fussy eater

Discussion dedicated to promoting the well-being of your dog through diet, exercise and general health tips.

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emma-louise
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:09 am

fussy eater

Post by emma-louise »

morning!

quick question, when i first got jack and did my reading every thing i read about feeding was keep your dog on the same food dont change it as it will give them an upset tummy etc etc

BUT jack is a little nightmare with his food he will eat some thing with gusto for a week then turn his nose up at it refusing to eat it, i had been told by friends (not dog owners tho) that he will eat when hes hungry so if he dosent eat it he dosent get fed i tried this and weak willed a s i am couldnt keep it up :oops:
so he has 4 foods that kind of get rotated so for a few days he will have his james wellbeloved dry another his wet mix another mix of both during the day another another dry food etc etc (i try to make sure he has good quality shop bought food and refuse to feed him poo) doing it this way hes been eating all of his food every day instead of waisting it or him going hungry
he seems to be doing well on it hes as big at 5 mths as a lot of the full grown staffs we meet, his tummy only seems to go runny when hes had either pigs ears or pork bones which i think i because its rich for him?
but i dont want to be doing him any harm by feeding him a mix of foods so i thought i would ask the experts :wink:

cheers in advance
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emmabeth
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Post by emmabeth »

The reason its advised that you dont chop and change dry food is because dry food is fairly boring to eat - smart dogs suss when there may be something better on offer and will hold out for that, refusing the boring stuff.

Funnily enough this doesnt happen with dogs fed on a raw diet - these get variety every day and never go fussy.

What worries me slightly is his size - the wrong food (and complete pet foods are pretty much all guilty of this) will often cause a dog to grow too fast, so a pup being adult sized (although you dont know for sure how big he should be when he's done), when still a puppy.... thats not a good thing.
emma-louise
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:09 am

Post by emma-louise »

:( well when i look in to doing home cooked / raw food i was told not to with a pup as there needs change so often i would poss do more harm than good!
so i have done my best with shop bought foods and always tried to get the best food and he does enjoy fresh meat and bones as well as his dry and wet food

he is tall but well in proportion, and a lot of the staffs weve met seem very small to start with, there is a staff that is a lot bigger than him down the road from my dad but he is hugly over weight so i dont like to compare jack to him hes about 14 inches high floor to sholder (rough guess as im at work at min) and the vet seems very happy with his size and weight or should i say hes not said any thing about it :D
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Mattie
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Post by Mattie »

I am very suspicious of the puppy foods that are on sale now, they seem to be to help pups grow and as Emma said, they should grow at their own rate and not be encoraged to grow faster, that leads to problems.

When I first got Tilly she was about 20 weeks old, I looked at the puppy foods but wasn't happy with the ingredients and how much protein that was in them. I fed her the same as my others but kept a close eye on her. The food she is on is mainly sugar beet pulp, lamb and rice and no additives. I did add veg, fruit and fish.

I think Tilly is Greyhound crossed with a Labrador/GSD she has traits fo both breeds and is definately half Greyhound :roll: She has grown to 24.5 inches high so isn't a big dog but it fits in with how she is bred.

Ellie is a small Staffy, but with the way things are at the moment tall Staffies are often mistaken for Pit Bulls and it doesn't matter if you have papers for your Staffy, if they think it is a Pit Bull type, it will still be taken.
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emma-louise
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Post by emma-louise »

:cry:

going home depressed now!
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Mattie
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Post by Mattie »

Sorry, I should have said at 14ins you are ok, it is when they are about 16ins and over that there is a problem. People call them Irish Staffies etc, when they are tall.
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Owdb1tch
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Post by Owdb1tch »

Dr Ian Billinghurst in 'Grow Your Pups With Bones' says that a dog should only grow to 75% of its potential.

Not saying he's right or wrong, but it's something to think about.
emmabeth
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Post by emmabeth »

I feed an entirely raw diet to my deerhound pup and I have fed it to all my other dogs which includes two other puppies (not puppies now I mean I raised them on raw food also).

All are healthy and fit!
Owdb1tch
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Post by Owdb1tch »

I wean mine straight on to raw and they look great on it.
emmabeth
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Post by emmabeth »

emma-louise wrote::cry:

going home depressed now!
Ooops missed this - cheer up matey, there is a wealth of information out there and most of it conflicts, everyone is an expert and they all say different things!

Puppies need good quality food and plenty of it - a raw diet done properly offers just that, as long as you feed a variety of meat, bone, small amount of veg, bit of offal the odd egg and odd sardine or pilchard, your pup will grow up fiiiiine.

It is not difficult, there is no real need to provide a balanced diet in every mouthful - think about it, you dont eat exactly the same thing every mouthful every meal every day every week do you? You feed yourself perfectly well.. you can do the same for your dog!

The book Owdb1tch mentions is fantastic, see if your library have a copy, and have another read through of the raw feeding threads on here.
danabanana
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Post by danabanana »

Owdb1tch wrote:Dr Ian Billinghurst in 'Grow Your Pups With Bones' says that a dog should only grow to 75% of its potential.

Not saying he's right or wrong, but it's something to think about.
I don't have 'grow your pup with bones' I have 'the barf diet', I never knew that! I think I read that they should grow slower and more in proportion - my girl seems to be growing so fast at the moment, but someone did guess her age at 10 weeks the other, day she's almost 13 weeks so maybe I'm just noticing it more?
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