Picky Eater - Page 1

My 2 yr old GSD has been picky about his food for 7-8 months.  Before that he would drool in anticipation for his food and then scarf it down.  Now he will only eat it if a ground up freeze dried liver treat is on top...which he is still not "drooling" over like he used to, but he will eat all his food.  I have switched through a couple different foods, and he will eat them withouth the treats for about a week and then he won't eat again.  I am limited in what food I can give him because he has really bad yeast allergies, so yeast, potato and anything else that contributes sugars is out.  He is on GO! Natural Salmon which is grain free.  He also gets salmon oil on top (which he is not crazy about), and probiotics on top.  The problem with stopping the treats is that when I did that during the summer, he lost about 5 lbs.  What he will do is he will refuse to eat for about a day then he will eat about 1/2-1 cup of food then he will not eat the next time then eat 1/2-1 cup of food...just enough to sustain him, but not enough to keep weight on him.  He is 87lbs now.

  Give him a chicken quarter he'll eat it.  He dosen't look under weight from the pics!

He's deceptively skinny with that long coat

Yes I would add a chicken quarter once per day also say AM or PM feeding;  then if you insist on continuing his kibble; give it to him for other feeding time which ever one you do not give the chicken;  you can also add some chicken livers, hearts and gizzards, put them on top of his kibble and a little warm water and see if he will eat.  Probably would do better altogether on raw diet.  Best of luck  Nan

Just am not sure if you understand that the chicken be given raw with raw bone only, NO COOKED BONES;  as well as the innards meats.  All is given raw. 

 He's a gorgeous boy.

bike him if you can. make him run after a ball do about 45min exercise with him in the morning and then evening. wait 2 hours after exercise to feed if doesn’t eat in 5 mins take the food away. if eats a little bit give him less then what he ate before. So he finishes and wants more if he is picky don’t feed him one day next morning feed him give him 5 mins and take it away evening same thing if he refuses take it away… next morning same the days he is not eating increase his exercise by another 45mins if he’s eating little bit don’t feed him in the morning or wise versa.
get a can of dogs food divide it into 4 portions mix it with his food, one portion each feeding then slowly one portion twice a day then eventually just his food straight. You might have to keep him hungry for a day or 2 but once you thought with it he will eat like piranhas once he understands that if he doesn’t eat he won’t get feed again.
tough but a sure fix for picky eater

My girl was weaned on kibble when I got her and. When she was about 6 months old she would eat only when she was really starving (every other day). You could count her bones just by looking at her… I tried different things (including dried liver treats), but it didn’t help. After I switched her to raw/home diet - this problem disappeared. I have to say that it costs me much less to feed her with home prepared food than using high quality kibble.

However your dog's luck of appetite could be also a result of insufficient exercise. My girl is a “self-regulating type” and she will skip a dinner if I don’t give her 45 min run every day.

PS Raw chicken wings are a great start. I wean my pups on it. As you can imagine they'll always pick a chicken wing over a bowl of kibble. Try and see if he likes it. Some dogs have to develop taste for a raw chicken. All of them love raw beef...
  

MR4166-
Yes - If my dogs don't eat in 10 minutes I take the food away.
Yes - 45 minutes of exercise make all the difference in the world.

SITAS MOM U MEAN 45 MINS. OF BIKING