LucillaJules

Hi guys,

Jules (whom I've introduced in Introduction ) will have been with us 2 weeks this coming Sunday!

She has settled in and when we reach the 2-week mark, we'll start introducing new food (raw). We're following the breeder's advice for now and keeping her on her old diet first. We feed her 3x in total every day at 8, 1 and 8, her old schedule, with her recently upgraded measure of 1 and 1/2-2 scoops of puppy kibble. This nicely fills her 5-inch diameter dog bowl. She gets snackies in between from training (we adjust her meal size accordingly, though not by much; I give her bits of what's on the dinner table (chicken, pork, beef, fish, rice), cheese bread sticks and peas).

She does all right with training, so that rules out ADD, doesn't it? But then they're always attentive with food, the little buggers. That's the thing, though. Jules is outright frisky with her treats, but seems to disdain her food. Meal times need to be supervised so I can call her back to her dish. Not that she always comes when I call. We're still working on that one.

I'm used to our other dogs scarfing down their food in minutes if not seconds; even the girl who's a dainty morsel-by-morsel eater doesn't walk away until her bowl is empty and licked clean. Jules sort of tastes, takes a tour around, tastes again. Like an explore-y toddler unstrapped to a high chair.

I wonder if she's just not hungry? She'll be five months old this 24th-- is that old enough for twice-a-day feeding? But she's still a baby and we exercise her amply with morning and afternoon walks and romps so we don't want her getting thin as she shoots up (though she's already 21 inches, heh).

Or is she just ready and even impatient for something new? I drizzle the sauce of what we have for lunch/dinner over her food or crush her cheese biscuits and mix it with the kibble and that does get her to scarfing.

This morning, I showed her an egg (fresh, just about to be put in the fridge) and she was all let-me-at-it-I-want-it! But my mom is scared of projectile pooping and she thinks an egg might be too rich and too sudden for Jules's stomach just now. I've read good, nice and hilarious things about Dobes and eggs. How do you introduce an egg to your Dobe's diet anyway? 1/4 of an egg to start?

Oh, and here's prim lady Jules posing for a photo when we were out for a walk:

mmctaq

If I was going to put this cute girl on raw, I would just do it! I don't worry about transitioning... I just say, "Welcome to your new life! Eat this!" To introduce eggs, I would take her outside and hand her a raw egg in the shell, and let her figure it out (this often has entertainment value <vbg>)... one egg is not excessive at all.

She may begin to eat greedily when she is given real food. If she does not, I would cut her back to two meals and I would not allow politics to enter the equation. Your obligation ends with the provision of meals... it is up to her to eat or not... if she walks away, pick it up and do not offer her food again until the next meal. Being hungry is incentive to learn to eat when meals are given... walking away is her choice... she can learn the consequence of this, and learn that smart dogs eat their supper!

LucillaJules

Thank you so much! Oh, dang, you're right about the politics, haha. Jules has probably already taken note of what I end up doing when she snobs her food. I'll show her! Still days before go-time for some raw. If she still snobs her food then, I'll know what to do.

I'm so excited to get her to try an egg later when she wakes up. She's currently snoozing like roadkill on the sofa.

Organdonor

Kimber is 4.5 months old, and she has always taken her time with meals when alone. When the older dog in the house is nearby, watch out! She's a speed demon. It's odd, given she is so food driven. She'll eat fish oil capsules out of my hand as if they're treats!

She gets a raw egg mixed in with her cottage cheese, pumpkin, and kibble for breakfast each day. She gets pumpkin at least once a day to firm up her poops.... no runs here.

You may find that when you switch to raw that your pup will enjoy eating more. Kibble can be boring. For dinner I put high quality kibble over a can of Evanger's canned food, and Kimber scarfs it right up.

She

__________________

dglvr

" I drizzle the sauce of what we have for lunch/dinner over her food or crush her cheese biscuits and mix it with the kibble and that does get her to scarfing. "

She's got you trained really well... I wouldn't eat my regular food until you did that either!

As for raw eggs, my boy gets one just about every day. I dump it on his morning meal.
(Note: careful of their access to the fridge, he now tries to steal full raw eggs to eat them, shell and all, out of the fridge)

__________________