[Sylcamore]

8O well im not sure if some of you remember all the problems i had with marley and his eating when he was around 6-7 months, he just refused any dried food, if anything was added to it then he would pick the nice bits out and then leave the rest or spit the dried food out!

This went on for well over 6 months and drove me insane with constantly weighing him, in about 3 weeks he lost nearly half a stone with his refusal to eat. I'd seen the vets with him spoken to numerous people and there was nothing wrong with him, you could put a new dried food down in front of him and he would lick the bowl clean give it to him again he would literally turn his nose up and walk off!

It got to the point that i had hand fed him, done various games with him just to get him to eat his food! Which i know in normal circumstances you wouldnt do this as its making it worse but watching him lose weight was awful. I tried the put food down and take it up after 15 mins etc and that went on for a week with no food eaten!!changed his walks, changed his meal times etc

Anyway! Marley is a lot better he's maintaining his weight at around 30kg and sometimes he'll eat his breakfast sometimes he leaves it and the same for dinner.

We had oscar and he ate his food in 2 seconds flat and yep you've guessed it he's now starting to show the exact same signs as marley did! 8O :roll: He's now 7 months old! I've been talking to people that think it could be something in their genes but i really have no idea, just know that i dont want all the stress i went through with marley.
I would love to be able to snap oscar out of it straight away but after trying so much with marley im out of ideas! :roll:

 

[_anita_]

No advice I'm afraid, just wanted to say that Rueben is almost 7 months and he is doing exactly the same thing!! That post could have been about Rueben, he does all the same things (especially the picking out the good stuff!) and I'm at a loss as to what to do also!

So, sorry I don't have any pearls of wisdom. I just wanted to let you know you're not the only one who is having this problem!! I'll be watching this thread though to see if anyone does have any good suggestions.

Maybe it's their age and just a phase they are going through!

Anita & Rueben
xXx

 

[Sylcamore]

Hi Anita

Sorry to hear you're having the same problem with Rueben, i know its so stressful, it makes me laugh when people make passing comments and say well at least you have no problems with his eating with him being a lab! when i tell them they are so shocked.

With Marley i ended up weighing his food everyday working out what he should be eating then in the evening weighing out what was left!

We found that when we had him castrated he was slightly better as we never had an issue with starving him the day before and he was on such a minimal amount of food for the next 2-3 days that he was hungry when i gave him his food!

I would say try and stick to one type of dried food as we ended up buying about 3-4 different types of skinners which he refused them all and in the end i decided to stick to one of them and thats what he is on now!

I also thought getting Oscar would help him but he ended up just taking a step back when oscar shot towards his bowl! so didnt have the desired effect!! :roll:

The only time marley tends to clear his bowl is when i mix scrambled egg in with his dried food, any other time he has to leave something!! :roll:

I really hope Rueben starts eating properly soon, what things have you tried?

 

[_anita_]

Pretty much the same as you. Putting the food in a treat ball, mixing in something different (he just picks out the good stuff) and I have to admit I've hand fed him! :roll:

We did think about changing his food but sounds like thats not such a good idea. Its so strange because a week or so ago he wolfed it down so I don't get what has suddenly changed!? Maybe he's just being fussy!

One thing I might try is making up a little bit of gravy and pour that over his food. That's what he gets on a Sunday (after our roast) and he always eats all of that!

Lets hope we find a solution soon, they're a worry these pupsters aren't they?

Anita & Rueben
xXx

 

[Steve_P]

Shadow was a picky eater. We got food off the breeder, he wouldn't eat it, we put him on Burns, to start with, he ate it then would leave it. We changed to burns tinned food, same again. Switched him to BARF and he'll not stop until it's gone. May be worth a look if nothing else.

 

[_anita_]

What is BARF 8O

Doesn't sound very nice!! :wink: :lol:

Anita & Rueben
xXx

 

[Steve_P]

Bones And Raw Food. Takes a bit of patience preparing now and then but after Shadow went onto it, he almost comes up to us after eating to say thanks. Quite strange but he's ever so appreciative of his food these days.

 

[_anita_]

Not what I was thinking at all then!

Definitely going to look into that, would it be something I'd need to change to gradually (as with changing from one dried food to another?)

Thanks!

Anita & Rueben
xXx

 

[DarrenB]

Winston is the same and he is nearly 8 months... he has always been a fussy eater and although he has been to the vets, the vets can't find anything wrong with him and he is a good weight. Only thing of recent is that he has taken to eating grass this week so just to be safe am taking him back.

Have tried it all - only thing that comes close is putting his food in a ball where he has to push it around to get food out... that works on occassions but not 100%.

 

[Kazz59]

Sasha is exactly the same with dried food and she's 9 !!! I've tried allsorts of different ones, and over the last year or so, I've found a combination that she will eat (not with much gusto may I add, but will eat it eventually) and that's Tesco's Natural (no colouring or additives - costs a fortune) mixed with Butchers Tripe Meat.

Since stumbling across this site about a month ago, I have started to look at BARF - it really makes sense, but I'll have to look more into it first. Is she too old at 9 to changeover completely ? or does age not matter ?

Karen & Sasha

 

[Steve_P]

I think (but will gladly stand corrected if I'm wrong) that you can basically just switch over. There's a reallllllllllly long thread on here somewhere about BARF, there's even daily menus. There are a couple of books so if you want to research first . . . . .

I'm by no means saying that this switch will cure all fussy eating dogs, just that it did with Shadow. From a pure food point of view though, you don't get much better quality and the dog doesn't get loads of stuff that it doesn't need, not only colourings but cereals and the likes. I remember that when Shadow was on dry food, there always seemed to be more comming out than going in (without going into too much horrible detail) but now, when he does what dogs doo, it's lots firmer and less smelly 8O

The drawback with BARF is transportability. We went on holiday to Scotland at the beginning of the year and made sure there was freezer space for Shadows food before we left, packed a weeks worth of frozed meat into a box with freezer packs round it and made sure that anything we took would be ok if it did defrost. You do also find yourself taking time on the meat isles of supermarkets trying to find some good deals for meat on it's sell by date. It can, if you're careful about how you shop, work out about the same (or less) than a good quality dry food, we reckon about £30 a month for both our dogs but we do get lots of rabbit almost free which helps.

 

[Kazz59]

Well it most certainly isn't doing Shadow any harm Steve - what a healthy glossy coat he has

Karen & Sasha

 

[Chocice]

What is going on with all these black labs not eating? :wink:

I feed Cadbury BARF and he is very happy on it. If anyone is interested I can post or PM the menu I have created, mostly by trial and error, for him.

 

[Steve_P]

Shadow's ever-so happy too. Wouldn't mind seeing the menu anyway, if nothing else, to see how ours compares - mind you, we sort of make it up as we go along.

 

[Mambosmum]

EERRR UMM My 2 black labs have NO trouble eating Skittle has more than Mambo but still manages to finish before her sister, who is not slow by any means!!

I actually thought it was a wind-up when I read that some people have to take the bowl away after 15mins

The belches coming from Skittle are awfull.

Sorry!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Marianne

 

[Chocice]

mind you, we sort of make it up as we go along.

I do too, but I like to have a plan to ensure Cadbury gets everything he needs :wink:

Bear in mind these amounts are based on Cadbury and he does do a lot of training where treats have to be calculated in. I aim to keep him around 30kg and he is a mediumly active dog.

Mornings
1 chicken wing or Lamb Ribs
200g (approx) mixed vegetables

Evenings
Monday
Kidneys
Mixed vegetables
2-3 tablespoons cottage cheese or natural yoghurt
Sometimes 200g fruit mixed, or banana or apple afterwards

Tuesday
Heart
Rest same

Wednesday
Scrabbled egg
Rest same

Thursday
Liver
Rest Same

Friday
Tripe (if I can get it, right now he is having Butchers Tripe tinned food)
Rest Same

Saturday
White fish or cooked chicken
Rest Same

Sunday
Whole oily fish (currently sardines)
Rest Same

That's about it, of course it does vary sometimes and he does get leftovers.

 

[Mambosmum]

Sophie, seriously, are these all fed raw? Do they have runny tums at all? I had no idea it was that kind of food, I thought it was raw bones and highly scientific in preparation!! Are there any fruits/veg you cannot use?
Skittle has problems with her tummy on and off, just a thought it may work for her!!

Marianne

 

[BaileyLove]

Bailey's the same and has been since 6 months. He's 9 months now. I thought he was bored, as he'll eat treats but just walk off from his dry food. Unlike when he was a lil' pup and gobbled it up quick.

We try and change what we do with him sometimes. We break up his treats and scatter them in his food. We sometimes hide a pile of his food in the garden under a ball or something. We pretend to train him and ask him to leave then when we tell him he's allowed, he eats it.

Sometimes we just leave it down and if he misses the odd meal, he's usually more hungry for the next one. We considered changing his food but he's so intelligent that we think it would just happen again. He'll refuse to eat it if he knows he can get a change.

Hope he stops being so fussy soon xx

 

[angi]

Hi If time is tight Natures menu do ready prepared barf in the form of frozen nuggets in different varieties.They also do a vegetable only variety to add to your own meat or meat only to add to veg.For days out etc they do a very good pouch for convenience.Solly loves the puppy one.

 

[sue51]

I can't for the life of me remember whether I posted before - but we have always had problems with Hope eating - she would go three or four days without eating and did exactly the same, i.e. eat something one day and then turn her nose up at it the next :roll:

Malted Kelp tablets from Dorwest Herbs can be quite good at improving appetite and willingness to eat.

Ironically, since she was mated (and we don't know if she is in whelp yet) - she is eating me out of house and home 8O (not really an option for the boys though :? )