Bored with food?

[Rowena Fry]

Hello!
My pup has never been a voracious eater when it comes to kibble. It's not that she won't eat it at all (although she sometimes skips meals cos she doesn't fancy it or isn't feeling entirely well) but I often have to mix in some boiled vegs, a bit of cream cheese, stuff like that to make it more interesting for her.

My question is, do you think dogs get just plain bored with kibble? She used to be on Eagle Pack for Small Breed Puppies, now she's on Eagle Pack Holistic Select. Is it recommended to change 'flavours' or even brands of food every once in a while to keep it more interesting?

[Maria Juliano]

Hello!
My pup has never been a voracious eater when it comes to kibble. It's not that she won't eat it at all (although she sometimes skips meals cos she doesn't fancy it or isn't feeling entirely well) but I often have to mix in some boiled vegs, a bit of cream cheese, stuff like that to make it more interesting for her.

My question is, do you think dogs get just plain bored with kibble? She used to be on Eagle Pack for Small Breed Puppies, now she's on Eagle Pack Holistic Select. Is it recommended to change 'flavours' or even brands of food every once in a while to keep it more interesting?

Rowena--My shih tzus get bored with their kibble as well, the reason I know this is that if I don't mix it with plain yogurt ( which I began doing for about a week ), they will hardly touch it.

I wished Susan Dillon from DD was here to give us an expert opinion.
I hope some of the old members from DD remembered if Susan gave any advice on changing flavour or brands foods to give a safe variety for our more "finicky" furbabies.

[Grace Erick]

Hi Maria,

Some of the better kibble food stores will give you a ton of samples. That's not to say if you purchased a bag, you dog would not tire of it.

My vet said they don't get tired of the same food, but how does he really know? I think my dog enjoys the variety I give her. Every week it's a new canned food brand or variety. I think with canned foods, dogs may switch easier than with kibble which people seem to have to mix to not get their dogs stomachs upset. Capri is never upset with a new food every week.

Changing up food is recommended anyway to give your dog vitamins or minerals that may be lacking in one food, but present in the next food and it cuts down on toxins they may intake from one variety or brand. For hard food, my doggie books say to switch off every 3-4 months.

[Rowena Fry]

I just typed a long reply but it got lost for some reason! :( I don't like it when that happens...grrrr!

Anyway, thanks for the information Grace! I dunno why Gum Gum isn't on canned food as well cos my past dogs were. I think someone may have told my mum that once she gets canned, she won't eat anything else, or that it makes a dog's breath smell...weird. It be the price actually, cos brands from 'the list' are either unavailable or cost an arm and a leg out here. But I will talk to my mum and my vet about it and see how it goes. I figure that if it's a good brand of canned food, it'll be safer nutritionally than adding other stuff. Gosh, I hope that makes sense!

I'll also change the variety of her kibble in a couple of months and see how that goes. Eagle Pack Holistic Select come in chicken, anchovy and sardine, and duck and rice (I think). I seem to remember on DD that someone said you should give your dog duck and rice because you should save that for if your dog develops allergies to other proteins. Is that right, I can't really remember the details!

[Grace Erick]

Hmmmm, I never heard anything about saving the potato and duck if your dog developed an allergy. I must have missed that post. I gave it to my dog just to try a grainless product on her. It was the Natural Balance brand. Between it looking like it had too much potato and it was a little lower in protein, I don't think I would feed it to her anymore unless she did have an allergy, but she doesn't.

[Rebekah Hartman]

The reason why some people recommend staying away from duck (or other proteins less common in dog food) is that it gives you options should your dog have allergies. For instance, if you've fed your dog tons of different types of proteins and you realize he/she has a reaction to the food, you won't have many options to switch to for an elimination diet. The options left for you are likely to be expensive or hard to find. If your dog has only had chicken and turkey, you could take that out of the diet and switch to beef. If no reaction, you have found that the protein source was the problem and have an inexpensive alternative (beef). If you've fed duck, chicken, turkey, beef, fish, etc - you may have to try venison or something and it is more costly as well as harder to find. You'll have to read more about elimination diets (it's often things other than the protein source causing the allergy), but a novel protein is still required in order to discover what the reaction stems from.

I feel like this is wordy and confusing - I hope it makes some sense. If your dog does not seem to have food allergies or be sensitive to different foods, it is fine to feed whatever you want. Just keep track of what they've eaten before (just in case).

[Rebekah Hartman]

Oh yeah, I got sidetracked on the duck thing.

I had some problems with pickiness recently, too. At first I added plain yogurt or cottage cheese into the food, but then I stopped and just let him get hungry enough to eat. I don't want to make the food irresistable because if he's not hungry, he shouldn't eat (wish I could follow my own advice). I didn't want him to train me how to feed and wanted to know that he's getting the right balance of nutrition as well.

Now I add water to his kibble several minutes before I feed it, and add yogurt or cottage cheese only to kibble that goes into his Kongs (to freeze). It's worked well - the water makes his food more aromatic and keeps him from choking on pieces of kibble from eating too fast (he's either disinterested or overenthusiastic about eating - go figure).

[Grace Erick]

Rebekah, your post makes total sense. I have fed Capri duck already as part of her Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul and she has had turkey, chicken, salmon and herring. Maybe because I'm not a beef eater, I tend to stay away from beef for her too. I have fed her a finger sized piece of real hamburger (cooked) once and that did a job on her stomach. It makes you wonder what's in that stuff. They were saying they used downer cows to make chopmeat, so I think dog chopmeat can only be worse, but it's just my personal opinion.

I haven't tried lamb yet. I have a can of Natural Balance lamb I will try on her soon. She loved the canned Innova turkey w/chicken and spring water with cottage cheese. It was the first time she had cottage cheese in food. She loves that and the CS.

[heathea]

As far as I understand it dogs do not have taste buds as we do and therefore cannot get bored. Many small dogs will train their owners to do things to make their food "better" which actually (when adding many things to the food for "flavor") alters the nutritional value of the food the dog is getting, and not in a good way. It is always very tempting to project human emotions and behavior on pets, however they are a completely different species with completely different needs.

I do not recommend switching dog food overly frequently. I can see the wisdom in changing once in a while, etc. However when changed too often will drastically reduce your ability to find a food if there are allergy problems.

Letting a dog force you into feeding innapropriate things will only hurt the dog in the long run and lessen your time with your wonderful pet. If owners become bored feeding dog food there are some great sites dedicated to cooking for your dogs showing the delicate balance of what they need every day. Yahoo has a cooking for dogs group that is very informative for just that topic.
There are also many dog biscuit recipes which can be fun to bake and give your dog to break up the monotony.

Take care and good luck!
Heather

[Grace Erick]

Heather, with homemade diets, I see that a recipe book will say to make a batch of food for a few days, then they switch to another animal protein and other ingredients, so I don't see how it would be different to do the same with canned food?

I know my dog knows the difference between each brand of food and it does make a difference to her and I believe it makes her happy to have new things to taste, just like when we offer treats that are not flavored like the food they eat. They enjoy the different tastes of treats and I think it applies to food also.

[Rowena Fry]

Thanks everyone!

Rebekah, that was exactly what I was referring to, thanks for clarifying that for me! That makes complete sense! I'll choose one protein and save it just in case, probably the duck.

I've also decided that I'm going to stop adding stuff to Gum Gum's normal meals too. I'll add stuff to her kibble if I'm going to put it in her kong, but if she doesn't eat her kibble she'll just have to wait til her next meal. I feel rather cruel doing this but Heather is right, it can put the nutritional value of the kibble off balance.

I've also reduced the amount of food I give her especially in the mornings when she seems less hungry. If she does finish her food quickly, I've been giving her a tiny bit more, that's okay right, to give dogs 'seconds'?

Thanks again!
Rowena xoxox

[Grace Erick]

I have seen heated debates on this subject of what to do when your dog decides not to eat his or her food anymore. Some people feel you are letting your dog push you around by changing foods or adding things to make it more interesting.

Some dogs just like other foods better, but it can be expensive to keep buying different bags to find one your dog likes. I don't see anything wrong by adding an incentive to hard food like chicken broth if it's diluted since it can be very salty or a little yogurt.

Some people think it creates a fussy dog. I fed my dog what she didn't like and it got me no where except to throw away alot of food and have a skinny dog, so I changed to a food she liked and I found out was better too.

[Maria Juliano]

I have seen heated debates on this subject of what to do when your dog decides not to eat his or her food anymore. Some people feel you are letting your dog push you around by changing foods or adding things to make it more interesting.

Some dogs just like other foods better, but it can be expensive to keep buying different bags to find one your dog likes. I don't see anything wrong by adding an incentive to hard food like chicken broth if it's diluted since it can be very salty or a little yogurt.

Some people think it creates a fussy dog. I fed my dog what she didn't like and it got me no where except to throw away alot of food and have a skinny dog, so I changed to a food she liked and I found out was better too.

Grace- I finally gave in...I bought my pups 3 cans of Innova food to see if they like it. I also bought them Wellness Chicken kibble for variety. Crossing my fingers.

[Grace Erick]

Maria, you are too funny:) My dog loved the Innova canned food. I only saw one variety, maybe they only make one canned variety with turkey and chicken in spring water etc. I was actually thinking about getting her more today if I go where that store is. It's not close to my house. By me it's $1.69 per can, but she eats the Chicken Soup for $1.10 and Natural Balance for $1.39, so a few once a week every 2 months in rotation with other foods isn't too expensive, and like I said, it takes her 4-5 days to finish one large can.

When I first try a new canned food, I only buy one, but since you have bigger dogs, you need a little more to atleast give them a full a.m. and p.m. of trying it out. I think in the a.m. she was unsure of it, the after that, she loved it. I hope your dog's like it.

How much did your can cost? I only really have one store that sells the better foods like Innova and Merrick etc, so I have no sense of comparison if they are expensive or not. I think the Merrick varieties are $1.95. I don't buy that as often, because I make my own stew like their Grammy's Pot pie and I put broccoli in it too. She loved the Turkunken w/turkey, duck and chicken. It was a special treat after getting her teeth cleaned.

[Grace Erick]

Maria,

I may be wrong, but if you finish the cans at night, then I think the dog does not expect or remember they will get the same food the next day, where if you feed them one kind that they love and change it at night, because the can is done, they make balk at the new food.

So far Capri has eatan all the foods I've tried on her, Chicken Soup, Natural Balance Chicken, NB Lamb, Innova and Merrick varieties. Next I want to try Avoderm. My store has the Pinnacle. I have to check that out first, before I buy it.

[Grace Erick]

I looked at both foods. Pinnacle and their Active Care line seem to be for allergy dogs and dogs with other problems, but the Pinnacle has peppers in it.
Susan from DoggieDoor did not like nightshade veggies, which tomatoes and peppers one of. If it were not for the peppers in the Pinnacle, it would look pretty good for all dogs. It had not just one protein and one veggie, but a few veggies. Some allergy foods only have potato.

Avoderm looks good. I checked out their chicken and rice. At first I was thinking, this is a lot of rice, then I realized I was looking at hard food. I don't know why hard foods tend to have more grains etc.

Here is an interesting article about nightshade veggies as they pertain to humans:

http://www.cybermacro.com/articles25.html

[Peggy Jensen]

I am a little confused, I have read many times that dogs are lactose intolerant and you should not give them milk. But then I hear of people adding yogurt or cottage cheese to their food, I have seen some dog foods with cottage cheese in them, and people give their dogs cheese all the time.
What is the difference, does anybody know why they can have milk products but not milk?