Dog Owners - feeding advice needed!

tcnoble

So our female Aussie, Tequila, has proven herself to be quite the.. picky? stubborn? eater.

Lately she has been kind of a princess about her food. We tried for awhile to appease her with canned food, anything to make her food more enticing so she would eat when she was fed. Nothing seemed to work. We had her checked by the vet, she is perfectly healthy. We transitioned her to a higher quality dog food, thinking perhaps the cheap stuff we had her on wasn't appealing anymore. She basically refuses to eat her breakfast (fed at the same time 7 days a week) and is random in her choice to eat her dinner. If I get after her and give a few firm commands telling her to "eat her dinner/breakfast" but she will relent and eventually comply. I just don't feel like this should be a necessary part of feeding your dog. She should eat when she is fed because that's when she has food available.

The last two mornings she wouldn't eat her breakfast. She is given her bowl, it's left out for about 20 minutes, and then taken away because it's time for us to leave. Is it cruel for me to abide by the philosophy that if she doesn't eat, she doesn't eat.. and eventually she will learn to eat when she is fed because otherwise she goes hungry??? And continue this strategy of giving her the bowl, leaving it for 20 minutes, and if she doesn't eat.. no food for dog. 

What are your thoughts/philosophies on feeding?? 

littlepep

Is this a new thing? Could she be sick? 

novella1186

As long as she's not losing a lot of weight (or is already underweight) she's fine. I wouldn't worry too much about it if the vet say's she's healthy. 

My beagle is really finicky. She'll kick her bowl around like she wants food, but when we feed her she just struts away and has no interest. Sometimes Big Dog eats her food before she bothers to come back to it. So sometimes she doesn't eat. 

She's definitely far from starving, though, and she knows Big Dog will get her food if she leaves it for too long. So when she's hungry, she eats. When she doesn't eat, she doesn't eat. 

[Deleted User]

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

ShesSoCold

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

lyndausvi

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This.

We can't do that because we have 2 dogs and the other will just eat the food.   Oh and both our dogs inhale food regardless.  Ya know, just to make sure the other doesn't eat it.  And once they are done they each go to the other's bowl just to make sure nothing was left.   Ha.

Anyway, when I had dog in the islands I would fill up the bowl and the dog would just eat when he wanted to.  I didn't even fill the bowl daily.  Just when it was getting low or empty.    

labro

I personally don't like free feeding (leaving the bowl out) so I agree with you taking the food away if she isn't eating.

Could she be bored? Aussies are super smart.

We have a lab/border collie mix. We feed her her dinner in this:

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Kibble-Nibble-Dispensing-Medium/dp/B001F0RRUA/ref=sr_1_14?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1429287676&sr=1-14&keywords=challenging+dog+toys

She pushes it around and it slow releases a few pellets of food at a time. She LOVES it.

tcnoble

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

She leaves with DH for work - he takes her with him to the office. On weekends we have tried leaving it out all day for her when we leave, it remains untouched.

climbingsingle

My dog rarely ever eats when she's fed. She's always been like this. I'll fed her breakfast and sometimes she eats it at 12pm. Sometimes she eats it at 4pm. Every day is different with her. She eats whenever it pleases her. She does love her food, so it's not that.

I do think it's cruel for you to take away her food. She's not a child.

lyndausvi

I personally don't like free feeding (leaving the bowl out) so I agree with you taking the food away if she isn't eating.

Could she be bored? Aussies are super smart.

We have a lab/border collie mix. We feed her her dinner in this:

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Kibble-Nibble-Dispensing-Medium/dp/B001F0RRUA/ref=sr_1_14?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1429287676&sr=1-14&keywords=challenging+dog+toys

She pushes it around and it slow releases a few pellets of food at a time. She LOVES it.

Meh, just like people every dog has their own personality.   

The bulldog has always eaten all his food right away.  It's like a race for him.   Free range feeding would never work because he would never stop eating. The rescue is the same way.  Any and all food is eaten immediately with them.

Now Teddy (the island dog).  He ate when he wanted.  So there was now worry of overfeeding.   I could tell from the bowl if he wasn't eating.    He was always healthy.

tcnoble

ShesSoCold said:

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

She isn't losing weight, at least not an alarming amount that we are noticing. She is a lightly active dog, so I guess not eating doesn't impact her much if she isn't expelling a lot of energy.

They suggested canned food, shredded cheese, etc. but I just don't feel like we should be catering to the picky dog that way, personally.

emmaaa

I think leaving it out is a good choice. We don't with our dogs because they stay in crates while we're gone and with 3, they would eat each other's food.

Since your dog is a shepherd, is it possible she isn't getting enough exercise? Maybe she isn't "working" up an appetite.

since you vet said she is healthy, I would just continue your normal schedule. She will eat if she is hungry.

climbingsingle

Also, I thought Aussies usually needed a lot of exercise. 

lyndausvi

Have your tried raw?  

We feed the bulldog Blue Buffalo salmon and Nature Instinct raw.  It varies on what the store has, but the options are venison, rabbit or beef.  They also have chicken and duck, but we never get those.   

When trimming meats for ourselves we feed the boys raw chicken, turkey, steak, ground beef, fish.  You name it we give it to them.

penguin44

What type of food are you feeding her? My dogs love love love their food, but when they stayed at MIL's house once she fed them something of lower quality, and they refused to eat it without wet food added.

 

I wouldn't worry too much if she isn't losing weight though.

littlepep

climbingwife said:

Also, I thought Aussies usually needed a lot of exercise. 

Yeah I think Aussies are typically pretty active. 

labro

climbingwife said:

Also, I thought Aussies usually needed a lot of exercise. 

Yeah I think Aussies are typically pretty active. 

I still want to echo that she may just be bored/not challenged enough and that could be killing her appetite. Dogs, and I think especially active breed dogs like Aussies, need mental and physical stimulation on a regular basis. Our dog "works" by playing Frisbee catch daily and retrieving an old soccer ball. We also have a bunch of mentally stimulating toys that reward her with small treats. Cinders always "works" in some way before food time. Usually it's just a short Frisbee throwing match in the backyard before breakfast.

https://barkbox.com/guides/toys/the-best-toys-for-smart-dogs

tcnoble

littlepep said:

labro said:

climbingwife said:

Also, I thought Aussies usually needed a lot of exercise. 

Yeah I think Aussies are typically pretty active. 

I still want to echo that she may just be bored/not challenged enough and that could be killing her appetite. Dogs, and I think especially active breed dogs like Aussies, need mental and physical stimulation on a regular basis. Our dog "works" by playing Frisbee catch daily and retrieving an old soccer ball. We also have a bunch of mentally stimulating toys that reward her with small treats. Cinders always "works" in some way before food time. Usually it's just a short Frisbee throwing match in the backyard before breakfast.

https://barkbox.com/guides/toys/the-best-toys-for-smart-dogs

She has the opportunity to be active. DH works off his parents property - she has acres to roam around, and 3 other dogs to play with. She is just in general a more low-key Aussie. She was rescued from a breeding situation where she did nothing but pump out puppies for 7 years, so she didn't grow up living that typical active Aussie life.

We could try having DH take her for a walk in the morning, then feeding her before they leave. In the past, when we have left her food out for her, even after walks she wouldn't come in and eat.

Could be she is just peculiar and will eat when she wants. Just curious if others had experienced this with their dogs.

tcnoble

climbingwife said:

My dog rarely ever eats when she's fed. She's always been like this. I'll fed her breakfast and sometimes she eats it at 12pm. Sometimes she eats it at 4pm. Every day is different with her. She eats whenever it pleases her. She does love her food, so it's not that.

I do think it's cruel for you to take away her food. She's not a child.

Do you leave out the total amount she would eat in a day? For example, if she requires 2 cups of food a day, do you just put out 2 cups and she will eat it all at once if she chooses? We can do this but she doesn't have the opportunity to eat endlessly all day, due to not being at home.. so she would just have the option from about 4pm till bedtime.

climbingsingle

Yeah, don't take her food away. Leave it out and let her eat when she wants to. Take her for walks. Engage in exercise with her. Throw around a ball. Just letting her roam some land is not the same. 

princessofgenovia

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tcnoble said:

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

She isn't losing weight, at least not an alarming amount that we are noticing. She is a lightly active dog, so I guess not eating doesn't impact her much if she isn't expelling a lot of energy.

They suggested canned food, shredded cheese, etc. but I just don't feel like we should be catering to the picky dog that way, personally.

So you took her to a vet, the vet made a recommendation, but you're not going to do that because you don't want to cater to a dog?

Dogs aren't like children. She isn't being "picky" to test your limits, or get junk food when you want her to eat green beans. She's using her limited methods of communication to communicate to you, she dislikes her food.

My friend swears by putting a little bit of gravy on top of her dog's food. Or mixing in some scrambled egg. Dog goes nuts and devours the whole bowl.

climbingsingle

princessofgenovia said:

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tcnoble said:

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

She isn't losing weight, at least not an alarming amount that we are noticing. She is a lightly active dog, so I guess not eating doesn't impact her much if she isn't expelling a lot of energy.

They suggested canned food, shredded cheese, etc. but I just don't feel like we should be catering to the picky dog that way, personally.

So you took her to a vet, the vet made a recommendation, but you're not going to do that because you don't want to cater to a dog?

Dogs aren't like children. She isn't being "picky" to test your limits, or get junk food when you want her to eat green beans. She's using her limited methods of communication to communicate to you, she dislikes her food.

My friend swears by putting a little bit of gravy on top of her dog's food. Or mixing in some scrambled egg. Dog goes nuts and devours the whole bowl.

Yeah, sorry, but I completely agree. Your dog is not being picky to be a jerk. And why didn't you follow the vet's suggestion?

tcnoble

princessofgenovia said:

.

tcnoble said:

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

She isn't losing weight, at least not an alarming amount that we are noticing. She is a lightly active dog, so I guess not eating doesn't impact her much if she isn't expelling a lot of energy.

They suggested canned food, shredded cheese, etc. but I just don't feel like we should be catering to the picky dog that way, personally.

So you took her to a vet, the vet made a recommendation, but you're not going to do that because you don't want to cater to a dog?

Dogs aren't like children. She isn't being "picky" to test your limits, or get junk food when you want her to eat green beans. She's using her limited methods of communication to communicate to you, she dislikes her food.

My friend swears by putting a little bit of gravy on top of her dog's food. Or mixing in some scrambled egg. Dog goes nuts and devours the whole bowl.

We tried the canned food, it didn't work. We tried the shredded cheese, it didn't work. So we have switched her food to a higher quality food, and she will eat it happily... when it appears she is hungry. We definitely think the quality of food was effecting her before. Now, she just doesn't always seem to want to eat, period. 

By catering I mean I don't feel like we should be trying every item in the pantry to get her to eat... rather, do we just let her pick and choose when she eats vs. trying to get her to eat twice a day on a schedule.

Fran1985

tcnoble said:

ShesSoCold said:

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

She isn't losing weight, at least not an alarming amount that we are noticing. She is a lightly active dog, so I guess not eating doesn't impact her much if she isn't expelling a lot of energy.

They suggested canned food, shredded cheese, etc. but I just don't feel like we should be catering to the picky dog that way, personally.

This is a strange thought process to me. You want your dog to eat. She is not eating. Your vet thinks the solution is throwing a little shredded cheese on there. But you don't want to do that? its like zero effort. You don't need to get into value systems with dogs. She isn't trying to see if she can eventually get an ice cream sunday out of you. 

tcnoble

Fran1985 said:

tcnoble said:

ShesSoCold said:

AlisonM23 said:

Is there a reason you couldn't leave the bowl out when you leave? We generally fill our dog's bowl at the same time every day, but he doesn't always immediately want to eat (but it is almost always empty when we come home).

There are nights he doesn't eat his dinner but we don't push it. He will eat when he is hungry.

This. As long as the dog isn't under or over weight, this is what I would do.

Did you ask your vet what s/he recommends?

She isn't losing weight, at least not an alarming amount that we are noticing. She is a lightly active dog, so I guess not eating doesn't impact her much if she isn't expelling a lot of energy.

They suggested canned food, shredded cheese, etc. but I just don't feel like we should be catering to the picky dog that way, personally.

This is a strange thought process to me. You want your dog to eat. She is not eating. Your vet thinks the solution is throwing a little shredded cheese on there. But you don't want to do that? its like zero effort. You don't need to get into value systems with dogs. She isn't trying to see if she can eventually get an ice cream sunday out of you. 

If you read my most recent reply, I stated we did try these suggestions, and they didn't work. We tried canned food, shredded cheese, and one of those dog gravy toppings. She just isn't interested in eating when fed twice a day. 

My question was whether letting her pick and choose when she eats (along the lines of free feeding) was a better option than trying to get her on that twice a day schedule. Many people have said letting her eat whenever is an a-okay option.. where I was concerned that she should be eating twice a day. 

princessofgenovia

@tcnoble (boxes got all screwy so fuck 'em), she's a dog. She doesn't know she only has 20 minutes to eat and then the food goes away. She's a dog. Hell if someone did that to me I'd be fucking pissed as a human. 

Imagine that actually. You go into a restaurant and order a burger, they bring you the burger. You're chatting with your friends, taking a few bites, but not really eating yet. 20 minutes later the waiter returns, picks up your food, and carries it away. Aren't you a little ticked off?

Just put a scoop in her bowl and leave it be. She'll eat it when she eats it. Unless you have other animals that might get into it, I don't see a reason to take it away. Don't put in anything new until she finishes that bowl of food of course (you don't want to overfed her), but just leave it out and she'll go and eat it.

tcnoble

princessofgenovia said:

@tcnoble (boxes got all screwy so fuck 'em), she's a dog. She doesn't know she only has 20 minutes to eat and then the food goes away. She's a dog. Hell if someone did that to me I'd be fucking pissed as a human. 

Imagine that actually. You go into a restaurant and order a burger, they bring you the burger. You're chatting with your friends, taking a few bites, but not really eating yet. 20 minutes later the waiter returns, picks up your food, and carries it away. Aren't you a little ticked off?

Just put a scoop in her bowl and leave it be. She'll eat it when she eats it. Unless you have other animals that might get into it, I don't see a reason to take it away. Don't put in anything new until she finishes that bowl of food of course (you don't want to overfed her), but just leave it out and she'll go and eat it.

Very valid points. I appreciate your constructive replies!!

I asked before but it probably got lost in these weird boxes... do you recommend putting the full amount in her bowl at once? If she should get 2 cups in a day, just put 2 cups in every morning and if she eats it all at once then okay?

lyndausvi

I dog sat a dog that refused to eat their food dry.  You always had to add a few tablespoons of water to the dry food before she would eat.   If you didn't she would just look at you like "dude, why is this dry?"

Sometimes it's something silly like that to get a dog to eat.

princessofgenovia

tcnoble said:

princessofgenovia said:

@tcnoble (boxes got all screwy so fuck 'em), she's a dog. She doesn't know she only has 20 minutes to eat and then the food goes away. She's a dog. Hell if someone did that to me I'd be fucking pissed as a human. 

Imagine that actually. You go into a restaurant and order a burger, they bring you the burger. You're chatting with your friends, taking a few bites, but not really eating yet. 20 minutes later the waiter returns, picks up your food, and carries it away. Aren't you a little ticked off?

Just put a scoop in her bowl and leave it be. She'll eat it when she eats it. Unless you have other animals that might get into it, I don't see a reason to take it away. Don't put in anything new until she finishes that bowl of food of course (you don't want to overfed her), but just leave it out and she'll go and eat it.

Very valid points. I appreciate your constructive replies!!

I asked before but it probably got lost in these weird boxes... do you recommend putting the full amount in her bowl at once? If she should get 2 cups in a day, just put 2 cups in every morning and if she eats it all at once then okay?

My grandparents do that with their dog. But she's older and has learened not to scarf it all down. They can make themselves sick if they do that.

I'd do her 1 cup in the morning and let her eat that. If she finishes it then in the afternoon/evening put in her second cup.

I've heard it doesn't really matter if you divide out feedings or not. But I've also heard it's good to do a little at time so they don't wolf it all down and then puke. 

tcnoble

princessofgenovia said:

tcnoble said:

princessofgenovia said:

@tcnoble (boxes got all screwy so fuck 'em), she's a dog. She doesn't know she only has 20 minutes to eat and then the food goes away. She's a dog. Hell if someone did that to me I'd be fucking pissed as a human. 

Imagine that actually. You go into a restaurant and order a burger, they bring you the burger. You're chatting with your friends, taking a few bites, but not really eating yet. 20 minutes later the waiter returns, picks up your food, and carries it away. Aren't you a little ticked off?

Just put a scoop in her bowl and leave it be. She'll eat it when she eats it. Unless you have other animals that might get into it, I don't see a reason to take it away. Don't put in anything new until she finishes that bowl of food of course (you don't want to overfed her), but just leave it out and she'll go and eat it.

Very valid points. I appreciate your constructive replies!!

I asked before but it probably got lost in these weird boxes... do you recommend putting the full amount in her bowl at once? If she should get 2 cups in a day, just put 2 cups in every morning and if she eats it all at once then okay?

My grandparents do that with their dog. But she's older and has learened not to scarf it all down. They can make themselves sick if they do that.

I'd do her 1 cup in the morning and let her eat that. If she finishes it then in the afternoon/evening put in her second cup.

I've heard it doesn't really matter if you divide out feedings or not. But I've also heard it's good to do a little at time so they don't wolf it all down and then puke. 

Great advice. Maybe we will start giving her the option to eat when she pleases with a smaller amount of food, then work up to it so she isn't overeating because it's there.

Thanks for your help - I'm sure Tequila appreciates it too!

PrettyGirlLost

labro said:

I personally don't like free feeding (leaving the bowl out) so I agree with you taking the food away if she isn't eating.

Could she be bored? Aussies are super smart.

We have a lab/border collie mix. We feed her her dinner in this:

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Kibble-Nibble-Dispensing-Medium/dp/B001F0RRUA/ref=sr_1_14?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1429287676&sr=1-14&keywords=challenging+dog+toys

She pushes it around and it slow releases a few pellets of food at a time. She LOVES it.

Leaving the food out that the dog hasn't eaten is not free feeding.

I free feed my cats- they have dry food out in an auto feeder that they have access to 24/7 to eat as they wish.

The dog doesn't have access to an unlimited amount of food, just what was portioned out in his bowl that he didn't eat.

But foremost- Call your vet!  Go in and see the vet if you are concerned.