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Ivy won't eat dry food


WildFlower
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Hi All.

 

My mom's BC Ivy is not interested in eating her kibble any more. She will eat wet food but will only sniff the dry and then walk away. We have tried a variety of different types (samples) of dry food and she does the same. When she mixes the dry in with the wet she eats around the kibble or walks away.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks for your help!

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Is she willing to chew on other, firm or hard, things like bones or chewies? If not, I would wonder about a tooth problem.

 

Sometimes, and this may not be the case here, dogs can train us to "spoil" them. I have a friend whose Pomeranian will only eat deli ham (that's his diet) and the water has to be freshly poured or he won't drink it (he also won't get off the bed to get a drink, as she "has" to bring it to him there). Sometimes, dogs are awfully good at training us when it should be the other way around.

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I have a friend whose Pomeranian will only eat deli ham (that's his diet) and the water has to be freshly poured or he won't drink it (he also won't get off the bed to get a drink, as she "has" to bring it to him there).

 

I have seen a Pomeranian who "would only eat" if cradled on the owner's lap like a baby and spoon fed. I had serious problems not saying something undiplomatic, but the person happened to be one of my wife's best friends. Yes, they will train us, if we let them.

 

I'd definitely check to see if there was a dental problem, but if all is well, wait until she is hungry enough, and she will surely eat what's available.

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Thanks all. Ivy is 16 months old.

 

She is chewing on bones (marrow bones). So I think her teeth are ok.

 

With that info, if she is turning up her nose at more than one brand of dog kibble, my guess is she is being finicky. Some dogs are picky eaters. None in my house currently where eating is a very competitive sport :rolleyes: but I had a couple fussy eaters in the past. One of the dogs was just wired that way but I basically taught the other two they could be picky. This was when I was a kid/young adult and not as hard hearted as I am now. Very few dogs will starve themselves but many have learned that if they hold out, something better will come along. I'd wonder if your mom's girl has learned this as well. I'd also look to see if she gets enough other food (treats, scraps, etc.) that she is comfortable turning up her nose at meals.

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Poke is a picky eater. We just put a little chicken or beef broth/stock on his kibble. We get a great dog safe organic brand for CHEAP and the local health food store. He loves raw, however, Chris does not... so Poke will just learn to deal with the broth & kibble. Try and add some sort of flavor to the food, maybe it isn't smelly enough!

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If there is not a medical reason for it, I would say Ivy has you guys trained. You could try soaking the food in some water to soften it up and with some foods it makes its own "gravy" so that may work.

 

Otherwise, cut out all extra treats, scraps, wetfood etc... and just put down food. She will eat when she is hungry.

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My views on this are very different from others. If my dog doesn't want to eat a certain type of food, I find something the dog does like and feed that.

 

I don't eat lima beans, beets, coconut, or malt balls because I don't like them. It makes no sense to me to force my dog to eat something that he or she doesn't like - especially on a long term basis. As it is, they are eating dry, processed food pellets. The least I can do is find a brand of dry, processed food pellets that they like!

 

Back in the days when all of my dogs ate kibble, I tried different brands and fed the ones the dogs wanted to eat. I still do the same for my two who eat kibble.

 

Even now if I have raw chicken juices or bits of leftover raw, or cooked (without bone), meat, I'll add it to the dog's food because they enjoy the different scents and flavors and I like to give it to them.

 

So, my suggestion would be to try foods you haven't tried yet. There are so many, there is bound to be something the dog will like. If you can get it, you might want to try Taste of the Wild. It's definitely a huge winner with my dogs. Even my raw fed dogs go gaga over it.

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When I brought Sky home, I made a point of buying the same dry food she got at the shelter. Supposedly she had been eating it. Well, not at our house. After 4 days of her not eating even a single kibble, I was getting desperate. I called the shelter for help. The lady told me just to wait her out. After a couple more days, I couldn't stand it anymore (she was and is quite skinny), and mixed in some other stuff, like cheese or tiny pieces of chicken. Plus I started looking for a more nutritious dry plus wet food. It still took a looong time for her to eat "well", she's just not food motivated enough, except for pizza and Chinese. :)

 

We've been feeding her small bites Evo dry, beef or chicken, mixed with a couple tablespoons good wet food (Wellness, Evo, Innova, Solid Gold -- I switch a lot, because I think even dogs get bored eating the same stuff). She won't eat breakfast no matter what I tried. She seems very healthy and in good shape. Is she spoiled? Yes. Did she train us? Maybe. Does it really matter? Not to me. :)

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My views on this are very different from others. If my dog doesn't want to eat a certain type of food, I find something the dog does like and feed that.

 

In all fairness to those of us who said the dog might be a bit spoiled, the owner is said to have tried a number of kibbles. If a dog of mine was refusing a certain brand of food, I wouldn't try to get him to eat it. Too many stories of people who coaxed their dogs to eat when there was the big problem with tainted pet food! Talk about guilt over inadvertently encouraging your dog to eat poisoned kibble.

 

Otherwise, I am definitely calloused compared to you as far as what I offer for food. I look at dogs as scavengers and don't spend a lot of energy catering to their taste buds. Probably because I have dogs who often gulp food down with it barely touching those taste buds. :rolleyes: So I look for high quality food that the dog does well on. Quinn gets home prepared meals -- not because he wouldn't happily wolf down whatever I put in front of him, but because he can't handle processed foods. The Sheltie and Lhasa are each on kibbles that meet their particular needs. I do wet their food down to slow their consumption to moderate inhalation. :D

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Marrow bones are the #1 cause of broken teeth in dogs (according to Solo's veterinary dentist at the Penn vet hospital) so I'd stop giving those and make absolutely sure Ivy's teeth are OK. It may be that kibble is just not worth the pain for her, but marrow bones are.

 

If her teeth are fine, I'd settle on a good kibble and just wait her out. I too avoid feeding my dogs stuff they don't like -- for example, I went through a number of different joint supplement options for Solo and avoid the ones that he appears to consider disgusting (i.e., he will not eat anything that I put them on, including stuff he otherwise loves to eat) but there's only so picky I want them to get. Luckily, they aren't very picky.

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