won't finish food

[Augie Dog]

Augie is starting something different now. We almost have to force him to start eating. Then when he starts, he does not finnish. It's like he is now turned off of puppy chow.

I don't think we are over feeding. 1/2 cup in the AM and 3/4 in PM.

My question is doesdry kibble get stail? We keep it in a sealed container. Although we did keep the container on the crate at one point. We came home from work and the container was on the floor and puppy chow all over. We just scooped it up (Aug helped) and put it back in. Does anyone think that this made it go stail? Or is Aug just getting picky?

[Con&Finn'smom]

Finnious is the same way. He takes a long time to eat and sometimes will not finish the food he is given. It does sound, to me, like you may be giving Augie to much food, though... I feed Finnious and Conrad 3/4 cups per day (1/4 three times per day). They are 5.5 months old, and they weigh approx 11 pounds. This has been keeping them at the perfect weight - vet visit on Friday confirmed that. One thing I do to try and get Fin to finish up is I put a little water in his food. Another thing you might try is putting a bit of chicken broth (low sodium) or other type of gravy into Augie's food.

[Roxane]

Hi David:
I am always concerned when my pets go off their feed. But as Con and Finn's Mom has said, perhaps Augie is getting more than he needs and is one of those rare ones who stops when he is full. Heaven sent, if that is the case.
Because there have always been two strong opinions out there re: dry versus dampened kibble, I have compromised over the years. Moistened food in the morning, dry in the evening.
If chicken soup is good for our souls, why not the puppers'? I buy chicken breasts _with_ the skin on. Take the skin off, cut it into very small pieces (sharp knife mandatory) put it all in a large pot with lots of water, cook for 40 minutes, package into containers and then into the freezer.
Benefits all the way around,chicken with skin is less expensive, husband and I eat the skinless chicken and the dogs just love that little additional flavor. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif
Sometimes things just work out so right,
Roxane

[Krista]

How much does Augie weigh and how old is he? Has he recently been less active than before?

Rudy is a mini and he gets up to a cup a day -divided into am pm meals. He is not overweight at all at right under 10lbs. on days that he is less active he will not eat all of the food in his usual time.

I wouldn't worry unless he looks like he is losing weight. Dogs will at times eat less which many people think reflects dogs in the wild which get more food in certain seasons than others. I would suggest this: Put the food down in the am for half an hour and at night for half an hour each day. Measure how much he ate and over a few weeks you should see a pattern to the amounts. If he is staying at a good healthy weight offer only the amounts he was eating. Don't worry if he skips a meal or two -unless he is underweight. He will eat when he is hungry.

also: Yes dry kibble can go bad or stale. Smell it. Does it smell the same as it did when you first purchased it? I only feed food preserved with natural ingredients instead of chemicals -usualy vitamins A and E. I try to only purchase what he can eat in two months time or less. You should keep all kibble in an airtight container. Most of these natural kibbles have a shelf life of only six months without ever being opened, so it is obviously shorter after it is opened.

[WOTANSMUTTI]

If Augie Doggie isn't losing weight or acts funny, then food boredom or mature eating habits may be setting in!

Wotan would eat Hooman food at any time and in vast quanities (if that were possible! )
In the dogfood dept. he draws a line: eat it only after you make sure nothing, absolutely nothing is forthcoming from the People.

He often eats once in the morning after Poop-eee-Dooo and then late at night before bedtime. I give him about 1 cup or so of food. Sometimes he gets kibs, sometimes that Meaty Burger. He also helps himself to whatever is in the big dog's bowls outside...

[Augie Dog]

Ok, this is what I did for din din.

3/4 cup of pup chow. I was having beef veggie soup tonight and I put 3 spoons of broth over it. He liked that! He left about 1/4 cup.

:laugh: haha I was worng. We just got done playing with the evil glove monster and he just finished the rest.

Aug is an 18 week old red tweenie. 12 lbs now. (big boy) all muscle! We are active, there are a lot of parks around here and we are starting to explore. Over 2 miles of trails yesterday. Got to get a digital camera, so many new things in the woods! Just got to watch out for ticks!

With all the activity (not everyday) I thought more food would be in order, I might be feed too much still, and Aug is getting board with the some old kibble. I will buy fresh though, big bag for a little pupper.

[Krista]

At 18 weeks, don't worry about overfeeding him (as long as you don't use a free feeder). When he is nearly full grown is about the time you start trying to figure out the right amount of food to keep him at a healthy weight without going overboard.

If you change foods everytime he stops eating as much, this will become a pattern and he will be training you to offer new treats or add human food to his kibbles.

Kind of off the topic, but I just wanted to suggest you read the lables on dog food. Many common brands promoted as being healthy have some really nasty things in them. Rudy was pretty unhealthy when I got him and it took switching to a better food before I noticed real improvement. The vet says he is now in tip top shape thankfully. You might want to read a post from awhile ago in this forum. Switch the setting to 60days and look for the post "do you know what's in your pups food" I started it, but others had some really good things to say in that thread too.

Good Luck with Augie!!

[doxielover]

I agree with Krista on the quality of dog food. I don't know what you feed, but maybe it's not agreeing with your dachsie? I feed Innova, they're at: www.naturapet.com (http://www.naturapet.com) and also Pinnacle, by Breeder's Choice. There are quite a few VERY good brands out there. Another one is Flint River Ranch.

Your dog WILL eat when hungry, trust me!http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif I would make sure healthwise that everything checks out fine.

Susan

[Augie Dog]

I think Aug has one thing on his mind, and that's "LET'S PLAY". I tried something else, I ran him around (chase sticks, keep away, he wins a lot) before I fed him, it seems that he woofs down his food more if he works up an appitite <sp>.

Puppy Chow is what he eats. I guess I just have to listen to him on when he is hungry and ready to eat.

Anyone do the BARF diet?

[Owen's Mom]

I do the BARF diet. Owen does amazingly well on it! Just look as him... Lean, well muscled, shiny, handsome beyond all other dachshunds!! (That's the mother in me speaking!!)
<IMG SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=628165&a=4582128&p=23558771&Sequence=0" border=0>

He used to kind of pick at his food. He's never been a big woofer of kibble and would go a day or two without eating. Now, I feed Steve's Real Food http://www.realdogfood.com/ and supplement with raw marrow bones, flax seed oil and a chicken neck or back here and there. The necks and backs are his favorite. He just loves chomping them down!! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif

I'll be blunt... Ixni on the Uppy-pa ow-chA http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/wink.gif(Dump the puppy chow). It's really full of cr@p (Literally), amoung other yicky things that you don't really want to feed your Augie Baby. If you want to stick to kibble, check out Pinnacle, Innova, Avo-Derm, Flint River Ranch, Solid Gold or Canidea.

Hugs to Augie Doggie!!
~Amy & Owenhttp://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/facelick.gif~~

[Wienergal]

http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif This is hilarious! As soon as I saw Amy's name as the last member to have posted on this topic, I thought, There will be a new photo of Owen and a plea for the BARF diet!!! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif Amy, I know you so well after all these months!!

I love this picture of Owen--what a beautiful boy he is!

Have to agree about the Dog Chow. Check out the list of ingredients...lots of bad stuff. I put my two on Innova kibble a few months back, and they LOVE it. They are also satisfied with less of it because there is so much real food in this kibble. Check it out! It's all human-grade food too--no chicken poop, no sprayed-on rendered animal fat, etc., etc.

[Shelbie]

Awwww! What a lovely picture of Owen.. I've mentioned on another topic that Shelbie is on the Hill's diet which joking aside, she really likes. She sometimes refuses her food too, although fewer times since I stopped overfeeding (whoops!) and I don't give her rawhide "chewy sticks" very often as I think they give her tummy-ache. Realised I can't be known as "Shelbie's Mum" for ever on this board so hello from Debbie (Shelbie's Mum)

[Mickamack]

Mickey always ate Science Diet, until a few months ago, when we started talking about what was in most mass-produced dog foods. It's really nasty. I learned the "key words" they use to hide what they're REALLY putting in your pet's food....words like "Digest", etc. It's absolutely repulsive...and all the mass produced foods in grocery stores and most in pet stores, use these ingredients. I went looking to make sure. I thought I was buying good food with Science Diet...it sure is expensive enough. But when looking at the ingredients, I found every single one of those "key" ingredients. YUCK!!! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/sick.gif

After reading a few articles, I vowed to never let Mickey eat that kind of stuff. I'm sure if you did a seach on this board for "What's in your dog food?" or something like that, you can see some of the discussions we had.

Since February, Mickey has been eating Flint River Ranch, the dry kibble. He seems to really like it. He hasn't had any problem with it. It really isn't that much more expensive than Science Diet. Only a dollar or two, but then they ship it right to my door, so it's easier for me.

There's a ton a really great info on this site. People like Amy and a few others were the ones who educated me. So, I'm sure you'll pick up a lot of great tips here.

Karen

[Owen's Mom]

Come on Pamela... You know I'd never pass up a chance to put up a picture of my baby boy and extoll the virtues of feeding a Raw diet! And my other mission in life is to let people know what their dog's food is really made of http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif

And... that's my favorite picture of Owen. He just wears that stupid hat with such pride!!

~~Amy~~

[Krista]

Another warning: Deep chested dogs (as dachsies are) are more prone to bloat than other dogs. -They can get very painful gas and twisted stomachs which is often fatal. While dachsies are less prone to it than other deep chested breeds (maybe because they don't bend down so far to scarf their food), it is still a concern. Many vets suggest not letting deep chested breeds eat within an hour before or after strenuous excersize, especially if they eat quickly.

As to the puppy chow, I agree it is not a good food. It has way to much corn in it -number one food allergy in dogs and not easily digested or very nutritious. It also has other nasties in it hidden in terms such as biproducts, rendered meat or fat, or digest. I feed Flint River Ranch, and if I run out before more arrives, the only Food I will buy at petsmart here in OH is PetSmart Premiere. It is similar to FRR, but is not completely corn free since it has some corn gluten in it. Depending on where you live, even better choices may be available at your local PetCo or similar store.

[Shelbie]

Oh dear! Not sure I want to look at those "key ingredients" too hard then. Thanks everyone, I'll see if I can get FRR over here. That's what I like about this board - funny, friendly and informative.

[Mickamack]

Please don't misunderstand me, FRR is not the only good food out there. It's just what I've had experience with. Other people on the board use other foods, and ultimately it depends on what your puppers will eat. These foods (even though it's a dry food)are much richer and have more nutrients than the food you can purchase in a grocery store. They tend to eat less, because they need less to fill them up. However, some food because it's so rich can cause soft stools...so it's really depends upon how your dog does on the food.

Amy listed a bunch of good food brands earlier in the thread. Many of the companies have web sites and you can order samples from them. I don't think you can buy these foods at a regular store, you have to mail-order them. If you have any questions, just ask. If I can help in any way, just let me know...or I'm sure you can find lots of other people who know tons on this subject.

[Krista]

As to some of the other great foods, I listed many of their websites in that thread I referred it earlier -"do you know what's in your pups food."

PetSmart Premiere is a decent good food too -easy to get in my area- and they have a puppy formula. The main reason I don't feed it full time is because Rudy seems to be corn -sensitive as to his itchies. It only has corn gluten in it, no other corn products. In other Regions of the country you can buy other good foods at your local pet supply -in areas like mine premium foods are harder to come by. That's why FRR is easy for me to do since it is delivered and the price includes delivery. I have run out a few times and the PP has done well -Rudy will eat it up and no tummy upset from the change.

[WOTANSMUTTI]

I "bowled" with cherries the other day. Wotan would chase- but Sadie Mae would eat. Sadie, the rott-dob, has been seen nosing the green apples on the tree out front . Wait 'til they turn red- she'll be at 'em.

Whenever we have meat now (thanks Amy!) I chunk up a big fistful for Wo's dinner. He sure is grateful for Owen and his menu planning! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/facelick.gif

[Augie Dog]

Thank you gang for all the great input.

Owen looks great, almost as great as Augie Dogie, that's the Dogie Daddy coming out for son of mine!

Going to look for FRR and use some BARF. Anyone feed venison? I have access to that.

[WOTANSMUTTI]

Augie Daddy!

Wotan sayz that you can start feeding him and mommy some of that venison. http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/facelick.gif

He'll send you a woodrat in exchange...
http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/dizzy.gif

[Augie Dog]

Never got a woodrat yet, daddy gets the deer. If I am good, what a reward! Too bad you like way out in WA state, I'd share.