# Olive not eating



## jaimebpa1 (Nov 8, 2011)

I used to think that people who said their dogs were picky eaters were just giving in to their dogs. Well Olive is teaching me otherwise! She is so picky when it comes to kibble. To make it worse she gets tummy issues from the one kibble i found she does like. I have not been trying her on a bunch of different types of food. I didn't want to get in to that because i felt it would make her more picky. She has been on the food the breeder had her on and does well tummy wise on that. She has never liked it though and a lot of times would skip 2 meals a day when i offered it to her. Last week i decided to try another type of kibble and she ate it the first day, but after that it was hit or miss. She'd eat a few bites and then leave it. I get that a dog will eat if they are hungry which is why i haven't been buying different foods each week. The problem is she is hungry because she ends up spending the day searching for food and it's making her food obsessed! I even stopped giving her treats to see if that would get her to eat. Well Olive took it to a new level and she's eaten maybe 3 bites of her kibble in 2 days. I have no idea how she is still pooping, but she is. She doesn't appear to be sick either. She has energy and is playful. When I put her food down she comes running, sniffs it and walks away. I leave it down for 20 minutes and then pick it up.

Should i try buying different kibble? I have 2 bags of different types right now and she doesn't like either of them. I know if i offered her a chicken wing, a treat or people food she'd eat it. She is just being really picky.


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Oh Jaime cockapoos can be so fussy, my girls are not big eaters and I know many owners find their dogs are very fussy or not big eaters. 

She is well in herself which is good, keep an eye on her weight each week just to make sure she is heading in the right direction. 

I am not sure changing her food would help, if you are happy with the food you are feeding her now and she sometimes eats it, but hey this has to be your choice and I tried a few food with my dogs until I was happy. Mine had Royal Canin, then Orijen and part raw feed, but now they are feed Barking Heads along with natural treats.


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## Emily+Harry (Mar 31, 2012)

Hi i am experiencing the same problem, she doesnt seem to want it when i put it down ... I even left it for half an hour and she kept picking at it but not eating it properly... My partner said we should just keep the food down all day but i am trying to stay away from that for housetraining  x


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## francesjl (Mar 24, 2011)

You could try putting some yoghurt on the kibble - its good for their tummies as well


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## Nadhak (Jun 4, 2011)

Jaime - Treacle is now 1 and still very very fussy - she somehow has grown into a healthy dog with an ideal weight but picks and chooses what she eats! I hoped when we got Clyde [who wolfs anything and everything] she would change but nope - she watches him go and eat her dinner!
When I get to the OMG she hasn't eaten for 3 days stage I give her a dead cert - Lamb and lambs liver! 
Cheese \ yoghurt \ wet dog food all been tried on her dry food - worked once then not again! 
Treacle will always eat if I hand feed her - her ritual is to turn away in disgust when I put her dish down - sit in a corner looking at it - Clyde goes for it and she then looks at me - I pick it up - start hand feeding her and then she will carry on and eat it when I put it down next to her!
I did notice that she eats in secret - in the middle of the night if food is left down - so worth a try!
Complex characters these Cockapoos!


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## jaimebpa1 (Nov 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone! I love this forum. Just when I'm starting to get stressed I can come here and feel much better!

My husband pointed out that we've been leaving her out when we eat lately and she is getting the food the kids drop. I bet that is adding to the fussiness because she knows how yummy our food is so she holds out for that! I'm going to go back to putting her in her crate when we eat so she will get no human food at all. She wasn't getting a lot of our food, but probably enough to get her through the day without eating her food.

I called the pet store and they will take back the food I bought last week even though i opened it. She only ate 1/4 cup out of it so at least it's not money down the drain. I'm just going to leave her on the breeder's food. We've had the best success on that (even though it's not what I'd call successful). I guess I just feel bad because I want her to actually like her food and i want to feed her good food. It makes me feel good to see my kids and dog enjoying the food i serve them!


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## jaimebpa1 (Nov 8, 2011)

Thanks everyone! I love this forum. Just when I'm starting to get stressed I can come here and feel much better!

My husband pointed out that we've been leaving her out when we eat lately and she is getting the food the kids drop. I bet that is adding to the fussiness because she knows how yummy our food is so she holds out for that! I'm going to go back to putting her in her crate when we eat so she will get no human food at all. She wasn't getting a lot of our food, but probably enough to get her through the day without eating her food.

I called the pet store and they will take back the food I bought last week even though i opened it. She only ate 1/4 cup out of it so at least it's not money down the drain. I'm just going to leave her on the breeder's food. We've had the best success on that (even though it's not what I'd call successful). I guess I just feel bad because I want her to actually like her food and i want to feed her good food. It makes me feel good to see my kids and dog enjoying the food i serve them!


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## xxxxxxxxhantsmummy (Mar 12, 2012)

Have you tried wet food? Honey wasn't too fussed on kibble but moved her to raw diet, the pre frozen nuggets and she lives it, licks the bowl clean every meal!


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## colpa110 (Jul 5, 2011)

Betty will pretty much eat anything these days but in the past if she was being a bit fussy I would put some fish oil on the food - I think the strong smell got her interested and it's good for them too!!


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