

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My 8mo old BLF has been a very Picky Eater since day one ! I have tried all the advice of picking up her food within 10 mins. and adding a little this and that to her food !


I have had her on Euk Large breed pup, and she seemed to hate it, and had runny stools, so tried 4Health puppy, and much the same ! Now she's on Taste of the Wild puppy, and she just picks at this food as well !

She is not skinny at all, and vet always compliments us on her shiny coat, and her great build, and always says I have her weight perfect ! (Trust me we been to the vet's alot )

What gets me is I can take her to visit at my father's farm, and over to my brother's and she will gobble up there dogs food !
My father always leaves food out for his Great Perinese and feeds them Co-Op brand, and she loves it !

My brother feeds his dog "Retriever" brand from TSC and if I have her over there during his dogs feeding time she does everything she can to get in the bag, but will turn her nose away to the Taste of the Wild I feed her ! I don't get it !

We also have a older Yellow Lab (Family Pet) that gets feed Pedigree Large Breed, and she loves his left overs !


I mean I have attempted to try diffrent brands with her, and formulas but she seems to hate the expensive stuff ???? The only brand I have not tried on her yet is Pro Plan !


She eats but not alot ! I have tried to slowly increase her food, and she will eat exactly 2 cups, and leave the rest, Trust me I have measured and it will be the exact amount extra I gave her ! Never had a dog so weird about food !


Not sure were to go from here !
 
#3 ·
My oldest was the same way, after about 3 days she started to eat what I put down for her. She was very picky and I got tired of going to the store and buying 5lbs of this or that.
Some of the cheaper food have flavor additives and maybe that's what she's going for. Decide which food and stick with it, she'll eventually eat what is put down for her.
Now if she is being stubborn and goes longer than a few days mix a spoon full of plain yogurt to the food.
 
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#5 ·
Hooked on Quack said:
My old vet told me once that he had a dog that only did well on cheaper(grocery store brand) dog foods. I guess if she does well on it what can it hurt? Mine is on PPP Sport. 2 cups a day.
Click to expand...
She's getting stuff that is not really good for her. ie, would you preform better on a diet of McDonalds or a nice home cooked fresh meal?
 
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#6 ·
Where do you store your food? If you keep it in a container thats not cleaned when its empty, it will grow bacteria. Best to keep it in the bag inside a container. Some dogs will eat it with the bacteria and get the green apple sidestep, other dogs won't even eat it. You may also wanna try another bag of the same brand. Occasionally there will be a bad batch of food, no matter who the manufacturer.
 
#7 ·
flipinnpitchin said:
My 8mo old BLF has been a very Picky Eater since day one ! I have tried all the advice of picking up her food within 10 mins. and adding a little this and that to her food !


I have had her on Euk Large breed pup, and she seemed to hate it, and had runny stools, so tried 4Health puppy, and much the same ! Now she's on Taste of the Wild puppy, and she just picks at this food as well !

She is not skinny at all, and vet always compliments us on her shiny coat, and her great build, and always says I have her weight perfect ! (Trust me we been to the vet's alot )

What gets me is I can take her to visit at my father's farm, and over to my brother's and she will gobble up there dogs food !
My father always leaves food out for his Great Perinese and feeds them Co-Op brand, and she loves it !

My brother feeds his dog "Retriever" brand from TSC and if I have her over there during his dogs feeding time she does everything she can to get in the bag, but will turn her nose away to the Taste of the Wild I feed her ! I don't get it !

We also have a older Yellow Lab (Family Pet) that gets feed Pedigree Large Breed, and she loves his left overs !


I mean I have attempted to try diffrent brands with her, and formulas but she seems to hate the expensive stuff ???? The only brand I have not tried on her yet is Pro Plan !


She eats but not alot ! I have tried to slowly increase her food, and she will eat exactly 2 cups, and leave the rest, Trust me I have measured and it will be the exact amount extra I gave her ! Never had a dog so weird about food !


Not sure were to go from here !
Click to expand...

The dog in my avatar was the exact same way. I tried just about every higher end brand(what I consider higher end, anyway) and he would eat it for a couple days and then not touch it. Now, give him pedigree and he would eat till it was gone. Like you, I just didn't get it either and just continued to feed him pedigree.
 
#8 ·
You can evaluate ingredients from here to next Tuesday, but if your dog won't eat the food, it isn't going to do him any good. Make sure there aren't any medical issues going on (I have a dog with IBD and he was a picky eater for 2 years until we figured out his problem,) then follow the instructions for foiling a picky eater. If nothing else works, feed him what he'll eat.

Back in the 70's, our dogs all ate Purina Dog Chow and nobody questioned the ingredients. They lived normal life spans and did o.k. Walmart sells a LOT of Ole Roy... and those dogs don't curl up and die from it. Athletic dogs benefit from the best nutrition possible, but sometimes I think we really over do it trying to decide what food to feed.
 
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#9 ·
My girl is a very picky eater too. I have switched between several high quality foods. She eats real well at first, then towards the end of each bag she will get picky. I started adding a teaspoon of this or that for taste to get her to eat. My vet suggested that I pick a high quality food and stick with it. Either choose something to add every meal or (preferably) don't add anything. He said that dogs will generally eat whatever you give them if they are hungry enough. Adding a little of this or that to get them to eat is only conditioning the picky eating behavior.
 
#12 ·
Mcdonald's taste better ;) Had a family pet live to 16 on pedigree, great coat,I 've never seen a dog turn his nose up at that stuff. Still had to switch to more fat/energy for my working dog to keep weight on. I'd say if she's a good weight she's getting enough food, portion size in very individual, if she looks good and has good energy. Your fine. Still as you only have one dog you might look into feeding raw, there's a thread about it somewhere. Cost might be the same or even cheAper for a single dog, that buying different food every week and I doubt she'll say no to real chicken ;)
 
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