Dog refusing to eat dry food

lexi-lexi · 07-02-2020 9:01am #1

Hi everyone just wondering if anyone had any tips for me please.Have a three year old female golden retriever and on advice of my vet I've recently started the process of moving her onto dry food. The advice was to mix some dry in with her normal tin of wet first and then slowly reduce the amount of wet till all that I was giving her is dry kibble.

Unfortunately since we did that she will not eat it at all. It has been three days and she is still refusing. I put the bowl down in the morning give her time to have a sniff and maybe eat but nothing, I then remove it and try again at night.

She has always been much more interested in what we eat and even if I mix some leftovers in with the dry she will eat all the human food and leave hers

I contacted my vet and he said it was fine once she was still drinking lots of water and that she will eventually give in when the hunger gets too much , I can't help but worry though. Should I heed his advice or is there something I need to do to make her eat the dry thanks for any help.

con747 · 07-02-2020 9:43am

lexi-lexi wrote: »

Hi everyone just wondering if anyone had any tips for me please.Have a three year old female golden retriever and on advice of my vet I've recently started the process of moving her onto dry food. The advice was to mix some dry in with her normal tin of wet first and then slowly reduce the amount of wet till all that I was giving her is dry kibble.

Unfortunately since we did that she will not eat it at all. It has been three days and she is still refusing. I put the bowl down in the morning give her time to have a sniff and maybe eat but nothing, I then remove it and try again at night.

She has always been much more interested in what we eat and even if I mix some leftovers in with the dry she will eat all the human food and leave hers

I contacted my vet and he said it was fine once she was still drinking lots of water and that she will eventually give in when the hunger gets too much , I can't help but worry though. Should I heed his advice or is there something I need to do to make her eat the dry thanks for any help.

Why have you been advised to change the food?. You can get a soft dry food in case it's the texture of the hard dry food putting her off it.

DBB · 07-02-2020 9:55am

I'm also curious to know why your vet said to put her on dry food?
What brand of wet food was she on?

MayoSalmon · 07-02-2020 9:57am

DBB wrote: »

I'm also curious to know why your vet said to put her on dry food?
What brand of wet food was she on?

He or she probably sells it.

Vets no next to nothing about Canine Nutrition

Bogwoppit · 07-02-2020 10:03am

Tinned wet food is absolute muck, stop with the leftovers too.

Try steeping the dry food by pouring some boiling water over it, maybe mix in a raw egg or a tin of sardines.

Good quality Dry food is a complete diet and gives way more nutrition than the tinned stuff.

Bogwoppit · 07-02-2020 10:04am

MayoSalmon wrote: »

He or she probably sells it.

Vets no next to nothing about Canine Nutrition

In all fairness, that generalization is complete nonsense.

lexi-lexi · 07-02-2020 10:09am

Thanks to all replies apologies I forgot to add some details as I was rushing out the door for school run

She was on cheap wet tins -aldi, lidl,Tesco etc crap I know but she is peculiar with food and would always wolf them down .We had no issues until recently when she started to poo a massive amount and the stool was very runny and muscusy (apologies if tmi!). She also started pooing in the house several times during the night which was completely out of character. Bought her to the vet to get a check up and he said nothing was wrong ,and that the cheap tinned food wasn't the best for her. He obviously recommended a dry food that they stock but unfortunately it was well out of our budget at the moment and he recommended a dry food from pet store which I thought was cheap at 7.99 per 5 kg bag . I will check the name of it shortly

Her teeth are in very good condition also I got that checked as I was worried that the wet food could have damaged them and that's why she wouldn't/couldn't eat the dry food. She has always had an issue with dry food- our boarding kennels also feed dry only and they have told me in the past that she will refuse their food for several days before eating

DBB · 07-02-2020 10:10am

Bogwoppit wrote: »

Tinned wet food is absolute muck, stop with the leftovers too.

That very much depends on what brand is being used. There are tinned and wet foods available which are excellent quality, available online, in pet shops, and some of the major supermarkets have started selling it too. Nutritionally complete, containing almost all meat, and usually with some veg, oils etc.
Plenty of people who raw feed their dogs, supplement their diets with top quality tinned or wet food.

lexi-lexi · 07-02-2020 10:13am

DBB wrote: »

That very much depends on what brand is being used. There are tinned and wet foods available which are excellent quality, available online, in pet shops, and some of the major supermarkets have started selling it too. Nutritionally complete, containing almost all meat, and usually with some veg, oils etc.
Plenty of people who raw feed their dogs, supplement their diets with top quality tinned or wet food.

Would you be able to recommend any decent tinned/wet food please as she really does seem to prefer it and I would obviously like to provide a decent quality one for her thank you

lexi-lexi · 07-02-2020 10:15am

Bogwoppit wrote: »

Tinned wet food is absolute muck, stop with the leftovers too.

Try steeping the dry food by pouring some boiling water over it, maybe mix in a raw egg or a tin of sardines.

Good quality Dry food is a complete diet and gives way more nutrition than the tinned stuff.

I've been scrambling egg and mixing that in with the dry and also tried tinned mackerel/sardines too but she will just eat them and leave the dry food which is very infuriating. I haven't heard of trying a raw egg I will give that a go thank you

DBB · 07-02-2020 10:15am

lexi-lexi wrote: »

Thanks to all replies apologies I forgot to add some details as I was rushing out the door for school run

She was on cheap wet tins -aldi, lidl,Tesco etc crap I know but she is peculiar with food and would always wolf them down .We had no issues until recently when she started to poo a massive amount and the stool was very runny and muscusy (apologies if tmi!). She also started pooing in the house several times during the night which was completely out of character. Bought her to the vet to get a check up and he said nothing was wrong ,and that the cheap tinned food wasn't the best for her. He obviously recommended a dry food that they stock but unfortunately it was well out of our budget at the moment and he recommended a dry food from pet store which I thought was cheap at 7.99 per 5 kg bag . I will check the name of it shortly

Her teeth are in very good condition also I got that checked as I was worried that the wet food could have damaged them and that's why she wouldn't/couldn't eat the dry food. She has always had an issue with dry food- our boarding kennels also feed dry only and they have told me in the past that she will refuse their food for several days before eating

Grand so, if you were feeding her the poor quality supermarket stuff, then the vet did the right thing by advising you ditch it! It sounds like she had colitis, or some form of intestinal irritation.
I'm not sure what your budget is, but try www.zooplus.ie, in the Dog Wet Food section. If you can afford to buy in bulk and big 800g tins, there's a brand of tinned food there called Rocco which is great stuff, and very reasonably priced for such a high quality food.
It is very difficult to persuade a dog who's used to wet food to change over to dry, and to be honest, cheap dry food is just as likely to cause problems for her as cheap wet food is!

con747 · 07-02-2020 10:18am

lexi-lexi wrote: »

Thanks to all replies apologies I forgot to add some details as I was rushing out the door for school run

She was on cheap wet tins -aldi, lidl,Tesco etc crap I know but she is peculiar with food and would always wolf them down .We had no issues until recently when she started to poo a massive amount and the stool was very runny and muscusy (apologies if tmi!). She also started pooing in the house several times during the night which was completely out of character. Bought her to the vet to get a check up and he said nothing was wrong ,and that the cheap tinned food wasn't the best for her. He obviously recommended a dry food that they stock but unfortunately it was well out of our budget at the moment and he recommended a dry food from pet store which I thought was cheap at 7.99 per 5 kg bag . I will check the name of it shortly

Her teeth are in very good condition also I got that checked as I was worried that the wet food could have damaged them and that's why she wouldn't/couldn't eat the dry food. She has always had an issue with dry food- our boarding kennels also feed dry only and they have told me in the past that she will refuse their food for several days before eating

My dog has been eating canned food for 13 years, a Springer spaniel and the odd occasion gets stomach upsets and does similar to your dog but it has never been a problem more than a day or 2. He is as healthy as any other dog his age and still has teeth!. All dogs get stomach upsets for different reason's and usually pass after a couple of day's. It's only if it was constant diarrhoea I would be concerned and not drinking water.

tk123 · 07-02-2020 10:31am

DBB wrote: »

Grand so, if you were feeding her the poor quality supermarket stuff, then the vet did the right thing by advising you ditch it! It sounds like she had colitis, or some form of intestinal irritation.
I'm not sure what your budget is, but try www.zooplus.ie, in the Dog Wet Food section. If you can afford to buy in bulk and big 800g tins, there's a brand of tinned food there called Rocco which is great stuff, and very reasonably priced for such a high quality food.
It is very difficult to persuade a dog who's used to wet food to change over to dry, and to be honest, cheap dry food is just as likely to cause problems for her as cheap wet food is!

+1 Was going to suggest Rocco too. I also like NatureDiet as it has bonemeal in it and it's compete...and also the texture of it suits Bailey better for picking up. I feed a mix of raw and wet food OP and no probs with poo, appetite or teeth.

MayoSalmon · 07-02-2020 10:45am

Bogwoppit wrote: »

In all fairness, that generalization is complete nonsense.

No its not, they also no next to nothing about Immunology.

Ah yes, please bring little max back in for his annual booster vaccines every year of his life until he dies please lol

Also make sure you pick up a nice bag of high processed grain on your way out.

DBB · 07-02-2020 10:48am

MayoSalmon wrote: »

No its not, they also no next to nothing about Immunology.

MayoSalmon, you have been warned before for soapboxing and similar sweeping generalisations in this forum, so please stop now.
Do not reply to this post on-thread.
Thanks
DBB

mymo · 07-02-2020 3:04pm

I feed Rocco too, great food, I give a few veggies and the odd bit of leftovers too, along with a good grain free dry for training treats.
Dogs love it.

charlietheminxx · 07-02-2020 3:15pm

Just on the expensive brands - I've found that generally if you buy in bulk, they end up not being so expensive after all.

If you do end up back on wet food, would she be into chewing on something like a whimzee toothbrush? That way, you don't have to worry about her teeth so much.

07-02-2020 3:24pm

When we first rescued our pup she was on mostly wet food and we were given a bit of dry food to try to wean her onto it over the first few weeks we had her. At first she wouldn't go near it so we had to start mixing some other things in with it to get her interested.......things like tins of salmon/tuna, sardines, mackerel.....all nice and cheap in LIDL / ALDI. The good thing about them is they mash up nicely so its difficult to pick out just the good bits. They also come in oil or brine which gives the same flavour and scent to the rest of dry food, making it more enticing.

You could also try a little bit of gravy to entice her. The good thing about that is you can gradually lessen the amount until your're essentially just adding warm water (which also makes the dry food a bit more aromatic on its own.)

aonb · 07-02-2020 8:27pm

OP, have you considered home cooking?
Ive always homecooked my dogs food, and they love it - its quite economical, and if you cook a big batch once/week and store in a tupperware on the fridge, you're sorted. I cook whatever is on special offer - boil it up with brown rice, some veg, some sweet potato, or whatever veg is on special offer, or frozen veg is very economical too - lots of water to make a 'gravy'. If Im running low, I will soak some kibble in the cooking liquids, to supplement it - leave the kibble in there long enough and it becomes soft and tastier... I use chicken on the bone - strip the meat off the bones when cooked and chop everything roughly - thighs/legs are very cheap. Also use frozen white fish - comes in bags, or beef, minced or pieces. I also give a raw bone once/week, a raw chicken wing or two, tin of sardines in oil, scrambled or raw egg - all quite cheap and they love it. Never had an issue with excessive or runny poo - one of my dogs was allergic to grains and lots of issues with various dog foods, which was why I started home cooking.

VonVix · 07-02-2020 11:03pm

My dogs are on a rotational diet, they eat Lily's Kitchen, Rocco, NatureDiet, Rinti to name a few. All pretty good quality food, no tummy upsets, fabulous teeth. It's an complete myth that all wet food is bad for a dog, really it's the quality that matters. A good way to judge the quality of dog food is simply read the ingredients, the more you understand what's in a tin, the better. Anything that's vague, like "animal fats" for example, is worth avoiding.

cotton · 08-02-2020 1:13am

Another fan of Rocco here, it’s a great quality wet food and my dog loves it. Comes in lots of different flavours too.

Tangleytuftles · 08-02-2020 1:25am

I feel this pain. I've had to start using wet only as a treat because his food is super expensive.
Honestly, most vets reason for saying to feed dry food is because its apparently better for their teeth(this is rubbish in general as the grains and sugar added to dry food are a great breeding ground for bacteria which contributes to plaque) but I feed it because its cheaper.
Thankfully my local pet shop is going to be stocking raw in the next month and I won't have to fight his picky ass.
What I find that really helps for picky dogs is fish flavoured dry food, I use eden 80:20 which I find in petmania and its about 18 euro for a two kilo bag, even my neighbours extremely picky dog that only eats cat food will eat this. I know that sounds expensive because it is but he eats 2 kilos or so every week and has to have his food rotated because he will stop eating like your dog if he gets the same flavour as last week. I rotate different brands and I'm currently feeding a mixture if tribal cold pressed and gain kindness salmon flavour. Also, if any food has fat sprayed on it, he'll refuse to touch it. What I am doing for a treat right now is mixing yoghurt and naturo wet food(decent for 1.65 for 400 grams at Tesco) to make a loose meaty paste, filling a licki bowl with it and mixing dry food in it well and then freezing because the yoghurt loosens the wet food into more of a paste than chunks, it makes it harder for picky pups to pick out the dry food and eat the wet.
Honestly though, expensive as it is, the eden fish dog food smells so fishy that even the neighbours cats can't keep away from it.
Before anyone comes in with the grain free is bad comments(which happens often), my dog has grain allergies and we've discussed it with our vet for safety.

D13exile · 12-02-2020 1:28pm

As others have advised, I too mix in a raw egg with their dry food, alternating with sardines or mackeral. The protein and oils help keep my two collies's coats and general health in excellent condition. They don't like dry food on its own and so occasionally, I'll give the a "moist" dog food that is softer than the dry kibble. However as there's usually excellent advice on here, I'll look into the Rocco dog food on zooplus in order to vary their diet.

As for giving dogs leftovers, when I was a kid, my dog ate the same dinner as us, meat and two veg and he loved to the ripe old age of 16!! So no hard and fast rules so long as your dog is healthy and his teeth is looked after.

Gael23 · 28-02-2020 12:18am

With a number of exceptions, leftovers in small amounts are perfectly fine. Our old dog nearly always got some of whatever we we were eating and he lived to 15. I’m an everything I’m moderation believer, even with my own diet.

Aside from that, is there any benefit to feeding kibble or wet food or vice versa? Tinned food smells repulsive which is why we never used it.

tk123 · 28-02-2020 9:41am

Gael23 wrote: »

Tinned food smells repulsive which is why we never used it.

I had a good smell of Baileys earlier and I'd liken it to sliced ham so I don't find the smell that offensive. The smell isn't important in this house - the benefit to the dog is which is why we feed raw tripe etc etc

JustAThought · 29-02-2020 12:09am

lexi-lexi wrote: »

Hi everyone just wondering if anyone had any tips for me please.Have a three year old female golden retriever and on advice of my vet I've recently started the process of moving her onto dry food. The advice was to mix some dry in with her normal tin of wet first and then slowly reduce the amount of wet till all that I was giving her is dry kibble.

Unfortunately since we did that she will not eat it at all. It has been three days and she is still refusing. I put the bowl down in the morning give her time to have a sniff and maybe eat but nothing, I then remove it and try again at night.

She has always been much more interested in what we eat and even if I mix some leftovers in with the dry she will eat all the human food and leave hers

I contacted my vet and he said it was fine once she was still drinking lots of water and that she will eventually give in when the hunger gets too much , I can't help but worry though. Should I heed his advice or is there something I need to do to make her eat the dry thanks for any help.

your poor dog - it knows only love and now it thinks you are punishing it

The dog cannot speak great english but is absolutely doing its vest to tell you that it does not want to eat the stuff. Vets get great discounts and sales commissions from selling petfood - far more than the profit from your 2 or 3 consultations a year - if there was no specific medical need why upset your dog so much? Our families dogs and generations before grew up on supermarket tins - mine gad a specific stomach issue so had a special diet but if your pooch is happy and healthy and starving herself to let you see that she dosnt like the new food then maybe you should listen to her. :,(

Dog refusing to eat dry food

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