pinkdolphin3 Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Hi all Need abit of advice about my staffy, she is coming up to 7 months old. Still her normal , hyperactive self in every way apart from she has stopped eating dog food. I have tried different brands etc but she won't touch it. She will eat the cat food if i let her and any left overs we give her, she is even partial to the odd pear! Has anyone got any advice please:help: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotti Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Yep. Choose a dog food, stick with it. Don't feed left overs, don't change brands everytime she decides she doesn't like it. A dog will not starve. She will eat it when she's hungry enough. If you change brands when she won't eat, she knows that through scaring you by not eating, she'll get something better. She also knows that if she doesn't eat her dinner, it doesn't matter because she gets your left overs. Feed her only her normal dog food and after 20 minutes pick up anything that's been left (even if it's the whole meal). Don't feed her again until her next meal (although if she's hungry you can bring the next meal forward a little bit). Eventually she'll learn that she either eats what she's given, or goes hungry. Don't worry, she won't starve herself, she's testing you. It's a typical age for them to do this so I wouldn't be worrying too much However, if you're happy to, adding certain things to their normal food can entice them to eat. We used to mix in sardines which are very good for their bones and coats and they encouraged her to eat it, or you could try putting warm gravy on the normal dry dog food. Once she's eating normally again, gradually reduce how much gravy/fish you're mixing in until she's back to her normal food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotti Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Takara went through this btw, she did lose a bit of weight but once I stopped pandering to her and fed her the same thing removing it after 20 minutes (if the dog was in a pack of dogs, the food would be eaten) she started eating normally again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkdolphin3 Posted September 13, 2006 Author Share Posted September 13, 2006 thanks for the advice, will give it a go. She's not losing weight yet so will try all your ideas and did think she was testing me, as staffies do sometimes. Will let you know how i get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNEAKY Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 hi hun mine is the same only he wont eat cat food he as to av mince liver n that we have tried alsorts but wont av it:thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkabel Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 My boyfriends staffy is exactly the same and she's 4 so i don't think they ever grow out of it, unfortunately Jess is spoilt so if she doesn't eat her food, she gets something cooked for her she's in for a shock when she moves in with me and its dog food or nothing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Ok im being good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotti Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 lol Jabberwocky. pinkdolphin - when we got our 11 year old rescue dalmatian his previous owner told us: 'he won't eat his biscuits without meat on them' I said 'yes he will!' We cut down the food gradually and now he eats the dry food as it is, didn't take long for him to realise that if he didn't eat, Takara ate it instead and we made no special allowances for him so if he didn't eat it, he went hungry! She will test you and it will probably return throughout her life, but she will be fine, don't worry. Just don't pander to her and she'll learn that you mean business! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awindows Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 hi pinkdolphin3 sorry to gate crash this thread but for some reason i cant pm you.. yes i could easily beat that quote.. please pm me your details and i will come out anc quote you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonbird Posted September 13, 2006 Share Posted September 13, 2006 Just wondered do you think she may be coming into season? that sometimes makes them go off their food a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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