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My pointer/lab is about 50lbs. I mainly feed her Canadae dry 2x a day with a bit of hamburger/chicken/veg to take place of canned food. She will be 1 year old on Thanksgiving, which we have made her official birthday.
Obviously she eats the real food and leaves the kibble a lot of the time.
I know people say that when they are hungry, dogs will eat their food eventually.
She prefers to grub bits off the floor and has now begun (according to my husband) try to eat poop when they go walking (other dogs' not hers). I am afraid she is not eating enough. She will stare during our meals and even after I give her kong treats (bits of hot dog or cheese or p. butter) she is STILL acting hungry.
Sometimes she will eat her raw hides like food.
I am not sure how to handle this. I like giving her some 'real' food wit the kibble and I have been thinking to give her kibble in the a.m. and her meat & kibble in the pm).
I know some people will say I brought this on myself by giving her 'people food' (whatever THAT is) and now she is picky.
Any suggestions to make sure she is eating enough/ right? Should I just let her deal with it till she eventually eats the kibble? I don't want to go back to canned food and I don't think 'just kibble' is fair for a dog.
My pointer/lab is about 50lbs. I mainly feed her Canadae dry 2x a day with a bit of hamburger/chicken/veg to take place of canned food. She will be 1 year old on Thanksgiving, which we have made her official birthday.
Obviously she eats the real food and leaves the kibble a lot of the time.
I know people say that when they are hungry, dogs will eat their food eventually.
She prefers to grub bits off the floor and has now begun (according to my husband) try to eat poop when they go walking (other dogs' not hers). I am afraid she is not eating enough. She will stare during our meals and even after I give her kong treats (bits of hot dog or cheese or p. butter) she is STILL acting hungry.
Sometimes she will eat her raw hides like food.
I am not sure how to handle this. I like giving her some 'real' food wit the kibble and I have been thinking to give her kibble in the a.m. and her meat & kibble in the pm).
I know some people will say I brought this on myself by giving her 'people food' (whatever THAT is) and now she is picky.
Any suggestions to make sure she is eating enough/ right? Should I just let her deal with it till she eventually eats the kibble? I don't want to go back to canned food and I don't think 'just kibble' is fair for a dog.
Thanks.
This is the way I would recommend:
Place whatever food you feel best, mixed well, in her bowl at two scheduled times a day. Leave her to eat for half an hour, then remove the bowl. Do not let her have anything else during the day. Repeat until she gets the message that YOU control when/what she eats and if she dosen't eat what she is given, then she goes hungry.
Also look into Amichen bonding to establish your leadership over her. The Amichen bonding can easily be positive-only if this is what you prefer.
My dogs get a raw carrot (whole) as a treat once a day - they love it. Some dogs need more plant material than is supplied in foods. They also eat dry Beneful weight management and are perfectly happy.
Dogs are smart, and their sense of smell is excellent. You have fed your dog hamburger, chicken and veggies as dog food and she prefers it to her kibble. When you have dinner and you are eating beef, chicken and vegetables--the same thing you have fed her--it's not surprising that she can't differentiate between them. You've confused the issue for her. She knows if she doesn't eat the kibble and waits long enough, more hamburger, chicken and veggies will appear. Sure, she's probably hungry in between, but she knows you'll give in. It's only a matter of time before she'll start begging at the table.
Dogs do extremely well on just kibble. Buy a good food and you don't need to worry about meeting her nutritional needs. Dogs really don't need a variety of tastes to be satisfied or healthy. In the wild, animals eat the same thing day in and day out. For variety, give a carrot, as SouthernBelle does, or a bit of yogurt or green beans. Those things are the best treats. (Ingesting rawhide isn't a good thing for her. It may swell and fill her stomach, but it can also cause obstructions and it has no nutrition.)
Cut out the hamburger, chicken and veggies. Instead, pour a small bit of unsalted chicken or beef broth over the kibble to add flavor. She'll be happy, she won't beg and she won't be hungry.
We give our dogs Nutro Max kibble (for large dogs) and add a small amount of boiled chicken meat (chopped up) and drizzle over chicken broth over it all. Honestly, we think they love the chicken broth the most. Since we rarely eat chicken, I will buy chicken boil it for the broth and chop the meat up for the dogs. I put all the chopped chicken in a container and give a heaping tablespoon to them for their pm meal and drizzle chicken broth over their kibble for their am and pm meals. I can not stress enough as Leorah did, use broth that has no to very low sodium added. The broth seals the kibble deal (lol).
I don't know why we have gotten into this habit (chopped chicken and broth) when we KNOW dogs DO NOT need variety...it's just us spoiling them.
I have gotten into the habit of adding a bit of chicken or some desired table food to a full dish of kibble, adding warm water to make a gravy, and mixing it up so each kibble bit gets a touch of table food gravy. I started doing this when I had multiple dogs, one was a slow eater, and one had to get medication in his food. It works now, so everyone eats their own food, finishes, and any medication or joint capsules or whatever gets eaten, too.
This did not stop the beagle from stealing food off my plate, out of my hand, and biting me when I tried to put him in his crate after hitting him on the head with my sandwich.
I wouldn't give any of them a full dish of people food. I think it's too rich or something, and has bad "output" results.
My dogs also get a raw carrot everyday. Everyday I put a small amount of water in the bottom of their dish and then add the dry kibble. I shake the whole bowl to mix the kibble with the water and let it sit for 5 min. Once a week they get organic chicken broth mixed with the kibble instead of the water.
My guys both get two cups of the original Canidae daily and also give htem raw carrots. Once in a blue moon I will split a can of Merrick's between the two. During winter I have to float Tony's food as he tends to think eating snow will hydrate him
I would say you did make her that way. Dogs won't starve themselves. You should stop giving her that food mixed in and only offer her kibble if thats what you want her to eat. Dogs in wild eat a variety of meat, not the same thing for days, months and years to do this without feeding homecooked/raw you can rotate kibble with different protein sources. If you still want to add in the fresh food you can blend it up and mix together with the kibble to see if that works. Sometimes even still a dog can eat around it and even pick up the coated kibble and spit them out just trying to eat off the other food.
I have gotten into the habit of adding a bit of chicken or some desired table food to a full dish of kibble, adding warm water to make a gravy, and mixing it up so each kibble bit gets a touch of table food gravy. I started doing this when I had multiple dogs, one was a slow eater, and one had to get medication in his food. It works now, so everyone eats their own food, finishes, and any medication or joint capsules or whatever gets eaten, too.
This did not stop the beagle from stealing food off my plate, out of my hand, and biting me when I tried to put him in his crate after hitting him on the head with my sandwich.
I wouldn't give any of them a full dish of people food. I think it's too rich or something, and has bad "output" results.
I do something along those lines. I moisten the kibble with hot water and then for breakfast, they get a tablespoon-sized dollop of plain yogurt on top. They eat it all with not a drop left.
For dinner, I also moisten the kibble with hot water. Sometimes, after their dinner, they might get a dollop or 2 of people food (some mashed potatoes, some pasta...). They don't expect it though. They let me know they want it if we're eating, but there is no reason for them to believe they are getting it....they have to wait and see .
They eat all their kibble within minutes and there's never a single kibble left.
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