Harriet doesn't eat very well

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AnnieMoon
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First Name: Annie
Dog #1: Harriet
is a: P/S Mini Bitch
Born: 05 Oct 2017
Location: Madrid

Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

We have Harriet at home since last friday, and the breeder gave us a bag of the kibble she was eating. The very first time we put the amount of food the bag says, she ate all of it at the moment. After that day is becoming more and more difficult that she eats when we put the food in the bowl. She's fine, active, playful, she doesn't seem sick at all, she just seems to ignore the food, she goes, she smells it and goes away. At the end, if we stay with her and show her the food several times, she eats a third part maybe, but that's it. But she eats if I use the kibble as snacks when she seats or do something good.

I was thinking to go to a store nearby that sells only natural cold press kibble to change the food for Harriet, but I was waiting until she settle at home first. But with all this I decided to go. They gave me some samples of two brands of kibble and also I bought a can of wet food. If I put half a teaspoon of wet food with the kibble (the one she was already eating) she ate all the bowl in no time.

So, I don't understand if she doesn't like the kibble (but she seemed fine with it on friday and we didn't give her any other thing), if maybe she's distracted by us or any other things (because it seems she prefers play rather than eat). The thing is I don't know if it's a bad thing she eats only with some wet food in it, if this is not bad in the long term I can keep doing it, I just don't know if I should.

Our first plan was changing the kibble in a few weeks to some cold press kibble, but now we're not sure what to do.
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Robin black mini
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by Robin black mini »

How old is she now?
At two months she will be on three to four meals a day..then drop one meal ,every two months so by six months she will be on two meals a day..
I like to soak the kibble so it is more appetizing..plus we add some boiled rabbit or fish etc..but take good care not to over feed as they do put on weight easily..
If you plan to change your food,choose a quality food ,low fat and switch over gradually ,over a week,adding the new food in with the old and gradually phasing out the old..
Also teething will also affect her appetite..so softening the kibble will help.
AnnieMoon
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Dog #1: Harriet
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Born: 05 Oct 2017
Location: Madrid

Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

She's 3 months old. We are giving her three meals, in the morning, noon, and night. If she doesn't eat in a while (45 minutes) we took the food. As we both work, we would like she eats when we give her the food, not leave the food there all day.

We want to change the kibble to get a more natural and quality brand. I would even like to try with raw food, but right now I can't, as there are a lot of changes, not only for her but for us too, we'll think about it when everything is better hehe.

So, you don't think it's a bad idea to use something to make the kibble more appetizing, right? we are afraid she would never eat kibble without that, but if it's also food, it shouldn't be a problem.
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Robin black mini
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by Robin black mini »

I don't feed raw as like you we are not in uk and don't have the wonderful options they have to make raw feeding a breeze..
So I use a good quality kibble..our breeder recommended farmina natural and delicious ..and we add a tiny amount of freshly boiled rabbit each morning ,to scalded kibble..we freeze our rabbit portions each week and boil prior to feeding..
My schnauzer girl is greedy and would eat the bowl...but the more picky dog,my poodle also likes this food...we never leave food down..and find the second meal is always eaten if the fussy poodle has left some of his first meal..
Do be careful not to add too much meat,a sprinkle is all you need or the pup will put on weight..these dogs do run a high risk for pancreas issues so you must keep an eye on fat content and excessive calories.
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Hi Annie

I wouldn't be leaving the food down. If she doesn't eat it straight away remove it and offer it again later. If she doesn't finish all the food you put down then when she loses interest remove it. Initially I would do as Jo says. Mix with some hot water to try and generate more smell to boring kibble. If that doesn't work you could try adding a little of something tasty like tuna in spring water or minced turkey or scrambled (microwaved nothing added) egg. That should work. If this doesn't work I would think she may be teething and lacking appetite. There is no problem at all adding wet food to the kibble to make it more appetising. If I was going to feed kibble long term then I would want to find a good quality kibble that is tasty in its own right. But doing the above should at least take the worry away of her not eating. Good luck.
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jacdales
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by jacdales »

I give Suzi a baton of raw chilled carrot for teething she loves her carrot. It's hard enough to chew on but soft enough not to damage her gums and it's not fattening. All my dogs love their daily carrot. They also might get a raw brussel sprout to eat or the core/ fat stems from broccoli /cauliflower and the core from white or sweetheart cabbage depending on what vegetable is on our menu.
AnnieMoon
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

Thank you both!!!

I'll try with that other options to make kibble more appetizing, and I'll tell you the results. I'll use the samples of food and we'll see if she likes one more, or we can keep trying.

And I'll do as Oscar said and don't leave the food in the floor, so she understand she has to eat when we give her the food.

Thank you again guys!!
AnnieMoon
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

jacdales wrote:I give Suzi a baton of raw chilled carrot for teething she loves her carrot. It's hard enough to chew on but soft enough not to damage her gums and it's not fattening. All my dogs love their daily carrot. They also might get a raw brussel sprout to eat or the core/ fat stems from broccoli /cauliflower and the core from white or sweetheart cabbage depending on what vegetable is on our menu.
Ohhh I think this is a great idea, we are also looking for healthy and entertaining things to let her when we leave for work, I'll see if she likes vegetables!!
Thank you!!
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by Fergus »

Fergus used to get a slice of frozen carrot when he was teething.
He still loves carrot but just raw now.
AnnieMoon
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

Weekend update:

She's eating better with a little bit of wet food mixed with the kibble, although she doesn't seem to be too eager for food, she's totally the opposite to me hahahaha.

We tried with the carrot baton, raw, and she loved it, she chew it a lot and then eat it in small pieces. I was afraid she would swallow big pieces but she didn't. So we can leave a baton when we leave for work.

On the pee department, it was raining all weekend so we couldn't start outside training, but now she goes to my bathroom for pee, so funny hahaha.
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by tonygold58 »

AnnieMoon wrote:Weekend update:

She's eating better with a little bit of wet food mixed with the kibble, although she doesn't seem to be too eager for food, she's totally the opposite to me hahahaha.

We tried with the carrot baton, raw, and she loved it, she chew it a lot and then eat it in small pieces. I was afraid she would swallow big pieces but she didn't. So we can leave a baton when we leave for work.

On the pee department, it was raining all weekend so we couldn't start outside training, but now she goes to my bathroom for pee, so funny hahaha.
my miniatue, Elvis, has just reached 1 year old. he is still not a great eater. we use a decent kibble, John Wellbeloved, but he will not eat it on its own so we mix in some wet food into his 2 meals a day. quite often he will not eat his first meal at all, so after an hour we remove it. on rare occasions he has also skipped the next one but never a third!!
put down our chicken however and he wolfs it down in seconds. i think they just get a bit fussy. they will eat if they are hungry. Elvis has just been to the vet and they say his weight is fine (around 9.2kgs) and he is perfectly healthy. Just stick to a routine and they soon learn to eat it or lose it!
some dogs are just more motivated by food than others.
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Lou78
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by Lou78 »

Agree with all the above. Not sure where you are based. Sorry if i missed that! We are in the UK but feed kibble and wet food mix. (I am just not keen on the raw thing with a beardie dog!).

Anyway, Ollie has grain allergies so we have to feed a grain free diet. We have Trophy kibble (not sure if this is just UK based) and then we top up with either Harringtons pate (again maybe only UK), Natures Diet, or any other good quality pate type wet food that is grain free. I also mix this up sometimes and give him mashed sweet potato on the kibble. Smeone on here suggested sweet potato is good for after he had an upset stomach and i just carried on feeding it as he loves it. Easy enough to buy frozen or I buy them in bulk, microwave, scrape out the flesh and then freeze it in smaller portioned bags.

After going through a phase of being really picky with his food, he seems a lot happier now and wolfs it down. He is 4.5 yrs old though.

We went with the 20 minute rule; if the food is down and he didnt eat it, take it back again after 20 mins. No dog will intentionally starve itself!

Definitely try the veg. Ollie likes raw carrot, raw asparagus, cucumber and raw green beans particularly!

Good luck! :-bd
AnnieMoon
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

tonygold58 wrote:
my miniatue, Elvis, has just reached 1 year old. he is still not a great eater. we use a decent kibble, John Wellbeloved, but he will not eat it on its own so we mix in some wet food into his 2 meals a day. quite often he will not eat his first meal at all, so after an hour we remove it. on rare occasions he has also skipped the next one but never a third!!
put down our chicken however and he wolfs it down in seconds. i think they just get a bit fussy. they will eat if they are hungry. Elvis has just been to the vet and they say his weight is fine (around 9.2kgs) and he is perfectly healthy. Just stick to a routine and they soon learn to eat it or lose it!
some dogs are just more motivated by food than others.
Thank you Tony!

Before we got Harriet I read a lot about eager puppies, I saw there are some special bowls for dogs to eat more slowly, and I've never thought I would have the opposite problem. It's comforting to see I'm not alone I guess. I'm cool as long as she has energy and she's being a playful pup, and I have to learn that she will eat if she's hungry. She just seems not interested in food. I guess is something difficult to understand for me as I am a foodie haha.
AnnieMoon
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Joined: 04 Jan 2018, 10:26
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Dog #1: Harriet
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Re: Harriet doesn't eat very well

Post by AnnieMoon »

Lou78 wrote:Agree with all the above. Not sure where you are based. Sorry if i missed that! We are in the UK but feed kibble and wet food mix. (I am just not keen on the raw thing with a beardie dog!).

Anyway, Ollie has grain allergies so we have to feed a grain free diet. We have Trophy kibble (not sure if this is just UK based) and then we top up with either Harringtons pate (again maybe only UK), Natures Diet, or any other good quality pate type wet food that is grain free. I also mix this up sometimes and give him mashed sweet potato on the kibble. Smeone on here suggested sweet potato is good for after he had an upset stomach and i just carried on feeding it as he loves it. Easy enough to buy frozen or I buy them in bulk, microwave, scrape out the flesh and then freeze it in smaller portioned bags.

After going through a phase of being really picky with his food, he seems a lot happier now and wolfs it down. He is 4.5 yrs old though.

We went with the 20 minute rule; if the food is down and he didnt eat it, take it back again after 20 mins. No dog will intentionally starve itself!

Definitely try the veg. Ollie likes raw carrot, raw asparagus, cucumber and raw green beans particularly!

Good luck! :-bd
Many thanks Lou!

We are from Madrid. Here in Spain raw food is not very common, I have a coworker that feeds her dogs with raw food and gave me a book, but I don't feel ready for that yet, as you have to be very careful.
Right now Harriet is on the kibble the breeder gave me, mixed with a bit of quality wet food (even with that she's losing interest), and I wanted to change her to a grain free cold press kibble, but now I'm not sure what to do as she seems to prefer wet food. My coworker sometimes gives her dogs a semi wet kibble from a spanish brand that I saw has a good rate on allaboutdogfood: https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/dog-f ... e-dog-food and I thought it could be a good option as it's not a dry kibble, but I'm worried about the amount of fat in it.

I'll try with the sweet potato as she seems to love vegetables, maybe I got a vegan dog hahahaha. I give her a carrot baton everyday, and yesterday I discovered she likes butternut squash as well.
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