I love my little adopted buddy, but his persnickety attitude toward food is driving me up a wall. I have invested hundreds of dollars in treats and healthy foods of every type, but I have been completely unsuccessful at finding a dog food or treat he will eat consistently.
He literally turns his nose up at canned food, dry food, and even people food (unless he can sneak under the kid table at dinner). I have tried every kind of protein base too; bison, lamb, beef, veal, fish, and chicken (which I believe he's allergic to). I have tried several grains cooked specially for him including brown rice and sweet potatoes. The only thing he eats consistently is ground hamburger cooked and warm. I have to mix it in with his dry food at more than a 50% hamburger mixture or he will smell it and walk away. I can tell he's hungry because he comes and asks to be fed. He came to me very thin, and I've managed to put some weight on him, but not by much.
I have tried conditioning him to eat the food he's given by giving him his food twice a day for 30 min and if he doesn't eat then I take it away. The problem is I have 4 small children and no matter how I lock him up during meal time, and no matter how quick I am with clean-up he will get 2 bites of mac and cheese left on the ground and he's set for 3 days of starving himself. Which of course is when I cave and finally feed him something I know he'll eat.
One of my problems is that he has behavioral issues when he's hungry. He digs in the yard and chews on the kids toys and is more hyperactive. He is the perfect dog when I can get him to eat. I feel like I'm dealing with a picky 2 year old and all of the fun issues associated with a hungry child.
He was fed kibbles and bits when I first got him and honestly I think he ate only a couple bites a day. I knew right away that I wanted to get him on an all natural diet, but man it has been an uphill battle. He was so so thin when I got him, his ribs and hip bones were very prominent. So I'm fairly certain he has always had this issue. Otherwise he's healthy.
The biggest upside is that when he's hungry I can teach him anything. I have found one treat he will take if he's been avoiding his food bowl. So in the first month I had him I taught him nearly a dozen tricks with my 4 loud distractions running around. He's not great with anything that involves self control when he's hungry, these skills improve much slower.
So anybody else have a mega picky eater?
He literally turns his nose up at canned food, dry food, and even people food (unless he can sneak under the kid table at dinner). I have tried every kind of protein base too; bison, lamb, beef, veal, fish, and chicken (which I believe he's allergic to). I have tried several grains cooked specially for him including brown rice and sweet potatoes. The only thing he eats consistently is ground hamburger cooked and warm. I have to mix it in with his dry food at more than a 50% hamburger mixture or he will smell it and walk away. I can tell he's hungry because he comes and asks to be fed. He came to me very thin, and I've managed to put some weight on him, but not by much.
I have tried conditioning him to eat the food he's given by giving him his food twice a day for 30 min and if he doesn't eat then I take it away. The problem is I have 4 small children and no matter how I lock him up during meal time, and no matter how quick I am with clean-up he will get 2 bites of mac and cheese left on the ground and he's set for 3 days of starving himself. Which of course is when I cave and finally feed him something I know he'll eat.
One of my problems is that he has behavioral issues when he's hungry. He digs in the yard and chews on the kids toys and is more hyperactive. He is the perfect dog when I can get him to eat. I feel like I'm dealing with a picky 2 year old and all of the fun issues associated with a hungry child.
He was fed kibbles and bits when I first got him and honestly I think he ate only a couple bites a day. I knew right away that I wanted to get him on an all natural diet, but man it has been an uphill battle. He was so so thin when I got him, his ribs and hip bones were very prominent. So I'm fairly certain he has always had this issue. Otherwise he's healthy.
The biggest upside is that when he's hungry I can teach him anything. I have found one treat he will take if he's been avoiding his food bowl. So in the first month I had him I taught him nearly a dozen tricks with my 4 loud distractions running around. He's not great with anything that involves self control when he's hungry, these skills improve much slower.
So anybody else have a mega picky eater?