Getting A Dog To Eat Dog Food

[PaulAllen]

I have a dog since she was a puppy and have always given her dog food. However, over the past couple of months because of so many Thai's in my house and a lot of cooking (and I am guilty of it too) she has been getting a lot of people food.

Now she will not touch her dog food and I think to myself "she will when she gets hungry enough" but she doesn't.

Anyway, how do I get her back to eating it? Any suggestions.

[Tywais]

Probably get more responses in the Pets forum where I will now move it.

[Mobi]

I can't really solve your problem, but I will say that I now have 3 dogs ( a Golden for nearly 2 years, and 2 Shih Tzu puppies) and they all thrive on high quality dry dog food and they don't get anything else. No snacks - no tid bits from the table - nothing, and they don't look for it and stay extremely healthy, and they not over weight.

Whenever I have guests at my house - Thai or farang - I make a point of asking them NOT TO FEED THE DOGS. I am strong, but polite and they follow my request.

I did have a slight problem with the older Shih Tzu as he was already 7 months when I bought him, and he used to go crazy to try and get a share of whatever I was eating, and he didn't like his dog food very much. He had obviously been spoilt, but I stuck to my guns and refused him anything but his dog food, and now his is eating fine and looks fine. It took 2 - 3 weeks to convince him that%2

Edited October 23, 2007 by Mobi

[SamuiJens]

To the OP, start eating dog food with you dog and he/she will begin eating it to. Remember a dog looks up to it's owner and does what they do, so you've made your bed...now lay in it...or in this case, eat it! NO JOKE!

Edited October 23, 2007 by SamuiJens

[londonthai]

giving the dog leftovers or spoilt food, which would be thrown away, saves you on buying dogs food. Most probably it's not that good quality if she doesn't touch it even if hungry.

however, don't allow your dog to eat from the strangers - only from you or from the few closest family members (reduce the risk of intentional poisoning by the burglars/neighbours and from her own plate put in this same place. Keep as well regular meals, say twice a day, rather than giving snacks - keep food possibly fresh in the fridge.

[PaulAllen]

My dog has quit eating her dry dog food because she now prefers people food thanks to all the cooking that goes on in my kitchen.

I want her back on dog food but she looks at it like it's going to bite her something.

I have tried: mixing in wet food with the dry, mixining some beef grease w/the dry, bought some "gravy" for dogs. Nothing works. I have also tried not feeding her anything thinking when she gets hungry enought she'll eat the dry food but I think she'd radther starve.

Any suggestions?

PA

[Rooo]

My dog has quit eating her dry dog food because she now prefers people food thanks to all the cooking that goes on in my kitchen.

I want her back on dog food but she looks at it like it's going to bite her something.

I have tried: mixing in wet food with the dry, mixining some beef grease w/the dry, bought some "gravy" for dogs. Nothing works. I have also tried not feeding her anything thinking when she gets hungry enought she'll eat the dry food but I think she'd radther starve.

Any suggestions?

PA

Paul it might be better to ask a mod to move that question to the pets forum, some very good advise there.

[Gimbo]

My dog has quit eating her dry dog food because she now prefers people food thanks to all the cooking that goes on in my kitchen.

I want her back on dog food but she looks at it like it's going to bite her something.

I have tried: mixing in wet food with the dry, mixining some beef grease w/the dry, bought some "gravy" for dogs. Nothing works. I have also tried not feeding her anything thinking when she gets hungry enought she'll eat the dry food but I think she'd radther starve.

Any suggestions?

PA

A little tough love is what is needed. Start feeding dog food, and always at the same time. Let's say after dinner. If the dog is not interested, remove the food after say an hour. By next meal it should be hungry enough...and don't fall for the trip of feeling so sorry for it that you give something else since the poor dog must be so hungry. A dog can survive going without a meal or two...but make sure it has enough water.

[ignis]

My dog has quit eating her dry dog food because she now prefers people food thanks to all the cooking that goes on in my kitchen.

I want her back on dog food but she looks at it like it's going to bite her something.

I have tried: mixing in wet food with the dry, mixining some beef grease w/the dry, bought some "gravy" for dogs. Nothing works. I have also tried not feeding her anything thinking when she gets hungry enought she'll eat the dry food but I think she'd radther starve.

Any suggestions?

PA

I have 3 dogs, also got dry food down but [often change] they have not eaten any for the past 3 years, and yes would rather starve.. So must carry on cooking every day for them.......... at moment Big C has chicken @ 47 baht kg, Carrrefour has mince pork @ 49 per kg, Rice is 70baht a sack from the market, most veg 5 - 10 baht at market so works out cheaper than dog food anyway.. all 3 love all fruit.

There funny, if I am eating something then they will eat it even dry bread.

[Tywais]

Paul it might be better to ask a mod to move that question to the pets forum, some very good advise there.

Hmm, I did move his first post there and now this is the 2nd same topic. Topics merged.

[Monroe]

If I recall, a starving dog will go so far as eating onions and other vegetables to satiate its hunger. As it it hasn't been said already, you probably have to starve it a bit longer.

Not just dogs, by the way

This works with our Bichon-Poo, but for the most part my mother is bored enough to cater to it (understandable as she doesn't work and is pretty much alone all day, but she prepares meals for the dog ).

[elfe]

well, as you see the reaction of your dog the dog food is really not good. you got only one dog as i understand, and why not feed it on chicken and left overs, it's not that much.

bear in mind that dogs know by instinct what is good for them and many dogs get sick or allergic from dog food or it helps other diseases to thrive... fresh is always better than dogfood, do you know what is in there??? sorry but i cannot understand why to force a dog to eat dog food if it refuses for days, i thought dog is a friend and should be treated like that

[Tony Clifton]

I think most dog foods available here are not fit even for dogs and they know/smell it. I suspect my dog has been sick many times because of this.

Meat is cheap enough, much better IMHO.

[Nienke]

Although, i can understand Elfe's reaction and agree to a certain extend I do not agree completely.

There certainly are dogs that have been spoiled by their owners to a point that they refuse to eat dry food, and that can also be the high quality brands. The refusal of the dryfood does not have to be that it causes upsets in the dog. The dog just has learned that the pieces of BBQ, fried liver etc. is much more delicious than the boring dryfood.

Now, it depends on the kind of left-overs the dog gets whether it is nutritious enough or not. If it's various with lots of pieces of meat (not only the fat), some rice and veggies and a little oil (not palm oil), then it could be a sufficient diet, provided that calcium is added in the form of bone meal (tablet). Sure enough, if next to the left-overs raw meat and twice a week organ meat (and not only chicken but a variety in animal protein) is added, then the diet is even better for the dog.

At our boarding kennel we normally feed a dry food brand with some water. All too often dogs that come in won't eat for the first one or two days. After that they start to eat normal. When a dog keeps on refusing the dryfood, we change our strategy and start mixing canned dog food, canned fish or cooked minced meat. Slowly we reduce this amount until the dog accepts the dryfood only.

Still there are those dogs that rather die than eat dryfood. These dogs normally accept rice meals with cooked meat. But even then, after gradually introducing a few kibbles and then slowly increasing the amount of kibble, will accept the dry only after a certain period of time.

Raw food is normally only given to those of which the owner requested to give raw to their dog/s.

Nienke

[Gary A]

Buy several small bags of different brands. My Golden Retriever won't touch several different kinds, one of which is Pedigree which seems to be sold everywhere. I now feed him Tesco Lotus beef flavored or Alpo. Tesco Lotus has two Tesco brands. One is in a white bag and is cheaper. Of course he doesn't like the cheaper one. I do mix table scraps with the dry food but he will eat it without scraps too.

[Mobi]

Buy several small bags of different brands. My Golden Retriever won't touch several different kinds, one of which is Pedigree which seems to be sold everywhere. I now feed him Tesco Lotus beef flavored or Alpo. Tesco Lotus has two Tesco brands. One is in a white bag and is cheaper. Of course he doesn't like the cheaper one. I do mix table scraps with the dry food but he will eat it without scraps too.

I've written about dog food before.

When I bought my Golden from a reputable breeder, he told me to use Eukanuba dry dog food. This I have done and she is now 30 months old and in the picture of health and never ill. I feed her twice a day and she is very content with her food.

Then a few months back I bough two Shih Tzu puppies from another reputabl;e breder, and lo and behold, I was once again advised to feed them on Eukanuba. They have been with me for a few months now, but so far seem perfectly content and are very healthy. The older one was a bit fussy to start with but is now fine.

Eukanuba is not particularly cheap, and is not available at many pet shops, but seems to be the best dry food readily available in Thailand. It is all imported.

Neinke will tell you there are other, better foods, but Eukanuba seems to do the trick for me.

This may sound a bit selfish, but by feeding my dogs on dry dog food, I don't only save myself a lot of trouble in daily having to cook up their favourite repasts, but when I am not home, the maids can feed them very easily, and I don't have to worry about whether they are being fed properly.

For me it's a win win situation.

(BTW - Eukanuba comes in many varieties - depending on the size and age of the dog).

[Sheryl]

I had and to some extent still have same problem with my Chihuahua, whose previous owners were Cambodian and feed him only table scraps.

Nothing I have tried has induced him to even try dry food, alas.

I have been more successful with canned and also with the frozen meat for dogs sold in supermarkets (various brands).

Factors which helped were:

- varying the diet. He will only eat canned dog food of the same brand one or two times in a row, but if I switch around form day to day it's OK. I figure this is also beneficial nbuitrtionally since I have doubts about the nutrietn content of the canned food available locally; I figure with luck the different brands have different lacks and varying them will deliver a miore balanced feed.

- same applies to the frozen dog meats, altho as he likes them better than canned food I don't have to vary quite as often, but I do alternate the brands I buy.

- mixing in canned food with either the frozen dog food when I cook it or with fresh meat. This is also a good way to introduce the frozen dog meat at first.

-hand-feeding often gets him to eat food he is otherwise refusing, after a few mouthfuls fed by hand he'll usually proceed to eat the rest on his own.

-sitting with him and talking to him during meals, also pretending to eat the stuff myself, helps.

-having him eat with another dog helps a lot, when possible. About 3 days a week he's in the company of my neiece's little Pomeranian who is not a fussy eater and not only does my Chihuahua eat better then but I find it is the ideal time to introduce new foods or foods he usually won't take,. As soon as he sees the other dog eating something, he wants it.

He also wants any non-dried food that he knows the cat eats. And he likes canned cat food (mackeral fish to be exact) from time to time, probably because his previous owners ate fish more than meat.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, I have done has gotten him to take dried food. I have even tried softening it and cooking it together with other food. No dice.

[Nienke]

Sheryl's post really makes me laugh. I just can visualize it: a strong and independent woman ... completely under the thumb of her cat and now her dog as well.

Nienke

[Sheryl]

Sheryl's post really makes me laugh. I just can visualize it: a strong and independent woman ... completely under the thumb of her cat and now her dog as well.

Nienke

You got that right.............!