Any of you have dogs who snub their food?

[Guest]

I'm on about my 6th dog of my life. One of my prior domestic partners (of over 13 years) liked cats, so we had cats when I was with him, but basically I'm a dog person. So now I'm taking care of a big pooch (75#, 34 kg), along with my current beau's French bulldog. My sister also owns a bunch of dogs (well, one of her most recent/4th dog, a rescue German shepherd, ate one of her other dogs, so now she has two). In any case, in all of my life, I've never had a dog snub her food, but my big baboo has been doing that over the last several weeks. I've tried mixing her food with chicken stock, beef gravy, or canned food, but she still snubs it. When we have taco  night, if we have extra taco meat and mix that in with her food, she'll eat it quickly, but otherwise it's a chore. 

It seems to get worse after our house sitter takes care of them, and I suspect he may be feeding her just moist food even though we buy and instruct him to use dry food. "Chris" has suggested we get a nanny cam to see what he's doing. The problem, of course, is that we can't just leave the large dog's food out, because if the big mutt leaves her food, the Frenchie will be on it in seconds. In fact, the only way the big pooch will eat her food is if the Frenchie makes a move for her dish. Otherwise, my big baboo turns away from her food dish, and gives me a look that says "Fuck that!". 

So far the big one doesn't seem like she's wasting away, but I'm not sure what to do. Obviously I'm not going to cook taco meat every day for my finicky mutt. Should I give up and just feed her canned food? I hate the thought of giving the big dog tastier food just because she's being difficult. I've tried different brands of dry food. Every other dog I've ever had revels in the cuisine of "Chez Unicorn"! 😄

[+ azdr0710]

you're only trying to feed her dry?.....poor thing....

we've always fed our dogs dry mixed with canned.....my mother, when I'd dump my dog on my parents while I was on a trip, would whip up some steamed rice, scrambled eggs, steak, etc, for my dog......she'd pooh-pooh my dry-with-canned for a couple days after I got her back home......

c'mon doc.....spring for some canned and spoil that mutt rotten....she deserves it

 

[+ azdr0710]

[DerrickRigg]

Had a male dog who only wanted rotisserie chicken from the store week days and cut-up hot dogs in veggies on the weekend. 

[big-n-tall]

Not exactly the same but i once had a dog and cat. The dog would eat the cat food and the cat would eat the dog food. It was maddening because they wouldn't eat their own food. All of it was from cans.

[+ nycman]

You never lived on farm did you?

In the words of my father, "The dog will eat when it’s hungry. Don’t be a moron."

[Guest]

6 hours ago, nycman said:

You never lived on farm did you?

,,,

Edited January 2, 2022 by Unicorn

[+ bashful]

I’m thinking of adopting a dog, and looking forward to such quirks.   My father would mix leftovers from dinner, making sure they were still warm, into the dry food. 

I’ve been on the different rescue sites, and when I start to seriously consider one, it’s gets adopted.  

[+ sync]

5 hours ago, Unicorn said:

 

Eyi, eyi, oooooooooooooh!!  🤩

[thickornotatall]

we have 2 large dogs....one eats any and everything we put down...Usually a mix of Wilderness Pate and vegetables mixed with cooked beef and chicken livers....The other dog will turn his nose up and go to bed....either that or tip the bowl and pick out what he wants....

[Epigonos]

As an adult I've had only one dog -- long gone.  She thrived on dry food.  One of the things I really miss about her is that she greatly enjoyed having me work in the kitchen.  As a cook I can be something of a slob.  She followed me around faithfully and immediately ate anything and everything I manage to spill or drop on the floor -- her tail wagging happily.  My kitchen floor was always immaculate.  Damn, even after all these years I still miss her.  She was one of the great joys of my life. 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Epigonos

[Luv2play]

I can empathize with Epigonos. I always said gravity was a dog's best friend in the kitchen. 

[Guest]

Yeah, they'll eat all kitchen accidents. They'll even grab a piece of ice if I drop an ice cube. Carrots are a treat. 

[Guest]

[+ sync]

15 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

They look a lot like coffee beans, maybe it's the visual.   

 

[+ E.T.Bass]

 

Veterinarians claim one should never give dogs "human food".

Maybe that avoids a few items toxic to dogs.

 

There is plenty of nutrition research available.

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by E.T.Bass

[+ Charlie]

I agree with @azdr0710.  My dog usually will eat anything you give him, but my standard feeding practice is to put some canned food under the kibble; most dogs will eat the kibble to get at the canned food, and if the canned food is wet enough, it will also flavor the kibble. Right now we are in luck, because we have neighbors who got a Poodle puppy last year, who is very picky and turns down lots of things, both canned food and treats; they are always giving us the cans and boxes of expensive stuff he turns down--the latest is a mix of turkey and venison in gravy--which our shelter mutt thinks is the food of the gods.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Charlie said:

... we have neighbors who got a Poodle puppy last year, who is very picky and turns down lots of things,...

"What the hell is this??"

[Luv2play]

29 minutes ago, Charlie said:

I agree with @azdr0710.  My dog usually will eat anything you give him, but my standard feeding practice is to put some canned food under the kibble; most dogs will eat the kibble to get at the canned food, and if the canned food is wet enough, it will also flavor the kibble. Right now we are in luck, because we have neighbors who got a Poodle puppy last year, who is very picky and turns down lots of things, both canned food and treats; they are always giving us the cans and boxes of expensive stuff he turns down--the latest is a mix of turkey and venison in gravy--which our shelter mutt thinks is the food of the gods.

My last dog was a mutt who would eat anything. My previous two dogs were purebreds who were somewhat more diffident about kibbles, which I have always preferred to feed my dogs.

They would eat kibbles but not with the relish that they devoured human food in the form of table scraps.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Luv2play

[+ Tygerscent]

On 1/1/2022 at 2:44 PM, Unicorn said:

I'm on about my 6th dog of my life. One of my prior domestic partners (of over 13 years) liked cats, so we had cats when I was with him, but basically I'm a dog person. So now I'm taking care of a big pooch (75#, 34 kg), along with my current beau's French bulldog. My sister also owns a bunch of dogs (well, one of her most recent/4th dog, a rescue German shepherd, ate one of her other dogs, so now she has two). In any case, in all of my life, I've never had a dog snub her food, but my big baboo has been doing that over the last several weeks. I've tried mixing her food with chicken stock, beef gravy, or canned food, but she still snubs it. When we have taco  night, if we have extra taco meat and mix that in with her food, she'll eat it quickly, but otherwise it's a chore. 

It seems to get worse after our house sitter takes care of them, and I suspect he may be feeding her just moist food even though we buy and instruct him to use dry food. "Chris" has suggested we get a nanny cam to see what he's doing. The problem, of course, is that we can't just leave the large dog's food out, because if the big mutt leaves her food, the Frenchie will be on it in seconds. In fact, the only way the big pooch will eat her food is if the Frenchie makes a move for her dish. Otherwise, my big baboo turns away from her food dish, and gives me a look that says "Fuck that!". 

So far the big one doesn't seem like she's wasting away, but I'm not sure what to do. Obviously I'm not going to cook taco meat every day for my finicky mutt. Should I give up and just feed her canned food? I hate the thought of giving the big dog tastier food just because she's being difficult. I've tried different brands of dry food. Every other dog I've ever had revels in the cuisine of "Chez Unicorn"! 😄

What exactly are you trying to feed her now~?

[+ Tygerscent]

I’ve had lots of fuzzy buddies~ They are family/pack members to me~ I’m a human being and an animal yet, not either as well~ I’ve essentially been an urbaN and rural farmer… if not jungle animal at times~ 

 I realize this isn’t going to work for many people but, I can add that this meal plan has significantly added to the quality of my companions life and health consistently over their and my own life time~ It’s simply here as something to consider~

 Meal time has always been an endearing and bonding time for my kids and I~ (my fuzzy, winged and finned friends… they are my kids).

 This has been the routine since I was five and had my first companions~ (My parents imparted a responsibility of care onto me for my companions if I was to have them… My nickname was “Mawgli” when I was younger). 
 
 They got three cooked meals per day, a raw meat meal snack once daily and I only supplemented with dried food~ No foods like yucca, blueberries, cranberries, carrots, etc… (what canines or felines in the wild are out there harvesting and eating yucca roots, carrots, peas and blue green algae~?) 

My dried food of choice was Blue Buffalo~ The rest of what I fed them was live or cooked people food that I also ate and was organic~ Their diets were always grain free~ 

I’ve never had a dog live less than 19 Yrs old or a cat live less than 26yrs old~ Despite screening regularly for worms, I’ve rarely ever used worm remedies, (only encountered worms once in one young dog who ate a rabbit and once with Raison when she first moved in because she was hunting mice and sparrows~ After incorporating her into our dinning routine, she hunted things but, didn’t eat them~). Never used heart worm pills, (and never had heart worm),  or flea products but, then again I’ve only had a flea problem twice in the house over my lifetime and hand combed them out~ Raison got them when she first moved in and I gave her a single treatment. I brushed everybody daily, spreader out jumpers with isopropyl alcohol and vacuumed the rest away and that was the end of it~ 

Nanook was a grey wolf, (weighing in @ 132# in his prime)~ He ate chicken and rice dinner, (swapped the meat out to beef, ground lamb, Turkey and Buffalo so he wouldn’t get bored), Swiss cheese, and daily beef shank with bone and marrow~
 The only greens he ate were a type of forest grass found in the coastal range of oregon. I brought it home and grew it in the yard for him~ Raison the Greek kitty also loved the forest grass~ It’s not the grass people grow in their lawn~). 

 On holidays, I cooked my kids a 26 pound Turkey and sometimes scallops~ He hated salmon and fish in general but, liked Trader Joe’s smoked trout in a can. Raison having grown up in Greece didn’t care for fish at all. She preferred beef~ 
  For snacks Nanook loved black licorice, beef or Turkey jerky, bacon double cheese burgers from Burger King and corn dogs~ No dried livers or pig ears or raw hide chews etc.~
 Raison the Greek kitty, (weighing in at just 5lbs), ate the same food but, the kitty version of blue Buffalo wild cat diet~ She didn’t like corn dogs or licorice~  Despite being small she could really pack away the food~ She also never had any kind of packaged “kitty treats”~ 
 All my furry mammalian companions enjoyed butter but, didn’t really care for plain yogurt or milk products beyond some cheeses, (consistently low lactose cheeses like Swiss and Parmesano)… they have generally preferred the forest grass to that for their digestion~  
 Nanook lived to be 22 and never had any trips to the vet beyond vaccines~ Raison lived to be 26yrs old and also had no health problems~ It’s the same story for all of my previous kids… Even my birds and fish had a relatively natural/native diet~ (I bred and raised highly fluorescent budgies, red factor specialty song canaries, cockatiels, half black marble angle fish, dragon fish, raccoons, a raven, a starling, turtles, a bobcat, horses, sheep, various types of bees and a bunch of other sorts). 

  Nutrient dense foods with high protein and slow/low carbs~ 
  Never had weight problems, joint problems, skin problems or health problems of any sort~ No cancer, diabetes, obesity, emotional health problems, eye problems, teeth tarter plaque of decay problems, etc~
 Everybody had clean/sound teeth up until about the year before they died~  
 Then I started hand brushing their teeth and used a product called Oratene that I added to their water and brushed their teeth with. It’s the same product made for people called Biotene except it’s missing the fluoride and other things that are toxic to cats and dogs~ 
 All of my many, with exception to one, died a natural death at home of old age with me there. 

 I’ve also never spayed or neutered my fuzzy buddies~ (With exception to Raison who was spayed in Greece when she was three years old after having some kittens). None of my kids  were ill mannered, aggressive or popping out millions of “unwanted pets”~ 

 When home we always ate together and basically ate the same food~ I sat on the floor with them and always shared food with them from my plate~ All were provided for. Food was available throughout the day. No one over ate or competed for food. There was no aggressive behavior towards food. Raison often ate from Nanook’s dish together with him… Nanook didn’t care for Raison’s dry food but, Raison often ate Nanook’s dry food~ He was not very fond of dry food really~ 

 It perhaps sounds extravagant but, what money I spent on live organic food has always spared me unnecessary, (and expensive), vet bills as well the buying of larger amounts of dry food~ 
 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Tygerscent

[+ Tygerscent]

23 hours ago, sync said:

Eyi, eyi, oooooooooooooh!!  🤩

Isn’t that “He a He a Ho~!” 

[+ sync]

2 hours ago, Tygerscent said:

Isn’t that “He a He a Ho~!” 

That would be me.  😆

[+ tassojunior]

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, tassojunior said:

Does any food actually appear in that kitchen lol.