encouraging a fussy eater...

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truffles

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Pheobe is a very fussy eater - for the past few months we've had to put wet food in her diet just so she would eat the dry food too. We've now taken her off it - she's put on weight, she won't eat a whole packet at a time so it sits and doesn't smell great - mum doesn't want it in the fridge etc.....

Sooo..any ideas on how to make her James Well Beloved complete dried food a bit more appetizing - we have some spare chicken over, but we aren't always gonna have that, so any reliable, cheap products much appreciated! Thanks.
 
I've had the same thing with one of my Inuits. (I believe its a trait of Sibes and Malamutes). I started putting the meat juices on her food which she was keen to eat but OH said I'll end up making her really fussy, he said put the food down, leave her for 5/10mins and whatever is left, take it straight away and don't feed her until the next morning (presuming you have an adult dog which is fed once a day), so far its working, she's eating far more than ever before!

It also can help if you have two dogs and feed them together (seperate bowls and a few metres apart) when in competition sometimes their instincts will kick in.
 
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I've had the same thing with one of my Inuits. (I believe its a trait of Sibes and Malamutes). I started putting the meat juices on her food which she was keen to eat but OH said I'll end up making her really fussy, he said put the food down, leave her for 5/10mins and whatever is left, take it straight away and don't feed her until the next morning (presuming you have an adult dog which is fed once a day), so far its working, she's eating far more than ever before!

It also can help if you have two dogs and feed them together (seperate bowls and a few metres apart) when in competition sometimes their instincts will kick in.

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Ahh, she is an adult but is fed 2 small meals a day - from a pup she always had food infront of her, so weaned it down to 2 meals a day. Will start taking food away if she doesn't eat it after 10 mins, thanks for the tip.
smile.gif

Unfortunately no second dog though.
 
....or tuna in sunflower oil - also has the benfit of being very good for their coats
smirk.gif
....try adding a bit of hot water when you mix in the fish - this makes it even more 'appetising' ! .. don't give too much fish at one time though or they may get the runs.
 
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....or tuna in sunflower oil - also has the benfit of being very good for their coats
smirk.gif
....try adding a bit of hot water when you mix in the fish - this makes it even more 'appetising' ! .. don't give too much fish at one time though or they may get the runs.

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The problem with doing that Milor is that you will not ever get her to eat food without it, she'll get fussier and fussier.
 
Some weak gravy in the food can help, but once you start you will always have to keep it up.
We had to pretend we were eating it to get one of the GSD's to have some when she first came,ince she thought i was something we wanted her dish was clean in super fast time!
Agree with Severnmiles,take anything she hasnt eaten away after 10 mins or so and bin it.No dog will starve itself when food is on offer, and this way doesnt end up with yo having to constantly mess about.

ETS- If you can find a dry food that is all one type of "biscuit" it will stop her picking out the bits she likes while leaving the rest.
 
Thank you everyone - Will add the oil in anyway, because being a Westie she doesn't have great skin. She does sometimes have our yummy leftovers (no potato, but steak and fish...) so could probably be the reason for her some of her fussiness!
blush.gif
 
I had huge problems with my Tibetan Terrier. He'd even turn his nose up at cooked meat/chicken/smoked mackerals.

He got better when I started putting his bowl down for 10 minutes and then taking it away until the same time next day, whether he'd eaten it or not. Although it sounds a bit mean a dog won't starve itself to death unless it's ill so don't worry if your dog doesn't eat anything for a couple of days. She will eat eventually. This method does work - though you can't give her any biscuits or other treats at any other times during the day. She has to have this one chance to eat per day only.

The other thing you could try which worked a miracle with my fussy lad... what flavour of James Wellbeloved are you feeding her? He wasn't that keen on any of the other flavours but he adores the Ocean Fish variety (blue bag). He now devours his food when I put it down, which is a miracle compared to how bad he used to be and how worried I used to get about him.
 
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I had huge problems with my Tibetan Terrier. He'd even turn his nose up at cooked meat/chicken/smoked mackerals.

He got better when I started putting his bowl down for 10 minutes and then taking it away until the same time next day, whether he'd eaten it or not. Although it sounds a bit mean a dog won't starve itself to death unless it's ill so don't worry if your dog doesn't eat anything for a couple of days. She will eat eventually. This method does work - though you can't give her any biscuits or other treats at any other times during the day. She has to have this one chance to eat per day only.

The other thing you could try which worked a miracle with my fussy lad... what flavour of James Wellbeloved are you feeding her? He wasn't that keen on any of the other flavours but he adores the Ocean Fish variety (blue bag). He now devours his food when I put it down, which is a miracle compared to how bad he used to be and how worried I used to get about him.

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Oh great thank you!! We buy the small bags and mix them all in together, so not sure what flavour lol but a mixture of all of them!

Thanks for you help.
 
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