Ways to stimulate a dogs appetite?

[gritsar]

For the first four days after we switched to TOTW Prairie, our older GSD ate better than he's ever eaten before. Now he's back to turning his nose up at his food. Usually he only turns his nose up at breakfast, but today he also refused to eat his supper.
Not wanting to create a finicky eater we don't want to get in the habit of putting yogurt or some other yummy on the food so he'll eat it. Tonight we have to cave in and add some canned puppy food to his kibble to get him to eat. We needed to give him his monthly comfortis dose and he has to take it on a full stomach.
According to the vet he's 100% healthy and he's active from dawn to dusk. He should be hungry with all the energy he expends during the day.
Is there anything we can give him to stimulate his appetite a bit.
At the rate he's going our younger GSD is going to pass him in both weight and height soon.

 

[lorieMN]

you have said before that you give raw chicken quarters,how often and how does he eat the raw?.if he where mine he would be on raw only,switching from raw to kibble back and forth can be causing a lot of his problems,,stomach upset,and maybe the fussyness..try just raw for a while and see how it goes,just remember raw meat 80%,raw edible bone 10% and raw liver 5% and raw other organs 5%,doesnt need to be everyday or even every week,,just over time,,,I also add cold pressed salmon oil for omegas,but if you get ahold of lots of grass fed meats you dont need the oil.I do it the simple way and feed whole prey,like a whole leg and shoulder of a calf or goat at once,when it is gone I give another,then maybe some organs,and so forth.

 

[gritsar]

We stopped giving the raw chicken once we found a local source for the TOTW. Now it's the TOTW and nothing else.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Raw, and good quality food is very filling as well.

I have a 60lb dog who used to sometimes eat just one chicken leg a day. She would carry a second one around, meaning that she valued it, she wanted it, but she didn't eat it till almost the next day. Some fully grown dogs just don't eat whole lot.

 

[redhen]

Gritty.. My female is like that sometimes..
When she gets picky (because she wants gravy or something else on her food.)... I just pick her food up and put it in the fridge...
she usually always eats at the next feeding...
Sometimes..i have to take the food and hand feed her..like a little princess...

I think that if they are really hungry..they will eat. Usually...

 

[savingdogs]

I work at a boarding kennel and these are things we try to get dogs to eat.

1) add a tablespoon of Solid Gold Tripe (smells awful) to their kibble.
2) add a table spoon of wet food to kibble. Use something with meat as the main ingredient, such as in high quality canned food. Mix with the regular food.
3) add water to the dry.
4) add a can of baby food (such as turkey, or some other meat) to dry kibble.

Take the bowl away between meals. We often feed medication to the boarding dogs in a "meatball" of dog food (soft canned kind) wrapped around the medication. Our favorite is one called I/D, because it is just chicken and rice and bland but the dogs love it. Some dogs get tired of one type of food and like variety.

I hope that helps!

 

[gritsar]

I should mention that we leave the food down for 20 minutes only and then it goes up until the next mealtime.
Tonight was only different because as I said we had to get some food in his tummy so he could take his comfortis. He'll eat the comfortis tablets and his heartworm med. no problem. The dog also loves pepto-bismal (had to give it to him once or twice as a pup). I have to hide the bottle or he'll eat it.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
How long have you been feeding TOTW? And do you free feed (putting bowl of food down and leaving it there until it is empty)?

Grit I wouldn't worry about Jax. He will eat when his body tells him he needs to, he will not starve himself. He is in excellent condition and if he loses a couple pounds it won't hurt him. Free feeding is detrimental in that it takes away the idea that food is a resource, which isn't normal for a dog either. It is not normal for a canine to have free food at will. Their systems are designed to eat what is in front of them at one time. Free feeding also makes dogs take on more calories than needed and promotes obesity (i know that isnt' an issue with Jax).

Free feeding also takes away the opportunity for the dog to witness their leaders providing the meal which can be very benificial to your relationship in the big picture of your relationship.

 

[gritsar]

Jamie, I guess we were posting at the same time. I don't free feed. If I did, Kane would have a field day! That pup would eat a rock if I rubbed some meat juices on it.
We've been feeding TOTW for about a week now. Jax loved it at first, but now is being indifferent again.
We also don't feed the dogs until we have eaten our meals. They know they can only watch and wait.
I just worry because Jax (@ 13 months old) is holding steady at 85 lbs. Meanwhile Garbage Gut aka Kane is 5 1/2 months old and 60 lbs.

 

[MetalSmitten]

my dog did the same thing with TOTW. -loved- it for a while, then started turning up his nose. it's a great food so i dunno what the deal is... if it maybe goes stale faster than other brands or something? probably we both just have picky dogs

i've noticed my dog also will start eating less once the weather gets hotter. so maybe it's not the food at all, but something seasonal. like he's not worried about storing fat for winter anymore haha.