I try & feed my 18mth old with the best I can. I've tried diff dried foods, raw, fish etc. When she eats these foods it's all hit & miss. She never has been a big eater & picks at her food.  But her favourite seems to be Co-op wet food in a pouch & their own make of biscuits!  She woofs it down.
I know you'll all be horrifed at this kind of food & I understand the content of the 'off the shelf foods'.
Does anyone else have this problem? It does make me feel like a bad Mum!

No we will not all be horrified :)  I don't know anything about this product but I do know that all pet food sold in the UK has to be of a standard to be fit for purpose which means it has to meet all your dogs requirements providing they are not out of the ordinary.  Anyway aren't the co-op big advocate of ethical products can't imagine they would be marketing anything under par :)  If it is suiting your dog and she likes it I think you should not give it another thought :)

Thanks, I just gave a big sigh of relief When I hear about barf, jwb etc I just get a little worried. But Molly is a very happy, healthy girl with bundles of energy, so perhaps I'm over reacting  bit

I'm not horrified at all. :) If it works for Molly that's great - stick with it.

If it is the only thing she eats, then there is no problem at all.
I know someone who has tried every food and the only food the doesnt give thier dog the squits is bakers which most people turn their nose up for GIVING dogs the squits.
It is better for a dog to eat a complete meal, be it meat and mixer that5 gives them all the nutrients they need than pick at food and not eat and only get some of the nutrients they need, so become poorly from being underfed (Through no fault of yours)
Be happy that you have found something she will eat.
Lea :)

Thanks Lea, I was more worried that I was changing her foods too often & her poor tummy couldn't keep up! I can relax a bit now!

akh-Obviously i,or anyone really, cant comment on this food until i see the ingredients and GA. Can you post the ingredients and analysis? :)

>I know you'll all be horrifed at this kind of food & I understand the content of the 'off the shelf foods'.

>Does anyone else have this problem? It does make me feel like a bad Mum!

Why would we be horrified? And why does feeding this food make you feel like a bad mum? If it was that bad, i'm sure you wouldnt be feeding it to your pooch,right? as you said "you feed the best you can" :)

Please post the ingredients,i'm curious now :p :D

At one point our puppy would eat.  She was weaned on Arden grange and went off that as soon as we got her home, she didn't like eukanuba puppy, she liked wafcol S&P for a while but went off that, liked PAH for a while and then went off that aswell, ended up on chicken wings, minced tripe and tesco biscuit meal...not the most ideal for a young puppy but at least she was eating.  :)  She's grown quite nicely now and is back on Arden grange :) eating like nothing before.

Ktee. the ingredients for the Co-op Supreme with beef in gravy : meat & animal derivatives,min 4% beef, minerals,various sugars & ec additives. Contains vitamins A,D's & P. Typical analysis, moisture,protein,oils & fats, ash & fibre. Hope this helps!

...oh dear...never answer ktee when she asks for the analysis....

Edited to say, if it suits your dog then it's fine - no matter what may now be written about it :D

whoops..

I'll carry on regardless then!: :-)

Anne, just take the facts and run with them...
I totally understand all this chopping and changing, is doing no favours in itself.
Having Huskies I know all to well about finnickyness and light eating and get approached a lot by new owners in a state of utter panic that their Sibe hasnt eaten for a couple of days (Quite normal with this breed)
   It may well come down not just to what you feed..but when and how often? (more often little amounts sometimes works)
Wet foods usually do manange to tempt the finicky..
Did you try Naturesmenu or NatureDiet? I know they are more expensive (cheaper bought direct tho!) but you will feed less, and Im afraid to say I dont truck with idea that eating more of one food is better than less of another, becuase per spoonful a good quality food will provide tangibly much more Nutritional benefit than another will less beneficial ingredients.
But!
you didnt ask us what we thought of the food..you asked what we do about finicky eaters *slaps own hand* ;) sorry!
So I'd say (as I said above) think about when you feed and amounts
and perhaps try to get more Protien into her diet in other ways, such as using chicken and cheese as treats when your training??
Good Luck x

Molly does have cheese, she loves it grated on her food! She also has a small amount of Goats milk in the mornings & sometimes I put a raw egg in it.
I've just had a stroll around the internet re the Nature diet & it looks good. I'll try & find a supplier & give it a whirl.

Gosh it looks like some of you are almost salivating at the bit for some action :rolleyes: How strange...but also curious

AKH,after posting the ingredients i can only assume everyone here knew what i would say ;) If you truly want to feed the best you can,then this food is definately NOT it,infact i would call it one of the worse ones bandied around here :(

So peeps,sorry to dissapoint,but thats all i'm going to say on this topic.... So argue amongst yourselves ;)

:::: opening the shelter door and peering out carefully

Well that wasn't too bad, you're mellowing Ktee :D

:D :D @ chaumsong

Well, I go entirely with the view that you feed what your dog likes.  OK in preference we would like to go for either raw eating or a high quality complete meal but I too have a fussy eater and it is very much trial and error.  He will eat complete but is underweight so I need him to eat at least a full portion.  But I have found natures:menu with a complete goes down a treat and with that added he eats a far larger meal.  In fact I have to crate my other dogs when they eat because they are so attracted to it they won't touch their own food lol.  We had a GSD who would eat really well but only if she had had a taster of something yummy eg a very small amount of wet food on her complete or she had been fed a treat - it just seemed to wet her appetite.   And I also think that if you get her into a routine of eating well over the next few months you might just find it possible to very slowly start to introduce a complete meal.

Louise

    'That food is terrible!!!'
'It really does affect me knowing that people actually feed stuff like this to their dogs'

I guess that told me!

I'll check out the berrimans ktee, thanks

I would say if you feel your dog is doing well on the food you give, don't change it just because anyone else thinks you should.  Ktee is giving her opinion which is as valid as anyone else's, doesn't mean you have to follow it or anyone else's. :)

> 'That food is terrible!!!'

Use the search facility and you will see there are not too many foods that Ktee doesn't think are terrible :D and yet the British dog population are out there bounding round the parks, raising lovely healthy litters and passing away at a ripe old age   How do they do it? :)

akh-here are some others,aswell as naturediet etc that you may be interested in.

Timberwolforganics http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food/timberwolf/14832 (my personal favourite)

Arden Grange http://www.ardengrange.com

JWB http://www.wellbeloved.co.uk

Berrimans http://www.berrimans.net

Wafcol http://www.wafcol.co.uk

Thanks for your support calmstorm,it really means alot :) People can knock me all they like for preferring a more healthy, natural way of feeding,and not "advocating" foods packed with sugars,derivatives,grains,cereals,colourings and flavourings.I'm all for bettering the health of our dogs,and i think feeding plays a major role in that,if people want to mock me or 'trivialise' the importance of a healthy,solid diet,then so be it!It wont make me change my stance one bit :)

Thanks, I've just checked out natures menu website. I think I'll give the pouches a try & see what Molly thinks!

my fussy dog HATES nature diet etc!

All he will eat is Genesis!!!!

wont eat Raw  :(

wont even eat Chappie (i dont think there are any dogs that dont like chappie!!!)

Flynn is SUCH a prima donna!!!!:rolleyes:

My fussy LOVES Natures menu but won't touch Nature diet

I don't think it fair having a personal pop at katee for her beliefs on dog food. I thought that was against TOS. The OP asked a question, to which she answered. Many who have had allergic results with feeding some of the complete foods on the market today, have found by feeding other more natural foods, now have dogs that have become allergy free. In fact, many on here advise a change of food to the better quality completes, or natural feeding, when problems arise.

ditto to calmstorm

But the OP isn't having any problems with their chosen diet :)

But the OP isn't having any problems with their chosen diet

Parents of children who are fed a processed junk diet full of sugars to make the crap taste good and called 'convenience foods' also think that they have no problems with their diet.  Look at the Mothers who are sneeking rubbish through the school fences when the school dinners are providing healthy dinners. :)

A lot of people believe that big companies know what they doing:rolleyes:.  It does no harm to suggest that people look a little deeper into convenience foods of all types, then they are free to make a reasonably informed choice, as we all do. :)

I fed my dogs rubbish for years, thinking that I was doing the best for them and I thought that they were fine.  I wouldn't dream feeding the same stuff to them these days in the same way that we don't train in (quite) the same way as we used to 30 years ago.

The OP said that she's tried many types of food, including raw, and the dog didn't thrive. Now she's found one that makes it fit and happy. Problem solved! :)

There is no comparison with junk food which is never marketed as a complete diet.  There is also a distinction between convenience food and complete food although the two are not mutually exclusive in terms of dog food :)

Please keep this thread on topic or it will be locked. Also let's stop the snide comments against particular members - they're not funny and not justified on this particular thread.

I'm not sure if it is off thead Jane.  The OP commented that she felt like a bad mother and I would really like to be able to reassure her that she is not and give my rationale for believing that.

I'm sure you don't need me to point out which posts I'm talking about (including at least 6 or 7 I deleted yesterday which were aimed solely at ridiculing another member and were completely unacceptable). Leave out the personal digs and stick to discussing the issues raised - that's all I'm asking, not so difficult surely ;-) Please note, this is aimed at all members - I am not singling anyone out.

Were is the personal dig?
No, you don't need to point it out because I saw them and to be honest I thought I was one of the people they were teasing about food posts initially.  I didn't particularly mind I took it as light hearted so I don't care whether they were removed or not but none of them were mine and I don't know why you are linking my post to Val about issues raised by the OP nor my post explaining why I think we are still on track here with all that.

Jane I think, honestly, seriously, the posts you were referring to were all meant to be 100 % lighthearted -along the same lines as if somebody mentioned chocolate and somebody else said "oh no, don't mention the c-word, so and so will appear asking for some now!"

>somebody else said "oh no, don't mention the c-word, so and so will appear asking for some now!"

Like me and Bombay Sapphire, and dear Libs with her Ribena. :D

Right..... Lets get back to the ORIGINAL POST :rolleyes:

As I see it akh, you were initially asking for advice on what to do with a light/fussy eater.
(I'd like to know what you mean by 'hit and miss' when she eats the dif foods your trying and I'd like to know what sort of time frame you gave her for each different food and how you fed it, times etc)
   I can feel your frustration, bless you, from your first post.... so I really do advise that you dont jump on to the merry go round of which food, chopping & changing again...at least not straight away, or your just chasing your tail .
  How long has your girl been like this?
Im wondering wether it might be an idea to have her vet checked teeth & mouth to illiminate that a possibility (?)
Its also important to note that we Humans seem to think dogs need to eat alot more than they actually do :)
( Is she a breed thats known to 'graze' like my Huskies?)
The Naturesmenu in pouches is very similar in consistency to what your feeding now so that may be the most logical way to start, where as Natures diet has a more solid consistency.
Best of Luck with it, but being consistent with this is what will  really crack it I think. :)
   

Getting back to topic.  I agree it is not good to chops and change with a fussy eater.  Having found something they like and suits them you should stick to it.  The OP seems to have found something that their dog likes and suits :) so well done there .

I have a slightly fussy eater akh. Well, he is if he eats the same thing every day. This is what works for us. The bulk of his diet is dry, complete. I happen to use Arden Grange but that has NO effect on whether he eats it. :-D It's the toppings. Each meal has a little something extra. Tinned fish, tripe, soup, moist dog food, leftover meat... you get the picture. It doesn't take much. As long as the toppings change every day or two he polishes his bowl. This has the added benefit of having a dog that can eat just about anything and completely switch food without stomach upset (handy when you're stuck at the in-laws with none of your regular food ;-))

oxo gravey does it for flynn!!!!