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Permalink Reply by Ludi on April 21, 2013 at 9:19am

Is this with the new brand of food? What helped me ultimately was using his kibble as training treats. I have a Border Collie puppy of 8.5~ months who is a very finicky eater and consumes her meals at a snail's pace. When I feel that she's not keen on eating out of the bowl, I use the food at rewards for simple, uncomplicated tricks and behaviours. I tap into her chasing instinct by sending the kibble flying across the floor (it helps to get distance for behaviours like lying down while on the move, too) and she will gobble the food up like that. I spend less time doing this than coaxing her into eating out of the bowl. I did this with Ace as well, but as I mentioned I no longer have this problem because he will hoover anything up nowadays.

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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on April 20, 2013 at 8:12pm

Yup yup yup, EXACT same problem as when I got Nellie. She weighed 7lbs at 11 weeks and she hated her food. She would probably eat 1/4 of a cup every meal until she got so hungry she would actually eat an okay amount the next meal. Now that she is on Taste of the Wild, she will actually finish her food. She doesn't quite like it as much totally dry so I add some warm water to it and she loves it that way, it's probably the smell (which isn't great... smells like fish pellets) that really entices her to eat. I don't add any flavor enhancers and she'll gobble all of it up. People seem to have good luck with their dogs liking Acana, Orijen, or Taste of the Wild right out of the bag.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 21, 2013 at 9:56am

I love TOTW but for a pup it should be salmon because of the lower protein content:)

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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on April 21, 2013 at 4:35pm

The puppy formulas aren't too much different, 28% for high prairie and 27% for salmon (pacific stream). You are right about the adult formulas though, high prairie is a whopping 32% and salmon is only 25%.

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Permalink Reply by Jen Giammona on April 21, 2013 at 9:18am

I tried everything at first, because all I kept hearing was how corgi's were such good eaters. Well, Linus is the exception and not the rule. I give him high quality food, Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Adult and Wellness 95% wet food. He now gets one meal a day, because when I was giving him two meals, he wouldn't eat the first one.

It mostly was just realizing that he was healthy and there was nothing wrong with him, he was just a picky eater. He got plenty of treats throughout the day and if he didn't eat his meals, then I took them away and tried again at the next mealtime. Now he eats the whole bowl when I put it down (he's a year old).

I thought maybe he didn't like the food, but I tried switching to Wellness Core and he got horrifically sick (vomiting, diarrhea). The vet said that the food could have done it. I don't know, but I went right back to the Blue Buffalo.

Linus does like wet food mixed with his dry, but he's picky about that too. He mostly only likes chicken/turkey flavored foods. I did try many many many different kinds of wet food while keeping the same dry. I figured switching up the wet food is easy and not as expensive. I mix it in really well so he has to eat the dry with it.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 21, 2013 at 9:52am

If he was a few weeks older I would say it might be his teeth. I have 4 Corgis that are not food driven and honestly that is a GOOD thing. How many treats is he getting? I would minimize that. Food soaked in warm water has really helped 2 of my 4. If it were me and you don't have other dogs to eat it I would just free feed him and see what he does and that he's getting enough. Leave the food plain or with water. You create more problems adding things as they always will want it that way. When my pups were young I did add plain yogurt a couple times a week and treats were healthy like green beans, apples etc. Training treats are another thing but use only for training and little bits so he doesn't fill up on them. If he's at a good weight...leave it. How much are you feeding him as labels on dog food bags are way over what dogs need. Maybe try a different food?

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 21, 2013 at 9:54am

I also feed 3 times a day:)

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Permalink Reply by Victoria & Bjørn on April 26, 2013 at 3:06am

Hi there!

I have been having the same issue but it's hit or miss. I feed my puppy (5 1/2 months old) Science Diet puppy food twice a day and sometimes have to sit with him and feed him one piece at a time. Some days he runs straight to his bowl and pigs out and looks at me like he wants more. When it comes to treats, he will do anything for them. I make sure not to give him too many so as not to spoil his appetite. Knock on wood, he has never gotten sick, so I'm thinking it may just be part of their personality? Also when his teeth were falling out/coming in, he hated eating, even if I softened the food with warm water. I figured if he is putting weight on at a good rate then maybe he's just a finicky eater. Now that most of his teeth are in he eats on a regular basis, but every now and then will skip a meal. Hope your little guy has gotten better at his eating habits :)

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Permalink Reply by Alaine U. on April 26, 2013 at 2:38pm

Buttercup is a picky eater too!  I brought him home at 11 weeks.  He'd been given a dewormer the day before, and the vet's notes said he might have an upset stomach at first, so I wasn't too alarmed but when 2-3 days went by and he was consistently eating far less than the bag of food suggested, I got a bit concerned.  I was feeding him Nature's Variety Instinct something-or-other with freeze-dried raw bits in it -- the chicken variety.  He was eating it -- just not a lot.  He was already on the thin side after recovering from parvo.  I added in a medallion of frozen raw rabbit and he went nuts.  He loves the rabbit.  He will devour all his food when I mix in the raw.   

I was told by his previous owner (who had his mom, but was not a breeder) that he was picky in their house too.  He turned down a hamburger.  He would eat cooked chicken though.  I tried feeding him natural peanut butter.  He wouldn't touch it.  He would nibble at the kind full of hydrogenated oils but he didn't get excited about it.  He isn't interested in cheese.   He gets excited about applewood-smoked bacon.  He got excited about the remnants of scrambled pastured eggs I gave him.  He loves plain ice cubes but would not attempt to gnaw a kibble/water/peanut butter Kong.  I had to thaw it and scrape it out. Finding out what he's willing to work for is a little bit of a challenge, but at least he's eating enough and no longer feels bony.

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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on April 26, 2013 at 3:43pm

Nellie's not quite as picky as that, though I have the same problem with figuring out what she will work for. As for cheese, have you tried the really stinky variety? Or maybe he's just a fan of really exotic foods dogs don't normally get like rabbit and eggs ;)

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Permalink Reply by Harveythecorgi on April 28, 2013 at 8:35pm

Hi there! 

I have tried feeding Harvey a mixture of coocked chicken+meshed pumpkin & carrots together with his kibbles. During the first 3 feedings, he ate everything down together with the kibbles. On the 4th and 5th feeding, I saw that he learnt how to spit out the kibbles and ate ONLY the chicken/pumpkin/carrots (despite me mixing everything together really well). When I saw that happen, my jaws just dropped. 

I have got a hell of a picky eater here and he has out-smarted me with the food.

The main problem here is, if I feed him only dry dog food, he would only eat 1 out 3 meals and he sometimes even starves himself for the entire day. I just cannot see myself allow him to eat only once every 2 days. It's too far below his recommended diet amount for a dog his age and weight. 

Does anyone know what else I can do? As much as I want to feed only dry dog food to Harvey, I cannot bear seeing him eat only every alternate day. He's definitely not going to get sufficient nutrition as a puppy and I am just afraid it will lead to future health issues when he grows up. 

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Permalink Reply by Nina & Nellie on April 28, 2013 at 10:13pm

Nah, he probably really hates the kibble and decides he can just eat the chicken/other stuff instead. Keep trying to switch his kibble and don't put anything in it. If you buy your food from Petco they will let you return the open food if it doesn't work out. If you find that you have tried eeeeeeevery kibble you can and he still hates everything, switch him onto a wet food or (if you can stomach/afford it) raw.

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