# Good food for picky dog?



## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

So this customer came in the store today trying to find a food that her 3 lb maltese would eat. I've given her samples of totw, fromm, blue buffalo, he wont eat any of those. So I suggested dehydrated food and she bought some grandma lucys. 

She said that she tried tough love, but the dog refused to eat for 3 days, so thats not an option. If this food doesent work out, shes running out of options (and raw isnt an option). 

any other suggestions for small picky dog? we also carry dr harveys and sojos, any feedback on those? 

I recommended that particular one because it has dried meat in it, as opposed to having to add your own protein like in dr harveys. But I noticed that with dehydrated foods, theres not a whole lot of meat in it even though its 26-30% protein.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

back to basics? orijen? 


My dogs INHALED the Earthborn Holistic grain frees, esp the primitive natural one.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I think orijen may be too big in size for her dog, we dont carry B2B yet and we did sell EB but it wasnt very popular so it got discontinued. Another option might be Nutrisca, I remember when I gave it to Uno he gobbled it up.

I guess I should mention that we dont have a huge variety of foods, we carry: Natural balance, totw, fromm, canine caviar, acana, orijen, blue buffalo, sojos, dr harveys and grandma lucys. So unless customer wants to special order something, thats pretty much all thats available.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

How about canned? Anything he might like in that area. Fussy little so and so, lucky he isn't mine!


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## Gally (Jan 28, 2012)

Is she trying different protein sources as well as different brands? 

Maybe a specific ingredient is making him feel sick so he refuses to eat it? Maybe try a limited ingredient food or something with uncommon protein sources.

Has the dog been to the vet so make sure there isn't something else wrong?


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## dustinshaw98 (Feb 22, 2012)

Is it possible to introduce a little raw meat? I used BARF diet for my dogs. Have you ever considered it?


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

dustinshaw98 said:


> Is it possible to introduce a little raw meat? I used BARF diet for my dogs. Have you ever considered it?


It was stated that raw is not an option.

And the Orijen kibble should be fine. My 3.5 pound yorkie handled it and Taste of the Wild just fine. And if they really want to they can always cut the kibble in half with a pill cutter. I stupidly did that for a week before I realized she could handle the whole thing on her own. Took about ten minutes to serve like an 1/8 cup of kibble haha.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

Ziwipeak and K9Naturals both do dehydrated - both from NZ and high end (read high price) products?
Fussy little bugger by the sounds of it!


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> So this customer came in the store today trying to find a food that her 3 lb maltese would eat. I've given her samples of totw, fromm, blue buffalo, he wont eat any of those. So I suggested dehydrated food and she bought some grandma lucys.
> 
> She said that she tried tough love, but the dog refused to eat for 3 days, so thats not an option. If this food doesent work out, shes running out of options (and raw isnt an option).
> 
> ...


If Grandma Lucy's doesn't work out she should take the maltese to a vet to see if there isn't other things like dental issues going on.

As meggels already mentioned further up, Back To Basics Pork would be something completely different and with a good size for a maltese. But if you don't carry it I guess it doesn't matter. She could always try it from somewhere else and if she is a good customer of yours you could order it for here down the road. Most pet food distributors I know of up here allow stores to order small shipments to make good customers happy.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestions, maybe try orijen or acana next if that doesent work.


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## DogLuver (Oct 19, 2011)

My Golden Retriever is a picky eater...and even though I do a rotation with Orijen and Acana flavors, there is only one that he absolutely loves. The others he still decides sometimes to skip meals...but Acana Grasslands, he will never turn it down! I also recently tried the new Acana lamb and apple...and he seems to love this one too...but not as much as Acana Grasslands. Just something I've noticed


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

wisnton likes evo red an acana pacifica..although he hasnt been eating as much pacifica..so im glad im changing him to b2b pork.
orijen red and six fish might be good! im going to try orijen fish after b2b pork.[/B]


Unosmom said:


> So this customer came in the store today trying to find a food that her 3 lb maltese would eat. I've given her samples of totw, fromm, blue buffalo, he wont eat any of those. So I suggested dehydrated food and she bought some grandma lucys.
> 
> She said that she tried tough love, but the dog refused to eat for 3 days, so thats not an option. If this food doesent work out, shes running out of options (and raw isnt an option).
> 
> ...


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

When I worked at a boutique and people would bring in their tiny picky dogs I'd always recommend either Stella & Chewys freeze-dried (worked 99% of the time, chicken and duck flavors seemed to be most popular) or Now! Small breed for kibble.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

MollyWoppy said:


> How about canned? Anything he might like in that area. Fussy little so and so, lucky he isn't mine!


Yeah because we awesome parents starve our kids if they get picky! 

There are only so many raw meats to choose from! LOL


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Has your customer tried wetting the kibble (any kibble) with some warm water? It enhances the smell and changes the consistancy. It worked for my lab back in the day.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

Yeah, is a very frou-frou type place, lots of little spoiled dogs. This one lady asked me to watch her maltese that has seperation anxiety. She's basically afraid to leave the house because the dog cries. So what, Uno gets sad when I leave, but he's a big boy, he can manage. I dont think the dogs feet even touch the ground, if she actually let him be a dog, and run around and play with other pups and enjoy life, and stop coddling him like a child, he'd get over his SA in a minute. 

While I'm not a fan of cesar milan, I do agree that dogs dont dwell in the past. All she's doing is reinforcing that anxious behavior and he's picking up on her own paranoia. 

Anyways, this particular lady seem to want convenience above all. Even when I suggested trying dehydrated food, she hesitant because she said she travels a lot. Um, so what? cant take 10 mins out of your day to mix some food with water? I think she said she doesent want to feed canned because its messy. Whatever..


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Unosmom said:


> Yeah, is a very frou-frou type place, lots of little spoiled dogs. This one lady asked me to watch her maltese that has seperation anxiety. She's basically afraid to leave the house because the dog cries. So what, Uno gets sad when I leave, but he's a big boy, he can manage. I dont think the dogs feet even touch the ground, if she actually let him be a dog, and run around and play with other pups and enjoy life, and stop coddling him like a child, he'd get over his SA in a minute.
> 
> While I'm not a fan of cesar milan, I do agree that dogs dont dwell in the past. All she's doing is reinforcing that anxious behavior and he's picking up on her own paranoia.
> 
> Anyways, this particular lady seem to want convenience above all. Even when I suggested trying dehydrated food, she hesitant because she said she travels a lot. Um, so what? cant take 10 mins out of your day to mix some food with water? I think she said she doesent want to feed canned because its messy. Whatever..


speaking of travel. 

I was at a friends house and her mom was asking the dog if an hour long trip was too much for him (he is a 6 year old lab). She was genuinely worried. He does FINE in the car! I take my dogs on 3 hour trips once a month! An hour won't kill a dog!


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

That sounds like 90% of all dog owners.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

is the dog eating kibble or can food?


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

what was the dogs answer?? 



Sprocket said:


> speaking of travel.
> 
> I was at a friends house and
> 
> ...


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## LindsayMaryland (Jan 4, 2012)

My mom’s dog is picky and I recently brought her some of my dogs Synergy dry food and she loved it – ate it right up. It has chicken (first ingredient) and salmon so I think it’s really tasty. I also brought her a can of venison & sweet potato L.I.D., also by Natural Balance, and mixed it in with the Synergy and that went over like gangbusters.


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

If she's not open to anything but kibble, it really is going to just be a guessing game because what will entice one dog won't always entice another. We seem to have luck with fish based foods and finicky eaters since they tend to have a stronger aroma about them. 
If she IS open to additives, a little ground meat added is not only beneficial nutritionally but enticing to a finicky eater. Or some broth, the less sodium the better (homemade is ideal) can work wonders as well.
I do think picky eaters are created by owners, but sometimes dogs really will hold out longer than what is healthy, I do believe that.


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## AveryandAudrey (Sep 20, 2010)

MollyWoppy said:


> How about canned? Anything he might like in that area. Fussy little so and so, lucky he isn't mine!


 I was thinking the same thing, both parts:heh:


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

thanks everyone for suggestions, I havent seen her since the last time, so I'll update you on how the dog liked dehydrated. I think she said she doesent want to feed canned because its messy.


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