Picky Eater GRRR

I know that rusty is a German Shepard, but I need help! I have tried 4 different foods and he still sticks his nose up. He has been on the costco brand , , a expensive brand from the feed store (unfortunately i can't think of the name) science diet. and in my desparation to find SOMETHING i have just tried Purina one. SO My question is if you have a picky eater is it better to continuely try new foods (of coarse mixing them to whine him off and not upset the tummy) or to stick with a giid brand of food and add a few things to the food? I don't think it is a tooth or gum problem. i have checked them and they look fine, and he has no problem munching on the ocasional bone. also he does have an apitite, he just turns up his nose at dog food. i have been telling the boyfriend telling him Rusty is playing us for goodies. but at this point i am getting a little concerned about his weight. Thank you for your help!

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Permalink Reply by Sarah C. on October 3, 2008 at 1:57pm

I have never heard of a dog starving itself to death without having something physically wrong with them. Mine used to be picky about when she wanted to eat and what was mixed in with her food. She had me really well trained. She knew if she waited long enough and looked pathetic enough, cheese or ground beef or something delicious would be mixed in.
What I did was cut out snacks completely and made Didi stand next to her food for ten minutes. No sitting, itching, looking at interesting things, investigating interesting sounds; just sitting next to her food. It worked out so that now she eats pretty regularly, though she still skips meals.
I'd check with your vet and if they say it's not for a reason, then you'll just have to get strict about his food. Dog foods are balanced and unless you're adding things and cooking by a recipe that's made for dogs, they need to be eating some kind of dog food.
You might try a higher protein dog food? The favorite site for dogfoods seems to be http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com

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Permalink Reply by Juel on October 3, 2008 at 2:29pm

Thank you very much! I have been trying to find a food that he'd like because my boyfriend is a softy and i have a very hard time convincing him Rusty will eat when he is hungary enough.

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Permalink Reply by Julia on October 3, 2008 at 4:59pm

I can tell you that I was worried about my little guy and my Husband said, "he will eat when he gets good and hungry." I would take him to the vet just to have a bit of a look see. I talked with my vet about my Belgin b/c he was eating everything in site and found that he needed a high fiber low caorie diet. I put him on the new food and Reno has stopped looking for more food. Your vet might have some good suggestions. Good Luck! :O)