Sierra has been fine when it comes to play and everything it is justing eating and even today for breakfast Hunter would not eat last night my dad gave both dogs beef in their food and it backfired this morning on me, I would put the food down and Hunter would not touch it I put the other bowl down and he would not touch that one till I put broth in it. I do think the dogs need a change to me I think Canidae has zero flavor at all the only thing I know is that it is grainless and the dogs can not have barley it gives them gas. Sierra gets gas now from the Canidae and it is bad if the army bottle dog farts we would win wars bad, and besides in the wild animals eat lots of different meats which mean lots of different flavors and I can't pick up her bowl and put it somewhere high cause my cat will eat it.
Dog not eating that much?
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That is because HE has YOU trained!
They are your dogs, if you want to jump thru hoops to get them to eat, that is your choice.
HOWEVER as has already been said, a HEALTHY dog will NOT starve itself.
I have had numerous dogs of different breeds over the past 40 years and I have NEVER had one that was a "picky eater". They get the kibble I choose, WHEN I choose and the amount I choose and they are GLAD for it. (When I say "I choose" that is assuming that it agrees with the dogs system. If I decided to feed something and found out that it didn't agree with the dog, I WOULD change it to something else.)
I don't think that changing flavors or even brands of kibble is a bad thing in and of itself. BUT it can lead to them getting into the habit of trying to "wait you out" if they get a kibble they don't like as well as the others.
I also don't feed ANY kinf of "topper". They eat their kibble PLAIN and DRY or they don't eat at all. I DO give my dogs other things besides kibble including "people food" and occarionally canned dog food, but it is NEVER with their meals. I keep other "yummy" things 100% seperate from meal times. That way if I run out, they don't refuse to eat their meals.
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This is what I wanted to hear. (I'm getting a lot out of this thread btw, thanks to the OP for asking)..
I did some thinking and I've decided I"m not adding canned food to Riley's diet. Reading what you said there, you're right, and I didn't think of it that way. If I keep changing what she eats, she may decide she doesn't like such and such and learn that if she waits long enough, I'll find her something else.
good point.
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Another reason to not add goodies to their food to entice them is if the food is bad you'll never know. When the pet food was bad, dogs were refusing to eat it. They knew it wasn't right and knew it was poisonous. But owners put gravy and other goodies on the food. Alot of animals might have lived if we didn't feel the need to bribe them to eat. 
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None of the grain free kibbles have Barley. Barley is a "grain".
Canidae ALS and Salmon
Taste of the Wild. (They have 4 flavors.)
Innova EVO
Merricks "Before Grain"
Wellness CORE
Acana Grain free (They also hae some formulas that have grains.)
Orijen
Now
Natural Balance (They also have some formulas that have grain.)
There are others too, I just can't remember what they are at the moment.
Canidae ALS and Salmon
Taste of the Wild. (They have 4 flavors.)
Innova EVO
Merricks "Before Grain"
Wellness CORE
Acana Grain free (They also hae some formulas that have grains.)
Orijen
Now
Natural Balance (They also have some formulas that have grain.)
There are others too, I just can't remember what they are at the moment.
thanks we do give the dogs the Canidae ALS one right now and I think the lamb might be giving Sierra the gas cause before it was the barley giving them the gas, we still are looking into changing the food but we just don't know what to change it to.
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Taste of the Wild is grain-free and has several formulas if you want to rotate the protein. They also make a canned food. You can get it at Tractor Supply stores, they also carry 4Health which is made by the same company. Nature's Variety and Orijen both have different flavors. I agree with everyone who said to feed twice a day, leave the food down for 15-20 mins at meal time and if he doesn't eat it, pick it up and don't give him anything until the next meal. I used to leave food down all the time for Stosh because he wasn't a good eater but after spending 5 days at t kennel where meals were the same and on time, he started eating really well. Now he knows when meal time is and actually wants to eat. And it's just dry kibble. If I want to feed him an egg or some raw meat or yogurt I wait until he's finished his meal then give him the extra 'desert'.
I have no patience for a dog that won't eat. You really have to try to get certain breeds to a point where they get picky. "Palatibility" is largely designed for the owners of the dogs, as many people judge the quality of the food based on how quickly it is eaten and the perception that the dog likes it.
Most owners don't realize, especially folks with a new puppy, that mixing various foods or feeding one type in the morning and a different one at night is totally useless. Likewise, rotational feeding or the latest fad "seasonal feeding" will just increase the likelihood of either sensitivity or behavioral problems.
Dogs develop an enzyme profile to a certain food and metabolize it that way. A dog's pancreas is relatively small and very slow to adapt to new foods. Once in a while it does no harm but when its done every month or every couple of weeks, or even everyday, you are just asking for trouble.
People also overfeed their dogs in terms of potency. You can read whatever "white paper" you want but the vast majority of pets don't need a 40% protein food and wont ever assimilate that much protein.
A GSD should be on a 25%-30% protein, 15% -20% fat diet with chicken meal or organ only chicken by product meal first but with some corn. A 30/20 should only be used for young intact dogs or dogs in show or being worked.
For the average dog, spending between 75 cents - $1 lb is about right.
Most owners don't realize, especially folks with a new puppy, that mixing various foods or feeding one type in the morning and a different one at night is totally useless. Likewise, rotational feeding or the latest fad "seasonal feeding" will just increase the likelihood of either sensitivity or behavioral problems.
Dogs develop an enzyme profile to a certain food and metabolize it that way. A dog's pancreas is relatively small and very slow to adapt to new foods. Once in a while it does no harm but when its done every month or every couple of weeks, or even everyday, you are just asking for trouble.
People also overfeed their dogs in terms of potency. You can read whatever "white paper" you want but the vast majority of pets don't need a 40% protein food and wont ever assimilate that much protein.
A GSD should be on a 25%-30% protein, 15% -20% fat diet with chicken meal or organ only chicken by product meal first but with some corn. A 30/20 should only be used for young intact dogs or dogs in show or being worked.
For the average dog, spending between 75 cents - $1 lb is about right.
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I was just wondering if anyone does a 50/50 diet? 50%raw and 50% kibble? There are a lot of articles on the internet that say not to mix kibble and raw but I know of a lot of breeders that do it and have for many many years with no problem. I am from Pennsylvania but I saw a video of Kraftwerk k9 and he is located in Washington and he feeds a 50/50 as well. I think their website is Kraftwerk k9.com? If Im not mistaken, I think he feeds Royal Canine and that stuff is Junk but his dogs look healthy and they do perform from what I saw on the website. Anyway I was just wondering if anyone mixed?
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