Here we go again !

[maxineh]

Hi All
Back in early May I was having a battle of wills with Poppy refusing to eat her JWB kibble.  She went about 5 days without touching any. She also had a bout of upset tum and had an injection and tablets from the vet.  Everything returned to normal poo wise !  and I bought some Arden Grange to try.  At first mixing in and increasing the quantity of AG to JWB.  Poppy suddenly started eating all her meals and clearing her bowls. I thought great at last she is eager for food but was warned it might not last.  Well here we are coming up two months later and we have food refusal again    She just doesn't seem interested, I put her food down, she sniffs it and walks away!!!
At the weekend we had her 1st sleepover at my Mums and she went 2 whole days without eating.  (one meal was refused before she even went on her sleepover)
She came home eat 2 meals the next day then she got an upset tum again. I tried the pro kolin and chicken and rice for a few days (which she clears the bowl and looks for more) but today the soft poo had turned into a very runny bright yellow liquid.  (sorry for the details  )   Back to the vets and another injection, tablets, chicken, rice and pro kolin.  I mentioned to the vet about her fussiness with food and he said put it down leave 15 mins and if not eaten take it up.  Which is what I have been doing but no matter how much I tell myself she will eat when she is hungry I feel like I am throwing away more food than she is eating.  She is 6 months this week and weigh 9.6kg so she isn't starving.  I just would love to get to a point she is eager for food and eats it up!   Do I just keep on with AG or does she not like kibble! Help 

[Archie bean]

I had similar troubles with Archie at the same age. I'm afraid I gave up with kibble and he is now wet fed.
Maybe Poppy has been brewing her tummy upset and that's why she's not been eating? I would wait until her tum is better and then try again with the kibble. If she isnt keen then you can approach the problem several ways.

1. Stick to your guns and pick up her uneaten food in the hope that, as you say, she wil eat when she's hungry. 2. Try a different kibble again.
3. Try mixing something a bit more interesting as a topper - a good quality wet food, tuna, chicken, some stock etc.
4. Swap completely from kibble to wet or raw.
I personally was very unhappy forcing Archie to eat something he clearly wasn't enjoying just because it was all that was available. I know there is an argument that regularly changing food can create a fussy eater and that can be a risk. I was lucky, once I found what Archie likes (wainwrights wet) he never looked back. The reason I swapped was that he was weaned on wet and kibble mixed. He stopped eating completely so I changed the wet and tried mixing the wainwrights with his kibble to make it interesting but he literally sucked the wet off and spat out the kibble. I was sick of throwing the kibble away so I just stopped using it.
I hope Poppy's tum is better soon and she starts to enjoy her food again soon.

[maxineh]

 That is just how I feel. Today she wolfed down the chicken and rice which I have never seen her do with kibble. I just want her to eat something that she does enjoy and suits her tum. Raw has also been suggested but I haven't a clue about it so need to look into that a bit more. It seems not liking kibble is very common as talking to a couple of others with puppies over the park today they are experiencing similar refusal. I remember as a child many years ago mum fed our Dalmatian on tins of pedigree chum which she loved and had no ill affects. Why is it so difficult now     too much choice and variations 

[NotanotherAlfie!]

We use Wainwrights now, Alfie has been an incredibly fussy eater, due to having a poorly tummy when he was a puppy I had to give him chicken and rice and green beans for a while as advised by the vet.  Trouble is Alfie soon realised that there was more to life than kibble and that's where it all started.  i was soon cooking him chicken, liver, kidneys etc with rice veg and the like.  Two years later I thought enough is enough, he is a dog and although I love him and want him to eat well this is becoming inconvenient especially when we go away and I was having to cook and portion up food for him.

.........well in conclusion we went on to Wainwrights and it has been a struggle but we got there and Alfie does like Wainwrights, he occasionally looks for something else but when he realises there is nothing else he soon eats it up with relish.

Try Wainwrights or Nature diet, they are both good quality wet food and our Alfie's poo's have never been so good 

[montydavies]

Some dogs just don't seem to be eager for food. Monty NEVER seems keen to eat. He sniffs everything I give him suspiciously first and then decides whether he will eat it or not. This is the same reaction with anything I give him. I'd never experienced a dog so careful with food before, but now I just accept the way he is and let him get on with it. He is fed on a combination of kibble and fresh food, and both are greeted with great caution.

[PopPops]

Pops only eats kibble when she's hungry and there's nothing better on offer. I've started putting a spoonful of nature diet wet food on it and mixing it in, that gets knocked back quick enough. Or gravy, or a spoonful of tuna.

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Some dogs just don't seem to be eager for food. Monty NEVER seems keen to eat. He sniffs everything I give him suspiciously first and then decides whether he will eat it or not. This is the same reaction with anything I give him. I'd never experienced a dog so careful with food before, but now I just accept the way he is and let him get on with it. He is fed on a combination of kibble and fresh food, and both are greeted with great caution.

 Charlie is like this too. It took an age to find a food he'd eat...now we have,  he'll sniff it very cautiously  but he will reluctantly eat it.

[maxineh]

Little monkeys 
Think I might give the wainwrights puppy tray a try.  fingers crossed 

[Homebird]

I don't think I would like eating dry biscuits every day so it's no wonder dogs are 'fussy'.  Jessie was like this when young and the vet didn't like me adding the odd sardine etc to the kibble but she loved it.  Dogs are hardly natural biscuit eaters - a 'wild' diet wouldn't be so dry so I tend to think there is nothing wrong with giving them 'wet' food or a mixture of both.

I often mixed Burns wet pouch food with the dry - they advise on the proportion and my dog ate much better.

[maxineh]

I am wondering if it is the grain in the kibble and I need to try a grain free version. Have mixed a little wainwrights wet into her chicken and rice and bowl licked clean.  Will gradually decrease chicken and rice and up wainwrights then see how it goes. Got a sample of canagan kibble at country show today. Anyone heard of or using?

[Macette]

Lexi lost a pound in weight because she just was not eating enough of her wainwrights dry food. So I have made a chicken stock and warmed a bit to pour over the kibble and so far so good she has eaten every bit. I think scent has a lot to do with there enjoyment of food. Smells good so she ate it....fingers crossed she keeps it up ....