Food Samples?? (long)

[JackB.]

I am going to start with some background on Jack. Ever since we adopted him (at 4.5 months old) he has been a picky eater. Long story short, he had terrible diarrhea when he came to us, and when we switched him to Nutro Lamb and Rice (previous owners had him on Beneful...) it didn't get any better (we did take him to the vet at this point, everything checked out normal). So, thinking it had to be the corn in the food, we made the decision to switch him to Blue Buffalo LBP. We switched him cold turkey, and the diarrhea went away the next day. Praise the Lord we thought the food issues were over!

Wrong. When he turned a year old (9/14/11), we started him on the BB Wilderness. He has had every flavor of Wilderness and doesn't like any of it. He will eat it for a couple of days, then turn his nose up. We have tried everything to get him to eat, shredded cheese, wet food mixed in, eggs, yogurt mixed in, etc., and nothing has worked. He will eat everything out of the bowl, except the kibble. He will however, break down and eat some kibble at about 8 PM on some nights, but even then it might be 1.5 cups of food, and thats per day! Can that possibly be enough? His energy is great, his poops are great, and his weight is perfect (ribs can be felt but not easily seen), but I can't stop thinking that he isn't eating enough. We want to switch him to something else, but were worried about spending money on something he wouldn't eat.

Now onto today. We went out to our local pet supply store to get him a new deer antler. I wanted to look at the food just to see, and as we get to the back of the store we hit the JACKPOT. The entire back wall was full of boxes of free samples!!


We decided to grab bags of the food that contained red meats as their main ingredient (with the exception of a recommendation of the NB Lamb and Rice) since red meat is the only flavor of food he hasn't tried. They also carry TOTW bison and venison food, but were out of the samples (supposed to get some more next week). What we have questions on is how do we go about feeding them to him? Should we just pop open a bag and give it to him, or mix with the food he is kind of eating now? Should we just try one sample a day? We certainly don't want to deal with diarrhea again. Is there any way to tell which one he likes best? I have a feeling he will eat them all pretty easily because it's new and different, so deciding which one he likes best seems kind of impossible. Any ideas? Any experience with these foods? Or is 1.5 cups eaten once a day fine for some dogs and we should just leave it alone? This is our first dog, and kind of baffled that he isn't scarfing down meals like other dogs we know (i guess thats a blessing in disguise, bloat terrifies me!). Raw is something we did look into, but we are newlyweds and both still in school, so it isn't something we can afford at this time. Thanks for any help!

[rjvamp]

Quick Question - did you try the LB formula from Blue Buffalo (Adult) or just puppy?

How much does your dog weigh?

The number of cups would be dependent on weight and how much exercise he gets (and how many calories per cup). If he is maintaining a good weight at 1.5 cups then you shouldn't need to worry. One thing you mentioned was all the extras you were giving him. The reason he 'waits' things out until night is he wants the extras. And then eventually hunger does get the best of him. There are a few ways to deal with dogs that don't want to eat their kibble. Put down the food and pick it up after 15 minutes (if he doesn't eat). You could also try to feed him in his crate (if he has one)...so that he isn't distracted by things going on in the house. Again, time limits are key. 15 or so minutes then let him out and put the food up. Try again later (i.e. try in the AM, then try in the PM).

Also, feed him AFTER you eat. That way your dishes are up, the food is up and all he has is his food that you want him to eat. And don't give him nibbles of your own snacks. Instead...steer him towards 'play' time with you vs. getting snacks from him.

Too many changes too quickly can (1) cause digestive upset and (2) potentially cause bloat - that is still a little debated, but I've read of people that did it and it happened. When you do switch try to do it slowly, following the guidance on the back of the bag of food you are switching to. Usually it is 1/4 new food, 3/4 old food for a day or so, then up it again to 1/2 and 1/2, then wait a few days and change it to 3/4 new 1/4 old....and then in a couple of days try 100% new food. There isn't a rule you have to follow as far as number of days, but generally the slower, the least likely you will have digestive upset.

[KZoppa]

I used the sample packs for kong stuffing but I know one thing we did to determine exactly which food we're switching to was literally one day, we put out a bag of each, poured into a bowl and whiched they went to first was marked down. The one they went to last (or two they went to last) was marked as a no. I'm not sure if that idea helps you any.

What i did with my cats was i poured a different food in with an equal amount of their current food and kept track of how quickly the new food disappeared compared to the old food. They prefer the new food, so we're going to finish out the old food and switch.

[KZoppa]

ahhh Robert! Good to see you!!! Good advice.

[JackB.]

Originally Posted by rjvamp

Quick Question - did you try the LB formula from Blue Buffalo (Adult) or just puppy?

How much does your dog weigh?

Funny you ask, my in-laws got him the most gigantic bag of dog food i have ever seen for christmas. We told them him was on the wilderness, but they just bought the BB LB formula for adult instead. Since he wasn't eating the wilderness, we decided just to keep it and try it. He won't eat it either, but it is what we are currently trying to make him eat.

As of this past August (his last vet visit), he was 71 lbs and 11 months old. I would say he has probably gained 8-10 lbs since then. Its hard to tell since we see him everyday, but my in-laws say he has grown a lot. His next visit is in a couple of weeks, so we will get a more accurate weight then.

We do have a crate, so I think I will try that before we decide to switch him. I've heard of feeding them in their crates, and giving them only a certain amount of time to eat, but not doing both together. Sounds like a good plan. How long do we try this before moving on? Should we cut out all treats while doing this (even when training)? What if he goes mad in the crate? (not sure how he would do in there when we are actually home, he's only crated when we are gone)

I think he gets enough exercise. My husband walks him in the mornings before he goes to school, then he goes on a second walk when I get home from school. A total of almost 1.5 hours of walking a day. Along with training, and some days we go to the local ball field for an hour or so of fetch and crazy zoomies! We also like to go hiking when it isn't raining or freezing out. Thank you so much for your reply! I never knew choosing food would be so hard!

[JackB.]

Here is a picture of him from today at the ball field. I think he looks a good weight. He's almost 26 inches at the withers, i just tried to measure it (not easy). Also, just to calm some fears, if he only eats a meal once a day, if at all, could that cause him to vomit? I have read that if they go too long between feedings, the bile will build up and cause them to get sick to their stomachs. It is very infrequent, maybe once every few weeks and its all yellow, which I think is bile.

[KZoppa]

Amanda, yes even just getting one meal a day the stomach can become upset. Our male gets sick if he doesnt get a midnight snack to speak.

I would stop adding all kinds of things to his meals to get him to eat. He wont starve himself and either he'll be difficult about eating for the rest of his life (some GSDs are just really picky eaters) or he'll get over it and decide he'd rather eat than have that hungry feeling because he was being a bonehead. You basically have to outlast him and his stubbornness.

[JackB.]

Originally Posted by KZoppa

Amanda, yes even just getting one meal a day the stomach can become upset. Our male gets sick if he doesnt get a midnight snack to speak.

I would stop adding all kinds of things to his meals to get him to eat. He wont starve himself and either he'll be difficult about eating for the rest of his life (some GSDs are just really picky eaters) or he'll get over it and decide he'd rather eat than have that hungry feeling because he was being a bonehead. You basically have to outlast him and his stubbornness.

Stubborn is right!!! Worse than the husband!!!!

[BlackGSD]

When doing the "tough love" method. (Meaning a time limit to eat his food.)

If he doesn't eat his meal, NOTHING to eat until the next meal. No snacks, training treats, ect.....

[Emoore]

I've never particularly worried about what foods my dog "likes" best. He's a dog; he'll eat what's best for him, or he won't eat. Put the food down, wait 15 minutes, and pick it back up again. Next mealtime put the food down, wait 15 minutes, and pick it back up again. It's hard enough getting the stars to align to get a food that gives healthy skin and coat, good poops, no upset stomach, no eye boogers, no yeasty ears, etc. I haven't got the time or inclination to worry about pleasing the palate of an animal who has spent the last several millennia evolving to eat garbage.