I have been on here a couple of times recently trying to pick your brains re the best dry food for my dogs. I eventually decided to rob the piggy bank and go with Orijen. I started with a couple of trial packs and dogs went mad for it, pushing the old biscuits out of the plate in order to reach the Orijen. I then bought a small pack for a longer trial period, just to make sure. They were excited at meal times and the food was gone without the need for Butchers tripe tinned food as a topping as was usual. I was so pleased as the saving from not buying the tins helped with the cost of Orijen and I felt I was doing the best I could for my dogs.
As that bag was coming to an end I looked at the large bags of food ( arm and a leg time, but worth it if they liked it ) and saw that there was a discount if I bought 2 of the big bags at a time. So I took out a mortgage and bought 2 big bags. Guess what !!! as soon as they were delivered my dogs decided they were not going to eat this food any more. At meal times they sat and looked at me with big eyes as if to say ' how can you expect us to eat this mum'
I refuse point blank to start buying the tins again as a topping, and am putting the food down at meal times, then picking it up after 15 minutes and walking away.
It is almost 3 days since they have eaten a normal meal and I am suicidal. It is the same bag that they loved a few days ago so I cannot blame it on a 'problem' with a new bag.
I took my time changing over foods and their poo's are very good, so no upset tums as an excuse, I also gave them half a bonio biscuit to see if they were off all food, but no, the bonio was gone so fast it didn't touch the sides, so I can rule out illness.
I really need a shoulder to cry on right now

Stay strong, if you've previously switched their food to something they like more, they will get bored more easily. Mine get a bowl down for fifteen minutes, and then it's gone until evening.

A few things to help can be exercising them before hand and then waiting an hour, and doing training too; let them work up an appetite and feed them a little later. Ask them to give you a behaviour, drop the food, and wait. Could it be that they're being triggered not to eat because you're leaving the room, or similar?

Good luck! I went through the same thing with my boy, and after a week of intensive stubbornness from both of us, he now inhales his food at the speed of knots, and that includes any food, we've been in hard times and he's wolfed up Sainsbury's own! Recently he's been switched from quite fatty, tasty Royal Canin to fairly bland James Well-Beloved. Either way, he wolfs it!

My bitch has become picky with her food since her pregnancy, too, so I know how you feel. xx

I feel your pain, I really do, it's just the sort of thing that would happen to me, you do have to wonder sometimes if dogs don't have some evil master plan to slowly send you on a one way trip to the funny farm lol.
Dig your heels in and don't let them away with it, you know the food is top quality, and you know they liked it before, they're just fussy little so and so's, I quite often play a game with mine with kibble ( they are fed raw but sometimes needs must and they get Orijen ) and toss pieces to them to catch, it quickly becomes a competition to see who's the best, it is laborious but I'm guessing that after three days of mental torture you won't mind.

hope they crack soon :-)

I'm just wondering why you can't just carry on mixing a bit of tinned food in with the dry? Some dogs just get bored with the same dry food every day.Its obviously getting you down so much(I would be upset too if my dogs hadn't eaten properly for 3 days).
I'm lucky that all my dogs are 'inhalers' but some dogs just aren't that fussed about food.

I'm just wondering why you can't just carry on mixing a bit of tinned food in with the dry?

Mainly cost, if I can get them to eat without the tinned food then that money is going toward the cost of the expensive Orijen. I feel that if I give in and offer the tinned food just once then I am again making a rod for my own back, so am trying very hard to avoid this option. We just need to see who gives in first.

If cost is an issue could you try something like the freeflow minced tripe that Prize Choice do? Or mashing the tinned food up with warm water before mixing it in to make it go further?

I would not give in.  They will not starve. 
When the Orijen was nearly through I would change back to a more economical complete, which they will think is the best thing since sliced bread due to novelty value and stick with it, without adding any extras, through the next blackmail stage until they got the measure of me :)

I have a 16 moth old here at the moment who is turning her nose up at anything except bonio's.... My lot are raw fed and usually eat anything remotly dead (And occasionally on the hoof ! :-P bunnies and squirrels come to mind) She has reached that stupid age as Bernese do when nothing is right. I am on day 4 with her eating next to nothing and am sticking it out. Food goes down she looks at it and walks away..I pick it up. The other 2 look longingly at her full bowl on the side for about an hour till they realize they are not going to get it !! The only thing I would suggest you could try is to grate a very small amount of cheese (Get the real cheap one) just a teaspoonfull on the bic's it may just get them to at least sniff the bowl and maybe try a bite. Otherwise as others have syggested. Do not feed untill after a run and try mind games like working for a piece of kibble. Will they try a kong? or a food ball? stick to your chosen bramnd (Orijen is good food) and try to con them into eating is as it's special!!
Aileen

I feel your pain! I've been struggling with my picky princess since she was first weaned. We thought we'd cracked it last month when we won 2 tins of ridiculously expensive dog food at a show and she loved that mixed with her kibble. So like you, I splashed out and bought £20 worth and now she turns her noise up at it!!! Sometimes she will eat it as a training treat but I don't have time for a training session in the kitchen every single evening! So I know what you're going through! :-)

I would not give in.  They will not starve. 

Unfortunately there are dogs -and cats -that will. It seems to be genetic as it runs in lines. I have come across such really difficult ones (and currently have one such cat), and I have a friend who's got such a dog. She can't get her to eat for anything, she literally eats just enough to stay alive. Has been vet checked, bloods etc. The bitch weighs just 17 kg (adult), normal adult weight would be around 22-24 kg! Owner is in despair as the breeder of the dog is accusing her of deliberately starving the dog.

I think these types are very rare though, Marianne, whereas I think we have all come across the ones that like to try it on.

When I was feeding kibble I noticed that the food in smaller bags [sometimes bought smaller bags to take away on hols etc] seemed 'fresher' and more moist, so maybe that's why they've decided to go on strike.
All mine have gone through the ' I won't eat that' stage. Archie ones went 6 days without eating, but in the end gave up when he was hungry enough, they all will!
Just offer the food, if they don't want it put it away till next meal time. If you keep changing, you can keep changing till you run out of options.

I know how hard it is having a dog not eat. I am currently going through this with my girl. She is having a phantom pregnancy and for the last 3 weeks she has eaten only a fraction of her normal food. she turns her nose up at everything I give her. My dogs are raw fed so get a varied diet with different food each day so it is not boredom. I have tried kibble too. I can see she is looking thinner but when she is not curled up pretending she has puppies she bounces around full of energy and it so worries me that she is not eating.

I am not making a big deaL out of it but have put some tasty things on top of the food but even that doesn't work. Like you I am almost at the end of my tether with it. I almost dread meal times as I know she will just sit and look at the food. Last time I gave her a turkey neck she picked it up, and I thought great, maybe she will eat it but she just took it to her bed and curled up with it like it was a puppy!

Just a suggestion, no idea if it would work.  Could you microwave the food for a minute before giving it, just so it heats up the oils and maybe make it more palatable? 

I could try that with some of the food, but there is no way I am putting green tripe in my microwave!

I could try that with some of the food, but there is no way I am putting green tripe in my microwave!

LOL I did just mean for the kibble.. having just feed the dogs tripe (can still smell it) there is no way on this earth it would get near a microwave!

I'd suggest warming the kibble too - either by adding some warm water OR by microwaving the biscuit (take care not to make it too hot).  The warmth activates the smell and can tempt a fussy eater.  A little warm salmon oil to coat the kibble also helps

Great tonight. First of all I tried a little grated cheese as mentioned earlier. One of the dogs then continued and ate a reasonable amount. The other picked out the cheese and walked away from the kibble, so I then put it into the microwave for 10 secs and this time she is going for it. She sounds like a cement mixer as I write. Many thanks for the advice, lets hope it works in the morning as well - a little grated cheese and a few secs in the microwave I can cope with, unless they get bored again !!! Dogs - why do we love them so?

Just added - the bowls were licked clean - fantastic

I use a teaspoon of Pate topped with a bit of hot water so I can add supplements. The bowl is wolfed down and the Pate only cost 59p from Asda or Tesco. One tub easily lasts me a week. I recently suggested this to a friend with her fussy eater and it has the same effect at her house.

i hope the cheese continued to work,i can imagine how upsetting it must be.Good luck!

> I thought great, maybe she will eat it but she just took it to her bed and curled up with it like it was a puppy

ROFL!  :-)  :-)  :-)

Sorry to laugh at your bitch.  But when I read your post, I thought "little bugger!"

yes, that's something similar to what I thought to. but you couldn't print my version.

This morning my c. spaniel ate with the cheese and the 10 secs microwave ( bearing in mind her joy in life is clearing out the dustbin) actually ate her food but the  terrier ( bitch in the alternative sense of the word) ate 2 mouthfulls and walked away. I still think I am winning though and I'm not so worried as when they are really hungry they will have to eat. I keep threatening 'Battersea Dog Home' but they don't believe me little s*ds.

How about mixing the biscuits in with some gravy?

We are on day 8 today of Madames falce pregnancy and she is still being very difficult... Out walking she will eat kibble (Orijen, mine are raw fed and it's the only kibble I will give them) like there is no tomorrow, get home and she turns her nose up at everything even the orijen. Over the last 8 days I doubt she has eaten the equivilent of 2 good meals. Even on Sunday night when roast beef and all the trimmings was on the menue to tempt her she refused it all. She is lively fit and well no sign of illness and happy outside even in the garden but indoors she goes into "puppy" mode and sulks. Toys and fluffies have been banished and walks increased but the whole thing is not helped with the fact that OH has just laid a floor in the new conservatory and the usuall route to the garden is hampered by having to go via the front door and down the side., entailing unlocking gates and ensuring no one is entering via the front gate at the same moment (whch I cannot see from my front door) so as to stop 21 stones of hairy happy chatty barky Bernese rushing out to greet some poor unsuspecting visitor! :-D as soon as they get into the back garden they don't want to be there and all que up to come back in.... As luck would have it Vino is not over slim and the loss of a few pounds will not hurt her. I will be glad though when she starts to eat again properly. One up side to it all....the poops are not so plentyfull ! and the floor can be walked on tomorrow :-)
Hope you get yours sorted soon.
Aileen

For every person you ask you will get yet another suggestion ...which is playing into your manipulative dogs paws!

I have had a truly anorexic dog and there IS a real difference..they do not try it on, eat something one day but not the next...they dont have any appetite.

Your dogs are playing you like a fine fiddle and all these great suggestions (from well meaning people) could have been written by them!

They have eaten normally once so they will again but NOT if they get the slightest hint that you will get them something new if they strike.

Be tough, these dogs are playing you and very soon it will be hand made steak and kidney puddings with beef jus and petite pois.

I know...Ive been there.

Food down....15 mins. No communication, pleading or hopeful glances.Dont buy into the interactive meal time thingy they try with you.

They dont eat...pick it up - put it away and give nothing until same time next day.
With normal dogs ...they will eat!

Leave the room, or stay in room but no interaction? My picky princess is now agreeing to eat if handfed - which is actually an improvement on previously when she wouldn't touch the food even if offered to handfeed, and I had to invent little training sessions so she thought the food was a reward. Must admit that although I'd rather she ate normally, it's quite nice sitting on the floor next to her having 1-1 time for 10 minutes - I know , I know - bad mummy, letting her play me up like this!

Bad Mommy!
Now that you dont show her and she cant blackmail you  - for paying out for wasted show entries - let her go hungry!

Like other posters, I'd just have a slight question mark over freshness. Kibbles can go mouldy and the dogs might be picking up on something you are not aware of. Could this be the reason the big bags were on special offer- just check the sell by date. In your shoes I'd be inclined to take them back and say you think they might be off, ask for a credit note and you can then buy a smaller bag again and see if they'll eat that.  The shop won't lose because you have a credit note. They can send the big bags you bought back to manufacturer.

day 3 and still eating reasonably well. They still have a very small amount of grated cheese ( around 4-5 small grated bits so hardly noticeable) and warmed 10 secs in  microwave, they wait for the 'ding' and then waggy tails. The cheese just starts to melt in this time and the kibbles smell good enough for ME to eat, they set in eating as soon as it's down. I refuse to give them bigger amounts of cheese because the Orijen is a quality food and shouldn't need a topper, but must admit that it smell great when just a little warm.
I hope it continues and they don't start pushing their luck again because I really won't fall for their nonsense again ( no more mrs nice guy !!!)

Just seen the post re the freshness of the bags. They are in date till the end of 2012 so another 12 months left. This is also the same bag that they loved a week or so ago and are now eating again, so in all honesty I don't think there is anything wrong with the bag

> no more mrs nice guy !!!

LOL !! :-)

> they wait for the 'ding' and then waggy tails

Alarm clock feeding can work in the same way too.  Set the alarm - make a hurrah, excited noises, then feed.  Set the alarm again for 10 or 15 mins - pick up.  It often works with a fussy eater :)

Oh well, that sounds sorted then. Glad for you that they were just trying it on.

Thats good to hear Sillysue :-)

> Last time I gave her a turkey neck she picked it up, and I thought great, maybe she will eat it but she just took it to her bed and curled up with it like it was a puppy!

That is so funny and cute :) Im sorry to laugh at your situation if it is causing you a hard time at home with your bitch not eating but I have the most funny image in my head right now :) Dogs ay, what are they like :)

Hi. sorry to hear how stressed you are, i have been through this to, spent a fortune on a new food that my pup seemed to love only then to turn nose up at it and i was left with a BIG load of expensive food :( really is stressfull, she didnt ea for about 5 days and i had a lot of advice, but the one thing that worked for e was to tease her with it (sounds nasty but i had to try it i was in despair). If your dog, like mine did, goes over to the food bowle and sniffs it first before walking of then when she goes over to it before she has a chance to sniff it pick it back up and put it on the side, walk away for a few seconds and then repest process, then again but this time let her get closer to it and maybe take a bite before lifting it away again and then leave it on the side for a little bit longer. Then put it down and she will hopefully as mine did start eating it, i then took it away again incase she was just going to have a few mouthfulls and didnt want to give the oportunity for her to walk away from it. When i put it back down she ate the rest (she had been fussy for weeks and not eaten for 5 days when i did this). I did the same the next day (although not so much) and all food was eaten, and ever since i have had no problem with her what so ever :) no fussyness nothing. And now i make her 'work' for her dinner with a sit and a stay untill i say eat, and she does and is very happy to, this makes er think it must be nice if i have to work for it :) Good luck :)

Oh dear! I suppose I'll have to try and be strict - but I don't want the rally people thinking I starve my dogs either! :-p

>Bad Mommy!
>Now that you dont show her and she cant blackmail you  - for paying out for wasted show entries - let her go hungry!

I can give you a what not to do courtesy of a uni friend.

She was looking after her parents 2 Irish Setter's whilst they were on holiday.

She made herself a steak and gave the dogs their dry food.  Dog 1 didn't eat it just looked at her steak dribbling.  Dog 2 ate her biscuits up.  Concerned about Dog 1 she gave her some of her steak - obviously she loved it and ignored her biscuits.

Dog 1 then refused dry food that night and the next day - so you guessed it she cooked her up a steak.
Dog 2 was happily tucking into biscuits - realised what she was missing out on and stopped eating.

So 2 weeks of her parents holiday and the dogs had awful diarrhea and had eaten nothing but steak and gravy for a nearly 2 weeks. 

Needless to say 2 poorly, fussy and very smart dogs greeted her parents and she was about £50 out of pocket through steak...

I'm sure none of us would fall into that blackmail trap.  It took 4 days of starving them to get them to eat biscuits again

> I have a friend who's got such a dog. She can't get her to eat for anything, she literally eats just enough to stay alive. Has been vet checked, bloods etc. The bitch weighs just 17 kg (adult), normal adult weight would be around 22-24 kg! Owner is in despair as the breeder of the dog is accusing her of deliberately starving the dog.

Not a Mali by any chance is it? :)

Sounds just like Heidi was when she was younger, she cost a fortune in blood tests etc, all negative. One day after about 4 months of no food, she got up, ate her breakfast and we never had a problem again. She got down to just under 18kg at her lowest. Now she screams at meal times as she loves her food so much and she has a stable weight of 21.5kg, probably the best we will get from her.

Original poster, I opted to change to a better food for my dogs a while back, Orijen was my first choice but it was very expensive so I opted to give them Taste of the Wild which is a little cheaper that way they can still have a tin of meat (between 3) in their evening meal to give it some variety. They are doing very well on it.

How are your picky ones Sue? My picky princess, fingers crossed, has been eating fairly normally for over a week now. Out of the blue, she suddenly decided that the Lillys Kitchen mixed with IAMS was good enough to actually eat from a bowl, and not my hands - hooray! Of course being such a spoilt brat, she may go off it again....

> spoilt brat, she may go off it again....

Not reached that * magic* age of 18months I told you about Lucy...has she?

Actually, she's only 9 days off 18 months now I come to think of it! Perhaps she's heard the whispers of a new puppy arrival and is worried she won't get any food.... :-)

ps is there a magic age for Cavaliers to realise that unpleasant though the weather and cold wet grass are to wee on, it is not acceptable to sneak off and wee in the dining room? :-D

> ps is there a magic age for Cavaliers to realise that unpleasant though the weather and cold wet grass are to wee on, it is not acceptable to sneak off and wee in the dining room?

NO!! :-(

Lol that actually makes me feel better - Henry was pretty good by 12 months, Ellie was unreliable her first 2 winters but is fine now, so this is Hetty's 2nd winter and she's still being a bit naughty. At least it's partly the breed and not just my inability to be consistent and watchful! :-D

Hiya,
My 2 problems creatures are now little angels. I warm their food for 10 secs in microwave with a few little pieces of grated cheese and a small squirt of salmon oil and hey presto - it's gone. I have to be careful that the partially melted cheese is not too hot, but apart from that the smell is wonderful. No doubt they will play up again at some time in the future , but I refuse to be a walk over again, it is definitely take it or leave it from now on.

If they have a treat of a little turkey at Christmas, I will serve it away from their normal food so they don't associate it with their kibble, otherwise I can see them refusing their meal unless it has turkey on it - Rod, Back and 'In their dreams' comes to mind !!!

Owner is in despair as the breeder of the dog is accusing her of deliberately starving the dog.

How sad, and how unhelpful--my oldest dog became completely uninterested in food after he left his litter mates. I was beside myself trying to encourage him to eat and on one memorable occasion he actually deigned to eat a whole meal--my shepherd's pie lunch at the breed club show :-). He only really started eating after another dog arrived in the house--Jack is a serious eater who never refuses, although he does get a bit huffy if there isn't a chicken wing in his bowl. Diesel soon clocked that if he didn't get a move on Jack would hoover up his too. Problem over.