Dog suddenly won’t eat dry food?
Discussion
I have a 8 month old cocker who normally eats absolutely anything and is always pretending he’s hungry, however all of a sudden he’s now refusing to eat any dry food.
We normally feed him McAdam’s dry food and he’s been on that four about 3 months with no issue. We have tried him with Orijin puppy dry, and even a bit of Millie’s Wolfheart dry. All he does is have a couple of pieces and that’s it, he then comes begging to me. This has been going on for 3 days now and he’s noticeably tired.
When we first got him he was being fed Butchers tinned puppy wet food. We still had a couple of tins so I popped that open, and I’ve never seen him eat it so fast.
So I’m assuming he’s simply gone off dry food. His teeth look fine, and he’s still playing tug of war, and still chews puzzle sticks so I don’t think it’s dental.
Is this just a case of giving him wet food for a couple of months? Anyone else had similar with their dog?
We normally feed him McAdam’s dry food and he’s been on that four about 3 months with no issue. We have tried him with Orijin puppy dry, and even a bit of Millie’s Wolfheart dry. All he does is have a couple of pieces and that’s it, he then comes begging to me. This has been going on for 3 days now and he’s noticeably tired.
When we first got him he was being fed Butchers tinned puppy wet food. We still had a couple of tins so I popped that open, and I’ve never seen him eat it so fast.
So I’m assuming he’s simply gone off dry food. His teeth look fine, and he’s still playing tug of war, and still chews puzzle sticks so I don’t think it’s dental.
Is this just a case of giving him wet food for a couple of months? Anyone else had similar with their dog?
Happened with our Frenchie (Daisy); she came to us at a year old and we fed her the dry food that she came with, we researched better quality dry food (Lilly's Kitchen I think), stuck her on that and all was good.
Then randomly about a year after we got her, she just wasn't interested so we changed the make and flavour and again wasn't interested; she'd have a bit and then leave it but was always up for treats and would hang around when we were cooking and was quite happy to eat the odd bit that I gave her; her food from the morning would still be there in the evening, sometimes she'd graze over the day but the majority of the food was un-touched.
Around that time we had agreed on a second dog (Barry our Terrier), the wife had always wanted to try a raw diet and was keen to get Barry on it once we were able to have him, so we switched Daisy over to raw to see how she faired with a view that if it worked for her, we'd get the new dog on it too.
Daisy lapped it up and we've never looked back, I've not tried dry again with her but on the odd occasion where I've screwed up and run out of raw food, I've used the "emergency" wet food without issue.
I've always thought that eating dry food only must be very boring for a dog, at least with wet there are differing textures, having said that Daphne seems fine with her dry (raw doesn't agree with her).
Then randomly about a year after we got her, she just wasn't interested so we changed the make and flavour and again wasn't interested; she'd have a bit and then leave it but was always up for treats and would hang around when we were cooking and was quite happy to eat the odd bit that I gave her; her food from the morning would still be there in the evening, sometimes she'd graze over the day but the majority of the food was un-touched.
Around that time we had agreed on a second dog (Barry our Terrier), the wife had always wanted to try a raw diet and was keen to get Barry on it once we were able to have him, so we switched Daisy over to raw to see how she faired with a view that if it worked for her, we'd get the new dog on it too.
Daisy lapped it up and we've never looked back, I've not tried dry again with her but on the odd occasion where I've screwed up and run out of raw food, I've used the "emergency" wet food without issue.
I've always thought that eating dry food only must be very boring for a dog, at least with wet there are differing textures, having said that Daphne seems fine with her dry (raw doesn't agree with her).
Edited by HTP99 on Tuesday 8th January 09:11
As above, my cocker cost me a fortune trying different dry foods and then suddenly stopping [just when you think you have it right, you buy bulk and then she stops eating it 
]
Moved her on to Natures Menu pouches but eventually this ran out of steam, so on to Natures Menu raw and never looked back. And she has been great on it, hardly any dicky bellies in 3 years.
The Lagotto is on Alpha Spirit Multi-Protein Dog Food [semi moist] and thrives on it, the cocker steals it from time to time.
]Moved her on to Natures Menu pouches but eventually this ran out of steam, so on to Natures Menu raw and never looked back. And she has been great on it, hardly any dicky bellies in 3 years.
The Lagotto is on Alpha Spirit Multi-Protein Dog Food [semi moist] and thrives on it, the cocker steals it from time to time.
Glad to hear it’s not Just ours being funny then! I have friends who feed raw, but I don’t think it could fit with us. We do have young children visiting regularly who obviously play with the dog non stop, and he does like to lick. Whilst my research into it hasn’t been much, I thought that you had to be very careful with raw food and the potential bacteria that could be spread? Please do correct me if I’m wrong.
Id also have to consider how raw food would be managed when we go away camping for a week at a time with no electric hookup.
I’ll pick up some decent wet food on the way home this evening in the meantime.
Id also have to consider how raw food would be managed when we go away camping for a week at a time with no electric hookup.
I’ll pick up some decent wet food on the way home this evening in the meantime.
DoubleU said:
Glad to hear it’s not Just ours being funny then! I have friends who feed raw, but I don’t think it could fit with us. We do have young children visiting regularly who obviously play with the dog non stop, and he does like to lick. Whilst my research into it hasn’t been much, I thought that you had to be very careful with raw food and the potential bacteria that could be spread? Please do correct me if I’m wrong.
Id also have to consider how raw food would be managed when we go away camping for a week at a time with no electric hookup.
I’ll pick up some decent wet food on the way home this evening in the meantime.
My cocker is very cocker like, likes to give kisses and such, and she eats raw. I haven't had any ill effects from her or feeding her raw. Basically, keep everything clean as you would normally and you'll be fine.Id also have to consider how raw food would be managed when we go away camping for a week at a time with no electric hookup.
I’ll pick up some decent wet food on the way home this evening in the meantime.
These are pretty good.
https://www.nutriment.co.uk
HTP99 said:
Happened with our Frenchie (Daisy); she came to us at a year old and we fed her the dry food that she came with, we researched better quality dry food (Lilly's Kitchen I think), stuck her on that and all was good.
Then randomly about a year after we got her, she just wasn't interested so we changed the make and flavour and again wasn't interested; she'd have a bit and then leave it but was always up for treats and would hang around when we were cooking and was quite happy to eat the odd bit that I gave her; her food from the morning would still be there in the evening, sometimes she'd graze over the day but the majority of the food was un-touched.
Around that time we had agreed on a second dog (Barry our Terrier), the wife had always wanted to try a raw diet and was keen to get Barry on it once we were able to have him, so we switched Daisy over to raw to see how she faired with a view that if it worked for her, we'd get the new dog on it too.
Daisy lapped it up and we've never looked back, I've not tried dry again with her but on the odd occasion where I've screwed up and run out of raw food, I've used the "emergency" wet food without issue.
My dog grazes. Unless we have another dog staying. Then he bolts it all down.Then randomly about a year after we got her, she just wasn't interested so we changed the make and flavour and again wasn't interested; she'd have a bit and then leave it but was always up for treats and would hang around when we were cooking and was quite happy to eat the odd bit that I gave her; her food from the morning would still be there in the evening, sometimes she'd graze over the day but the majority of the food was un-touched.
Around that time we had agreed on a second dog (Barry our Terrier), the wife had always wanted to try a raw diet and was keen to get Barry on it once we were able to have him, so we switched Daisy over to raw to see how she faired with a view that if it worked for her, we'd get the new dog on it too.
Daisy lapped it up and we've never looked back, I've not tried dry again with her but on the odd occasion where I've screwed up and run out of raw food, I've used the "emergency" wet food without issue.
Dogs aren't like humans and thus don't get bored of eating dried food. Are you putting a little water on the kibbles. The idea is this releases more flavour, similar to the effects of gravy.
Plus it softens the kibbles and makes them easier to chew. Might help if the dog is teething.
Plus it softens the kibbles and makes them easier to chew. Might help if the dog is teething.
Never you mind said:
DoubleU said:
Glad to hear it’s not Just ours being funny then! I have friends who feed raw, but I don’t think it could fit with us. We do have young children visiting regularly who obviously play with the dog non stop, and he does like to lick. Whilst my research into it hasn’t been much, I thought that you had to be very careful with raw food and the potential bacteria that could be spread? Please do correct me if I’m wrong.
Id also have to consider how raw food would be managed when we go away camping for a week at a time with no electric hookup.
I’ll pick up some decent wet food on the way home this evening in the meantime.
My cocker is very cocker like, likes to give kisses and such, and she eats raw. I haven't had any ill effects from her or feeding her raw. Basically, keep everything clean as you would normally and you'll be fine.Id also have to consider how raw food would be managed when we go away camping for a week at a time with no electric hookup.
I’ll pick up some decent wet food on the way home this evening in the meantime.
These are pretty good.
https://www.nutriment.co.uk
Ours are on Nature's Instinct, there is the argument that preparing it yourself is cheaper, however a) I can't be arsed with the hassle and b) our dogs are small so don't eat a great deal so therefore what we do spend is relatively inexpensive, I worked it out once and feeding ours as we do is actually cheaper than feeding them the well-known crap brands such as Pedigree or Bakers.
Just make sure the surfaces are wiped down and everything is clean; no different really than preparing food for oneself.
Maybe OP try a dry food with a higher meat content; Daphne is on Nutro Clean Feed, it has a 70% meat content which is similar to raw.
MYOB said:
Dogs aren't like humans and thus don't get bored of eating dried food.
Evidence of that?Last time we had some friends bring their dogs over who "loved" their kibble, can you guess which bowl they went to....... And which one remained uneaten for a day....
Dogs are not like humans and thus can eat raw meat, but that I think is not contested.
Hashtaggggg said:
Your dog is getting in the driving seat and taking control.
Don’t let her win, or you will next be allowing her to sleep upstairs, and then on your bed etc....
I’m inclined to agree with this sentiment Don’t let her win, or you will next be allowing her to sleep upstairs, and then on your bed etc....
If he’s hungry enough, he’ll eat whatever you put in front of him.
Jasandjules said:
MYOB said:
And this is your evidence to disprove what I said?
Nope, but you still haven't provided your evidence. Our dogs have a varied pallet, some will eat toast, some won't, some will eat kidney, some won't, all will eat liver and heart and tripe, but some won't eat eggs...
We are not in a court room. We are having a friendly discussion. If you want "evidence", or even a theory, Google is your friend.
Muzzer79 said:
I’m inclined to agree with this sentiment
If he’s hungry enough, he’ll eat whatever you put in front of him.
Agreed. No healthy dog will starve itself to death when there's perfectly good food being put out.If he’s hungry enough, he’ll eat whatever you put in front of him.
The healthy bit is important though. Our last dog suddenly went off dried food that he'd loved and thrived on for the best part of 8 years. We played the tough love game for a few days before we realised something really wasn't right, and as it tuned out we were just entering his decline. He was a fair old age of around 16 though, so it was all part and parcel of having an old dog. So don't panic, OP. Its worth gauging if its just that food, which is just him being a brat, or all food, which is potentially a concern.
Unless a vet tells you otherwise, don't feel the need or responsibility to drastically change feeding habits or diets.
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