I've ran into a dilemma. Dog food help, please!

[blushy]

Isabelle has decided to go on strike. She didn't eat for 24 hours and I've ran back and forth to the pet store exchanging all of the different types of Fromm, which she will eat none, or became very itchy eating so I couldn't use it anyway.

I'm obviously going to be switching brands... I'm looking at Acana and Orijin.

She does horribly on the beef and lamb Fromm, so I'm going to avoid those proteins for now.

She absolutely hated the surf & turf Fromm. I had to mix a banana, Stella & chewey's freeze dried turkey, and coconut oil into it to get her to eat her breakfast. But she ate her dinner with nothing in it at all...

That isnt realistic! She doesn't need to be in the habit of needing something added to her kibble to eat it.

So Frenchie parents with picky and itchy dogs... What do you suggest/what worked for you?!

I appreciate you all so much! [emoji173]️ Thanks in advance!

 

[cnash]

Those are both great. But even on Orijen and Acana once Bentley got used to them he was picky and would pick at it until he was starving then eat it all.
Now that Bentley is eating raw I've never seen him eat so intently and everything as soon as I place it.

If you are against raw and want to stay with kibble orijen and acana are the best imo. And if you want variety acana is where you want to be. But you can switch between orijen and acana as they are essentially the same, same parent company, with similar bases.

 

[MaplesMommy]

Acana/Orijen are definitely great brands. They are lower in carbs than Fromm, so that might help with the itchiness.

However that said, I know of dogs that won't eat kibble unless you mix freeze-dried or raw in.

Good luck!

(I feed raw, but Maple would eat anything, so did the dog I was growing up with. Never made personal experiences with picky dogs, but from what I heard, they can be a pain... )

 

[KimB3384]

I totally feel your pain. With my itchy dog, I basically had to start from a scratch with a very basic meat-only base to see what she could tolerate and then add in fruits and veggies on a trial basis. The issue with most kibble and even with commercial raw is that they throw everything but the kitchen sink into the mix in order to cover their bases and please people, so it's really though to find a food that doesn't have an offending ingredient in it. One of the biggest offenders for us was peas. Many of the grain-free foods use peas or other legumes like chickpeas or lentils and Beezy can't tolerate any of them. Through a year of trial and error and with the help of a food energetics chart we're finally on a sustainable, itch-free path. But it certainly wasn't easy. Is there a reason you want to stick with kibble? Cost and convenience? Because Wysong has a meat-only line of canned food that isn't horribly expensive and it actually includes three 'cooling' or 'neutral' proteins which are supposed to be great for allergy-prone dogs: rabbit, salmon, and duck. They're not considered to be complete because they don't have added vitamins and minerals, but you can easily supplement. If you can settle on a couple of proteins Isabelle can tolerate and likes to eat, you can test fruits and veggies. Once you know what she can and can't eat, you can use that to see if there's a kibble that aligns with the good ingredients. Good luck!

 

[2bullymama]

UGH!

Cheli is doing this with me right now too..... Fromm Pork/Peas and he has decided, he does not want to eat it. HOWEVER, if I place it on the floor, not in the bowl -- he will scarf it up! Riddle me that one ??? :facepalm:

 

[hannah]

My dog refuses to eat his kibble by itself. He goes on strike and will refuse to eat all day.

We have him on salmon and sweet potatoe kibble, and we add in raw venison/lamb.

He loves it but has runny poops, so we are trying to alter the amounts of each at the moment (we were going half and half and are switching to 3/4 kibble and 1/4 raw)

When Banksy is no longer on puppy food we will be switching the kibble to Acana, but they don't have a puppy food that doesn't have chicken in it.

But ever since we have been adding the raw he eats as soon as we put the food on the ground, and he has SOOO much more energy and seems all around more happy

 

[Cbrugs]

I don't know about picky dogs cause Jax will eat anything but I do know about itchy dogs! A little over a month ago I started Jax on Great Life Grain Free Buffalo which gets 5 stars on dogfoodadvisor.com. They also have a chicken and a salmon. It is a single protein, no potatoes and no peas kibble. While Jax will probably always be itchy due to environmental allergies, he seems to be doing very good on this food and his poop is much firmer than it was before and not as much.

When I first got Jax I tried several Fromm kibbles and he never did good with them.

Good luck!

 

[Jakeyjake]

UGH!

Cheli is doing this with me right now too..... Fromm Pork/Peas and he has decided, he does not want to eat it. HOWEVER, if I place it on the floor, not in the bowl -- he will scarf it up! Riddle me that one ??? :facepalm:

:ROFL2: That's hilarious. What these fur balls make us do!!!

 

[Jakeyjake]

The story of my life, itchy, picky eater Stella! Nothing has worked for us so far. I am in the market for a new food, not because she won't eat, but because she is soooo itchy. I was looking at Ziwipeak yesterday, but the 2nd ingredient is venison liver and not sure Stella could tolerate that. The Fromm surf and turf's 3rd ingredient is potatoes. Potatoes can be inflammatory so if you are staying on kibble, I would look for grain free AND potatoe free. The Acana singles line is good because it has limited ingredients. I tried Stella on the Pork and Butternut squash but she got extra gassy and it didn't slow down the itchiness. I always add fresh cooked food to my dog's kibble because I hate feeding them kibble, but I can't stand the whole raw thing. Although, I have tried Primal raw, which I was really excited about because most of the ingredients are organic (except the protein) but they wouldn't eat it. I have also tried Grandma Lucy's freeze dried but it made Stella vomit (too much garlic). The Orijen was also too rich and made her vomit (I suspect it was the liver) I currently have her on Amicus, but I don't like how high it is in carbs, so I supplement with more protein (cooked lamb and sweet potatoe) Jake is on Horizon Pulsar, salmon, and I supplement with cooked wild salmon. I am very close to eliminating the kibble and just cooking for them once I research further to make sure I know how to make a healthy balanced diet for them with the right supplements. Not sure I was any help, but I can totally relate to your frustration. Good luck and I hope you find something that works!

 

[blushy]

So many good suggestions and personal experience.

I'm off to the pet store tomorrow to read all of the Acana bags. I like that they have more singled out choices.

Only her chin gets itchy and red splotchy, so I know it's the food. She's luckily not itchy all over.

Today I had to cook her a scrambled egg and add it to her breakfast!

 

[2bullymama]

If only her chin .. Do you wipe after eating/drinking

 

[Chiana]

I have a picky eater here, Mo will not touch his food if I don't add something tasty to the kibble. We have also went through pretty much the whole selection of kibbles as he gets picky with those also. Sometimes I feel that he just forgets to eat, and then if I hand feed him few bits, even give treats just to get him started. Sometimes that does the trick and he is like a light lights up in his head "hey, I'm actually hungry!

Typically I mix in the kibble minced meat or tuna fish or ham or raw egg or liver pate. He hardly never eats just kibble. I wish I cud also train him eat without always adding something for taste

Acana is a good choice to try and good quality. For us it was a bit too rich and stools became bit too loose. But hey, can't go wrong with trying :cool2:

 

[blushy]

If only her chin .. Do you wipe after eating/drinking

I wiped but no help sadly. The red itchy rash stayed... didn't go away til I switched off of the lamb Fromm. She loved that food. Such a shame!

 

[hannah]

Keep us posted! sounds like a lot of us have the same issues with picky eaters. I add raw or cooked egg a few times a week and sometimes as well

it would be so nice to have a dog that wasn't picky! My best friends frenchie eats his kibble so fast without question! She thinks im spoiling my dog with all the add ins lol, but I believe she is just lucky with a non picky eater

 

[2bullymama]

I wiped but no help sadly. The red itchy rash stayed... didn't go away til I switched off of the lamb Fromm. She loved that food. Such a shame!

Lamb/lentil kicked the crap out of my two babies too.... had to get them off that one and quick. Poor Banks, her eyes got to be a red runny mess and Cheli's never stopped tearing

 

[blushy]

Lamb/lentil kicked the crap out of my two babies too.... had to get them off that one and quick. Poor Banks, her eyes got to be a red runny mess and Cheli's never stopped tearing

Oh no glad I noticed the chin itching before it got worse!

I am trying signature kangaroo. She gobbled it down. 1 whole cup without anything added.

I have 4 more feedings worth of samples from the store, so we'll see how she does on it!

Edit: gobbled her dinner of the kangaroo right up, no hesitation! Keeping my fingers crossed!!

 

[Schimpfy]

Chance will often become picky with his food no allergies just bored but if i fill his dish on the stove then put it down he gobbles it all up. He is nearly 2 and has been on Fromm all his life would hate to have to transition to a different brand