# Picky eater !! Should we switch our puppy's food?



## nfedyk (Jan 13, 2012)

Oliver is 10 months old and has been eating Wellness Super5 puppy mix for several months now. Initially he seemed to really enjoy the food. He was getting the kibble mixed with a little of the wet. However lately, there are many times when he doesn't seem to be all that interested in it. He will just sniff it and walk away. My mom who is always so worried that he is going to get sick if he misses a meal tries everything to convince him to eat. She will hand feed him or sprinkle a crushed cracker over his food to convince him to eat. Most times with enough coaxing he will. 
I am not sure if he is just being finicky or is spoiled because he knows eventually my mom will try something else to get him to eat. I am started to wonder if maybe he is just tired of the food and wants something different. We were going to switch him over to Wellness Core when he turns one. Now I am wondering if we should switch to a toally different food like Acana which I have also considered. Would love your thoughts on this. Thanks.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Personally, I'd switch him to Acana now. It is very probable he's being picky, but Acana is a lot better food anyway. So, you could either wait him out until he eventually gets hungry enough to eat the Wellness, or switch him over a touch earlier than planned. I know what I'd do. If he refuses the Acana or Core, then you will have to do the tough love thing. 
You can always rotate between the 2 foods as well, or amongst the different proteins of Acana, then he won't have the bored excuse either.


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## K9Pro (Mar 11, 2012)

Before you switch, give him a little change.....
place a small dollop of PLAIN unflavored Danon yogurt on his kibble, mix thoroughly.

Watch what happens.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

I suggest maybe adding a food to the rotation. I would get bored with food too if I was fed the same thing every day.


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## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

I would do the tough love approach. Leave the food down for 15 minutes then pick it up. He will figure out that he best eat when food is given. How new is the bag of food?


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Oliver is a Papillion correct? I am not sure if your supposed to do tough love with small breed puppies. I personally would switch to Acana or Orijen, Tess my parents shih tzu maltese, love love loved Orijen, Evo, Instinct, and Nutrisca way more than Wellness and she isn't a picky dog.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

Maybe a modified tough love? Like if you normally put the bowl down at 9:00, take it back up at 9:15-9:20 and then set it back down in a couple of hours, instead of waiting until the next meal time.


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## aria2712 (Mar 12, 2012)

I think it is a behavior problem rather than the food.. when Olive doesn't want to eat, then your mom start begging her or hand feeding her. This way, the puppy will not appreciate the meal. If you change the food, maybe she will eat it for a week, then the problem starts again. My dog also had this problem a year ago. I chose not to spoil her. If she doesn't eat in 1-2 minutes I'll take it back and give her again on the next eating time. I didn't give her another food except her food. It was continued until 7 days and on that time, she didn't eat anything, just drinks. After 7 days, she starts to eat again normally and the problem didn't come up again till now.


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## LilasMom (Mar 10, 2012)

aria2712 said:


> I think it is a behavior problem rather than the food.. when Olive doesn't want to eat, then your mom start begging her or hand feeding her. This way, the puppy will not appreciate the meal. If you change the food, maybe she will eat it for a week, then the problem starts again. My dog also had this problem a year ago. I chose not to spoil her. If she doesn't eat in 1-2 minutes I'll take it back and give her again on the next eating time. I didn't give her another food except her food. It was continued until 7 days and on that time, she didn't eat anything, just drinks. After 7 days, she starts to eat again normally and the problem didn't come up again till now.


Unfortunately you can't use this method on small dogs, which is what Oliver is.


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## nfedyk (Jan 13, 2012)

Yes Oliver is a papillon and the bag of food was just opened a few days ago. It has a Sept. expiration so the food is fresh. Thank you for all your suggestions. I will try them and hopefully one will work.


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## PDXdogmom (Jun 30, 2010)

I agree that your dog may be a picky eater; but it also wouldn't hurt to change foods.

Wellness and Acana are both high quality brands and I really don't see one being superior to the other - it's basically how well an individual dog does on one versus the other.

I've seen many picky small dogs do well when switched to one of the Fromm formulas. It may be something about the aroma from the small inclusion of cheese . . . who knows? I'd definitely take a look at some of their formulas. Fromm Family Foods Gourmet Dog & Cat Food, Naturally Holistic


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

winston was picky when we got him..but he just didin't like what we were giving him!!! he was 97 pounds when we got him...and would be lucky to eat cups of totw wetlands...we switched to earthborn prim natural and he hated it..would be lucky for him to eat 2 cups..we then switched to evo red meat and he ate 3-3.5 cups like it was nothing!!!(keep in mind 3 cups of evo red meat is an appropriate amount of food per day while 4.25 cups of totw is appropriate due to increase calories and protein in evo)

i didn't like winston's stool on evo, or the png buyout, so switched him to totw high prairie due to the fact that totw gives firm stools, and although he didn't like wetlands, he may lie high prairie better..an he didn't Hate wetlands JUST DIDN'T CRAVe IT which he liked better than totw duck or eb primitive natural but not as much as evo

so i switched him to acana pacifica and he loves it..he also lies wellness core ocean too!

so conclusion is he loves fish best an red meat second

if i were you i would not only try a new food but make sure it has a different primary protein source....try pacifica by acana  I have to warn you..it has side effects..such as soft to the touch coats  and when it's sunny the coat burns your eyes 
winston is 118ish now


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

i do not agree with the tough love approach..some dogs just don;t lie some foods..as was evidenced with winston!

although i think your mom is a little to pushy to be honest no offense lol.
winston some times sniffs his acana and then walks away..only to come back a few hours later and devour it(i free feed winston)

if he doesnt eat what you have given him by the end of the day then switch! small dogs don;t have a high risk of bloat so i wouldn't worry about giving him ''meals''

although im not too knowledgeable on small dogs so maybe there is another disease they can get by eating too much at one time directly


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## aria2712 (Mar 12, 2012)

LilasMom said:


> Unfortunately you can't use this method on small dogs, which is what Oliver is.


oh, oliver is a papillon.. it is harder to use this method but if I were him, I would try this method as long as my dog is healthy unless he shows any problems like vomit gastritis acid (usually the color of the vomit will be yellow) or become less active after using this method then you better stop it and fed him as usual (maybe hand fed him is necessary). this is just my opinion based on my experience..


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