Choosy eater

Rudi Lim · Jan 29, 2015

Hello everyone. It has been a while since my last post.

Has anyone encountered a French bulldog who is a choosy eater? My latest Frenchie is 6 mths now and he gets sick of his dog food very easily. He is currently on Acana's Pacifica. Just 2 weeks ago, he gotten sick of it and I have to top it up with some can food. A few days later, he won't eat the food in his bowl unless it is hand fed.

I would like to seek some advice on this matter. I can't bear leaving the food there untouched and also not letting him eat the whole day.

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CristianL · Jan 29, 2015

Hello,

We don't have this problem with our 5 1/2 month old lady. She would eat the pavement if she could tear chunks out of it

Her 1.6 years old brother however is a very picky eater and he almost never eats by himself. Our friends who own him always complain they have to pray to him even to eat a few kibbles and they're always on their fours after him through out the house to hand feed so that he can get his "daily meal". They've changed his food numerous times, tried canned, dry, home cooked rice, veal, chicken, turkey breast...he just doesn't enjoy eating

He is otherwise healthy, robust, 13 kilos in weight (28.60 pounds) and we all wonder where is the weight coming from cause he eats so little.

Maybe your puppy will grow out of it. Never loose hope

Squishy Walnuts · Jan 29, 2015

Have you considered switching to a raw diet? Maybe he just doesn't care for kibble.

I don't have any personal experience with this as my dogs eat like they haven't eaten in days. I'm surprised Wally doesn't try to eat his bowl most days. :facepalm:

shortstuff · Jan 29, 2015

I'd try going to your pet store and checking out the sample size bags. He may need to have his food switched up for variety, or as Squishy said, maybe try out a raw diet. I wish I could help more... our girls are so obsessed with their food that they spend several minutes just licking the bowl and return to it later in the day for a taste!

eeturk · Jan 29, 2015

I have a super picky eater, and I know there's another one here too (Stella), and I'm sure her mom will chime in!

My dog won't eat kibble, period. Doesn't matter what brand, flavor, etc. He was very skinny and just looked bad because he wasn't getting nutrients.

We switched him to raw (frozen Stella and Chewy's) and haven't looked back. Now he eats a full pound a day (we have trouble keeping weight on him) and begs and rattles his bowl asking for more. I'd say try something besides kibble. Stella and Chewy's is a good option for raw since it's easy and convenient for people just starting out!

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davidh · Jan 29, 2015

Yep, we have two picky eaters. We have to top with canned food, Feta cheese, or Stella & Chewys freeze dried Duck, Duck, Goose. Plus sometimes we even have to hand feed them, Henri especially.

Jakeyjake · Jan 29, 2015

Stella is a picky eater and I have tried numerous brands of food, even raw. We have had to hand feed as well to get her interested. I hope I don't jinx this, but right now what is working is Amicus kibble sprinkled with lots of freeze dried chicken mixed with a tiny bit of low sodium chicken broth and warm water. I believe every dog is different. Jake would eat anything I put in front of him. Be patient and maybe give the raw a try, he may love it. Or try a different protein in his kibble. Maybe he is not wild about fish.

Rudi Lim · Jan 29, 2015

Thank you everyone. Now I know I am not alone. My other 2 would just swallow anything placed in front of them. Frenchies are usually quite greedy and eat about anything. I will continue to monitor his eating pattern. Will switch to raw if need be.

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winginit66 · Jan 30, 2015

Squishy Walnuts said:
Have you considered switching to a raw diet? Maybe he just doesn't care for kibble.

I don't have any personal experience with this as my dogs eat like they haven't eaten in days. I'm surprised Wally doesn't try to eat his bowl most days. :facepalm:

I am still laughing!!! All of ours go at their food just like Will describes. Sorry I am no help, but I think others have had some great advice!

2bullymama · Jan 30, 2015

Squishy Walnuts said:
my dogs eat like they haven't eaten in days. I'm surprised Wally doesn't try to eat his bowl most days. :facepalm:

This is Cheli too.... every meal is like he hasn't eaten in weeks

Alice Kable · Jan 31, 2015

Buster eats slowly, and chews his food. I think he could have been a picky eater, but he always cleans his bowl so his EB brother won't get it!

Rudi Lim · Feb 9, 2015

I just started on raw feed today and he ate all his food without having to hand feed him. yay!

eeturk · Feb 10, 2015

Rudi Lim said:
I just started on raw feed today and he ate all his food without having to hand feed him. yay!

Yay!! It's pretty amazing, isn't it? We had the same experience and it was such a relief.

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Gcorondo4 · Feb 11, 2015

Try adding some hot water to his food and letting it sit until it gets squishy! Or maybe top with coconut oil, fish oil or probiotics ? I don't have super picky eaters but I have recently been topping their food with keifer and they have been gobbling it up in record time ! It's nice for them to have a change once in awhile!

I tried the raw food thing for a while and he ate it at first but then got tired of it! I switched back to kibble because on the days that he didn't eat his raw food I didn't like the idea of leaving it out all day for him.. Fearing it would spoil and he would get sick from it when we finally we to eat it! Also, the texture would get hard and gross...

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PugandTwoFrenchies · Feb 24, 2015

Hi all,

I have 2 puppies here, and my struggle is to get them to eat all of their food in one sitting rather than me just leaving it out for them all day (that's what the breeder did). I also have a pug in the house, and there is just no way I can leave food out. She'd eat it all and the pups would get none!

I've found to encourage them, I mix in a bit of canned pumpkin, and that'll usually get them to finish off the last bit. It's strange, because some days they'll eat it up, but then this morning they only ate 1/2 of their breakfast. That had me concerned, as pups need enough nutrition to grow! So, I gave them the rest of their food 2 hrs later, and that seemed to work. But every day is different.

I'm just so not used to having dogs that don't eat all of their food. I've had 3 pugs now, and they've always gobbled up their food up in record time. Frenchies are a different breed, for sure!

Squishy Walnuts · Feb 25, 2015

PugandTwoFrenchies said:
Hi all,

I have 2 puppies here, and my struggle is to get them to eat all of their food in one sitting rather than me just leaving it out for them all day (that's what the breeder did). I also have a pug in the house, and there is just no way I can leave food out. She'd eat it all and the pups would get none!

I've found to encourage them, I mix in a bit of canned pumpkin, and that'll usually get them to finish off the last bit. It's strange, because some days they'll eat it up, but then this morning they only ate 1/2 of their breakfast. That had me concerned, as pups need enough nutrition to grow! So, I gave them the rest of their food 2 hrs later, and that seemed to work. But every day is different.

I'm just so not used to having dogs that don't eat all of their food. I've had 3 pugs now, and they've always gobbled up their food up in record time. Frenchies are a different breed, for sure!

Every Frenchie is different. I have a Frenchie and a Boston Terrier, and they are the same with food. They eat every meal like they haven't seen food in days, and they get fed twice a day.

Jakeyjake · Feb 25, 2015

How old are they? Are you feeding two or three times per day? What worked for my Stella when she was a puppy and lost interest in her food was sprinkling a little freeze dried chicken with some warm water. [MENTION=1146]PugandTwoFrenchies[/MENTION]

PugandTwoFrenchies · Feb 25, 2015

Jakeyjake said:
How old are they? Are you feeding two or three times per day? What worked for my Stella when she was a puppy and lost interest in her food was sprinkling a little freeze dried chicken with some warm water. [MENTION=1146]PugandTwoFrenchies[/MENTION]

I'm thinking that I'll have to feed them 3x/day, as they're currently on Iams Smart Puppy (not my choice...that's what the breeder had them on, so I'm in the process of transitioning them to Fromm's), and the Iams food guidelines are just too much for these 2 small pups to handle. If I break it down into 3 meals, they seem to get through it easier.

Still, even though they're better at supper, I still have to encourage my female more than my male. I add a bit of pumpkin to hers, then sometimes a bit of yogurt, they get fish oil, sometimes I put water in hers, etc. Agh!

They seem to be doing fine and I'm sure they're getting enough. Like I said, I'm just used to voracious eaters!

PugandTwoFrenchies · Feb 25, 2015

Jakeyjake said:
How old are they? Are you feeding two or three times per day? What worked for my Stella when she was a puppy and lost interest in her food was sprinkling a little freeze dried chicken with some warm water. [MENTION=1146]PugandTwoFrenchies[/MENTION]

Did you get the freeze dried chicken at the pet store?

Jakeyjake · Feb 26, 2015

PugandTwoFrenchies said:
Did you get the freeze dried chicken at the pet store?

I buy it on line because I can get a better deal. I'm not sure where to direct you in Canada. Petco does carry it though. It's called Pure Bites freeze dried chicken and it's 100% pure chicken that breaks up quite easily and can sprinkled on top of their kibble.