Dog Food Palatability

[sourland]

Does anyone know of a commercially available dog food that has high palatability?

I have a dog that is an extremely poor eater. He eats just enough to stay alive. He has a great shine to his coat and is extremely vigorous, but will not eat enough to put on weight.

He will not eat canned dog food, raw meat or cooked meat.

I am presently feeding TOTW - High Prairie formula. At one time I tried TOTW cat food, and he ate that well for about a week.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Royal Canin or Fromm or those Freshpet refrigerated rolls? We've had some really picky eaters that would eat those at one time or another.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Sorry I can't be of any help, my dog is extremely spoiled. He has to have "Magic Dust" on his dog food. (parmesan cheese)

 

[cassie]

I can tell you something that will put on weight. Go to the butcher and get some beef kidney fat. Kidney fat is solid, clean, and easy to handle. Kidney fat is pure energy and it doesn't take much. I once had a Komondor that was underweight and the vet told me to give her a piece of kidney fat about the size of a walnut daily. I didn't think that was enough, so I gave her a piece about the size of my fist. Next thing I knew she was too fat. My Kom weighed about 80 pounds, so if your dog is say, 40 pounds, you would give him a piece about the size of half a walnut. A poor appetite can be a sign of cancer, but since your dog looks good and is active, that is probably not the problem.

 

[jak2002003]

How old is you dog? If its young and still growing.. very energetic and healthy then you need not worry. It will put on weight when its older.

Stop changing the food all the time! No dog will starve itself to death. A hungry dog will eat anything!

How often are you feeding? Try only once a day (if its a standard or large breed dog).

Put the food down. If the dog has not eaten it within 5 minutes then take it away and don't offer it again until the next day at the feeding time.

Your dog has learnt that if it stops eating one food you will come along with another kind!

Make sure that there are no treats or other foods around the house, like bones, that the dog will be snacking on between meals.

I have 4 dogs. One was a very fussy eater about one year ago... until someone told me to do as above. The dog went nearly 4 days without hardly eating anything.... then suddenly something in her mind clicked and now she always eats whatever I give her at mealtimes.. . and all of it. Now she is the correct weight... she was very underweight when she was a fussy eater.

 

[sourland]

The dog is 3 years old - mature.
Where did I say that I am changing the feed all of the time? He has been on TOTW for 2 years. I have only tried adding various supplements to spur his appetite.
All of my dogs are fed once a day. I tried him on twice a day, and total feed intake was less.
I've tried that - did not work.
Dog has been fed the same food for 2 + years.
Dog is an outside dog - hence my concern for low body weight in the winter.
I have had dogs for 70 + years and this is the first 'hard keeper' that I have dealt with.

When I first got this dog, I thought that he had been neglected - he's just a 'hard keeper'.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

SL, have you tried the gravy they make for dogs? It comes in many different flavors. My dog got bored of his dry food and really wouldn't eat much for a while. So I suggested trying some gravy or soft food. That did the trick! Sometimes companies will send you samples or coupons to try the food so you don't have to spend a ton of money.

Taste if the wild is a good brand, but it doesn't really hurt to try another brand. Blue buffalo is good also, though expensive. You could also try softening the food a bit with water. That has worked for tricky eaters for me.

Is everything good with his teeth? Sometimes even just sensitive teeth can make it difficult to eat hard food, though if he turns his nose up at wet food and meat as well, that's probably not your issue.

Sprinkling something on the food (never thought about Parmesan cheese!) may be worth a try also.

I can look up a few other options for you as well. If I get a chance, I will ask the club members of the nutrition club if they have any ideas.

Our cat was super picky for the longest time. When they changed the formula of the only food she would eat, we panicked! That's when Iams sent us a ton of samples of their food. This cat was skinny all her life until my cat got sick with cancer. We had to increase the wet food given and not the skinny cat is a little glutton and will eat anything, even people food.

 

[sourland]

Lauren, do you have a brand name on this 'gravy'?

His teeth are fine - no tartar build up or gum irritation.

He is fed a warm, moistened diet in the winter - no improvement in consumption.

Put ANYTHING on/in his feed and his look says, "Now what the H have you just done."

I really believe this dog has psychological problems. In many ways he acts like a 'heat stroke' dog, but the previous owner says he never suffered heat stroke.

It's frustrating as I pride myself in keeping my dogs in top condition.

 

[Stacykins]

For his entire life, a 15 year old lab of mine named Noah was a notoriously difficult eater. We could offer something the average dog would inhale, he'd take a sniff, a bit or two, and walk off. He stayed sleek and conditioned, though as he got older he definitely needed more calories. It was a battle getting him to eat. It was like he just wasn't hungry most of the time or he got very bored of his food quite quickly.

We tried the gravy route too. We used human store bought gravy, rather than something marketed for a dog. But if he enjoyed it for a few times, the effectiveness quickly dwindled. So every few days he needed something new with his food. So he ate a lot of human stuff mixed into his food...dinty moore beef stew, low sodium soups, shredded chicken, broth, etc. And still, he never ate much. So what he left behind got divided up for the other dogs to 'score'. I don't think the others even tasted what they ate!

The dogs here are also fed a high quality dry for the core of their diet. So it isn't like I was trying to stuff IAMS or Beneful down Noah's throat.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Satin Balls (google them - can't guarantee you wont' get some mixed results, lol) - are great for a little extra "something" to put/keep weight on a dog that is a hard keeper - there are a few variations on the "recipe" for them.

I, too, have a picky eater/hard keeper in my Z (GSD) - we came upon Earthborn Holistic as one that she has consistently been willing (not always enthusiastic, but willing) to eat.