I have an almost 2 year old Great Pyrenees. Unfortunately, he's only 73 lbs. He's a very picky eater. Some days he'll eat all of his food. Some days he won't eat anything or he'll just pick at it.
We've tried all types of foods. Dry, canned, mixed, with gravy. The only thing he does not have a problem eating is his cookies or meat.
We just bought a bag of Evo Puppy food. It's suppoed to be really high in protein and fat. Supposed to be like the dry equivalent of a raw food diet.
However, he still won't eat it. He'll pick up a few pieces, lick them and then just drop them to the ground. How can I just get him to eat it?
We're getting really desperate here.

labman

How big is he? 73 pounds is below the breed standards. Can you easily feel his ribs, or do they actually show through the fur? If not, he may be eating all he needs. Compare him to the examples at http://www.purina.com/dogs/nutrition.asp?article=292. I am not familiar with the breed. Many young Shepherds drive their owners up the wall refusing to eat enough to keep their ribs completely hidden. Most Labs are the opposite, eating their way to life shortening obesity and still look for more. That Evo is a meat based concentrated chow? If he will eat enough of it that he is only a little on the thin side, maybe leave well enough alone.

Most dogs will eat enough to at least keep their ribs from showing too much. I did have a Lab, that when I switched him to the adult regular Purina I was feeding then, he ate so little his ribs did show badly. I switched to a concentrated chow, and he at least ate enough of it, I could take him out in public.

What does your vet say? You should be feeding the Science Diet he sells?

daehnolem

I'm also having an eating problem with my 12 week old lab pup. She seems a wee bit too skinny. I was feeding her Euk LB puppy, and this week, I've switched her to Nutro Natural Choice LB puppy. At first, she LOVED the new food. The first day I started mixing her foods, she wolfed down her meal. She's done that all week until just a couple of days ago. She'll eat maybe half, but then she starts picking at it or walking away from it. I thinking she's teething, so I wonder if maybe the food is hurting her mouth? In that case, should I soak it in water? I'm feeding her no more than the recommended daily serving for her size (@ 25 lbs). but now, I can't get her to eat all of it.

hdhsc2002

I always heard that a good remedy for a dog teething is to take a wet washcloth and put it in the freezer. Then let him chew on it for a while.
I'm going back to the feed him for 15 minutes routine. Whatever he doesn't eat in 15 minutes gets put back in the bag.
I know the Evo puppy food is good because our other dog likes it. The Pyr even ate four or five pieces right before his timer went off but it was a deal of too bad. He has to wait for the next feeding.
I'm really thinking that he was getting too used to our neighbor giving him cookies/treats. I know it's not that he doesn't want to eat, it's that he wants certain stuff. Cause let me tell you, he'll come running when he here's the refrigerator open. He's just got to learn to eat the dog food.
So, we're trying the 15 minute rule for 1 week. If he's still not eating then we'll take him back to the vet and possibly run tests.
The great thing about the Evo dog food, or maybe it's just the people that we bought it from, but if he doesn't like it, we can get a 100% refund.

hdhsc2002

He has been to the vet. She recommended mixing canned in with the dry. Sometimes he'll eat it sometimes he won't. Most times he'll pick up some, suck on it for a while and then drop out the dry stuff.

We've tried the Science Diet, Eukanuba, Pedigree, Iams and some of the generic brands as well. But we're gonna stick with this Evo for one week. It's supposed to be a dry food equivalent of the Raw Diet. High fat and protein.

daehnolem

Hopefully, your dog will be hungry enough and figure out he's not getting anything else to eat. I hope you've told your neighbor to lay off the treats.
I know my dog likes her food. I really just think she's having troubles eating it. She tries to only chew up one piece at a time. I just gave her about a cup and put water in it. I would've liked to have soaked it longer, but she's having surgery later today to take off a lump from her leg. So I have to give her some food early or she'll go hungry all day. She just ate all of her food that was in the water, though, so I guess that's what I'll have to do until she stops teething, though. Thanks for the idea about the washcloth. I'll definitely do that for her.
I've also heard of mixing in a bit of cottage cheese to coax a picky eater into eating. I haven't done it myself, and I don't know how healthy it is. But maybe someone more knowledgeable than I am about canine nutrition can tell us if that's any good.

labman

I didn't mention the 15 minute thing. It is an established technique. The first step is to determine the dog's body condition using the link I posted. The recommendation on chow packages tend to be high for the average dog. The average dog also tends to be over weight. It shortens their life and damages their joints. Even many vets don't preach lean like they should. Through my volunteer work with service dog schools, I have access to some of the best dog care information. The schools track thousands of dogs. If they have to train a replacement for a dog whose career was shortened by over weight, it costs as much as a new car. In the thumbnails, I don't see a problem with either dog. This link is top a picture of 2 dogs with good body condition. They are about 8-10 months old. http://www.photolocker.net/images/La...llaplaying.jpg Here is another picture of a Lab that wasn't as happy as I was with his body condition. http://www.photolocker.net/images/La...theproplan.jpg

Unless your dog is much worse than the picture shows, go with the 15 minutes, and lean and healthy. Too fast of growth is not good for the large breeds. The LB puppy chow is not as bad as the regular, but it wouldn't hurt to switch the 12 week old to adult chow anytime after 4 months.

hdhsc2002

That's one thing about the EVO. I think it does have the cottage cheese in it. It's made by Natura if you want to take a look.
I heard if you put water in the food to make it warm. Kind of makes it a little easier to form a gravy.

hdhsc2002

We kept him on the LB puppy food until the vert had said to switch over. Still kept him on the LB food. The thumbnail is from when he's about 3 months old. He's now almost 2 years old.

He was basically a wild puppy. His mom and dad were raised with the goats, so there was little interaction with adults. It's even rumored that the mother dragged a deer out of the woods for the puppies to eat.

When we first got him, he would pick up each piece of food and bring it away from the bowl to eat it. Go back and pick up another piece. Took a while before he would eat just straight from the bowl.

Did tell the neighbor that's there to be no goodies for one week. We'll see how that goes.

daehnolem

My thumbnail photo is from about a month and a half ago. My dog's been pretty lean since I got her. I'm being really mindful of not overfeeding her. I know how dangerous that can be for labs. At this point, she's only eating maybe two or two and a half cups a day. And just this past week, she was sucking all of her food down like she thought she would never eat again. She's my first puppy, so I worry about everything, I guess.
Hey Labman, have you checked your Purina link in a while? It's not working for me.