NikkiMom Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I have a 1-year old border collie/german shepherd (i think) mix. I got her last September from BC rescue. Are BC's typically finnicky eaters? She gets good quality food twice a day (science diet, professional, solid gold, royal canin) I've tried switching foods to find one she likes, mixing it with water, canned food, cottage cheese, etc. She is just not into food!! Her health is great, she's energetic and happy, and up to date on all her shots and blood work, no worms, etc (my partner, her co-owner, is a vet) so she doesn't have any apparent health issues. But she stays so skinny because she only eats about 2/3 of the time. Any suggestions on this or is this typical for a young BC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha J Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Hello and welcome, I am no expert on the Bc but Holly was a fussy eater before we got her spayed. She was ok when we first got her home for a while, (she was 7weeks old then) although we did have to change her food a few times as she has a delicate tummy. Anyway she would miss meals if we didn't coach her into eating. ( I know it wasn't the best thing to do as it trains them i suppose that you will hand feed them if they don't eat.) I wanted to make sure she ate enough to grow properly, she was always fed a good quality kibble food. Once we had her spayed though a few months back she has changed into a hungry girl and her food is not left down now at all. Sorry i can not help more but just thought i would add i know the feeling as Holly was fussy. It may be a BC thing i am not sure on that one either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painted_ponies Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 How much are you feeding her? Of that amount, how much does she eat? And what's her height/weight? Can you post a picture of her? It may be that she's really not all that skinny, for a BC. In fact, we had a thread in the Photo Gallery a while back showing examples of what BCs in good weight look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelb'smum Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 O and if you are needing to coax her into eating, try mixing a raw egg into her food ETA: Shelby was a picky eater for awhile then I switched her food, and finally settled on Nurto Max foods and she lOVES them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Well, Science Diet isn't really a very good food. Just had to point that out. As for picky eaters... my BCs aren't at all, both Oreo and Zoe love food. Zeeke is our GSD and he's not necessarily picky... but he doesn't really care to eat much either. What we do is put him in his crate to eat and leave him alone. He won't eat if there's something more interesting going on. We don't add anything to his food, he will eventually eat it all. If she's not eating all her food it might be you're giving her too much... Zoe's 30lbs fully grown and I only give her a cup a day. Oreo doesn't get much more than that either. (Though both WOULD eat as much as a GSD if they were allowed to!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest amylobdell24 Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Ceana's a skinny picky eater - I think more because there were more interesting things to do than eat. We had to turn it into a game - I purchased one of those treat-dispenser balls and put her meal into it so she had to roll it around to eat. When that started to lose her interest, we'd hide the ball. Then we started putting kibble in easter eggs and hiding them in mulitple places - she had to find them, open them, and get her food bit by bit. Kinda a pain, but better than hand-feeding her! I tried waiting her out, thinking if she were hungry, she'd eat - no dog would starve itself with food available. After she'd gone three days without touching food, I broke! That said, what really fixed the problem for me was getting another dog - she hardly ever leaves her dish unattended when it's dinner time now. But they both prefer the dispensing balls :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighDesertSpice Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Hailey never really did take to the commercial kibbles and so due when the food contamination came along, I switched her to home made. She would eat Boone's Nutro's Balance Choice senior with something mixed in, but not really with much enthusiasm. Now she eats with much more vigour, and incidentally has lost weight, but is getting more by volume. (We're doing a basic home made diet of rice/green beans/protein (chicken, tuna, yogurt, pork, et al)--the diet was published on the Nutrition forum here (published in the Baltimore Sun, i think.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkie Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 hahah yea finnicky eaterz! my bc clover eats pretty much everything she even enjoys (a lot) yogurt and fruits. on the other hand, my lab skye is a very picky eater. i think its because we cook for her so much when she was young that she now would only eat if she were starving.....and an entire day's starvation could come to an end at 3am. even worse just the other day skye won't eat the kibbles unless i hand fed her. i knew for sure she was crazy hungry but she just refuses to eat from the bowl. so i picked up a handful of pellets and presented to her and she ate em all in no time! i even showed her that it was exactly the SAME BROWN THINGIES in the bowl. what a doggie haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gypsy84 Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 I seem to have the opposite problem... Just yesterday Gypsy stuffed herself at the "all you can eat buffet" - AKA the dog food bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aljones Posted June 11, 2007 Report Share Posted June 11, 2007 Just yesterday Gypsy stuffed herself at the "all you can eat buffet" - AKA the dog food bin This sounds like the usual problem at my house, too! But I have a foster now who is more picky, and his rescuer (who has considerably more experience than I do in dealing with dogs that have to be encouraged to eat) swears by this canned tripe. It works really well for Spirit, and I add a little water to just one spoonful of it (making a really wretched smelling and looking "soup") and stretch a can for a looooonnnggg time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Speedy was very picky until I changed him over to raw. I used to have to put his meals into a ball and let him entertain himself by pushing the ball around to get the kibbles out on a regular basis. No such nonsense on the raw diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 My Black Jack is a VERY pick eater in every sence of the word. Sometimes he eats, sometimes he doesn't. But I figure as long as he's healthy and has energy he's ok. Most of the time he won't pass up more than one meal at a time. I also started putting a really good treat (PetCo cookie or hotdog) in it and he seems to like that. Sometimes the summer heat will also affect how he eats too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 No such nonsense on the raw diet. Not for Kessie, either - she was very very picky until being switched to raw, and that was the end of all pickiness for her. Kyla, on the other hand, is picky with the raw diet, too - one day she'll snarf something down as if it was the best thing ever, and the next time she gets the same food, it's time for the big dark eyes and the ears of despair. "Lamb ribs??? What have I done to you, what? Whatever it was, I didn't mean it and I'm very sorry...and I'd fancy some tripe today..." If she doesn't eat something, it goes back in the freezer, and the next day she usually does eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverWolf73 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 My dog Dixie is very finicky. I buy premium foods like Solid Gold or Wellness and she will skip meals or eat a little and then try to "bury" her food by nuzzling it with her snout until she manages to knock over her food bowl!! She is so weird. She eats less in hot weather and I can usually get her to eat by sprinkling on a little parmesian cheese, but I usually don't bother...she will eat eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkie Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 My dog Dixie is very finicky. I buy premium foods like Solid Gold or Wellness and she will skip meals or eat a little and then try to "bury" her food by nuzzling it with her snout until she manages to knock over her food bowl!! She is so weird. She eats less in hot weather and I can usually get her to eat by sprinkling on a little parmesian cheese, but I usually don't bother...she will eat eventually. so totally true! skye nuzzles her bowl too and clover has learned to flip her water bowl to get my attention at nights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BustopherJones Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Try mixing in some prepackaged (thawed) frozen meatballs, breaking them into small pieces and scattering them in with the dry food; Celentanos makes an excellent product, but there are others as well. Dogs love the smell, and the meatballs were recommended at Annie's training as a reward treat; the minimal amount of garlic is also good for them. (We use the meatballs when the dogs require medication, hiding the pill inside; works every time...) As an aside, Missy is a much older dog, but started becoming finicky about her food. We traditionally mixed canned Innova Senior in with her dry food, but still had some issues. Once we started also adding in 1/4 can of moist Merrick, she started (and has continued) eating with no problem. The caveat lies in the fact that Merrick is not cheap; normal price is just under two dollars per can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneen Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Sarah was a very picky eater too. She acted like I was torturing her by asking her to eat two small meals a day. We adopted Sydney and voila! Sarah eats like a champ. You just need a 2nd hungry dog around, and your dog will eat when you want her to. lol. ~Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkie Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 the two bowls are always empty after several hours. i know for sure who ate her own portion and then some more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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