Dog food that smells and tastes like cat food....(kibble)

 My dogs go crazy for cat food, to the point Willy now takes down the baby gate to the cat room.  So I have to pick up the cat food if I am "away" -- which may be out shopping, out mowing the lawn, or could be just taking a shower!  My dogs also go nuts for the "tootsie rolls" in the litter box.  I was told it is the high protein content.  Dunno for sure, none of mine will say ha haaa.

Do you free feed?  Just put the dish down and set the timer for 10 minutes, then pick it up.  Don't give in to him with more food or with treats until the next feeding time.  Use a high quality kibble you prefer and which fits your budget, and he will catch on.  TOTW is now available again.

I stick with one food (brand and formula stay the same) and vary the toppings: cottage cheese, chicken broth, salmon oil, parsley, olives and oil, cut up apple, or green beans, seems there is always something around.  Canned pumpkin goes in 3 times a week here as well.  Maybe that will help.

Sorry I can't remember your pup, if you are training him, remember to cut back on his food.  My Riley has been in Basic Manners class the past 5 weeks and has gained 1.5 pounds - for my little girl that is over 10% increase!  So I wasn't cutting back enough.  Of course, she will eat and eat and eat . . . . . 

Since he liked and did well on TOTW, I'd suggest the Blue Buffalo Wilderness.  They have several varieties in that line now.  The only recall in Blue's history was their canned back during the gluten scare, and those foods didn't have glutens, rather they tested and discovered that the cannery wasn't following their precise formula, so they recalled all their canned until they could find a partner that they could trust.

But, tough love seems to be the way to go.  If he won't eat, the bowl comes up and absolutely nothing to eat until the next meal time.

 If he is indeed healthy, I am doubtful he would allow himself to starve. If you gave him whatever you wanted him to eat, and gave it to him for 10 minutes, picked it up, and gave him nothing else until the next meal, he'd eventually get hungry and eat it. We had a dog who we did just leave the food down all day for. She got nothing else, and eventually, she would go eat her food. She just preferred to eat late at night when nobody was around to see her do it. She would sometimes skip a day, and that was fine. She only ever got each day what she was supposed to get for the day, no extras if she skipped. If he will actually let himself starve, like multiple days without food and he is losing weight,  I'd question whether he is actually healthy.

 I came back to add:  I used TOTW for over 2 years, until that temporary shut down of the SC Diamond Pet Food plant in April caused the shortage. (Lots of foods got caught up in that, Canidae was part of it).

I switched to Earthborn Holistics, they have a few grain free formulas.  They have never had a recall, and have their own processing plant. It is a high quality food, human grade ingredients.  Although TOTW is now back, I have stayed with Earthborn. 

 http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/dog_formulas/primitive_natural/

 Thanks everyone for the replys....pretty much all what i know already and do......the cats food and litter box are in our basement and he has a cat door to get down there. so dog doesnt eat his food or eat litter box stuff ...

i went to a feed store and didnt see TOTW or Canidae at least not at that feed store....but like i mentioned, he likes things then stops eating them...as for MIXING whatever in his kibble...forget it...i said he picks out or licks off the food he wants and leaves the kibble...thats why i wondered if there was a dog food out there that would entice him to eat it as much as he likes the cat food.....and whats wrong with all the protein in the cat food that the dog cant eat it? he could stand to gain a bit of weight, wouldnt hurt him.....almost wonder if he can outlast me waiting to see if he eats something.

ideally yes id like to buy 1 thing and he eats it....he walks over to it sniffs and turns away and thats it....then stares at us when we eat or im cooking meals, it sucks, cause i know he is hungry.....kibble IS convenient FOR US, wet food is probably what he should be eating, he chews enough bones and toys and rawhides etc to get his teeth cleaned, plus we can help to clean them....eating dry blah kibble must not be so hot for a dog to eat......when i had both i would mix dry and wet, i think lots of people do that too.....he just isnt one of those eaters that will eat and he will pick out what he likes and leave the rest........

my dog has been to training classes already 2 months worth ...he does good for all else, just not a good eater as far as im concerned........you would think the better foods that ARE meat etc he would smell them, and like, but no.....id love to find a food that smells and tastes like cat food cat chow and its for dog though, then he would eat it.....i wonder if purina dog chow smells or tastes similar to cat chow

 Freedom, thanks

seems like all those holistic and really good foods he just turns away from....even TOTW canned or the solid gold canned lamb flocking people rave about, he didnt like it........fortunately the stores let me return the food if he doesnt seem to eat it  but keep changing up on him may not be good either, but guess what...i have to buy it and he at some point has to like the stuff, so im not wasting money on food i can only HOPE THAT HE EVENTUALLY HE EATS

nancy361

.almost wonder if he can outlast me waiting to see if he eats something.

Yes, that is probably what he is doing. Waiting to see if you will just give him something else if he waits long enough. If he waits long enough, you'll give him something else, mix something in, do something to make it more enticing. Don't give him anything else. He really may not eat for a day or two before he realizes that's all he's getting.

 Agree, it's the tough love approach as mentioned.  Just set the timer, pick it up and DONE.  As said, he won't starve himself, lol.

  The cat food is too high in protein.  They may barf it up; more likely drink like crazy and be peeing out all the extra protein for hours afterwards.  Puts huge stress on the kidneys which over time (matter of months if it is a regular diet) start to fail.  I know, you said you won't give it to him; but you asked what's wrong with the high protein, lol, so I'm just explaining.  

I mentioned my Willy taking down the baby gate - he cleaned up, had a good 2 cups, omygosh I thought we'd run out of water!  And he couldn't get outside to pee, either, real mess.  But that was the first time he got the gate down, and I quickly changed my set up and routine.  I do NOT want to go there again!

 well he really doesnt eat...he may go eat a cpl of kibbles then thats it.literally too..just a cpl...he stares at us in the kitchen and smells our foods...i just wish he would like something and eat it

 Mine like to swipe cat food. Our cat food is in the bathroom, and we have a chain lock on the outside of the door. The cat can squeeze in, but not the dogs. They do swipe the cat food sometimes when the door gets left open, and it always makes them sick. They always get diarrhea from it if they eat any large quantity. I would imagine a large quantity of cat food, like enough to be a meal for a dog, would probably do that to most dogs.

nancy361

 well he really doesnt eat...he may go eat a cpl of kibbles then thats it.literally too..just a cpl...he stares at us in the kitchen and smells our foods...i just wish he would like something and eat it

How long has he gone without eating?  If you always cave in, he's learned that he'll get something else.  Dogs can go a long time without eating with no ill effect, if they're healthy.  I've known dogs who went three days without eating anything without any sign of a problem.  Sounds like he's got you well trained. lol  My dogs love dry kibble so it's not that most dogs don't like it, it's that he's learned how to manipulate you.  Dogs are smart like that. :)

 like i mentioned, he does eventually nibble on some of the kibble but doesnt eat it all....he doesnt have me trained, he can stare all he wants but he doesnt get anything....IF we see that he has eaten most of the food he gets my son MAY give him some of his leftover veggies after dinner, or some rice, but other then that nothing...well he seems to have been this way from day 1 of having him, so whatever the foster mom at his rescue did has done that to him......he was with her about 5wks and she had 4 other dogs.. he came from a shelter in the south before she got him...so ive said everyday is a new day to start over.. and again, whether its the top of the line dry or canned or the fresh pet vital some of the food he liked and ate, then stopped liking it or it was recalled so i couldnt buy it, and he just snubs his nose away from whatever ive gotten since then...except the fresh pet food, he ate for awhile then stopped liking it....so now he has NOTHING. i have to go to the store to get something for him....petco has all the high end and holistic and natural foods as well as mediocre and lower end foods....just have to find something that i hope he will like and i can afford and thats that i guess

nancy361

 like i mentioned, he does eventually nibble on some of the kibble but doesnt eat it all....he doesnt have me trained, he can stare all he wants but he doesnt get anything....IF we see that he has eaten most of the food he gets my son MAY give him some of his leftover veggies after dinner, or some rice, but other then that nothing...well he seems to have been this way from day 1 of having him, so whatever the foster mom at his rescue did has done that to him......he was with her about 5wks and she had 4 other dogs.. he came from a shelter in the south before she got him...so ive said everyday is a new day to start over.. and again, whether its the top of the line dry or canned or the fresh pet vital some of the food he liked and ate, then stopped liking it or it was recalled so i couldnt buy it, and he just snubs his nose away from whatever ive gotten since then...except the fresh pet food, he ate for awhile then stopped liking it....so now he has NOTHING. i have to go to the store to get something for him....petco has all the high end and holistic and natural foods as well as mediocre and lower end foods....just have to find something that i hope he will like and i can afford and thats that i guess

Don't give him anything else other than his food for right now.  Not even if he has eaten most of his food for that day. When you do that, even if he ate most of his food that day, this allows him to hold out longer until he has to eat again. Go the store, get what you can afford, feed him that, and only that. I believe where you live, you also have some private or smaller chain stores like Pet Valu.

When he is eating, how much is he eating? Is his weight okay as far as your vet says? The amount on the bag is usually too much for a dog, so maybe he is eating enough, but he eats far less than is listed on the package?

BTW, you may have answered this before, but did you get him from Home At Last?

I moved this to Nutrition where it should have been set up.