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My dog loves terrible dog food

2K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  General Mojo 
#1 ·
Help! My dog is addicted to low quality, low cost dog food. :wink2:

I have 2 dogs; Mojo, my Dobie and a Dachshund names Rusty. Rusty is admittedly the stepchild of the family. We love him and he's spoiled, but we don't spend money on high quality dog food for him. He gets the cheap stuff..... On the flip side, Mojo gets the high quality dog food. One problem, he LOVES the crappy dog food we buy Rusty and doesn't seem to like his high quality food. I've tried 3 different flavors/varieties of his brand of food but nothing seems to work. I've even tried mixing a small scoop of the crappy food in with his food and that little sucker sniffs out every piece of the crappy food and eats it, while scooping his expensive food out all over the floor. I'm not sure what it is about the crappy food that he likes so much, but whatever it is, he likes it. Any ideas on what I can do to get him to want his food as much?? I've tried mixing in some chicken broth with his and that seems to help.
 
#2 · (Edited)
You can try adding water to the kibble--it won’t be as easy for him to snarf out the “good” stuff that way. Sorta like adding chicken broth, only a lot less trouble.

Don’t let him get into the habit of expecting you to add stuff to make him eat his food better--that tends to just make them pickier and pickier. Put his food down for 15 minutes, then pick it up and don’t give him any more until the next feeding time. Rinse, repeat. So long as he’s not getting any other food on the sly, he WILL eventually start eating the food you want him to eat.

But to some degree, I tend to go with whatever works best for my dog. If he is healthy, full of energy, shiny, no coat problems, no allergy symptoms (and not a growing puppy--until 18 months old or so and has special needs), you can give him whatever he does well with. Not a steady diet of treats, of course (which is obviously what he would like best)--but different dogs do well with different foods--and it’s hard to tell just why.
 
#3 ·
What Mel said ^^^^. In addition, feed your dogs separately. Completely separately don't even let Mojo see you preparing Rusty's food. Eventually, you may want to add other foodstuffs to his kibble. But if he is healthy, he will eat when he gets hungry enough. I also love the 15 minute rule. Put the kibble down for a period of time (No Rusty around) and if he doesn't go for it, pick it up and wait until his next feeding.

BTW, a lot of lesser quality food has flavor and smell enhancers to get the dog to scarf it down.

Personally, my solution would be to ditch the "crappy" food and feed both dogs the same quality kibble.

I happen to be a fan of Orijen and/or Acana. It is smelly enough that it really seems to incite appetite.

John
Portland OR
 
#5 ·
When and if you do change Rusty’s food, be sure to do it slowly--add the new food in increasing proportions to the old stuff over the span of a few weeks to avoid upsets. Some dogs can have trouble with “better” kibble, especially if they are changed over too quickly. It takes a bit of time for their gut to adjust to digesting a different food--a different balance of microbiota needs to develop.
 
#8 ·
If you must feed kibble I second Orijen and Acana. The fish variety of both foods is STINKY....most dogs love it.

Unless I have a dog in some sort of health crisis I never cater to any picky behavior. I decide when, what and where my pack eat. If someone doesn't eat I take the food away. A fast is healthy for a dog. Healthy dogs will not hunger strike themselves to death. Your behavior around feeding does make a statement about your position with your dogs. I also always feed in order of pack position. The queen terrier always eats first then the Dobes 2nd and 3rd with my bottom of the pack guy always eating last. Nobody touches their food unless they are sitting and giving me eye contact and I give the OK.

It is a slippery slope to beg and cajole a dog to eat imo.
 
#9 ·
Feed both dogs the same food. They won't starve themselves! Problem solved.

Personally I don't give into any kind of "picky eater" dogs. Adding stuff to their food to entice them to eat does more harm than good. I have friends who do that and have seen people on DT buy into that and I don't get it at all. I want my dogs to have a good appetite for their whole lives. I want them to be able to eat in any situation or any food I put in front of them. Importantly I want to know when something is actually wrong and loss of appetite can be an important early symptom of such things.
 
#10 ·
I guess my question would be, what do you mean by "crappy?" I would recommend you pick up a copy of the book, "Dog Food Logic," by Linda Case. I mean, I personally wouldn't feed something like Ol Roy, but there are a lot of foods people might consider "crappy" that I wouldn't...it really depends on your definition. If your dog is doing well on the food, I would probably be inclined to let him eat it. If not, I'd be inclined to consider switching both dogs to the same food, if the first food is truly terrible. Or, I'd feed the dogs separately, and not put up with picky eating. Healthy dogs won't starve themselves.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for all the responses. Too many to reply to directly, but I'm taking notes. ;)

One more question. Mojo just turned 18 months old. He's eating much less in terms of a total amount. I feed him twice a day, about 3 cups per feeding. But over the past month or so, he's only eating about half that amount and doesn't seem to want to eat more. Is that normal since he's basically stopped growing? Obviously he doesn't need as much calorie intake as he did when he was growing, so I'm assuming that's the reason he's eating less.
 
#13 · (Edited)
3-4 cups a DAY is about what a lot of typical adult dobes eat. It depends on the food (some are richer and much more concentrated than others) and your individual dog’s proper size and activity level. With a high-quality food you can feed less and still keep him at a proper weight--generally you have to feed more junky food to get the same result as a smaller amount of a higher quality food will give you. In any case 6 cups a day seems an awful lot for a dog his age to me. He should be cleaning his dish fairly rapidly and looking for more just a little, not leaving any behind.

Dog food bags will usually list a higher amount than what a dog really needs--they want to sell more food after all. And some people make the mistake of thinking that if they feed more, their dog will grow to a much bigger size--but all they will get is a fat dog.

Do you have any idea how he is weight-wise compared to his height? Do you know what to look for when a dog is at his proper weight? You should be able to see a “waist” from the top just in front of his hips, and to see the last couple of ribs and feel the rest with no layer of fat over them. A lot of the time the amount you feed varies by a 1/4-1/2 cup or so--keep an eye on his condition. If he looks a bit thin, up his food amount a little; gaining weight, cut it back. It’s a constant adjustment.

If you’d like to post a picture, we might be able to tell you how he is doing in terms of fitness--which could help you know how much you should expect him to eat.

And of course--we love to see pictures anyway :)
 
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