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We adopted a 9 month old Lab mix. She weighs almost 30 lbs. I began feeding her Beneful as the package directed. I took her to the Vet and bought Science Diet. Right now I am mixing the two dry foods. She turns her nose up unless I mix something 'liquid' with the dry foods. So, I bought a can of Alpo and mixed 2 tlbs. with the dry and she searches out the canned stuff!
I have searched on the web for some advice and most of what I find, say that the dog will eat when they get hungry. Ahha, but I do not want to leave food sitting out in her bowl all day, just hoping that she will eventually eat. Plus that would make it difficult to know when she may have to do her business outside.
Has anyone else experienced this situation, and if so, how was it resolved? Thank you for any advice.
No offense, but all of those are pretty crappy foods.
Innova, Evo, Blue Buffalo, Royal Canin, Chicken Soup for the Dog, Old Mother Hubbard...... are all good foods.
The benefit with a better food is that there are little to no fillers, so you actually feed less food, while the dog gets more nutrition. Also you can time their bowel movements that way and smaller poops too! (bonus!)
We feed our dog a mix of dry and raw prey diet. One day he gets 2 cups of Innova dry food (sometimes with an egg or cottage cheese, or yogurt in it, or sometimes a can of food); and the next day he gets a 1/4 chicken, or part of a deer or a whole skinned squirrel.
Also, as far as her eating, you put the food out in the morning, wait 15-30 mins, and if she doesn't eat, she doesn't get food till the next feeding time. She might miss a few feedings before she puts 2 and 2 together, but she will come around. Also make sure to work with her on food aggression, and don't feed her in her crate.
Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
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Cav Scout wife....No offense taken, believe me!!! This thread was just for all of these great suggestions from everyone. Since I have had her. 2 meals a day. And I do pick up her bowl within 20-25 minutes so far. May have to shorten that time limit I see.
For the past 2 days I have mixed dry and canned. She is eating better and in just about the right amount. I take her on her 'walks' within 40-60 minutes after eating and this appears to be her schedule. I also see that I will have to definitely changes brands. May have to travel to the 'big city' soon and stock up. Well, not really stock up. Just buy a few of what y'all have suggested here.
The Innova sounds about right to me. Thanks to all of you for so much help. This old dog is learning!!!
My first dog was like that, at first I simply mixed canned with the dry and gradually mixed less and less wet with the dry. Now she has an all dry diet. I'm not sure if she really likes the taste, but she's a healthy weight, has a gorgeous coat, is full of energy, and never has accidents inside. I'll admit I buy cheap though (Goodlife Recipe) since with my student loans, credit card debt, and other bills, I can't spend a ridiculous amont of money on food for her or me.
Nutro, Science Diet, Purina all of those are horrible foods. They all have corn and a bunch of filler grains in them.
Go to http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ and then go to reviews. If you are genuinely interested in finding a good nutritious food for them stick with anything that is a 4 star or above (6 being the best). We feed Solid Gold along with Raw meat and raw bones to all of our dogs and pups and they all smell great, don't have bad breath, they have less waste in the yard, clean teeth and even my house doesn't smell like dog. Instead of dry kibble we give them their food, sprinkle a little seameal (vitamins) on it, wet it and let it swell up and then it has kind of a graviness to it. The food smells so good I would even try it.
Spend more on food and less at the Vet...good trade off for a healthy happy pup. I'm sure you'll do fine because you are here asking for help and trying to learn. Best of luck!
The dry food is better for them, helps clean their teeth.
Soft food will just make them want soft food all the time.
Whether it be 1-2 Tblspns. or not.
Unless your pup has a medical condition, it shouldn't be on Science diet at all. No doubt...(I'm just guessing here) your vet had you buy the science diet from him/her (???) just guessing. I could be very well wrong.
A lot of vets like to put (add-ons) to your bill.
If your pup still doesn't want to eat it's food, try adding plain green beans or the nubby carrots to it's bowl. Not a lot, just a few. During the Winter I'll put some olive oil or veggie oil (2 tblspns per 3 cups of dry food). It helps with their coat.
If it were me, I would feed your pup 2 times a day. If you pup gets 4 cups of food a day, then divide it & give 2c. in AM & 2c. in afternoon.
Watch the snacks...stop those forsure. Your pup could also be getting filled up with dog cookies.
Once again there are a lot of sodium & fat in dog biscuits. You might want to give your pup little nubby carrots as a treat.
Our dogs LOVE nubby carrots. They are crunchy & sweet. YUM...
GOOD LUCK NV.
Location: Moved to town. Miss 'my' woods and critters.
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Sillypups....ouch, I will have to watch the treats. I have been breaking them up in small pieces and take them along on our walks. I call her and if she comes to me, I offer one of these small pieces. Most of the time, so far, this has worked.
I did mix some canned food in with the dry and she ate both of her meals!. You are right about buying the Science Diet at the vets!. I was just so anxious to do the 'right thing' and went ahead and bought the food. I now know I should have done more research before we adopted her. Thanks to this forum and thread, I am learning so very much. Y'all have been so helpful to me. Brandi thanks you also. I'm sure. I posted some pictures of this 30 lb. wonder in my album.
I think giving small pieces of a treat are OK it sounds like you are training her to come to you while on a walk with the treats, that is an incentive for her and is used by dog trainers.
You will get great advice here.
I switched to a higher quality food after reading this forum and couldn't be happier.
Sillypups....ouch, I will have to watch the treats. I have been breaking them up in small pieces and take them along on our walks. I call her and if she comes to me, I offer one of these small pieces. Most of the time, so far, this has worked.
Don't worry about mixing your dogs food soft/dry. Just make sure that you don'g over go the soft and that dry makes up for about 75-90% of the meal. What we like to do is a small morning feed of just dry. Then evening meal has both dry and some soft in it. I like to turn the soft into a type of gravy with fresh broths. I never feed raw meats or bones to my dogs. It can provoke some food agression in dogs and not always a healthy choice. I figure if I wouldn't eat then they shouldn't eat it.
As for treats keep them simple and make the praise for the come back or action be big. So pup will know he did a great thing and will look more to the praise then the treats. You can also make your own treats and control what goes into them. Simple as baking a yummy cookie for your family.
Good luck lots of great idea here. I even learn a few.
We switch bagged dry dog food all the time. I have read that this is actually okay and I have a friend who does the same. Our dog is beautiful...the vet said it last week...she's grown up fine.
We give her Wellness or a premium brand when we can get to the feed store. When it is not in the plans we get her food at the supermarket, and yes, it can be anything from Iams to Beneful to (I can't recall what I bought on Monday). I would say every other bag I buy is 'very good' kibble. (like Wellness).
She gets kibble in the am. If she's hungry, she'll eat that or just wait till dinner. She gets the occasional treat in the day. Sometimes a handful of cereal or oatmeal (she likes it) or a bit of chicken.
I cook her dinner every night...it gets mixed into the kibble. She gets meat of some sort (hamburger, chicken, tuna, sardines, pork (yes, she get this too, but not too often), some veggies (mixed or peas or carrots that I microwave). Sometimes a starch.
This is actually the best thing that worked for us. We gave us the canned food awhile ago. She didn't like it and it smelled funky and frankly, I like knowing exact WHAT meat, what vegetables and grains she's getting.
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Dry food
