Kingdom of Pets

Posted by chan-bleasdale
Jul 9, 2013

My Bobby (Labrador cross Golden retrieve) have been with me since 11 weeks old. white male, now he is a big boy , 1year 8 months of age, 36kg.
Bobby always fussy of food. he particular dislike dry dog food. i have tried everthing - most experts advise just atrving him "He will eat when he is hungrey". But can I starving him everyday? I tried change the tsate of food.(i.e. mix tuna tin with his regular dry food, or fruit cake or etc) , he changes his taste every 2 days. I found the best way is when he eat with other dogs 9on Boarding), no fussy anymore. But i only have Bobby, once he back to home he fussy again. Any best way to correct it???

Posted by Preethi KOP
Jul 10, 2013

Hi Chan,

Thank you for your email.

It is quite peculiar to hear of a labrador who is fussy about food!! Most lab owners have the exact opposite problem. How often do you feed Bobby? Large breed dogs are prone to a syndrome called GDV (gastric dilation and volvulus, you could look it up on Google) and I would recommend feeding him more than once daily. If he does eat a lot of food after a long period of starvation he could over eat/eat too fast and get GDV.

How is he with wet food? You could try mixing some dry food with canned dog food and see if he eats it. This way you could give him different flavours every few days. You could also try buying off-cuts at your local butchers and make up some meat stock to flavour his food. If none of the above works my last recommendation would be trying to make his food yourself. Brown rice, lots of vegetables with tuna/mince/egg etc.- you could rotate the meats around to get past his fussing. You could try mixing this preparation with his dry food to ensure he is getting all the essential trace elements he needs. Exercise is a great appetite stimulant, but again please don't feed him a great amount at once or feed him immediately after exercise.

I hope this is helpful. Please do feed him at least twice daily.
Good luck with your fussy furry friend.

Kind regards,
Preethi.

Posted by chan-bleasdale
Jul 14, 2013

Bobby's food:
James Wellbeloved Dry pellet 250gm plus Wet pouch 150gm each meal. twice a day.
But he often refuse the breakfast. He only take treats in the morning. If no treats he still refuse regular food until afternoon meal.
So I plan to feed him once a day at evening. How much should I give him to provide the basic nutrients? (In morning and daytime give various treats that he likes)

Chan Bleasdale

Posted by Preethi KOP
Jul 18, 2013

Hi Chan,

Thanks for your reply!

I unfortunately will not be able to help you with this query of yours. The amount of feed recommended has a lot of variables to it. The best person to ask will be your veterinarian. He/she will need to take in to account your dog's body condition score, age, activity level etc. and then look at the feed's constituents to make the right decision.

Sorry that I can't be of more help. Like I said earlier though, it would be best to try and feed Bobby more than once daily.

All the best!

Preethi

Posted by kjd
Nov 25, 2013

Hi, Chan,

I've had fussy eaters. My first dog decided she had to have plenty of gravy on her kibble before she'd touch it. So I began to give her dry kibble. I left it down for twenty minutes, morning and evening. At the end of the twenty minutes, the kibble came up and no food until the next time. NO TREATS (very difficult to do with a soft-hearted mother around). After two days of not eating, the dog decided dry kibble was delicious. We never had a problem again.

If you put the food down twice a day for Bobby and he doesn't eat, you are not starving him. If he were starved, he would eat anything you put down. So you can wait him out. Also, since you should be feeding him twice a day, each feeding should offer only half what he should get in the day. Do not give him a day's worth at once! And don't make it attractive. Offer him the food you want him to eat. I assure you, he will not starve. He is not a cat. When he is hungry enough, he'll eat. You are not going to see his ribs start poking through his skin.

kjd

Since he does eat, there isn't anything physically wrong with him.

Best way to correct Bobby's fussy of food