Need help with dog food suggestions...

[mom23boys]

Hi guys,

Zeplin was brought home to us at 12 weeks old eating Puppy Chow from his foster mom. We kept him on that for about amonth until he became accustomed to his home, and new family. We gradually switched over to Solid Gold- Wee bit. He has been on that for the last 3-4 months. However- we have noticed that he will not eat his food this week. He is active and feisty- so I do not think he is sick. He will eat here and there- but we have been throwing out the food- which we used to never have to do. He would devour it in a matter of minutes- even seconds.

We do give him the occasional treat or bisquit and he loves peanut butter in his kong as a treat as well. His poop has not changed much.

Any thoughts?

We were going to try a new food to see if it was that he was bored with it, but dh bought another Wee Bit bag- so we tried it- justto make sure it was not stale. Still not eating. So now I would like suggestions on what you fee your pup. He is 8 months old. I looked for Evo at my pet stores and could not find it- so any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Jennifer

[EMarie]

I feed Blue Buffalo. It is corn gluten free as well as grain free. My guys do really well on it and I don't have a single picky eater anymore. My older girl used to go 24-36 hours without eating and now she waits for her dinner!! We feed the white fish and sweet potato.

[DanielBMe]

try going to www.dogfoodanalysis.com and checking out the 5 or 6 star foods and see if any of those brands are carried by your pet store. You may end up having to find another pet store as many of the better brands are not carried in your typical dog food store.

[mintchip]

My guys get Natural Balance
Just a thought but if you change because "you think he is bored" he will always be a picky eater. If you really think that is the best for him put the food down for an amount of time and pick it up. No treats. Then at the next meal do the same. He will eat......
Think about it in terms of kids--they would love to eat their favorite food all the time but....
I hope it doesn't sound to mean but you are the boss.

[EMarie]

I agree with mintchip...my guys were on Nutro until Pirelli's seizures started b/c of the gluten so we switched to a gluten free food and that was the problem. But she never got treats and would still go 24-36 hours without eating. But sometimes you have to let them know they do NOT have a choice!!

[DanielBMe]

You should rotate your dogs food regardless every couple of months. It's actually recommended that you find 3 different brands of good kibble and rotate through them every 3 or 4 bags. Keeping your dog on one kibble for it's entire life can cause a whole different set of problems.

[rdanielle]

Have you tried adding tripe to his food? Most finicky dogs love this stuff! (That way you could get him to finish of the Wee Bit)
http://www.petco.com/product/15035/S...eef-Tripe.aspx

It also has good benefits:
http://www.thedogbowl.com/PPF/catego...84/dogbowl.asp

I noticed that my dogs gobble away more when I add a new ingredient or flavor rather. So I stocked up on canned food in several different flavors & rotate 2 cans until they are gone.

I have 2 picky eaters, to ensure that they CANNOT they cannot pick and choose what they like - I pulverize the kibble with the chopper attachment on my hand blender. This works ideally if you add it with canned food or an liquid supplement -- you could even add water. I started doing it for my 2 Havs that aren't picky eaters because when I started supplementing them with Salmon Oil it seemed more of it to end up in their beard! Ahh, what a great lingering fishy smell!

Might also try using one of Honest Kitchen's all life stages dehydrated formulas as a topper 1 TBS or substituting half his food with it:
http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/index.shtml

* Love this stuff! Yes, there is a bit of sticker shock when you look at the cost up front. I incorporate into my adult dogs more as a food topper/gravy something to spice up their food. (Actually cheaper than buying IAMS dog gravies in the long run - not too mention healthier). They love it! A little goes a long way. I only add a Tablespoon to the adults dogs daily meal. They suggest rehydrating with 1 cup with 1 to 1.5 cups of water. To increase our dogs water intake I use 2 cups of water to 1 cups food. Makes it last even longer! It lasts us 10 days and thats feeding 4 dogs. So, imagine how much further it'll last if you only have one or two small dogs We have yet to make a dent in the 10lb bag! Also, you might want to make a small batch as unused portion should be used within 48 hours. Or, freeze the other portion..*

I like Wellness Super5Mix Just for Puppy - all of our puppies love this stuff!

[DanielBMe]

I feed my guys fresh green tripe twice a week. Although it stinks to high heaven (it sort of smells like blue cheese but worse), they LUUUUVVVVVVE IT.

You can also find tripe in cans from Lamb. Hmm poor Mary now we know where her lambs went...

[JASHavanese]

I'm really torn on dog food. Remember when Kibbles and Bits was the latest rage years ago and dogs lived to be almost 20? My mom's dogs ate from the table and had Kibbles and Bits or Gaines Burgers in their bowl. Twenty some years ago I got a pom and she ate what I ate and had whatever was handy in her bowl. All of those dogs were healthy till old age and lived long lives.
Now I pay a fortune for dog food and wonder if it's really any better than how we used to do it. If I change foods after feeding just one, the dogs can get upset stomachs. Back when, the dogs always had different things (even onion soup) and were used to a constant diet change and foods didn't bother them.

[Lina]

Honestly, it bothers me when people use the "remember when dogs were on Alpo/Kibbles n Bits/whatever" as if because the dogs you had were healthy back then means that those foods must work just as well. I'm 100% positive that a lot of dogs died back then and did NOT live to a ripe old age. Just because the dogs you had did, doesn't mean that any dog will. My great-grandfather smoked every day of his life and drank as well and lived to 92. Does that mean that I should take up smoking and drinking habitually because obviously this means I will live to 92? No, it means that he was, luckily, a person whose body could handle those things better than others, just as there are stories about very "healthy" people all around us. Every friend of mine has stories like this... a grandfather, a parent, an uncle or whoever, who ate fatty foods every day and smoked or whatever and lived for a long time. That does NOT mean you will or that it's a healthy lifestyle. So yeah, lots of dogs can live really well off of old Alpo or whatever, but lots of dogs won't. And, honestly, I wouldn't want to risk finding this out by having my dog die earlier or get really sick off of something I fed him.

Just my 2 cents.