Gone off her food

[burnysbird]

Hi there,

Just wondered if I could have a bit of reassurance!

Sizzles is over 6 months now and we have tried 3 types of food now (started on Beta from breeder, then Science Plan and now Canine Cook) and she has always turned her nose up at the food. Once we had her on chicken and rice due to a dodgy tummy and she wolfed that down without any problems!

I have tried putting a bit of warm water in it to release the aroma, but she sniffs it and turns away. We are also strict in that if she doesn't eat it within 20 mins, we'll take it away.

She doesn't starve herself - she might eventually eat it, but this will take ages and she'll go to the kitchen and bring some in the Living Room to eat...it's very odd, like she doesn't want to miss out on anything.

Is this normal for a dog of her age? I don't want to change food any more as the new one we are on "agrees" with her!

Katie

p.s. we don't allow her any of our food either!

[Nicola]

As she will eat the food eventually for the most part it could be that she's just not that 'foody' a dog or she isn't really fussed on kibble, both of those are fairly common. It is also pretty common for them to go through a fussy eating stage as pups and for them to like to carry a few mouthfuls somewhere else. I haven't heard of Canine Cook but if she's eating enough to maintain her energy levels and growth and keep her in good condition then I wouldn't be too worried at this stage. You can do things like add a bit of wet food, sardines, egg etc. to her kibble to make it more appealing but there's also the risk that that could make her more picky and/or she'll hold out for better stuff so you need to weigh up how you think she might react to that.

I have Rodaidh and Caoimhe on a half kibble and half barf diet, they get Barking Heads kibble in the mornings and raw in the evenings. Rodaidh has never been massively keen on dry food, he much prefers the raw stuff or sardines, Nature Diet etc. but I know he will still eat the kibble when it's put down to him, he knows that if he turns his nose up at it he won't be given anything else so getting barf food for dinner hasn't made him fussy.

[elaine.e]

She doesn't starve herself - she might eventually eat it, but this will take ages and she'll go to the kitchen and bring some in the Living Room to eat...it's very odd, like she doesn't want to miss out on anything.

William went through a phase like that when he was about the same age as Sizzles. He was a fussy eater and one of his problems seemed to be not wanting to eat if I left the kitchen. I'm not sure if he needed the reassurance of me being there or if it was just Cocker nosiness

So instead of hovering near him and watching to see if he was eating I started turning my back on him and doing something boring like the washing up. So I was still in the kitchen but not paying any attention to him. That helped him to focus on the food. After a couple of days of that I started leaving the kitchen for a few seconds then coming back. I didn't say anything to William or make eye contact, just kept it low key. Over a week or so I gradually built up the time I left the room until I could just come and go and he'd carry on eating.

Maybe I was just lucky and he was beginning to settle with his food anyway, but it seemed to help.

[siam]

My last cocker, who was a working one wasn't bothered about food. We tried a variety of foods but it didn't make any difference. I did find however that the smallest amount of scraps sprinked on top of his food at the end of our meal was enoguh to start him eating, and it was really just a tiny quantity. On the other hand I now have Alfie, a small year old show type and he adores his food-he certainly needs no encouragement!

[Helen]

so many dogs go through this kind of thing between 6 and 12 months - I remember Jarvis doing it.  I think there was a bit of secondary teething going on with him where his molars were bedding down and were quite painful and also life was sooooooo exciting that eating got in the way - he had to know everything that was going on and was very easily distracted from his food.   He has always been like that with food, and will still easily miss a meal or let his sister if she's visiting nick his.  The trials of being an only dog.  Having grown up with labs etc it's a shock to the system having a fussy eater

We ended up making sure that there was nothing much else going on around him so he concentrated on his food and did soften the kibble a bit and that's when we tried some BARF with him as well as he got quite scrawny (although that was just a growth spurt!)

Also with wee girls they can start coming into season from 6 or 7 months on so maybe she's having some hormonal changes which are affecting her? 

[rubyduby]

usually find , a nice lively walk and a sprinkling of tripe,fresh or frozen(thawed)over food usually works, 

[black taz]

Also bear in mind that amounts on most food packaging encourages you to put too much down so you have to buy more.  My collie cross never ate more than about 50% of the recommended daily allowance and always remained the same weight and healthy.

[burnysbird]

Thanks for the replies. Just been reading up on BARF as I wasn't sure what it was!...sounds interesting but thinking I might wait for her to get a bit older to see if she grows out of it.

Do you think I could get a couple of Natures Menu pouches (as they do a puppy one) and give her as one meal in the day? Although that might make her even more fussy I guess!

[jessandme]

Our little lady Jess - 6 1/2 months old now - absolutely loves the Natures Menu tripe variety, the nuggets that you buy frozen.  We don't love it quite so much, hadn't realised just what raw tripe was going to smell like!      But we get it anyway because she loves it so much, her meal disappears literally in 10 seconds flat.

You could try a couple of the nuggets - thawed of course - sort of crumbled and sprinkled over her food, maybe?

[Pip895]

Saffi was very fussy - I resorted to adding a variety of additions - grated cheese, scraps, pilchards, tuna (couldn't stand the smell of tripe I'm afraid ).  Not a lot - perhaps a couple of tea spoon fulls, but well mixed in with the rest of the food.  It just made her a little more enthusiastic. I also made sure I fed her when we were in the room - otherwise following mum won out over eating.

She is much less fussy now and I don't need to sprinkle anything into her food - but I often still do as I think it makes it a bit more interesting for her.

Interestingly there was a very marked change in her appetite after her first season (~10months) - she suddenly changed from picking at her food to wolfing it down.  Maybe Sizzles will be the same.

[seaangler]

As to Pip895 says...Are Peggy at four years old can be very fussy to....But putting grated cheese she does not fail to eat it...Also her other favorite treat a chocolate digestive crumbled up in her bowl....


P.S. The chocolate biccy is a digestive biccy with melted chocolate button treats(For dogs) poured over the biccy...

[burnysbird]

Thank you. Interesting to know about the change after having the first season Pip895 - shouldn't be long before Sizzles has her's.

Re sprinkling things over her food - perhaps worth a go. She does love rice so will give that a go and see what happens. Noticed over the last couple of days she is more hungry after her walks - so will wait until after those to give the food. I tend to stick around the kitchen to make her eat it, but my husband (who works from home and gives her brekkie) isn't so patient!