# serious picky eater



## BabyHusky (Jul 21, 2008)

so i know about the "creating a picky eater" etc. i've read and have told many people to do the usual "give them food, take it away after 15 minutes, give the exact same one for the next meal time" etc etc.

well...a friend of mine has the pickiest eater I have ever met. she refuses to eat without canned food AND she'll pick out as much as the canned and leave the dry. so I gave my friend the entire "picky eaters are created by their humans" talk and told him what to do. the dog won't eat. out of all the dogs i've owned, taken care of, etc, she is the first that i just cannot figure out with food.

you know how we all say that dogs won't starve themselves? they'll eventually eat? she will not. her ribs are completely sticking out, she looks horribly malnourished and she doesn't have the energy to run around so she just lays there all day and night; still refusing to eat. my friend has taken her to the vet multiple times to have all tests done to see if something is wrong, but apparently, she is completely healthy. just super picky.

he can no longer take her on walks, take her to the dog beach, or even to Petsmart because she doesn't have the strength. he took her to the vet again this morning and the vet actually told him to throw in the towel and give her what she wants or she'll get severely ill. he called me asking what to do, and i'm completely thrown! because of me, he switched her from Purina One to Orijen with merricks as canned toppers. Yes...she will ONLY eat Merricks canned. She is normally a 50lb dog so theres a couple if not a few cans just on their own. Has anyone dealt with this? help? My friend is honestly willing to spend $180 a month of Merrick canned food but he's worried that she'll just change her mind later. he and i both don't want him being her bitch but we're both unsure at this point on what to do.

edit: he tried raw a few months back and she refused to eat for almost 2 week so he went back to kibble&canned.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

I have never heard of a dog like this. If it were mine, I'd get her back to a healthy weight and start all over again. NEVER give the dog anything except what has been put down. I wonder if he is giving her snacks or something between the meals she isn't eating. The dog MUST understand that this is the only food she will get and if she doesn't eat it now it will be there next meal and there will be nothing else. You need to get her at a pretty healthy weight first.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

For canned toppers, you can't tell me that they tried trippett and the dog won't touch it.! At least get some really healthy toppers to put on her food, if they haven't tried the tripe by trippett, I'd give that one a shot and see if that will at least give some good nutritional value to her meals.l


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## BabyHusky (Jul 21, 2008)

yea. i got canned tripe from BG Merrick and she wouldnt eat it. he does not give her any treats or snacks. shes been like this for quite some time now. he just didnt tell me until a few months ago. 

shes the most stubborn dog i have ever met. he went to buy a few cases of the Merrick cans to get her to her healthy weight again but we're both a lil worried that she will now know that she won.


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## EnglishBullTerriers (Sep 10, 2008)

How much canned is being put on the food???? I there is a ton of it being put on, then reduce the amount greatly. That will reduce the price of the canned for starters. IF Titus gets canned food as a topper, I will ONLY give a table spoon for ~4 cups of food each meal. There really is NO need for any more then that. At that point, you are defeating the purpose of feeding the kibble. 
Have him try just a small dab of the canned with each meal of kibble... A tablespoon or two, no more. Mix it up reallllllly well!!! I mean, mix it like it is a cake going into the oven and you want EVERYTHING covered. That should take care of getting the food eaten, because it is all covered. Then when the dog is back to ideal weight (Or more, hehe!) Then start over again like RFD said. I had to go back and forth with Owen with the beef to keep him from losing too much weight, but still trying to get my point across. Now he will eat beef if I give it to him. I still know that he doesn't like it, but if that is what I have and all he gets to eat, he will still try to fight for a meal or two before understanding that this is not a game and, in the words of my mother, Take it or leave it. 
Keep trying, and dont give up, but keep the dogs health in mind also!  Good luck!


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## lorih1770 (Jun 17, 2008)

Has he tried the dry Merrick food with a little warm water on it? Merrick dry food says on the bag if you add water it makes a gravy. Maybe she will eat it like the canned and it'll be less expensive at least. Could it be that she just doesn't like the Orijen? Hard to imagine, mine love Orijen!  Will she eat a different dry food maybe?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

BG Merrick and Trippet, completely two different types of food, the Merrick is very watery and mushy, doesn't have the smell most dogs will go crazy for like the trippett, consistency is totally different. The trippett is much denser and has the consistency of most canned dogfood, I've not found a dog yet that won't eat it.


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## BabyHusky (Jul 21, 2008)

One canned Merrick is split into 3 to last for 3 meals, so he really does use it as a topper. From what he told me, he was feeding her Purina and cans. But even then, he said she would pick out the wet food only and leave the dry. So he would give her another can. 

Wetting the food was the first thing I tried since its worked for my pup in the past, but his dog wouldnt go near it. I havent tried Merrick dry but I have tried EVO.

Either way, I told him to get her healthy and moving again while we try to figure something out. His vet feeds raw which is why that was one of the first things he tried but he and his vet were shocked that she refused to the point of skin and bones. Well ty everyone for your inputs. =)


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## EnglishBullTerriers (Sep 10, 2008)

BabyHusky said:


> One canned Merrick is split into 3 to last for 3 meals, so he really does use it as a topper. From what he told me, he was feeding her Purina and cans. But even then, he said she would pick out the wet food only and leave the dry. So he would give her another can.
> 
> Wetting the food was the first thing I tried since its worked for my pup in the past, but his dog wouldnt go near it. I havent tried Merrick dry but I have tried EVO.
> 
> Either way, I told him to get her healthy and moving again while we try to figure something out. His vet feeds raw which is why that was one of the first things he tried but he and his vet were shocked that she refused to the point of skin and bones. Well ty everyone for your inputs. =)


Not to be mean or anything, but she really is getting spoiled with the canned. Have him reduce the amount of canned per meal. Like I said earlier, Titus gets about a table spoon full per ~4 cups of kibble. Then mix it reallly well. If you don't mix it to cover ALL of the kibble, they will pick out only the stuff that has the canned. BUT if it is all mixed and coated, then there isn't a problem with picking out the stuff with the canned because it all has it on there. It does take a couple of minutes to make sure that all of it is covered, but it is worth them not leaving anything in the bowl if possible. Even in the state that she is in now, she still should not be given that much canned for the fact that you are still trying to get her to come off of it! It will only make it that much harder to get her off if she can just not eat and get it to come back again!  
You might even be able to try to put a tablespoon full and some oil or juice from a can of tuna, salmon, whatever works. I know that I tried that one time too with a dog that wouldn't eat for me. It worked pretty quickly, plus it is pretty good for them. I usually keep some in my frige when I have tuna sandwiches, I will put some juice aside and add it to the dogs kibble on ocassions. I don't know many dogs that will refuse to eat a food covered with fish juice.  
I am sure that you think I am crazy, but it does work. Izzy went through a phase where she didn't want to eat anything and I added about a teaspoon of canned to her kibble so that she could still taste it, but it wasn't taking up her nutrition. That was when she was still pregnant and she needed to keep eating. She would eat that and I started reducing even the teaspoon amount too, to the point that she would eat without the canned. 
You can also try the Trippett that was suggested above, see if that works. It will probably be better for the dog and might help her to let go of the canned a little easier.
I hope that everything works out!


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