[melissa.ryan]

Does my puppy hate kibble?

Has anyone ever dealt with a stubborn Cockapoo that doesn’t want to eat kibble? My 4 month old Lacey doesn’t seem keen on it at all. In fact she seems to be holding out for treats and/or whatever we are eating although she’s never fed scraps and only gets treats during training times. This has only been a problem for the last few weeks. I plan to bring this up with her vet but I really don’t feel that it’s due to a medical issue. Aside from turning her nose up at kibble she is quite playful and energetic. Her behaviour hasn’t changed, she’s not lethargic, her stools are good, etc. She just seems to be quite headstrong and not pleased with a bowl of kibble. She’ll sniff it and then walk away. However she'll resort to acrobatics to get my food. Even though she never gets it she never backs down.

When she first came home at 8 weeks we started her on Simply Nourish which is a Pet Smart (maybe just a Canadian store?) Brand but decided to switch to Royal Canin Medi-Cal from the vet. She ate this well enough but her stools were awful. The vet advised that there is likely too much omega for her system and to try something else. I then tried Fromm’s Puppy formula but she didn’t seem to like this at all so I decided to transition her to Wellness in case Fromms was the issue. Unfortunately, she has the same attitude towards Wellness. I don’t want to keep changing her food! Side note – these are not cheap grocery stores brands. I’ve done my research to ensure she’s getting very healthy food.

I’ve tried soaking it in hot water to make it softer. Also warmed chicken broth and lately a few mashed blueberries. Not all at once! They help a bit but she’s still not eating close to what the package says she should be eating. With lots of coaxing she’ll eat some so it’s not as if she’s not eating but I think she needs more. I’ll be lucky to get 1 Cup into her all day.

Has anyone been through this? Do you have any suggestions that I could try? My husband says she’s a dog and she’ll eat when hungry and that I shouldn’t be taking special measures to convince her to eat but Lacey is very headstrong and she’s not backing down. Please HELP!!!!!! Thank you.

 

[MillieDog]

Yes, absolutely. Millie was exactly the same. We came home with Royal Canin from the breeder and Millie didn't seem to want to eat it. So chatting with the vet they sold me their recommended brand (stocked in the vets!) and that was Science Plan. Millie ate it for a few weeks, then wouldn't touch it. So we swapped to something else and the same thing happened. Finally we tried Arden Grange still kibble and again she ate it for a few weeks and stopped.

At this point I decided it was kibble that she didn't like. So after much research swapped her over to a BARF diet and put her on Natural Instinct a pre made balanced meal of raw meat, bones, vegetables and oils. She eats this much better than kibble, but she is still prone to not eating every so often ie skips a meal or two. I think she just is sometimes not hungry is is hoping for something more tasty.

 

[jaimebpa1]

I'm dealing with the exact same thing with Olive and I'm finally at the point that I will out stubborn her! She came home from the breeder on Oven baked tradition, but didn't like this at all. I started mixing in Acana in with it and she picked the Acana out. So I just started giving her the Acana. Well that food is very high in protein and fat and it gave her colitis. She was having pure mucous stools (so gross!). I put her back on Oven Baked Tradition, but she would barely eat it. Sometimes I'd mix wet food with it and she'd eat it for a few days, but then she'd stop eating it that way too. I bought her a bag of Blue Buffalo and she wouldn't eat that at all. PetSmart took that back thankfully. A few weeks ago I bought her a bag of Simply Nourish and she ate it for 2 days and then stopped. I haven't bought any new foods as it's obvious she is really picky and it would just be a waste of money! For the last 3 days I have decided that I've had enough and I'm being really strict about food. She is getting no treats. Not even for training. I put her food down at 7am, 12, and 5 pm. I leave it down for 20 minutes. I make sure there are no distractions during this time. If she eats great. If not i pick it up and she gets nothing until i put the food down again. The last 2 days she didn't eat even 1 bite of food. I could feel myself getting anxious about it, but i stuck it out and today she didn't eat breakfast or lunch, but she ate half of her dinner. So really that isn't much for the day, but i'm hoping if i keep this up she'll realize there are no other options for food. It's hard when she refuses to eat because she ends up obsessing over food! I have to put her in her crate when the kids eat now because she stalks them. She'll also get in to any garbage she can. I hate seeing her so hungry that she'll eat garbage, but really that just proves she is being stubborn.

 

[jaimebpa1]

Ideally I would like for her to really enjoy her food, but I don't want to do a raw food diet and honestly i think she'd end up turning her nose to that eventually too. I've given her wet food and she only eats it for a few days. I'm pretty sure i've unintentionally trained her that if she doesn't eat her food she'll get something different or better.

 

[Kodysmom]

I had the same problem with Kody. I also tried warm water, chicken broth an even soft food. He will eat with the different variations but eventually he would turn his nose up to it. I had to stick to my guns and only offer him kibble. He eats a little better know that he's eating twice a day vs three a day. I also leave his food down for an hour, if he doesn't eat it's not offered again until his next meal. Also no treats are offered if he doesn't eat.

 

[tessybear]

Mine can't stand kibble and I don't see the point in forcing the issue. There are so many wet foods on the market. Mine are raw fed and they both love it.

 

[DONNA]

I think if you keep changing her food you will create a fussy eater,however it sounds as if she is just not a fan of kibble.

I think you need to find a food and stick to it she will eventually eat when shes hungry.

My puppy always had loose stools with kibble so i switch to raw and he has loved it ever since and hes great on it.We have a company called NI here that does all the hard work for you i just serve from the tub,im sure there are other brands that do a similar thing if you want to try it.

My cousin has a fussy cockapoo they feed him wet food for one meal and dryed for another which seems to work.

 

[jaimebpa1]

The only place near me that i have found a prepared raw food, which is the only way I'd do raw is a very fancy, snobby pet store and it is WAY out of my budget. I also have only been able to find one person who feeds raw. Everyone else looks at me like I am crazy when I bring it up! I don't think it has caught on in my area yet. It's definitely not readily available and very expensive. That's why i'm pushing kibble. I also don't want to do just canned food because that would be expensive and my vet is very against that because of the teeth issue. I know Amanda on here feeds a fresh food that is sold at petsmart so that couldbe an option. When I went to my petsmart they were sold out of it for 5 weeks straight though so not an option for us if they can't keep it in stock. I think some of us have to push kibble. And really they are dogs. We are the pack leaders and we decide what and when they eat. I appreciate wanting to feed your dog the best and wanting them to enjoy their food, but it has to work for the human as well. If it was within my budget I'd probably try the prepared raw food.

An update on my feeding issue. today was day 4 of me putting the kibble down for 20 minutes and then picking it up. She ate half of her breakfast instantly this morning. If I didn't know any better I'd say she enjoyed it too. Maybe she didn't, but it gave her the nutrition she needs and because she was a good girl and ate her kibble she got a delicious chicken chew as a treat when I left this morning!

 

[Scarlett]

I know exactly what you are going through! We had/have this same problem with Scarlett. We never fed her table scraps, and she only got treats when we were working on training her (toileting, recall, etc.). She would refuse to eat. She loved tripe on her food, but I didn't think it was a good idea for her to be eating that all of the time. I tried microwaving the food, softening it with water, all kinds of things, and she just wouldn't eat it. We were told to try putting out a couple of bowls of different types of kibble (we got some free sample packs, all good, healthy kibbles) and see if she gravitated towards one kind. She didn't like any of them! Wouldn't eat any of it. The next thing that we were told was to just put her food out for half hour or an hour and take it away if she didn't eat it. Keep doing this at all meals, and she will eventually get hungry enough to eat. This is what worked for us. She didn't eat for a whole day but was very hungry by her next meal. Even now, at 6 months, sometimes she doesn't want to eat. She never gets really excited and runs directly to her food, but she eats it. Sometimes she only eats 2 of her 3 meals in the day and sometimes she eats all of her food. But the important thing to me is that she was still growing, she still had energy, her stools were all still normal. I wish you luck with all of this, I know how frustrating it can be when your puppy doesn't want to eat!

 

[tessybear]

Mine eat a lot of tripe its their absolute favorite!

 

[lady amanda]

I did all the ticks with Lady to get her to eat kibble...all of them.....finally when the vet told us she needed to gain some weight....that was it....I have her on a fresh food and she loves it!!! it is one sold in a tube at our local pet store....it is well rated...if anything the fat content is a bit high but with her having bad colitis and needing some weight anyway...we have left her on it as it seems the best thing for her.

 

[caradunne]

I really empathise with you, it is very difficult but it sounds to me as if you are doing what is right for you. I had a nightmare with Izzy, thought I had cracked it with the raw diet and then after a few months she went off that. Sometimes she goes for two days with no food - which makes me feel awful. I quite often put a tiny bit of grated cheese in with whatever food she is having, that usually gets her to eat it.

 

[Emily+Harry]

I have the same issue - i am just being super stubborn and if she doesn't eat it then she can wait until her next meal but wanted to know when does she go onto 2 meals a day - she is 15 weeks old and doesn't touch her lunch time kibble but when I put her tea time dinner down she eats it xx

 

[Stela12]

Stela switched to two meals a day when she was 14 weeks old and she has been thriving and doing just fine. She is also not a great kibble eater and what works for her is a variety. Just add something yummy to her kibble every day, something different: a spoon of plain yogurt, cottage cheese, pumpkin( it's good to make the stool firmer), chicken, tuna....she will get curious about the new smell/taste and eat it. Works for me! good luck!

 

[Emily+Harry]

Aww that is ok then if yours went to two meals at 14 weeks - I might start slowly cutting them out and see how she gets on - xxx

 

[DONNA]

My friend feeds her dog a raw food from natures menu (i think) this is sold in most pet shops and is cheaper then NI (i think).

Also Sarah on here with Max just feeds Max chicken carcass filled with steamed veg and im sure she said they were really cheap from her butcher,and chicken wings are very cheap from the suppermarket.

Also have you ever tryed boiled chicken and rice with a spoon full of yogurt (used for when they have an upset tummy).My aunties dog would only eat bolied chicken and thats what he lived on with veg.