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JMB


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Change in eating habits
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We've had Amelie for nearly two months now and up until now she has bolted her food down but recently her eating habits have changed ...

In the morning she normally gets half a slice of my toast before her walk and then her normal breakfast of Arden Grange on our return. We also leave out a kong toy for her whilst we're out at work.

For nearly a week now she's eaten very little of her breakfast but eaten the contents of her kong toy. What's left from her breakfast is still lying in her bowl when we return at night. She will usually eat most of it then but that then causes problems, as when it comes to her evening meal as she's too full to eat it ... however she will eat it if we fill her kong toys with it.

I tried filling her kong toys this morning with her breakfast of Arden Grange and she ate it no problem.

Is she just realising that she doesn't have to compete for food any more? We don't mind filling her kong toys with her breakfast and evening meal but we'd rather that she ate it from her bowl.

Am I just pampering to her whims?

Has anyone else experienced of this or can offer us some advice?

Thanks,

Janice.








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Hegs


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In the 'diet and nutrition' section of the forum there is a post called 'dried food VS tinned', which you might find useful.
We left a post there after we experienced the exact same thing with Bob - about the same length of time after we got him. I think it may be because he realised that his food would still be there if he left it, as you suggest, but we started to put a topping on his arden grange and that helped. Now when we feed him, he gets some sardines or other wet food mixed in, and it helps it go down!

Scott, Heather & Bob

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JMB


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Thanks for the advice.

Tonight I added a tin of mackerel fillets in tomato sauce to her dinner and it vanished in record time. biggrin

I think it'll just be a case of trial and error.

I don't mind what she eats really; as long as it's good for her ... the main thing is that she actually eats!

I was worrying that she would begin to lose weight by not eating enough. For that last few days she'd been down to eating a couple of cups of dried food a day!

Thanks,

Janice.



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tootsmazza


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She isn't competing for food so probably just knows she can have it when she wants. Mason free feeds, ie I put his food out at tea-time and he eats some then and the rest usually during the night.
He's an only dog so there's no problem plus we leave the house early in the morning and its hard enough to get him up, never mind persuade him to eat breakfast.
I worried about how this would affect him when he has to stay at boardings but it takes him 24 hours to get into the routine of emptying his bowl at feeding time when there are other dogs there so he's not daft and I doubt Amelie is either.
I personally think its only a problem if you have a dog with food issues, eg aggression, or who is over dominant, in which case the routine of putting the food down at specified meal times and taking it away after 15 minutes is a good way to get them to eat when you want them to.
Like Bob's folks after a couple of months I started adding either a tin of sardines or some Butchers Choice to Mason's Arden Grange. I found it improved his stools and encourage him to eat more, not to mention the sardines effect on his coat.
Marie


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JMB


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The mackerel did go down a treat with Amelie ... but not with OH ... he can't stand the smell of fish!

Amelie's coat is not the best at the moment; she's got dandruff to extreme! I'm hoping that the fish in her food will help. I've also added a small amount of oil to her food as well.





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team FAB


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JMB

When Arwen came to live with us she had the worst dandruff you have ever seen. The vet said it would be down to lack of oil in her diet and to give her 1000mg per day of cod liver oil and evening primrose oil. Also to rub her down with a wet chamois cloth every day. She now has dandruff free skin with a stunning coat.

Our three get Chapie as Boston has a easy upset tummy, and the vet swears by it. So the girls get Chapie dry and tins, while Boston gets just the tin to keep his upset tummy down. The love the stuff, smells rank with the fish that is in it *boake*

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Muddy Zuk


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our old dog used to love just some veg oil over the top of her dried food, also helped keep coat lovely that and tea tree oil shampoo when she got a bit wiffy

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JMB


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 I think we'll just have to try different things and see what works best for her.

I had decided to put half her breakfast into her bowl this morning and the rest into her kong toy. I added some chicken to her bowl, which was eaten in a flash, and she eventually ate the rest of the contents of her bowl.  biggrin

Janice.






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skydivingturtle


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I wouldn't worry too much about the food thing, as long as she eats at some point all is good :). Summer does the same she has days when she bolts her breakfast down in a flash and others when she'll leave it sitting there til t time. Adding oil or fish to the food does wonders for their coat and skin, I've also found a tea tree conditioner spray that helps with Summers skin if it gets a bit dry. she doesn't like getting sprayed but the all over body rub to get it into her coat is always appreciated lol. Adding gravy or some tinned food to her arden grange is a sure fire way of getting the bowl licked clean in seconds :)

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