The eating game

[StadEMS3]

I have a beagle (9) and a german shepherd (8) who are playing the I'm not going to eat game. A couple of months ago I swithced them over to Origins dog food ($65 a bag!) from Peppers Pet Pantry and they inhaled it. I was like COOL same food, don't have to add anything to it, quick and simple feed time. Not anymore! Noramlly, my beagle is a pig and will inhale his food faster than than I can put it down. Now he picks out his pill pocket with meds eats it and plays the waiting game. The GSD is a grazer and it takes forever for her to eat. The problem is I don't have all day to wait and beg and plead for them to eat. Eventualy the beagle will eat and then try to inhale the GSD food (the same darrn food!) Of course the GSD gets P.O.'d and goes after him! I can not leave the GSD food down unattended or the beagle will inhale it.

I'm tired of the games. I add a little water to the dry food to make a gravy and that's it. I don't want to add extra stuff to thier food. That is way I swiched to better brand of food. (they did the same thing with the cheaper food too). They do not get a treat until they are done eating.

 

[animalluvr4life]

have u tried changing there food to taste of the wild? Some dogs get bored with the same food. I can tell you with my dog i have to shredd up some meat of some sort or the dog won't eat for days at a time. She went through 3 days of not eating and i gave into her yesterday and finely shredded up some of a porkchop i was eating. Today she is going to get nothing except her dogfood and maybe tonight while i am sleeping she will eat that is what she did 2 days ago she got so hungry she ate her food and cleaned the dish.

I tried changing my dogs food to evo that stuff was just too heavy in protein for her so I switched her back. I won't play the game of switching food. She is just spoiled that is the problem. she likes handouts.

 

[migtig]

Think about it...would you be happy eating the exact same thing day in and day out for the rest of your life?

My diva does / did the same thing. However, a dog will eat when it gets hungry. A lot of folks say you must have set times to feed your dogs, however, I free-feed and don't worry about it anymore. I've discovered my little dog isn't hungry when I think she should be. She eats exactly the amount she should over the course of a day, just when she feels like it.

On the opposite hand, the big dog eats at his scheduled times. If he doesn't eat at his scheduled time, I pck up his food and he can eat it his next scheduled time.

Maybe you need to work out something similar with your dogs. Remember a dog will eat when it's hungry. It won't starve.

 

[frequentflier]

I have a beagle (9) and a german shepherd (8) who are playing the I'm not going to eat game. A couple of months ago I swithced them over to Origins dog food ($65 a bag!) from Peppers Pet Pantry and they inhaled it. I was like COOL same food, don't have to add anything to it, quick and simple feed time. Not anymore! Noramlly, my beagle is a pig and will inhale his food faster than than I can put it down. Now he picks out his pill pocket with meds eats it and plays the waiting game. The GSD is a grazer and it takes forever for her to eat. The problem is I don't have all day to wait and beg and plead for them to eat. Eventualy the beagle will eat and then try to inhale the GSD food (the same darrn food!) Of course the GSD gets P.O.'d and goes after him! I can not leave the GSD food down unattended or the beagle will inhale it.

I'm tired of the games. I add a little water to the dry food to make a gravy and that's it. I don't want to add extra stuff to thier food. That is way I swiched to better brand of food. (they did the same thing with the cheaper food too). They do not get a treat until they are done eating.

Hi StadEMS3,
Thank you for shopping at our stores!
Orijen is a top of the line food; made with all fresh ingredients. Yes, it is expensive and we follow the MSRP by the manufacturer (we were charging less but our competition complained to the distributor)
It is possible your dogs get bored after eating the same food day after day since they have a pattern of doing this with other foods.
Several options that may work:
Have 2 flavors of foods and switch them weekly or give one in the morning; the other at night. This is, of course, only if they do not have digestive issues when you switch their foods. You should be able to do this within the Orijen line or Taste of the Wild, EVO.
You say you don't want to add extra stuff to their food. If the above suggestion doesn't work, you may want to reconsider.

My suggestion would be to add salmon oil or Nupro to their food. Fresh veggies? My dogs love fresh green beans and broccoli! A spoon full of plain non fat yogurt?
Make one meal canned food and the other crunchies. Or mix canned food in with the dry. Orijen does not have canned foods but Taste of the Wild, EVO and Weruva are grain free.
Several customers add treats like chicken breast strips to their dog food.
I am not sure which store you have gone to but we have samples of many of the dry foods at both stores. Maybe just giving them something different for a few days will help renew their interest in Orijen. With the free samples, there is no investment besides your time.

 

[StadEMS3]

I would LOVE to leave the food down for free feed but the beagle will eat all the food or the GSD will take out the beagle if she catches him trying to eat her food. Well, if they don't want to eat before I go to work, then they won't eat until I get home. No treats either... I love my dogs more than anything but this is getting old.

 

[StadEMS3]

Hi StadEMS3,
Thank you for shopping at our stores!
Orijen is a top of the line food; made with all fresh ingredients. Yes, it is expensive and we follow the MSRP by the manufacturer (we were charging less but our competition complained to the distributor)
It is possible your dogs get bored after eating the same food day after day since they have a pattern of doing this with other foods.
Several options that may work:
Have 2 flavors of foods and switch them weekly or give one in the morning; the other at night. This is, of course, only if they do not have digestive issues when you switch their foods. You should be able to do this within the Orijen line or Taste of the Wild, EVO.
You say you don't want to add extra stuff to their food. If the above suggestion doesn't work, you may want to reconsider.

My suggestion would be to add salmon oil or Nupro to their food. Fresh veggies? My dogs love fresh green beans and broccoli! A spoon full of plain non fat yogurt?
Make one meal canned food and the other crunchies. Or mix canned food in with the dry. Orijen does not have canned foods but Taste of the Wild, EVO and Weruva are grain free.
Several customers add treats like chicken breast strips to their dog food.
I am not sure which store you have gone to but we have samples of many of the dry foods at both stores. Maybe just giving them something different for a few days will help renew their interest in Orijen. With the free samples, there is no investment besides your time.

I go to Callaway, I'll discuss the options at my next visit. Maybe they are getting bored with the same thing. I'm not complaining about the price, it is a lot but I'd gladly pay more if it's heathlier for them and they eat it. That's why I switched to Peppers exclusively.

 

[frequentflier]

I go to Callaway, I'll discuss the options at my next visit. Maybe they are getting bored with the same thing. I'm not complaining about the price, it is a lot but I'd gladly pay more if it's heathlier for them and they eat it. That's why I switched to Peppers exclusively.

 

[Compa]

Any time I have heard a vet or trainer talk about food they suggest putting the food down for a set time, say 15 mins. If the dog doesn't eat in that time pick it up until the next feeding time. You could add something simple like yogurt, fish oil, supplements. It doesn't take much time to add something simple. I think eventually they will learn that they eat when you put out the food or they don't eat. Or you like others have also said switch flavors of the same food once in a while. Luckily I don't have to worry about a finicky eater. My lab eats anything natural. Only once did he actually eat a toy he chewed up. But anything organic is food to him. Hope you find a solution that works for you and your pooches.

 

[StadEMS3]

I swung by Peppers this morning and picked up a different flavor for them and some salmon oil. I picked up some plain yogurt last night too. Yogurt worked for last nights feeding but not this mornings. We'll see what report I get from the wifey when I get home with new flavor. They'll tear up a treat though! Spoiled rotten dogs....