Dog Community

APBT food picky??

Posted : 11/5/2006 9:50:22 PM

We have an 8 mo old red-nosed, fawn colored APBT named Kaiya. We started feeding her Royal Canin puppy food for medium breed dogs approx 3 1/2 mo ago. She was kinda put off by it then, but eventually ate it (it was her only choice) and has eaten it every day since. However, we have a 6 yr old German Shepard named Jersey, who is eating the Royal Canin breed specific food for German Shepards, no problems there. But, Kaiya prefers Jersey's food and has always tried to sneak to it just to get a bite. Last night, Kaiya absolutely refused to eat her food & let it sit until feeding time tonight, and still would not eat!! I tried liquid flavoring, no go... so I added 1/2 cup of Jersey's food & mixed it in. She ate each individual piece of that food, and left hers! I finally gave her some just so she would not starve, but what do I do??? She is refusing to eat it anymore and I really wanted to get her worked up to the Royal Canin adult food for bully dogs, but she isn't old enough yet. Any ideas?

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 11/6/2006 12:22:28 PM

maybe time to switch off of the puppy food. sydney did similarly when he was about 8-9 months old. we decided it was better to go ahead and put him on adult food rather than have him either trying to steal from amelia or refusing to eat out right.

edit: we were wanting him to stay on the puppy food until he was at least 1 yr old.

Erin

Posted : 11/6/2006 3:49:10 PM

so is it ok to start an 8 month old on adult food? miya's still on puppy food and shane's on adult food and they keep trying to eat each others food even though it's pretty much the exact same thing other than hers is smaller bites (which sucks because he's the small dog). would it be ok to have them on the same adult food? i wanted to wait until she was a year old but they graze mostly and i have to yell at them several times a day to eat their own food.

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 11/6/2006 4:26:08 PM

i dont see a reason you couldnt feed them the same adult food. many people never feed puppy food. they start their dogs out on adult food after they are weaned.

ColleenC

Posted : 11/6/2006 8:12:52 PM

Look at the guaranteed analysis....there should be a statement similar to "AAFCO...formulated for...." if it says all life stages, then it is ok for the puppy and adult. If not, I would either keep them on the separate foods, or find a food that does say all life stages. I work with a nutritionist who breeds dogs and he always makes sure the food is for all life stages so that the puppies and adults can eat the same thing.

Erin

Posted : 11/6/2006 8:31:50 PM

i was told that with miya that we *could* give her adult food right away but that it would stunt her growth and she wouldn't reach full size.
is it bad for my adult chi to eat a little puppy food mixed in with his? i know there are extra fats and stuff in puppy food, and while he's not fat, he's very stocky and muscular. he's bigger than any other chi.

smys21

Posted : 11/7/2006 2:33:17 AM

Thank you for everyone's help! I also wanted to keep her on the puppy food til about a year, but maybe like Sydney, she is deciding for herself that she is ready for adult food. I will give it a try this weekend (when I get to the store to buy it [

]) and I will let you know how she does.

alieliza

Posted : 11/7/2006 3:20:44 PM

There is no problem with switching your dog to adult food, as long as it is done gradually, as with any food switch as to not bother her stomach.

Tyson, our APBT has been on adult food for most of his post young puppy age. Im not sure exactly how long, as we adopted him from someone else at 4 months, but he was eating adult food then, and hes a year now.

If im not mistaken, "puppy food" is more a marketing strategy than anything else.

smys21

Posted : 11/17/2006 2:02:16 AM

Ok... so I gave Kaiya the adult bully breed food. She seems to be ok with it,she eats it anyway, BUT........
She is still after Jersey's food & would eat that over her own if given the chance. I am begining to wonder if it isn't more behavioral?? Maybe she just wants it because Jersey has it & thinks she is missing out on something?? They have diff food because they are diff breeds and the food is breed specific. Any thoughts??

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 11/17/2006 8:36:48 AM

we have similar issues with sydney and amelia. even though they are on the same food, and we add the same supplements and toppings to each, sydney will still eat out of amelia's bowl. for us it isnt a big deal because when he gets to her bowl, she will go to his bowl. so nobody is missing out on eating, they just eat out the wrong bowl part of the time.

if you definitely want them to eat their own food, try crating them at meal times. we used to crate sydney during meal time. when he was a little puppy he was an intense chow hound and would gulp his food down in about 10 seconds and then try to steal amelia's food.