Advice required for a dog who will not eat his dry nuts

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InfoSeeker

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We have an 8 month golden retriever who is a fussy eater

We feed it dry nuts (Beta is the brand name) and he also gets bits of what we eat each day.

In the past week or so he has barely touched the nuts so was wondering if anyone has any advice?

We give him a bowl of nuts before going to work but take if from him when we leave so he has 45 mins to eat it. Currently he simply throws his nose up at the nuts...posh or what!!!!!!!!!

We plan to merely give him the nuts & nothing else until he starts eating them, ie no treats or bits of what we are eating in the hope that as he get very hungry he will eat the nuts.

Again any suggestions are appreciated?
 
I'd say you're doing pretty well, put his food down, give him a set time to eat it and then lift the bowl. I would stop feeding him anything else so that he'll be hungry enough at feeding times.
On an aside though, is it worth trying something else? My own vet strongly suggests dry food for dogs (mostly to protect teeth and gums) but if he truly hates it maybe some variety? I use a popular brand of dry food and mix in half a tin of wet food to make it more appealing, you might try that and then gradually remove the wet food if you don't want to be using that in the long term.

Hope it goes well, whatever you do.
 
Hi,
I dont think its a good idea to give a dog bits of what you eat each day, human food is not suitable for a dogs diet (example, chocolate is poisonous to dogs). Your dog needs a suitable balanced doggie diet, a mix of dry food and some wet food daily.
If the dog is fussy its from giving him treats and tasty human food, he knows he can turn up his nose at the dry food cos better stuff comes later!!
Has the vet recommended he be fed in the morning and in the evening? I would think unless he is getting a morning walk he doesnt need a morning meal.
He will eat if he is hungry, if he is being walked at least once a day then he should be hungry enough to eat whatever he is given - no treats unless the main meal has been eaten.
He may need more exercise to get him burning calories.
 
It may be that the dog finds the nuts too dry. You might consider mixing some water through it.
 
Perhaps , he just hates them. As he is a dog whose main pleasures in life are eating, sleeping and walking , is it really worth it trying to get him to eat it if he hates it?
I have a fussy dog too and equally , she is stubborn. However , I prefer to see her diving into her food with obvious enjoyment rather than eating something because she has no choice. And no she is not obese, but she prefers tinned food , so we compromise and mix it with dry food.

But I wouldn't get into a war of wills with her, she depends on us for everything and rewards us hugely ,and deserves to enjoy the bit she eats.That's how it works for us........and I've had dogs for over twenty years.
 
We had the same problem with our lab. Fussy out! But we were told to stick with it, and when she got hungry enough, she ate.

Maybe try changing the brand once and then just be very strict. Like another poster said - give a specific amount of time for the dog to eat, then take the bowl away. S/he'll get the idea eventually!
 

We use beta as well - dogs wouldn't eat any beta except for the one in the brown bag. I would stick with it though - don't go changing food to suit the dog. Sometimes they are a bit dry so initially stick it into the microwave for 30 seconds to release the natural oils, alternatively try mixing in a small bit of tuna (in sunflower oil) - gradually phase out the tuna - sunflower oil is good for the coat anyway.
 
i'm wifey to Infoseeker, the original poster, thanks for replies, i think we'll have to be stubborn, we started him on Royal Canin giving him nothing else bar small treats for potty training puroses and he totally turned from it hence the change to Beta on the advice of a pet-shop owner & dog lover. Truthseeker, as a large breed dog you are not meant to walk him until over the age of 12 months, he's has 3/4 of an acre to run around so that's plenty exercise for him although i do agree he's far less of an appetite in the morning. a compromise of mixing food has been tried and what food he'll eat on its own he will not eat when mixed with his nuts, realistically we cannot be feeding him other foodstuffs all the time so we need him to eat his nuts, we tried the tuna, oils etc initially he liked it but after a couple of times he'd no interest, my only concern is he's a growing puppy and needs his nuts so tough love may be the only way to go and then thereafter we can slowly & carefully re-introduce tuna/fishes/oils etc,he's on a puppy brand still would possibly a change to adult food be best???
 

Go with the tough love!!! I actually forgot he was only 8 months when posting, he is getting plenty of exercise on that amount of land at his age. It might be early to change to an adult brand, the puppy brands have stuff thats good for growing puppies. Ultimately if he is hungry he will eat, I wouldnt worry too much, if he turns his nose up he goes to bed hungry, he will quickly learn to eat the food rather than get nothing else, it sounds mean but you wont harm him, and its better for him to learn early who is the boss.
 
Yes I know the vets will always tell you give them dried food. I really can't understand how the poor mutts could enjoy just nuts constantly. Would any of us enjoy the same food day in, day out, of course not. I really feel sorry for all these poor dogs being fed nuts all the time. I have a number of dogs and the last thing any of them will eat is a nut. I give them everything and anything thats going bar nuts and they love their food. Yes one thing that is poisonous is chocolate, certainly to be avoided. In the past we've had dogs live to old ages, without being fed nuts. I'm just wondering is all this nonsense with nuts and diet in dogs gone a bit too far. That is my personal opinion. I love my dogs dearly and they are all happy, healthy 'nut free' pets.
 


Is nuts the recommended thing now then? That would be terribly boring. My vet recommended we reduce the wet food we were giving our dogs as it was affecting the teeth and gums of one (and our dogs get their teeth brushed most nights). I'm with the school of thought that variety is best so chose a brand that can be varied and while I cut down the wet food, I wouldn't rule it out completely.

We also feed our dogs some human food as a treat, cooked meat and the occassional digestive biscuit. In my book it's all about moderation.

I know a vet who's boyfriend occassionally shares a Twix with one of their dogs. I wouldn't recommend that but apparently milk chocolate is not nearly as dangerous as dark. I discovered this from my vet after I had the mad dash when a dog decided easter eggs made a good snack!
 
Our dog was 15 yrs old this summer and still energetic and going strong, in fact we have overheard kids in the park referring to him as a "puppy". He is also a fussy eater. We have always given a mixture of dry and wet food with treats of chicken meat and cheap cooked meats from the deli. He also gets cold liver oil capsules and glucosamin chews to help with arthritis due to his age and has cost us very little in vet bills over the years tg. However, we have had to change the variety of nuts at various times as he seems to get bored with it and he will only eat particular varieties of the tinned stuff.

He may simply not be hungry in the mornings so maybe leave feeding to evenings and just give him a couple of dog biscuits or Markies in the morning. Does he eat at weekends when you are home? If so he is probably just letting you know that he's lonely during the day and thinks you might hang around until he eats.

Changing the brand of nuts is probably the first step you could take to getting him into a routine as he may have taken a dislike to the one you're feeding him at present. Be sure to praise him for doing well and maybe give him a treat afterwards. Good luck.
 
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Our weimeraner would eat anything, except Beta Purina dry dog food, it seemd to upser her stomach.

We give her Redmills now and she loves it.

Also give her plenty of meat.

Avoid carbs for dogs.
 
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Some vegetable oil on the dry mix usaully helps with my retriever and it is good for her coat.
 

"Human Food" and dogs food aren't that different! Its not like your going to sit the dog down for a full chinese with you! Everyday vegetables and meat scraps are fine ( not the fat obviously)

As far as I'm aware (open to correction) all chocolate is lethal for dogs as it contains Theobromine?? (sic)
 
Dogs don't have the same taste buds as humans - they can't distinguish flavours as well. Plenty of animals only eat one type of food. I think they can be very happy eating just the only variety of food for a lifetime. In fact changing food regularlymay not be a good idea. Large dogs are better having their dried food mixed with water especially if they gobble it down. It helps prevent stomach upsets.
 
tara83 said:
Large dogs are better having their dried food mixed with water especially if they gobble it down. It helps prevent stomach upsets.
Click to expand...

Which I assume would perhaps help with flatulence? No sign of an upset tum but the smells that come out of one of our dogs is lethal!!


As far as I'm aware (open to correction) all chocolate is lethal for dogs as it contains Theobromine?? (sic)
Click to expand...

I can't speak with authority on this but when I took my dog to the vet after he scoffed down chocolate she said that she wasn't as concered as she would have been had it been dark chocolate (there's something in that) She still gave him a shot though to make him sick. She also mentioned that there is a two hour window to get dogs who eat chocolate treated. I don't feed my dogs chocolate as a rule so I haven't checked this out. I also know how to make a dog sick if needs be but I hope I never have to do that.
 
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We have a gorgeous six year old golden lab. My fiance used to give him all sorts of leftovers and 'grown-up' treats but I've put my foot down and have been feeding him only dry dog food. The odd time he gets a tin of dog food with mixer as a special treat.

I find labs to have so much personality and are as cheeky as they get . S/he is pushing the envelope (they do that a lot) to see how long will it take for you to give in. You have to stick to your routine! I have recently stopped buying well known and expensive brand of dog food, and started buying a cheaper and according to our dog tastier dry dog food in Aldi. It comes in chicken and beef variety and I keep buying a different bag every week. What we do, is fill his food bowl in the morning before we leave for work and make sure that he has plenty of fresh water. He eats when he is hungry but he doesn't over-eat because he knows that there is always food. Our vet said that this is a good way to feed him.

My advice would be to buy several different bags of food and feed your dog something different every day. It may prompt her to eat more and give you an idea which one s/he likes best. But stick to your guns and no treats!

By the way, our dog hasn't been eating much lately but I think it's because he is too warm (it was 28C in our garden yesterday).
 
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