Dogs going off their food

VonVix

Both my dogs are randomly on and off their food for the past while or so (but more off than on).

For example this morning they didn't eat at all. We had thought maybe they are just not into their any more food so we switched to a different dry food and they are treating it pretty much the same way. Often they just pick a mouthful or two and then just walk away from their bowl.

We are feeding them less than we used to because we found out we are actually feeding them too much, if anything we thought this would actually make them more inclined to finish their food.

I would feel like it's a health issue if it was just one (though one of them has finished his food more often than the other), but seeing them both doing it has just confused me. Any ideas what's going on?

Karlitto

Not sure of a reason, but,

My two are on Dry at the moment, they do the same thing, they walk over, take a mouthful, walk away, eat it, back again and so on, however, (this is my suggestion), I got a heap of scrap meat from the butchers, put that down, and yep, that was gone in one quick session, no walking away or anything

VonVix

Karlitto wrote: »

Not sure of a reason, but,

My two are on Dry at the moment, they do the same thing, they walk over, take a mouthful, walk away, eat it, back again and so on, however, (this is my suggestion), I got a heap of scrap meat from the butchers, put that down, and yep, that was gone in one quick session, no walking away or anything

Mine were on wet mixed with dry at first (they were more inclined to take the chunks of wet food out, but not all of it), but we thought it would be better for them to just be on dry, so we changed it up and they are still doing it.

Yeah, if you give mine chicken or something they'll eat it up. It's just the dog food they are turning their nose up at.

Karlitto

I see,

Perhaps you could try looking into home made dog food? (I am at the moment, should be interesting as it looks like it is far superior and healthier for dogs)

borderlinemeath

Put it this way, if you had to eat nothing but dry toast for every meal, wouldn't you turn your nose up at it every so often?;)

Dogs depend hugely on their sense of smell rather than taste, as they've far less taste buds than a human, but a far more refined nose, so it needs to smell (and to an extent) taste yummy. You could mix a tin of sardines in, and mush it all over the nuts so there's no lumps to snuffle out, if they want the nice fishy flavour, they have to take the nut too. Or even a raw egg mixed in to coat all the nuts.
Back when I fed dry food I also used to use broth from mince or chicken to pour over the nuts to make them more palatable.

Nody

What brand(s) are you serving?

VonVix

Karlitto wrote: »

I see,

Perhaps you could try looking into home made dog food? (I am at the moment, should be interesting as it looks like it is far superior and healthier for dogs)

I've heard a lot about home made dog food, but not much else! It certainly seems like something to consider.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Put it this way, if you had to eat nothing but dry toast for every meal, wouldn't you turn your nose up at it every so often?;)

Dogs depend hugely on their sense of smell rather than taste, as they've far less taste buds than a human, but a far more refined nose, so it needs to smell (and to an extent) taste yummy. You could mix a tin of sardines in, and mush it all over the nuts so there's no lumps to snuffle out, if they want the nice fishy flavour, they have to take the nut too. Or even a raw egg mixed in to coat all the nuts.
Back when I fed dry food I also used to use broth from mince or chicken to pour over the nuts to make them more palatable.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Though their breakfast/dinner isn't the only food they get, they also get some treats when I do training with them and one of my other family members always gives them a stick-treat-thingy whenever she comes home and on Sunday's they get chicken.

Those are some good tips, thank you!

Nody wrote: »

What brand(s) are you serving?

We're using Burns (chicken and rice) now.

kylith

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Put it this way, if you had to eat nothing but dry toast for every meal, wouldn't you turn your nose up at it every so often?;)

Dogs depend hugely on their sense of smell rather than taste, as they've far less taste buds than a human, but a far more refined nose, so it needs to smell (and to an extent) taste yummy. You could mix a tin of sardines in, and mush it all over the nuts so there's no lumps to snuffle out, if they want the nice fishy flavour, they have to take the nut too. Or even a raw egg mixed in to coat all the nuts.
Back when I fed dry food I also used to use broth from mince or chicken to pour over the nuts to make them more palatable.

I wouldn't call all dry foods like dry toast. I'd snack on my dogs' kibble if I thought I'd get away with it, it smells gorgeous!

borderlinemeath

kylith wrote: »

I wouldn't call all dry foods like dry toast. I'd snack on my dogs' kibble if I thought I'd get away with it, it smells gorgeous!

If you had to eat it as your main meals everyday though you'd get pretty sick of it, no?
I know somebody who's son is a rep for one of the well known brands. She says that he eats it in front of clients to 'show how palatable it is', so it's not unheard of to munch away at it!

kylith

borderlinemeath wrote: »

If you had to eat it as your main meals everyday though you'd get pretty sick of it, no?
I know somebody who's son is a rep for one of the well known brands. She says that he eats it in front of clients to 'show how palatable it is', so it's not unheard of to munch away at it!

Maybe so. My pair seem to love it, and I supplement it with stuffed Kongs, the odd bone and the like.

borderlinemeath

Since I started feeding raw, my pair love the odd bit of kibble, it's like a novelty treat for them. Same dogs would barely finish a bowl of dry food when fed all the time and I always had to put the goodies in to make it tasty for them.

VonVix

Just had a thought with the mention of dogs eating more with their nose than taste... my dog who eats the most is a big sniffer, he sniffs everything... so maybe he finds his food more appetizing than our other dog because his nose gets more into it lol.

Jazbee

My dog is the same, she's barely eating 2 out of her 3 meals. Mixed a bit of nature diet when she getting back to eating after her spay. The smell of it is gross! She loved it, but the tubs are huge and we were on using a tablespoon full in each meal so it was way too big for us.

Is there any quality wet food that come in small tubs/tins?

VonVix

I just fed them now, we added a quarter of a small can of tuna in and it was a success!

...though my picky eater did his best to eat as much of the tuna as he could without touching too much of the dry food, but he ate considerably more than he has been lately.

aonb

VonVix wrote: »

I just fed them now, we added a quarter of a small can of tuna in and it was a success!

...though my picky eater did his best to eat as much of the tuna as he could without touching too much of the dry food, but he ate considerably more than he has been lately.

If you pour the juice off the tin of tuna over the kibble, mix like mad, leave it to soak up all the fishy smelliness, then after a little wait, mash up the remaining tuna really well, then add to the kibble and mix like mad again.

What breed are your dogs? Dogs/Bitches? Age?

Burns is a good brand.
Pouring warm water over the kibble will also enhance the smell (though a dog-food rep told me that moistening the kibble breaks it down in a not advantageous way - you cant win huh?)

VonVix

aonb wrote: »

If you pour the juice off the tin of tuna over the kibble, mix like mad, leave it to soak up all the fishy smelliness, then after a little wait, mash up the remaining tuna really well, then add to the kibble and mix like mad again.

What breed are your dogs? Dogs/Bitches? Age?

Burns is a good brand.
Pouring warm water over the kibble will also enhance the smell (though a dog-food rep told me that moistening the kibble breaks it down in a not advantageous way - you cant win huh?)

Ooh, good idea! Though the cats went mad when the tuna came out, we'll have to fight them off if we leave the boys food out for too long lol. Is it best to go for the one with sunflower oil in it?

Shelties/Male/Nearly 2

We haven't done the water thing yet, but that's one to consider if we don't have anything to add to their dishes.