Getting My Dogs To Eat Dry Food

[charmbug]

Hi,

My puppy has been home for a week and the breeder gave me a sample of the kibble she ate there, to be soaked in water for her.

Before Clem came home my other dog was fed dry food, Purina. It took her a little while to get used to it, but she did seem to improve after a while.

Now the problem:

Clem came home, I give her a home cooked meal once a day and the others should be the dry food soaked in water. Because Clementine gets a home cooked meal now so does Fossil. What I have found is that they now don't want the dry food, but I feel it is better for their teeth and digestion.

Clem is not eating the kibble she ate at her last home and Fossil wont eat it or the Purina.

Is there an exceptionally fragrant yummy yummy dry food that they just won't be able to resist, or is there another way of tricking the dogs into eating dry food? Should I give up and feed mince and vegis a couple of times a day?

My new puppy is a Mini Schnauzer just incase that affects her diet. Im told no cheese products because this breed is vulnerable to kidney stones or 'puppy' products because they contain ingredients that may give her the runs.

I want to give Clem the best start and dont want her to miss out on anything she needs.

[kelpiecuddles]

It sounds like you are raising picky puppies! I would just give it to them, if they refuse to eat it after say 15 minutes take it away and serve it up again for their next meal. They won't let themselves starve.

[Dogsfevr]

mini schnauzers are hoovers,we have breed them for years & give them cheese but what we dont give lots of due to stones is meat so depending on what your home cooked food is that could be worse.

Minis are not picky eaters .

our puppy diet is based on a good dry food plus extras but with your issues i suggest you contact your breeder who you can work with as they guarantee there diet or may suggest some alternatives

[charmbug]

the food I cook for them is pet mince and I add carrots, broccoli, little bit of potatoe, corn and little bit of rice or pasta. I add the Nutrigel on top for vitamins and also give a serve of yohgurt for calcium. Am thinking of adding some egg due to the posts about eggs for dogs on here. They always scoff that meal quickly. but turn their nose up at the dry food serves. She did like it the first couple of days, but has just started deciding to hold out for the yummier food.

[blacklabrador]

OMG Charmbug she is so CUTE

[Clyde]

Awwww, gorgeous photos!

My swf wouldnt eat his kibble either. IAMS have a gravy product out which he loves, I pour a little bit of that on top and he practically inhales it. I used less and less of the IAMS gravy and so now he will eat kibble plain (most of the time).

[Cordelia]

They always scoff that meal quickly. but turn their nose up at the dry food serves. She did like it the first couple of days, but has just started deciding to hold out for the yummier food.

Can't say I'd blame her either.

Why not just do 2 meals for her BUT.... don't cook it (better raw because cooking kills off some of the vitamins) and get rid of the corn, dogs can't digest it anyway unless it is pureed.

Regardless of breed, dogs need meat and more meat than vegies etc. That's why they have the teeth they do.

Only thing I would suggest is adding raw chicken wings to her diet more often. Brilliant form of natural calcium, great for teeth and a good source of fat for puppies.

If you really want them to eat the dry food..... put some chicken stock (or chicken soup) on it to moisten it.

[Imoenboxers]

Have you ever eaten dry food??? It tastes like cardboard. Well the science diet that I tasted did........

I can understand them being fussy. They are given a cooked meal, which is tasty, then offered this tastless food. It is like asking you, do you prefer a chocolate, or a raw potato? I would go the chocolate anyday.

As for their teeth, feed them fresh chicken wings, drumsticks or even a half or quarter of a chicken carcass. Great for their teeth.

Just my thoughts.

[Bindo]

Wow, a fussy schnauzer - that must be a first (both of mine have been hoovers!).

Although I have no problems getting Lucy to eat dry food (or any food for that matter), try mixing some sardines into it. My Mum's dog was a bit fussy with her kibble and this did the trick. The sardines will be great for Clem's coat too.

Just be careful with the chicken necks - Lucy choked on one when little and nearly died. Now I only give her larger bones (such as lamb shanks and large ribs) to chew on. MInd you, other similar sized dogs have been fine with them. It's just that she's such a guts, she vacuumed it in!

Her latest disgusting thing to eat is wombat poo - fussy? NOT!

[charmbug]

Thanks so much guys,

I really apreciate the info, very helpful. I assumed they needed the kibble, because the breeder gave it to me. I one to not question, I like to be told what to do (except by men).

I will try to find the Iams gravy and will try some sardines (although I may not want to kiss her afterwards) - But Bindo, where do I get my dog her daily source of Wombat poo??? obviously must be good for them becuase your pup looks very cute and healthy.

I will omit the corn from now on, I wasn't told which vegis to throw in so I just looked in my fridge and went with the 'one of each colour' rule (which I may have just made up).

And I will nervously start with some raw bones, I assume they will eat them quickly in one go? I wouldn't like them to leave them out in the sun and get maggots etc and then eat them. Is this enough for their teeth - does anyone brush their dogs teeth? I never have before.

Cheers

[Tonymc]

I had the same thing with a Pup not wanting to eat the Dry Food.I did two things.One was to use Grav-ox and pour it over the Dry food and the other was to mix mince through the dry food. Tonymc

[poodlefan]

Charmbug I would vary the veggies as much as possible but you might want to know that you shouldn't feed too many cruciferous veggies (eg. broccolli, cabbage) as it can affect their thyroids..

Why do you need to feed the kibble wet? You may want to try it dry - its more crunchy. Wet kibble makes me gag.

[Bindo]

But Bindo, where do I get my dog her daily source of Wombat poo??? obviously must be good for them becuase your pup looks very cute and healthy.

Ha Ha - thank God it's not a daily occurrence - just when we go up to a family property near Oberon. Were there on the weekend and she was in dog heaven, chasing kangaroos (well, their scent anyway), rumbling with the dogs next door and pretending to be a country dog!

[charmbug]

Rushed out and got some supplies, doggies have been very happily crunching on chicken wings this afternoon.

You were right Jack, they are good for them, I bought those dental bones befoe but Clem is too little to crunch through them yet. She does however, love the chicken bones.

And once again thank you again for letting me profile Cordelia's Rescue, the profile is just about done now and I am really happy with it, found out a lot more about how the rescue system works than I knew before. I will let you know if it is successful in being published.

Cheers

Charmaine

[Dogsfevr]

Mince feed often to mini is a nono & one of the causes of stones,we certainly tell people in our diet sheets to feed that maybe twice aweek & not cooked,cooked takes all the goodness out plus ofcourse minis are prone to pancreatitis so too much red meat is a nono again.

Minis are a double coated breed & there diet needs to be very particualr for coat & health reasons,what you are feeding we wouldnt & dont.

Talk to your breeder as bad skins in minis appear very quickly through a bad diet & its a nightmare

[EVERYLABDESERVESAKID]

I had this problem with my little scruffy muttly Lhasa X JRT x Malt. He was getting one meat and veg meal for tea and Royal Canin mini junior for breaky. Was definately not into the RC, but I found by mixing the veg with the dry food and just giving meat /bones or chicken necks on its own at the other meal worked. I have also found by accident after his dental op for retained canines, that small cans of pureed beef and veg baby food (without onion) mixed in makes the dry go down the hatch.

Edited September 12, 2005 by EVERYLABDESERVESAKID

[HoundDog]

Try and crack a raw egg over the food and then mix it in.

Or try boiled rice.

Or a table spoon of sunflower oil.

All these ingredients are in dry food but a lot of fussy dogs seem to like it and it all good for them.

[chezzyr]

I always try to add "something" to dry as my dog has proved at times that she WILL go without food for two days if just dry is served up (the removing after 15 mins and giving the next day does not necessarily work for her). Really I cant say I blame her and she knows (by my cooking and kitchen smells) that WE eat yummy home cooked meals.

Unfortunately I find that soaking dry in water just makes them swell up and stick hard to the bottom of the bowl making it difficult to get to. Sometimes I will just drizzle vegie juice (from our steamed vegies) or gravy over the dry and that certainly helps! And sometimes I will mash up a tin or half a tin of sardines with the dry and that works a treat (particularly useful if we have run out of wet food).

[charmbug]

Thanks guys,

Puppy was just on a cheap kibble before, but I went to my vet today and bought up some Eukenuba (spelling?) in the puppy formula for her, as luck would have it my local vet's mum has a mini Schnauzer so he also backed up what you guys have been saying about the stones.

I mixed a little bit of the meat I already had in the fridge with a serve of the new dry food and my pup absolutely loved it. Later in the day she ate some of the dry food on it's own and crunched it up so I don't have to soak it for her. She loves it, so the other one just must have been very bland. I also bought the maintenance one for for my other dog and she went for it like crazy as well.

So I plan to give them this (use less and less meat until it's just dry) and the chicken wings and occasional chicken meat and meat bones.

I'm just happy to see the dogs actually excited about their food again and not leaving bits out.

I really appreciate all the advice.

Top dog, I didn't know that the Mini's had sensitive skin. Must admit the breeder told me to feed the dog cooked meat with vegis once a day and if she was to cut out any meals she would cut out the dry food first. I really appreciate your info, if there is any other info I need to know on the breed if you can suggest a web site or book I will certainly search it out. I do have one book but it seems very generic.