[fiorellita9]

Hi everyone! We adopted our GSD a couple of months ago and named him Dagger. He is playful and awesome but has issues eating. We have bought the best food we've heard of (Natural Choice lamb and rice for large breed puppy) but yet he seems to not like it and won't eat it until he realizes he has no other option. He has been sick the past few days with diarrhea, the vet told us to feed him rice and cottage cheese for a few days to calm his belly and to our surprise he LOVES IT!!!! We've never seen him this happy about food before and it doesn't last more than 2 minutes in the dish. We are nervous to go back to the same food and him being sick again or not interested eating. We thought all dogs get excited about their feeding time. What should we do? Thanks for your help!!!

 

[Stosh]

Welcome to the world of gsds! They can be the pickiest of eaters and you'll be a poop expert before long. You might try brown rice because it has more minerals than white and either cooked hamburger or chicken, then add a 1/2 c of his dry to each meal and gradually increase the dry and reduce the rice/meat mixture. You might also need to switch to a grain free or chicken free food- Stosh can't tolerate chicken, which isn't all that uncommon. You might have to try one or two brands of food before you hit on one that he likes and doesn't upset his stomach, but you also don't want to fall into the trap of bribing him to eat. You didn't say how old he is, but I imagine he's eating 2-3 meals a day, so once his stomach has settled down, put down his meal and give him about 15 mins to eat it and if he doesn't, pick it up and don't give it back until the next meal. It won't take long before he figures out that he has to eat when it's offered or it's going to disappear.

 

[GSDAlphaMom]

I second what Stosh said, just be sure to rinse the chicken or hamburger before adding it (rinsing the fat off)

 

[vat]

I will also agree with Stosh.

 

[doggiedad]

you can feed one of the best foods but it
doesn't mean your dog will like it. you might have
to switch brands a few times to find something
your dog likes and works for him. add something
to his kibble. i always add somthing to my dogs kibble.
i'll add can food, chicken, rice, veggies, fruit, yogurt (organic),
fish, raw ground beef, olive oil, salmon oil ,etc.

 

[fiorellita9]

Thank you guys for all ur advice. I forgot to say that he is 8 months old sorry. I will try changing his food and limiting his time, also maybe adding stuff to it. I didn't know they ate fresh fruit! What kind do you guys feed your GSD?