Darby is not eating all of his food

[joanna]

Linda, it's good to know I'm not alone. I despair of Daisy Boo sometimes because of her lack of eating. I have been known to stand and cook for her only to turn her nose up. When she came home after her surgery I roasted a chicken for her and she would not eat it. She has been eating okay for me for the last couple of days which is good but I'm going to take a leaf out of your book and not bow to her anymore.

[Linda]

We'll my little red head ate all his lunch today too.
He gobbled the lot, I just put one tablespoon of Monica's food in and
magically it disappeared.

He is happy and so am I.
Now to see what we can do with Dudley.

Joanna: It looks like Daisy Boo has you wrapped up too, BE FIRM If I can do it, so can you.

[Karlin]

Linda: Very nice new avatar!! I know you have been DYING to get them both on one as that meant you finally have Darby in your own house!

I think puppies are very much like kids -- they will do all sorts of ridiculous things that they don't really want to do in order to get your attention and focus. I can just hear my mom saying, you'd bite off your nose to spite your own face, Lady Jane!! (which is what I got called when I misbehaved and a few years ago I found out my aunt called my cousins that too!! We have a lot of Lady Janes on mom's side of the family I guess...).

If you just ignore them and not give them the attention it really does resolve itself as long as there isn;t a physical reason they aren't eating. Jaspar used to not eat his food but sit about three feet away from it and wait for a cat to try to take it. Then he'd rush the cat and chase it off and go back to guarding his bowl. This is simply another aspect of the same thing -- he'd rather sacrifice his meal to get a game or attention out of it. Jaspar still will do this with treats sometimes.

Linda I will wager right now that Dudley's finicky eating will magically disappear in about 2-3 months, as soon as Darby gets old enough to get interested in what Dudley ISN'T eating. A little competition does wonders fo r the old appetities. This is how Jaspar's cat game was resolved -- I got Leo ... and also put him on one meal a day so that he was less inclined to sacrifice part of a meal. That's another suggestion for Dudley -- put him on a single meal daily if you haven't tried that and see if that makes him find mealtime the best part of the day.

Interestingly the very fat Lily doesn't care that much for kibble even with added beef or sardines or yoghurt -- she has clearly been fed table scraps only -- and will only eat about half her rather small bowl of food. I don't mind -- means she will get fit faster -- but even a very fat and greedy cavalier will sometimes go on food strike to see if something better will come along.

[Linda]

Karlin

Thank you so so much, I so look forward to your replies they are always
so informative and detailed.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart, I just love this board.

I think you do a wonderful job Lady Jane

Karlin: I am sure you are right that Dudley will stop being so finicky
as soon as Darby can eat his food too.
Although Dudley does like Monica's food, but only the chicken.
When I get sometime, I plan on going into that library.
Dudley only gets fed once a day, I have been doing this for
over a year now.

You would think the little rascal Dudley would be thinner for not
eating he weighs 16.4 lbs. But my son thinks he has lost weight
I will weight him tommorow.

I just wanted to thank you so much Karlin, I really do appreciate all your
advice.

[Gillian]

Unfortunatley we dont get any of the foods mentioned on the site you gave, Karlin. We get/ Eukanuba, Royal Canine,Nutro, Pedigree,Iams. Are any of these good/??

[Nicki]

Glad you're getting those boys sorted out Lulu - can you come over and sort out my hubby now too???

I've just discovered another "new" kibble

http://www.naturaldogfoodcompany.com/index.htm

Think it's a uk only company, but the boys love the sample they sent...and it looks even better than BURNS - my former favourite!!

Gillian, of those, I'd say a definite no to Pedigree {the ingredients usually say meat and animal derivatives, which can be anything}; also to Eukanuba and Iams - same company, both on ethical grounds {have carried out some particularly horrific animal testing} and on the ingredients;

Royal Canin is pretty good - I think Karlin has used this too

I don't know much about Nutro - just checked their website, looks ok, some filler [beet pulp] but otherwise pretty good ingredients.

Personally of these I'd probably choose Royal Canin.

[Gillian]

thanks for the advice. We were feeding Nutro. But since she got sick she still hasnt started eating properly. We tried Royal Canin and she seems to like it better.