Bored

Here you go: http://royalcanin.us/brochures/MINI_Yorkshire_28_brochure.pdf

 This particular article is on their yorkshire formula. The part about little dogs and fussiness is on the 24th page of the brochure.

jettababy

 And I definately don't agree with taking food away from a dog and offering it to them later if they don't eat it. Why make them eat something they don't want to?

Because if I took away my dogs food everytime they hesitated to eat it, and gave them something else that I thought they might enjoy more, it would not be long before my dogs only ate scrambled eggs and bacon smothered in beef gravy.  My dogs are big, they're not idiots.  Right now I would "enjoy" a chocolate chip cookie more than I would "enjoy" the vegetables I made with supper, but I, as an adult human know which one I should be eating.  Dog's don't possess that knowledge, as far as I know.

There's a difference between variety and just giving your dogs what they want.  My dogs get huge variety since they don't eat kibble, but they don't get to make the choice of what they eat.  I also think there is a big difference between being picky, and a lack of enthusiasm.  

huskymom

my dogs only ate scrambled eggs and bacon smothered in beef gravy.

Emma says she's coming to your house, for dinner. I made her eat sardines. She wants bacon, eggs, and gravy, PLZTHKS! 

You guys are missing the point. I don't feed my dog UNHEALTHY things. She gets sick of eating the same thing for every meal. Wouldn't you?  How many of you can say that you have had the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the past month? Wolves in the wild don't even eat the same thing everyday.

 I don't understand why some of you think switching up a  dog's kibbles and adding healthy toppers is equivalent to "giving in" to my dog and feeding her something like bacon and gravy. Thats not what I am doing.

 I think the basis of good health is variety. When my dog gets bored with her kibble, that tells me its time for a switch and introduce her to something different.

I know I've had to put a cap on the amount of changing up we did.  At one point, my husband and I were like, what's next, we go down to Capital Grill and get her a filet??  I did try to accomodate her needs and wishes but when it got silly, we put our foot down and let her eat less, go hungry for a period. 

That said, our vet did say they shouldn't be going more than three days or so without proper food.

jettababy

 I don't understand why some of you think switching up a  dog's kibbles and adding healthy toppers is equivalent to "giving in" to my dog and feeding her something like bacon and gravy. Thats not what I am doing.

That's precisely my point.  There is nothing wrong with switching it up and adding things for variety.  The idea of letting the dog choose is what bothers me.  I switch up my dogs food everyday.  They never ever get bored with it.   BUT if I had to feed them the same thing for a few days in a row, and they started to turn their noses up at it because they were being finicky, they would just starve.  No holds barred.  I'm not a short order cook.  I probably spend as much time as anyone making meals for my dogs, but they sure as heck aren't gonna start dictating to me what they feel like eating.  I don't think anyone is arguing the idea of variety.  Nobody is telling anyone to feed their dogs the same thing everyday, morning, noon and night.  But if you pay enough attention to your dogs, you realize long before they refuse to eat, that they aren't as enthusiastic about a food.  That is the time to switch it up, not when the dog has already refused it.  Waiting til that point would make any dog think twice about eating what it didn't absolutely love.

For the record, I'm not talking about you specifically jettababy.  If anyone asked me why their dog didn't like a certain food after they've already decided not to eat it without something added to it or whatnot, I'd tell them the same thing.  Its like those comercials about the power of cheese.  Where the kids won't eat veggies until mom comes over with some melted cheese to pour overtop.  Why on earth would those kids ever ever eat their veggies plain?  

My only other thought on this is how do you know when there really is something wrong with your dog, if you just keep switching foods whenever he/she doesn't want that kind anymore?  When my dogs refuse their food, I know something is wrong with them.  They go under surveilance then and there, and if they refuse another meal, they go to the vet.  Simple.  If my dogs were in the habit of snubbing food and just holding out for something better, I would lose that advantage.  Are they sick?  or just being picky?  It would take 3 days to figure out if anything was really wrong, and IMO that is too long.

jettababy

Here you go: http://royalcanin.us/brochures/MINI_Yorkshire_28_brochure.pdf

 This particular article is on their yorkshire formula. The part about little dogs and fussiness is on the 24th page of the brochure.

jettababy

You guys are missing the point. I don't feed my dog UNHEALTHY things. She gets sick of eating the same thing for every meal. Wouldn't you?  How many of you can say that you have had the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the past month? Wolves in the wild don't even eat the same thing everyday.

 I don't understand why some of you think switching up a  dog's kibbles and adding healthy toppers is equivalent to "giving in" to my dog and feeding her something like bacon and gravy. Thats not what I am doing.

 I think the basis of good health is variety. When my dog gets bored with her kibble, that tells me its time for a switch and introduce her to something different.

The only time you are giving in is if you present the food, the dog refuses it, and you then offer something else.  It is NOT giving in if you simply choose to offer a different food from time to time, and still insist that the dog eat or the food simply disappears for that mealtime.

Not giving in is how we insure that our dogs don't become picky.  I feel better knowing that if my dogs refuse food I'd better consider a vet visit, than if I never know if they are ill or just playing me. 

Is it true that these "Small Breeds" are man designed   ?  That we keep breeding the smallest of a litter with a similar small dog? Perhaps that is where the problem lies.

Small dogs in my mind are not dogs in the normal sense. Owners of larger breeds do not have this picky problem. More than likely man has breed out the natural desire of a dog to "wolf" down its food. 

Don't get me wrong.. Small dogs are cute. But they act more like cats..   in some ways. Like when it comes to eating !

well, by that argument, giant breeds are 'man designed' too.

ETA: I wonder if there's a difference in small and toy breeds that live in a household with larger dogs? I've never had 'just' small dogs..they've always resided with at least one, if not more, large dogs. They were treated just the same, including at feeding times. Not eating something got it taken up until the next meal time. My small/toy dogs over my lifetime(a pekinese, then a yorkie, my current yorkie, and a poodle/chi mix) have always been just as welling to eat anything and everything as my larger dogs.

I'm really grateful for this, as my poodle/chi mix has a condition that means she HAS to eat her one type of food, no toppers, no extras. If she were prone to food refusal there is a good chance she'd have wasted away to nothing or would have had to get a feeding tube. She's such a food hound that any time she doesn't eat her meal, it is cause for a rushing to the vet.  And usually, there's something wrong. 

I realize these are just MY dogs, and others are different. I do think dogs of all sizes are good at picking up what works, and as long as their owners don't mind switching foods or adding something different frequently, then it's a happy situation for all :)

 I do know that wouldn't work at my house though :p 

 LOL I just want to say - heck 30-40lb dogs look small to me now cuz my 100+lb'er is my normal size dog.

I have notice a bunch of terrier's that are not big eaters and fussy - just through friends and family though.  To be honest I think they just don't need all that is provided for them, I know two people with Westies that let the self-regulate.  I don't know any 30+lb dogs that are allowed to free feed.  Bugsy would likely eat 'til he blew up 

As for the food/variety/ taste thing I could put cardboard in his bowl and he'd chow it down.  The only thing he eats slow is green tripe - he appears to be savoring each bite.  If he isn't enjoying his kibble no one told him

I know dogs over 50 lbs who are free fed. I know large dogs who are picky, and small dogs, and tiny dogs. I know small dogs who live with large/giant dogs, and small dogs who are the only dog in the household. I know a 45 lb Jack Russell (seriously... she's oversized, but not THAT much) who is picky as heck, but Grammy feeds her bacon and sausage every morning. 

Emma wanted to be picky, for a while. When she got dangerously thin (I'm serious, she was in danger of not living if she lost another few ounces), I gave up. I'd tried everything. I sat down, and cried, and decided that if the dog wasn't going to eat, she wasn't going to eat. I offered her a small meal, five times a day, and took it up when she was done. I stopped the spoon feeding, begging, pleading, 45 minute meal times.... lo and behold, she started eating. That's obviously different than some of ya'll's dogs, since you've been through tough love and it didn't work...  Emma had been very ill, and food nauseated her, which is why she stopped eating to begin with.

I never doubt that there are dogs of all sizes/breeds/etc that are one way or another - I was just saying that I didn't know any large-ish dogs that were free fed or that were fussy.  I do know a couple of westies and a welsh terrier that are free fed and very fussy.  Most of the large-ish dogs I know are labs and goldens so that may explain the zest for food and unfussy nature

Bugsy is not nearly as non-discriminating as the retrievers but he eats whatever you provide with enthusiasm.  I have had him doing tricks for the ribs from romaine lettuce

I honestly can't imagine having to please my dog with my food selection.  That is not knocking those that do - to each his/her own.  It is not a trait I would have much time for - any dog of mine needs to love to eat at least as much as I love to eat