Dog food question

naughtysmurf

We have a 5 month old shih tzu bichon cross, eating Royal canine junior, do they ever get bored of the same food all the time? I know he can smell tuna, salmon, chicken etc of the cat food, any need to make it more interesting for him or indeed any need
Thanks

DesperateDan

I am also wondering this about cats

VonVix

I know a lot of Shih Tzus and Bichon types to be grazers on their food. A dog shouldn't starve themselves unless there is something medically wrong. I wouldn't worry too much. I have met a lot of little dogs with weight issues because their owner gets concerned about them not eating enough, so they end up giving chicken/ham/etc on top of their meals. :P

There's no harm in giving him something different from time to time, I'd just take the difference away from his dry food portion.

I'm personally big into giving my dogs variety in what they eat, I don't like giving them the exact same thing all the time as I don't think it's natural, I suppose.

stefanovich

VonVix wrote: »

I know a lot of Shih Tzus and Bichon types to be grazers on their food. A dog shouldn't starve themselves unless there is something medically wrong. I wouldn't worry too much. I have met a lot of little dogs with weight issues because their owner gets concerned about them not eating enough, so they end up giving chicken/ham/etc on top of their meals. :P

There's no harm in giving him something different from time to time, I'd just take the difference away from his dry food portion.

I'm personally big into giving my dogs variety in what they eat, I don't like giving them the exact same thing all the time as I don't think it's natural, I suppose.

I had read that changing their food can give them potty issues.

VonVix

stefanovich wrote: »

I had read that changing their food can give them potty issues.

I think this is more so for dogs who are on one single food nearly 100% of the time, so switch them over to something in one go can upset their tummy.

I've never had this issue with any of my 3 dogs, they all get something different every day.

naughtysmurf

Our lad is definitely not a grazer, wolf's it down in no time, he's content but just think he's missing out, nutritionally he's getting what he needs but a bit of variety would be nice maybe not just treats?

Latatian

My girl gets carrots, blueberries, apple slices, green beans, a bit of butternut squash. If I'm making a veg or chicken soup with not too much garlic or onions (very bad for dogs) she can have a bowl. With small dogs it's very easy to overfeed so maybe try these lower-calorie things first? Avoid high salt, high fat, nuts etc. Lots of lists online about foods they can't eat. Now she also gets dried fish skins and such but that's because she's become harder to keep weight on recently.

With humans if the diet is monotonous but pretty tasty it makes overeating less likely- novelty can make us ignore the signals that we're full. Unsure if it is alao the same for dogs.