Back to the drawing board!

[NotanotherAlfie!]

Some of you may have read my exciting post last week when I finally got Alfie to eat "dog" food i.e., Naturediet.  Oh how excited I was at him licking his bowl out and looking for more. 

It lasted two whole days 

Now he won't touch it.  He will eat a bit from my hand but it is very reluctantly and he is basically walking away from it when I put a bowl of it down at tea time.

Thankfully I had only bought about 5 of them in different flavours to see what he liked and didn't so that I could order in bulk!

I thought it was too good to be true.  Don't know what to try next.  His poo was perfect so I am in no doubt it was good for him.  Had to give him some cooked chicken last night to get him to eat and his poo was awful this morning.

Might give Wainwrights a try but I am convinced it is the way in which it is formed that he does not like, i.e., in a Pate.
Trouble is Wainwrights is a Pate too.  May be wasting my time.
I've tried chopping it into chunks, mashing it, serving it warm, serving it cold, serving it at bloody room tempreture!
Short of silver service from a butler I am now at a loss, as he loved it so much to start with.

 

[Helen]

Persevere 

He doesn't hate the food - he's expecting you to change it as you always have whenever he's turned his nose up at food. And you did - you added something 'better' to it like roast chicken!

I think it's time you took control here and stop anthropomorphising his eating and giving in to him.  He ate it, he loved it, it's a good food, it agrees with him and he'll eat it again if he doesn't have any choice, and he will enjoy it....

He is a dog not a child.   Put the food down, lift it when he doesn't eat it.   He will eat when he's hungry and if you can be consistent you will find in a couple of days he will HAPPILY eat his food.

I'm sorry to be so blunt but this is of your own doing 

[Archie bean]

Give the wainrights a whirl - you never know! However I think he may just be holding out for tastier morsels. You might need to steel yourself for a battle of wills. Leave the food down for 15 mins and then take it away. He won't starve himself and will eat when he's hungry. Normally I don't like doing this but you have tried everything and it's so easy for us to get wound up over their eating habits (I too had a fusspot - wainwrights fixed him!). If you are tense or worried he may be picking up on it so I would put the food down and walk away and leave him to it.

[NotanotherAlfie!]

I know it is my own doing, but I just want my dog to really enjoy his food not just eat it because there is nothing else.

Thanks for being honest though, I needed telling 

I have to go and get some more food today anyway so will get a tray of wainwrights and try him on that.

[Holly Berry]

Sorry, probably not what you want to hear, but I'm with Helen, persevere. If he's eaten it once and enjoyed it then he will eat it again when he's hungry. He's got to learn that he has to eat what you give him 

As an example my Mum had a dog similar to Alfie, and couldn't believe when she came to stay with us for a couple of weeks that she cleaned her bowl every night. The reason, she didn't get anything else, after 2 days of not eating she gave in 

[NotanotherAlfie!]

Funny that we know they are intelligent but don't realise just how intelligent they are.  That they know how to get round our little fingers 

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I have a right old fuss pot too  and perseverence  is key.  Charlie gets 2 meals and  if he doesn't eat breakfast he has to starve,  I'll give him dinner a bit earlier  but only by an hour  or so.  They do learn,  I  agree with  Helen,  if he liked it,  he's  holding out for more, I recently switched raw suppliers  and  Charlie refused to touch it from the word go, I  persevered  for a week ( him not eating)  switched to the normal supplier and he ate, I mixed the new with the old and nothing... he plain refused to touch any of it.  However,  had he ate  it to begin with I'd have been less inclined  to go back to the old company.  Even now  he's a terrible eater,  he goes through phases of eating well  and not eating well, I've just learnt to accept it.

I know how hard it is with a fussy dog.  I've almost been in tears with  Charlie's eating,  but switching him  to raw for us,  was a good thing.

[darby]

I haven't read all your posts/threads so don't know your full story.

Does your dog prefer only wet food? Have you tried Burns moist food? It comes in either chicken/egg/lamb with veg and brown rice. I give it to my cockers as a treat now & again and they love it.

I always thought that all dogs lapped up wet food in general (I thought kibble would cause more problems).

My lot have always been good eaters so I have never experienced your problem. Though I did read on another forum about someone who 'mistakenly' gave her dog too many treats and the dog turned up her nose at their regular food. The owner put the food down and picked up after 10 minutes if not eaten. After 3 days without eating the dog gave in.

[LynneB]

Agree with Helen, I have fussy eaters and pander to their whims when late stages of pregnancy or first feeding puppies but now they eat what they get or do without. They never do without for long

[jonnytrabant]

Ditto all the others. Cockers are crafty little sods and like the others have said, it's a battle of wills and Alfie is winning at the minute.

[piph]

I know it is my own doing, but I just want my dog to really enjoy his food not just eat it because there is nothing else.

Thanks for being honest though, I needed telling 

I have to go and get some more food today anyway so will get a tray of wainwrights and try him on that.

As Helen says - he's a dog, not a child.  Dogs don't need to 'enjoy' their food as we do - their psyches aren't the same as ours, they eat to live, not for pleasure, and he WILL eat if he's hungry enough.  Start giving him some 'tough love' - you aren't doing him or yourself any favours by giving in to his whims.

[LynneB]

As Piph has said, they do not need to enjoy their food, in fact I read somewhere that their enjoyment is the anticipation of food not the actual eating. I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I know it is my own doing, but I just want my dog to really enjoy his food not just eat it because there is nothing else.

Thanks for being honest though, I needed telling 

I have to go and get some more food today anyway so will get a tray of wainwrights and try him on that.

As Helen says - he's a dog, not a child.  Dogs don't need to 'enjoy' their food as we do - their psyches aren't the same as ours, they eat to live, not for pleasure, and he WILL eat if he's hungry enough.  Start giving him some 'tough love' - you aren't doing him or yourself any favours by giving in to his whims.

I agree to an extent, a  fussy dog is difficult,  Charlie went for  over a week eating nothing, however,  when he's hungry he'll ask  for more food.  It's ask about reading him,  and  now I've learnt the  I'm going to be fussy look, when I see the look I just know nite to  worry.  In my opinion,  it's  about learning about  their behavior

[Jessie_Pup]

Have you tried putting his food in a couple of Kongs and hiding them in the garden and let him have fun finding his food, or scatter feeding his food in the garden. You don't always have to feed them in a bowl.  You can also buy food dispenser balls, that roll around and release the food. 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Have you tried putting his food in a couple of Kongs and hiding them in the garden and let him have fun finding his food, or scatter feeding his food in the garden. You don't always have to feed them in a bowl.  You can also buy food dispenser balls, that roll around and release the food. 

 in my experience,  the treat of the nice food isn't worth the effort of getting the food,  however,  it's definitely worth a try.