Fussy dog

BallyRoanBaubles

BallyRoanBaubles

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My dog was really fussy with his food as a puppy, but seemed to grow out of it and would generally eat whatever you gave him. He’s nearly 3 now and a Labrador (not normal I know 🤣)

He’s recently gone fussy again, food he would eat no problem he’s now turning his nose up at. Will still eat treats or his food with something nice on but I don’t really want to go down that rabbit hole again.

He did have a bad tummy about a week ago which I think has started off his fussiness. But all seems sorted on that front now.

I’m kinda torn between just feeding him what he likes and playing hard ball.

So wise hho dog owners how would you deal with this 🤔
 
KittenInTheTree said:
I will admit to spoiling mine where food is concerned, and would probably cook for him to try and tempt his appetite back. A nice bit of kedgeree, perhaps, or some plain scrambled eggs. Better advice will likely soon be posted!
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😆 hes not not eating totally just being more fussy, I could previously leave his tea down go for a shower and he would have eaten it all when I came back but now He’s just looking at me like meh.
Im all for giving him treats and special extras but don’t want him to not eat his ‘proper’ food as he knows something better will come if he doesn’t!

Doesn’t help he’s not a fatty either and I worry about him loosing weight if he doesn’t eat
 
One of our Labs had real trouble with her food, from being about 6 months old. She seemed to be hungry and want to eat but just couldn't face it when she saw the dish, even with her sister there to compete with. We said that she looked as if she was going to cry when she was given food that she couldn't eat. She had spells of diahorrea.
We eventually sorted her problems out when we had her spayed, after her 3rd season. But prior to that we made sure that she only had grain-free food and no beef. If you don't already, I would give yours grain-free and otherwise keep a diary to see if you can pinpoint any trigger foods.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
One of our Labs had real trouble with her food, from being about 6 months old. She seemed to be hungry and want to eat but just couldn't face it when she saw the dish, even with her sister there to compete with. We said that she looked as if she was going to cry when she was given food that she couldn't eat. She had spells of diahorrea.
We eventually sorted her problems out when we had her spayed, after her 3rd season. But prior to that we made sure that she only had grain-free food and no beef. If you don't already, I would give yours grain-free and otherwise keep a diary to see if you can pinpoint any trigger foods.
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Thank you I will keep that in mind
 
Dram was a picky puppy and occasionally is picky now .He’s a lab as well.
i don’t mess with him if he does not eat he misses a meal that cures him .
 
I’m thinking along those lines clodagh, I gave him a spoon full of chicken mince this morning which he ate, but still didn’t want the kibble I offered after so I took it up after 5 mins.

he use to be exclusively on raw which he always ate no questions asked, but for the past few months he’s been on raw breakfast and kibble tea (trying to save money!) and he’s still always eaten his kibble tea until this past few days
 
Perhaps try just tinned original tinned chappie for a week or so to see if you can settle his stomach. The vets will prescribe hills science which didn't work. I also think it is stomach pain related. I would also try to divide the feeds into 4-6 feeds for a little while.
 
It could be more associating the food with feeling unwell. Maybe see if your vet will give you something like Omeprazole, that will help settle his stomach a bit more.
 
Amymay said:
Have you tried the usual 15 minutes down, then take it away. No treats, then try again at his next usual feed time?
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This is what I would do first.

Rather than treats, use the normal kibble as a treat?
I have a quite fussy terrier, he can take it or leave it, mainly leaves it 🙄 he seems to eat better after on an evening , when he gets back from a walk
 
BallyRoanBaubles said:
My dog was really fussy with his food as a puppy, but seemed to grow out of it and would generally eat whatever you gave him. He’s nearly 3 now and a Labrador (not normal I know 🤣)

He’s recently gone fussy again, food he would eat no problem he’s now turning his nose up at. Will still eat treats or his food with something nice on but I don’t really want to go down that rabbit hole again.

He did have a bad tummy about a week ago which I think has started off his fussiness. But all seems sorted on that front now.

I’m kinda torn between just feeding him what he likes and playing hard ball.

So wise hho dog owners how would you deal with this 🤔
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I feel your pain, we feed our dog mainly these products from Aldi and whilst we try and reduce the salt content as much as we can, we realise they are quite fattening. And Aldi don't always have the turkey in stock so she has ham instead which isn't good for either fat or salt content. She's a 9 year old beagle, and isn't humungus size wise but she's always a little bit fat.

Its a constant nightmare, she won't eat any type of dog food, when we first had her she was put on what Beagle Welfare had her on but she stopped eating it, and we went three or four days with other types of dog foods which she flatly refused to eat before we started her on cooked meats.

She is also extremely fussy about what treats she will eat and will only eat those treats with the wrap around dried chicken!

We chop the meat up and mix with the Purina anti hypo allergenic small bite size biscuits which are the only biscuits apart from gravy bone biscuits that she will eat. We discovered the purina when we tried to feed her an elimination diet to find out why she kept getting recurring ear infections and it was the only biscuit she would eat.

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Birker2020 said:
I feel your pain, we feed our dog mainly these products from Aldi and whilst we try and reduce the salt content as much as we can, we realise they are quite fattening. And Aldi don't always have the turkey in stock so she has ham instead which isn't good for either fat or salt content. She's a 9 year old beagle, and isn't humungus size wise but she's always a little bit fat.

Its a constant nightmare, she won't eat any type of dog food, when we first had her she was put on what Beagle Welfare had her on but she stopped eating it, and we went three or four days with other types of dog foods which she flatly refused to eat before we started her on cooked meats.

She is also extremely fussy about what treats she will eat and will only eat those treats with the wrap around dried chicken!

We chop the meat up and mix with the Purina anti hypo allergenic small bite size biscuits which are the only biscuits apart from gravy bone biscuits that she will eat. We discovered the purina when we tried to feed her an elimination diet to find out why she kept getting recurring ear infections and it was the only biscuit she would eat.

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Thank you, ideally I don’t want to go down the having to have toppers route as I know he eats raw so I imagine using toppers would be just as much faf and probably as expensive as raw 🤣
 
Just had another thought re kibble, I’ve seen some muesli type kibbles(thinking these might be more interesting) I’m sure I’ve read somewhere this can give dogs bloat? And are they just full of sugar?
 
Clodagh said:
I would never feed my dog any of those products recommended by Birker, but I wouldn’t give rubbish food either. Have you tried Harrington wet? My OH bought some by mistake and my lot loved it. Mind you they love everything tbh.
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I haven’t but he usually eats most wet food, I did have him on butchers tins for a while but his poops weren’t great and the price shot up. Although I could try mixing his kibble with some wet as his poops are fine on current kibble. Skinners lamb and rice which I think is an ok kibble?
 
BallyRoanBaubles said:
I haven’t but he usually eats most wet food, I did have him on butchers tins for a while but his poops weren’t great and the price shot up. Although I could try mixing his kibble with some wet as his poops are fine on current kibble. Skinners lamb and rice which I think is an ok kibble?
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Just continue to add some hot water and see how it goes.
 
BallyRoanBaubles said:
I haven’t but he usually eats most wet food, I did have him on butchers tins for a while but his poops weren’t great and the price shot up. Although I could try mixing his kibble with some wet as his poops are fine on current kibble. Skinners lamb and rice which I think is an ok kibble?
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Yes I think that’s rated pretty well. I feed it sometimes.
 
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