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Bringing a dog back to a healthy diet

  • 21-05-2010 2:45am
    #1
    Exclamation Marc
    Registered Users Posts: 11,230 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    Am just looking for some advice or re-assurances about an issue I'm having with my dog.

    I have an 11month old Shi-tzu/Maltese cross. She's very happy and all is good with her apart from her diet. My mum a couple of months back began to gave the dog chicken with her dog food, (Burns' Dog Food-Recommended by the Vet) with the chicken under the dog-food-nuggets. This usually resulted in the dog inhaling the chicken immediately and pecking at the nuggets for the rest of the day.

    I was vehemently against this from the start and had been vocally against it from the get go. I said that as a treat, maybe once a month maybe, but to keep her to her dog food as that was what was prescribed and that chicken is not a dog food. After maybe 2ish months of fighting and telling my mum that the vet and others had warned me against it, she finally gave in after a huge fight where I basically told her she was not helping the dog in the long run and to cop on. I should have acted earlier, but it was impossible to get through to her, and was like fighting against the Spanish Armada at times.

    So I took control and weened her off it fairly quickly and now have just her back on her nuggets. The problem is now that the dog isn't touching the food at all when its put down (or at least, if she is, its not a visible intake). I know she likes the nuggets because either the evening of the first or second day (of nuggets only) I pretended I was eating them at the table and hand-fed her a few and she ate them no problem, yet when I put her dish down with them, she has no interest.

    I am wondering whether I should just hold out and that she will go back to them, or should I invest in a new food or are there any other suggestions?
    She's not overweight or skinny, but I'd worried if she goes too long without actually eating that much.

    Thanks for any help. :)


Comments

  • #2
    WalterMitty
    Registered Users Posts: 1,582 ✭✭✭WalterMitty


    Chicken is dog food but you are right in insisting on only giving it as a treat, say once a week. The dog will eat the dry food when its hungry. Put its breakfast down in morning and leave it for twenty minutes , and then remove bowl regardless of whats been eaten and put any left over food away for later meal. Repeat at all meal times for a day or two and dog will eventually cop on and eat all the dry food.


  • #3
    lorebringer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,712 ✭✭✭lorebringer


    Definitely hold out - no dog will let themselves stave when there is food available! She will hold out if she knows there is something tastier coming so don't give her the option.

    It sounds like you are free feeding her (leaving the bowl down all the time), this is generally not the best method to get dogs to eat. If you put the food down for 15ish minutes, then take it up, regardless of whether she has eaten or not, and don't give her anything else until her next meal she will eventually cave and eat when is given to her. You need to get the message across to her that you mean business and she cannot be picky or else she will have a hungry belly. Keep up the routine until she eats. Because she is a small dog, feeding twice a day is a good way to go (two smaller meals) so that she doesn't get over full from eating.

    You could try wetting the food for the first few days to see if it entices her to eat it - soak it in hot water for a little while (to take the hardness out of the food but not make it soggy), let it cool and feed it to her. Once she starts to eat, you can phase out soaking by reducing the amount of time it is i the water for until it is totally dry. This will also make the food more smelly and more appealing to her while you are trying to establish a feeding routine.

    It may take a day or two (or more!) but if you stick at it she will have a balanced diet and it's much better for her in the long run.


  • #4
    Jennyfer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 97 ✭✭Jennyfer


    I had my dog on a diet of chicken rice and veg for a few months because of a dodgy stomach and when I eventually weaned her off I had same problem so I started mixing the kibble with natural pro-biotic yogurt - dont try with any other yogurt as not good for the dog, natural pro-biotic yogurts are good for them and certainly wont do any harm. You can gradually add less and less, my dog used to leave whatever was left once all the yogurt was gone but before long she was eating it all up and dont have to put it in at all now. Now and again as a treat on its own so she doesnt get back into bad habits! Worth a try, just enough to coat all the nuggets at first.


  • #5
    Molberts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,560 ✭✭✭Molberts


    As lorebringer said already, unlike cats dogs will not starve themselves they will cave eventually and start eating.

    Burns is a great food but its a complete food so its going to fill her up a lot quicker and for longer compared to the chicken so that will lead to her eating less.

    If she doesnt get back in a regular pattern in the next couple of days, check that mum is not sneaking her chicken behind your back ;)


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