Picky eater. Any advice ?

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fat-cat

Boxer Pal
My puppy is 8 weeks old. I have him on wellness right now. He looks a little skinny to me. The only way he eats his kibbles if i add some warm milk into it.
I tried cottage cheese, yogurt. No luck.

On the other hand , he loves my cat's canned food. Should i mix canned Wellness with kibbles ?

Thank you.
 

kassa

Boxer Insane
Cats are far pickier than dogs and therefore their food is more flavored, especially with sugars. They're not good for your dog, so try to discourage/prevent eating cat food (and cat droppings).

Have you tried hot water on the Wellness? That has done the trick with my pups. Eventually they seem to prefer it dry, but to start they usually prefer it with warm water.

Do not start catering to finicky eating. Just put the bowl down, and take it up in 15 minutes. The puppy is 8 weeks old and won't starve to death if it misses a meal (are you feeding 3 meals at this point?) The pup will soon learn that food has to be eaten when it's presented or it disappears.

It's not cruel, it's just reality. The more variations you give the pup at this young age, the more picky he'll get and you'll spend even more time trying to coax him to eat. He'll decide that not eating prompts you to add more goodies. He'll just be waiting for the next "offer" since he's learned that the longer he holds out, the better the food gets.

Make it a non-issue -- here's your food. Didn't eat it? Next meal's in 5 hours. Here's your food. Not hungry? Next meal's in 6 hours (assuming you're feeding 3x). It's HIGHLY unlikely the pup will skip more than one meal.
 

fat-cat

Boxer Pal
Thanks Kassa. I have food for him 24/7. Probably a mistake. Is it OK to feed him 3 times a day at this young age ?
 

courtney323

Energetic Moderator<br><img src="/forums/images/mo
I second Kassa's excellent advice.

Free-feeding is one of the worst things you can do. It does encourage picky eating habits. I would not cater to the pup either, as it will just become a huge pain down the road.

When we started implementing a strict feeding schedule with our dogs, it only took 2 missed feedings for them to realize that they MUST eat when we put the food down. We have since had NO food-related issues and everyone happily eats at their scheduled feeding time!

I actually work with a lady who has 3 Heelers and told me, "I don't know why, but my dogs WILL NOT eat unless I add chopped up hot dogs to their food"

Duh! :)

Good luck with your pup
 

Tulsa-Dan

Your Friendly Moderator
Definitely get on schedule and if they pup doesn't eat in 20 minutes, take the bowl up and don't feed again until the next scheduled feeding and DO NOT double up the portion -- that's pretty much the same as free feeding.

No dog will starve itself in the presence of food unless it is suffering some sort of illness.

Also, avoid milk and milk products. Try water or you can mix canned and kibble, or try using some soup broth (low salt). When my dogs get picky I put a little broth in with their kibble and they gobble it right up.

Dan
 

dagney's mom

Boxer Booster
i had the same problem when dagney was a puppy. we ended up following our trainer's advice: we put a little water in his bowl and mixed it with his dry kibble. then we microwaved it for about 15 seconds. dagney ate his food no problem after that. try it and see if it works
 

fat-cat

Boxer Pal
Thanks for your inputs.

Thanks for your inputs. I will definately try that.

P.S. But he is so cute. Just this look of his brown eyes melts anyone's heart down and you ready to do anything to please him. Is it only me or you guy's all boxer crazy too?
 

shmrkdncr

Boxer Buddy
I've had my Tuff for about alittle over a week and I have been changing his food over to wellness . He eats about 1/4 of a cup warmed with water and drained and 2 tablespons of canned food 2 times a day . I tried giving him a dry kibble in the middle of the day and he's just not interested. Oh well . But tonight he licked his bowl clean and took a small handful of dry kiddle too . Oh and I also add about 1 tablespoon of baby rice cereal and a dollop of goats milk too he really likes that ! He was the runt so I don't think he has a huge appetite .

Jessica
 
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