# Picky eater and doing all the wrong things!



## phoebe (Jan 2, 2015)

I know I have created a rod for my own back but don't know how to backtrack and ensure Daisy (9 months and gorgeous) eats the right amount of the right type of food, so help please!
So Daisy has always been a fussy eater. The situation now is that I have kibble down all the time in a bowl (I know I shouldn't, she never eats from it anyway). She will eat kibble (different types on different days) if she is hand fed (I know terrible!) or at times if it is put straight on the floor, not in a bowl.
She often doesn't eat anything for hours. Then at random times in the day she will eat raw minced beef or raw chicken, again often if it's hand fed (I know!).
She has no eating pattern to when she eats, what she eats or how much she eats and I am constantly just pleased if she eats anything.
I have tried raw diet food, nutriment, and she hated it. I would love to give her raw food. Anyway I know it's all a bit of a disaster zone but I don't really know what to do about it.
Thanks in advance.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

I am afraid you are going to need a bit of tough love to sort her out. If you are going to go for raw start with the bits you know she will eat and you can gradually extend her range when she is eating well.

Put her food down twice a day and leave it down for no more than 15 minutes. If she does not eat it then offer nothing at all until the next meal. You may need to give it a couple of days before she starts to eat consistently. Leave the kibble down if you want to reassure yourself she will not starve to death just while you get her used to eating regularly.

Molly was 17 months and weighed 4.5kg when I first got her and was skeletal and an extremely fussy eater. I found something she ate happily for a few days and stuck with it and made sure everyone she came into contact with knew if she had missed a meal she was to get no extras. It only took a few weeks for her to start eating well and once she did that she was finally able to start to gain a little weight and condition. She is now around 5.5kg which is a good weight for her.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Sorry to not be too sympathetic but this reminds me of what firefighters ask when people call to have them rescue cats stuck in trees. "How many cat skeletons have you ever seen in trees?" Put the food down and let her sort it out.


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## Goosey (Aug 22, 2014)

This is true fairlie! 
Molly was and still has days when she is fussy with her food. When she was very small she would only eat food if I took it out of her bowl and put it on the floor or fed her by hand. I knew this was wrong and I couldn't carry on doing it. 
I eventually decided to try her food on a plate and she was happy to eat from it.

Molly is still fussy about food but hasn't stopped her development .she was the smallest of her litter but now weighs a good 10.5 kg


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Tough love .... 
We had a rescue GSD who was awful - any change in her routine and she just gave up eating... for her it was definitely best to stick with one food, and a very fixed timetable - she couldn't cope with early or late meals. She never carried excess weight, but equally she never starved herself.
2nd's advice is brilliant - trust her. Fairlie is considering trying deer poop while waiting for cat skeletons to appear in trees. You don't have to be mad to post here, but it helps


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'll take the mad label happily along with Mary Poppins.

HO and I play bad cop/good cop on this one with Rufus. She butters each piece of kibble with pate and hand feeds him to tempt him to eat and he stays slim. On my watch I gave up and left his food down and he is now rather rotund.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Beemer was horribly picky. He would have to be enticed to eat kibble. And eventually tired of the premade raw frozen food. He was very good with some of the loose ground raw we got locally but that was I think to keep from Lexi eating his food too. I switch to a different supplier who just has better quality meats. She also adds a small amount of sardines and anchovies to each of her blends. Beemer now eats his faster than Lexi. 

There were also some other adjustments that helped. Early on, Beemer would not eat from a plastic bowl. So he was ok with the metal bowl, but refused the metal bowl and so we now are on ceramic plates. I also discovered that every time his tags would hit the edge of the plate he would startle. I don't have their collars on when we are home because Lexi has a tendency to use it to play but he also eats without being afraid. Finally I put their plates on a four inch cardboard box. I found out that if I held the plate up a little higher, he'd eat it right from the plate. Now when he's hungry, he rings his poochie bells and then sniffs at the box as if saying "feed me woman". 

Granted they never had food out for long (Lexi would eat all of his if she could) but I would do all the things you mentioned to make sure he ate because he was underweight. I do believe switching to raw and to better quality proteins has made a large difference. It also helped me figure out that he seems to itch more when he has turkey products. It's easier to experiment and provide variety in protein source. 


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Max was not food orientated. I eventually switched to raw and he now loves his food. A variety is best for him though. I leave his food down for 10 mins. Big he doesn't eat it I cover it in the fridge and he gets it at tea time. No messing, I know he won't starve. I can't leave it down because My other dog would eat it......but I wouldn't leave it down anyway.


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## tessybear (May 1, 2011)

I wouldn't worry too much. My cavalier was the same, he was a very fussy eater. I left dried food down all day for him. He never over ate and he was never over weight, in fact he lived till he was 17! Some dogs are just happy grazing now and again throughout the day. Bonnie and Dexter would probably be the same if I let them, they are also fussy eaters but I feed them raw so I can't do it.


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## Peanut (Dec 1, 2013)

May I ask where you got Daisy from? Could you post a photo?
I think she might be Coconut's sibling....


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## rosiebarnes (Mar 22, 2015)

Why not try a Raw Diet, I feed my Cockerpoo who is 5 months no he loves it!!!!!


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## whatsuppup (Mar 9, 2015)

The bowl was the problem for Davinci. I put his food down on a plate this morning for breakfast. He sniffed it and walked away. I left it down for 15 minutes, and he hadn't touched it so I picked it up. I considered that maybe it was a little too early for him to eat. We went for our usual morning walk to to the school and played in the field before heading home. I tried putting his breakfast down again and he ate it all in less than 10 minutes!  I took a chance and fed him a later lunch (he hasn't been eating 3 meals per day  since 3 weeks ago when he started to skim eating after his vaccination) after our afternoon walk. Again, he ate it all. This time it took him a little longer, but he managed to eat it within the 15 minutes. Yay for great advice, and to see my dog isn't the only one picky with what type of dish he eats out of.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Excellent! I also think in addition to the material Beemer doesn't like dish soap. If I have to wash anything by hand I rinse it many many times. They are so finicky about odd things sometimes. 


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## whatsuppup (Mar 9, 2015)

Interesting; I've never thought of that! I like to know things are clean. I will try cleaning his food dishes with vinegar and water instead of dish detergent. 

I also realized his issue with his bowl may stem from when he was very little and he pawed at his dish and flipped it over spilling the food everywhere which sent him crazy and he crashed into the wall when trying to run. Though he continued to eat out of it afterwards (he was afraid of the dish if I held it but was fine with it if it was placed on the floor), it must have been a coincidence when he wasnt feeling too hot after the vaxx that he just decided he'd had enough of the bowl and avoided it as much as he could.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Funny I have to put a paper towel under Beemer's plate so it doesn't slide or make noise if we are somewhere else. He is more sensitive to things than Lexi so I tried a whole bunch of things so eating is a pleasant experience. Switching to raw diet helped s lot for him too. He was underweight until I switched as he wouldn't eat enough. 


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## whatsuppup (Mar 9, 2015)

The raw diet really intrigues me, however with kids in the house the raw diet scares me due to all of the germs that exist in raw foods.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

So some premade raw (Stella & Chewy) put the food through a non heat processing that kills off bacteria/parasites and maintains most of the nutritional value of raw. I know others do a cooked version (fresh pet) that isn't processed like regular pet food. 

In the beginning I was crazy about cleaning and wiping all the surfaces over and over. Not letting them kiss me. Wiping their faces. Now I don't worry as much. Since I use regular plates and bowls for their food and water, they are cleaned in the dishwasher. They eat their raw meaty bones on towels and They get washed. I use vinegar and water to clean my floors and all the other surfaces so those are much cleaner than before I'm just not crazy about it. I figure we drag in tons of crap from the outside anyway. My nieces and nephews help with their feeding and training and we practice very good hand sanitation. 


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## whatsuppup (Mar 9, 2015)

Thank you! I will look both of those up. I was hoping to find a way to be able to safely switch him to raw once he is about a year old - this may be the way. Thank you for your tips and information.


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## alfiemorton (Mar 28, 2015)

I sympathise with you, Phoebe. Alfie (18 weeks) has very half heartedly eaten everything offered (except our food, of course!) since we collected him at 8 weeks. I started him on the kibble and nature diet recommended by the breeder. The only way he would eat it in the end was if I added a tiny amount of tuna. I recently started him on Lily's Kitchen Perfectly Puppy kibble. For a few days he seemed quite taken with it, so I ordered 2 replacement bags. He doesn't care for it any longer, and would rather eat nothing! I have been researching home cooked food for dogs and happened upon an article in which the founder of Lily's Kitchen talked about her experience with her own dog and commercial foods. I made up the recipe featured in the article, and Alfie loves it! It was very simple too. I have just ordered Dinner for Dogs, written by Henrietta Morrison (the founder of Lily's Kitchen), so am hoping that there will be lots of empty bowls and waggy tails! Christine and Alfie


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## phoebe (Jan 2, 2015)

*Thanks everyone*

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. I would love the recipe link please alfiemorton to the Lily's kitchen founder recipe if possible? 

I have bought a lamb and rice kibble made by Arden Grange that she seems quite happy to eat. I am just being firm with it. The food goes down for 15 minutes three times a day and except for training there are no other treats. She's getting better slowly and I think we have turned a corner. 
Thanks again!!


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

Lexi&Beemer said:


> Beemer was horribly picky.
> Finally I put their plates on a four inch cardboard box. I found out that if I held the plate up a little higher, he'd eat it right from the plate. Now when he's hungry, he rings his poochie bells and then sniffs at the box as if saying "feed me woman".
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Who says Lexi is the smart one?
Beemer has learnt this trick, and it's the only one he needs to get food!
He has you well trained mo  x


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Tinman said:


> Who says Lexi is the smart one?
> 
> Beemer has learnt this trick, and it's the only one he needs to get food!
> 
> He has you well trained mo  x



Tracey, I wouldn't doubt that she has him trained. In the mornings, he wakes up, licks my face, then rings the bells. I let them out and the only one who pees and poops is Lexi. I wait and wait and nothing from Beemer. Sometimes he goes right back in himself and sleeps. He then will wake up an hour later and go out by himself and do his business. The food thing is his for sure. But he rings the bell for her too. 


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## Tinman (Apr 23, 2013)

They are funny, chalk § cheese, or like an old married couple x


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

He's definitely good hubby material. Funny sometimes he wakes me up because I have to pee. 


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## Mazzapoo (Jul 28, 2013)

Does he make you ring a bell before you can go?


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

There's usually not enough time to ring the bell. Haha. 


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## alfiemorton (Mar 28, 2015)

Hi Phoebe,
The article I read was entitled "Is commercial pet food making your dog sick?", and it was a Daily Mail article from 23rd January 2014. The recipe was at the bottom of the article. I have now got the book "Dinner for Dogs", and have tried a couple of the recipes in the last week. I have to report that Alfie has not left a scrap of food in his bowl for the last week, and even carries his bowl over to his basket, or up to me to ask for more! It's so good to see, takes relatively little effort to prepare a few ingredients, and there is no real difference in price between what I am preparing for Alfie and a good commercial puppy food.
Good luck!!


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