# Picky poodle



## Tami (Feb 19, 2014)

Hi folks,
I have a 5 year old toy poodle, Andre. He hates anything raw. I was wondering what dry food you prefer as I'm having trouble getting him to eat. I've tried numerous kibble and mixed a bit of merrick or wellness canned with 1/2 cup of chicken or turkey we roasted. He wants to pick the meat out and leave the dry food. Then he has very watery stool and little nutrition. Do you have a favorite dry food that your dog's like?
Thanks!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Have you considered home cooking for him? Not difficult once you have grasped the basic principles, and cheaper than throwing away premium kibble because he won't eat it - I had a similar problem with Sophy, who disliked kibble as soon as it became the least bit stale. There is good information on home prepared diets here DogAware.com: Diet & Health Info for Man's Best Friend


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## Beautiful Blue (Apr 24, 2017)

I don't have a real answer for you...I hope others can supply a brand name.

I saw a tendency 14 years ago when we got our first standard poodle puppy - a tendency for us to "baby" her in regards to dog food, variety of same, addition of treats from our plates, etc. And a tendency on her part toward becoming fussy and demanding.

With the acquisition of the second poodle to be her companion (a 4 month old pup who would readily eat the kibble) Poodle #1 improved her attitude, shall we say, and ate the food offered. 

I am continuing this with Rio. 
"This is good for you. This is what we have for you to eat. Eat it." 

It works for him because his former owner also simply fed a quality kibble to her dogs.

But I have often wondered if there is a way to just stop! Reset. Don't feed them. And start again. If the dog is healthy, it surely won't hurt them to go for a while - until they're good and hungry - and rediscover that the kibble is satisfying, and yes, tasty.

I know there are many on this Forum who feed raw, home cook, and otherwise spend time and money on their dog's diet. But that is time and money that I may not have, or care to spend. After 2 months of cooking, scraping, mixing, freezing, thawing out, hand feeding, purchasing, throwing away - trying to get our aged dog to eat when she was coming to the end of her life - I was thrilled to be back to the simplicity of a young, healthy dog eating his 3 cups of kibble per day... and I'm determined not spoil him.

In moments of weakness, I remind myself of our son is law, with his hunting and working dogs - who live in an outdoor kennel and the garage - and are healthy and active and devoted to him. And thrilled when they get food and water. 

And it ain't home-cooked.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

With picky dogs, you need to be firm. Gomto the pet store and get as many samples of quality dog food that you can.

Feed them as treat and see whoch one he prefers. Then that's what he will get from now on. You might want to add 1/2 spoon of canned food to make it more appetizing and 1/2 spoon of warm water, to make some type of gravy. Mix everything and serve. 

After 15 minutes, take it away. Don't fuss over him to eat, let him be. If he doesn't eat, he will next time. Next time he might only eat 1/3 or 1/2, it's okay too. After a few days of this he'll know he has to est or he gets nothing else.

I've done this with many, many dogs and it never fails ! Don't compensate by giving treats during the day though.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

There is a air dried food called 'Only Natural MaxMeat' that is very good ! The company 'Only Natural Pet' is available online and at Petsmart. They also make kibble but the MaxMeat is an air dried raw type that resemble jerky so it is neither mushy like canned nor hard like kibble so most dogs find it very tasty. My girl loved the Lamb & Cod MaxMeat, she thinks it's a treat! I've also tried the 'Just Fish Feast' kibble and that was also well liked.


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## im.speechliss (Jul 4, 2017)

Beautiful Blue said:


> I don't have a real answer for you...I hope others can supply a brand name.
> 
> I saw a tendency 14 years ago when we got our first standard poodle puppy - a tendency for us to "baby" her in regards to dog food, variety of same, addition of treats from our plates, etc. And a tendency on her part toward becoming fussy and demanding.
> 
> ...


Just saying, Beautiful Blue, I agree with you 100%! I was so worried about my starved, adopted, stray poodle mix, approx. 4 mo old. Foster mom added chicken broth, etc, to her dry grain-free kibble to try to get her to eat. I work full time and i don't have time to cater. My vet said, "Don't give her chocolate cake or she will never feel her natural hunger." Good advice. Daisy is now a self feeder of 5 star dry kibble and doing great! I look for high quality dry dog food for all stages on dogfoodadvisor.com My mantra now is: WHEN YOUR DOG IS HUNGRY, SHE WILL EAT!! I stopped worrying, as long as my pup was active and happy!

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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

Dechi said:


> With picky dogs, you need to be firm. Gomto the pet store and get as many samples of quality dog food that you can.
> 
> Feed them as treat and see whoch one he prefers. Then that's what he will get from now on. You might want to add 1/2 spoon of canned food to make it more appetizing and 1/2 spoon of warm water, to make some type of gravy. Mix everything and serve.
> 
> ...


I totally agree with you. Cayenne would not eat until the other dogs finished, then go to their bowls first and then go to hers, as nothing left in theirs. Now this was an additional 20 minutes, so when she went to lay down I would pick up her bowl, no problem until. She would go to their bowls and nothing left, she would go to her mat and no bowl, it took her about 4 different times during a week. Now it is so cute when I pick up one of the other bowls, she will get real close to hers and eat as if to say, "Don't time mine not done yet".


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## Tami (Feb 19, 2014)

I understand that. Can you tell me which 5 star kibble she's eating? I check in with dog food advisor too, but I need to watch out for super high protein because Anfre's urine test showed high protein markers. Thanks!


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## Tami (Feb 19, 2014)

Thank you all for your advice. I did look through past threads before asking the food question but wanted to know if anything had progressed since then. I've considered home-cooked but I'm not a nutritionist and I'm sure I'd never get the right balance he'd need. I'd happily leave kibble out for him during the day to eat at random but I have a diabetic that can only eat twice a day and dare not get into it. I'm hoping to find a good healthy kibble that I can mix with a partial home-cooked diet to get the best of both worlds but can't can't find that kibble that's healthy and palatable. I'd love to have you mention some names of the brands that your pups like.


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## im.speechliss (Jul 4, 2017)

Daisy loves American Journey, Chicken and Sweet Potato Recipe. We tried it when Chewy.com offered a free 4# lb bag and my "picky" eater was eager to eat it! This brand has a 5 Star rating on DogFoodAdvisor.com and this recipe is for "all stages."

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## im.speechliss (Jul 4, 2017)

In addition, it is Grain-Free.

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## Beautiful Blue (Apr 24, 2017)

Tami said:


> I understand that. Can you tell me which 5 star kibble she's eating? I check in with dog food advisor too, but I need to watch out for super high protein because Anfre's urine test showed high protein markers. Thanks!


I would not mix kibble with home cooked...he will surely "pick the meat out" as you stated before.

Try to get him to eat only the good quality kibble - that would be my suggestion.

I am using Rachel Ray's Nutrish Peak. And it get good ratings. The Peak does.


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