# Picky poodle please help!!!



## Darlydootoypoo (Jun 5, 2017)

So my Darly (toy poodle) is 1 next month. When we got her she was on Iams puppy biscuits and pedigree wet food. She then went off it and was leaving it. I have since tried everything and she either totally turns her nose up or she eats for a day or so then again turns her nose up! We have tried nutriment raw food, Lily's kitchen wet food, Harringtons wet food, cooked chicken and salmon with added potatoes and rice with veg and salmon oil to no avail. i am spending so much money and throwing it away or filling the fridge with half eaten stuff and the bin is filling up quickly! I don't care how much I spend if she actually eats something!! 

I am at my wits end because she's skinny.. she's 2.9kg and I can feel her spine. She will happily eat cooked chicken, sometimes a scrambled egg, milk, lamb puffs which are dehydrated lamb lungs and the Pure brand meat sticks but this isn't a sufficient diet of course. 

I just don't know what to do! when I took her to the vets when she was about 6 months they blamed me and said just feed her Royal canin she will love it.. she didn't after me buying a bag and I knew she wouldn't be happy with dry boring biscuits.. even if I moisten them, add milk, add wet food etc! I am sure they were sponsored to sell it and personally I don't believe in feeding dogs kibble!

I think this weekend I will persist with lilys kitchen.. it's full of goodness and the closest to home made food. Maybe trying again with leaving a plate down for 15 mins and then taking it away at breakfast, lunch and dinner time and do it all weekend even if it does mean she's starving herself? I have tried this before but gave up after a day or two when I worried about her!!

Any advice welcome!!!!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I don't know what she should weight, nor have I ever had a dog that was such a fussy eater.

I do have a skinny mini - and it unnerved me that her back, especially in the rear felt so bony. Not only was she eating the precribed amount, but I was actually feeding her 2 or 3 times as much plus we do lots of training so she was getting tons of treats in addition to her food...........my dog wasn't skinny due to lack of calories. My daughter got a 1 yo rough Collie the year before and I remember this is exactly the way her back felt too - so bony, skeletal. This dog was well fed and my daughter has a farmette so this dog runs a lot chasing deer, helping with the horses plus does agility. Her dog at around age 2 really filled out with muscle and is no longer bony. My dog also has hit the 2 year mark, also does agility and her muscles have filled out and is no longer bony - she is still slim but a healthy weight.

I mention this because perhaps your dog too needs time to physically mature and build muscle. Did your vet tell you your dog was too skinny? Or was he chiding you for your dogs fussy eating habits.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

You could try rotating what she eats, this is was the only thing that helped put more weight on the picky eater in my house, non-poodle pom/chi mix


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

My toy poodle was just like your baby when I got him at 16 months. He would sometimes not eat for 2 days straight, other times very little of his bowl. Now, 2 years later, he never leaves any food in his bowl !

The thing is, dogs are smart. She has learned that by not eating, she gets to have new food.

I will tell you what worked for me, and it should work with yours as well. First, find a good food that she likes and that you're comfortable sticking with. Because you won't change it again, at least not until she has been eating steadily for at least 6 months. Get some samples from a pet store that you feel are great, and see if she will like it as a treat. Don't feed it right away as a meal. Choose the one she likes most as a treat and buy a full bag. This will be her food from now on.

To help my dog eat more, I put about 2-3 spoons of warm water in his bowl, to make the kibble smellier. And I add 1 spoon of dog canned food. And I serve it to my dog, always at the same time. If he doesn't it in 15 minutes, I remove the food and he won't have anything offered until mext meal. No treats to compensate either. Not while he's in training. 

It took about 2-3 months and then he would never leave food anymore. I saw definite progress in a few weeks, and he was " cured " in those 2-3 months.

You need to stick to your guns and not give in. Don't change her food anymore. You know what's best for her and you've picked a very good quality brand. And she told you she liked it, she ate some as a treat. Don't worry if she skips a meal, or even 2, she won't let herself starve. She'll get it really fast.

Of course, everything I wrote only applies to a healthy dog. I am assuming your baby has no medical condition that would explain the situation.

Good luck !


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Have you tried rotating raw/home cooked? I buy direct from Durham Animal Feeds, and I can recommend their meat minces, but it might be cheaper to experiment with stuff from the supermarket first. 

I'd buy chicken wings, lowish fat mince beef, and a little liver and kidney - beef if you can find it, otherwise pork and lamb. Halve the chicken wings and loose freeze them, so that you can defrost one piece at a time. Chop/process equal quantities of liver and kidney, and freeze teaspoonfuls in an icecube tray. Portion out the mince beef into tablespoonful sized dollops (40 - 50g), and freeze - again so that you can defrost one at a time. Feed twice a day - half a raw chicken wing, one dollop of beef+one cube of the liver mix, one scrambled egg, half a tin of sardines (preferably in brine, if not tomato) would each make a generous meal for a dog her size. The calcium from the high bone content in the chicken wing more or less balances the egg and beef - sardines should contain enough to be balanced in themselves. If she enjoys these meals, try extending the range - minced lamb or pork or turkey, perhaps. If she refuses it raw, try cooking the mince first - use the chicken wings to make soup for yourselves, and grind up the eggshells to add calcium to the meat mixes instead. Once you know which meats she enjoys you can think about buying dog versions of them, complete with 10% bone and 10% offal, but while you are experimenting I would stick with things that you can happily turn into a pasta sauce or cottage pie for yourself!


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## Darlydootoypoo (Jun 5, 2017)

wow thanks everyone for your responses I am overwhelmed!

This weekend I decided to stick with a high quality wet food and put it down then take it away if she ignored it. She wouldn't eat it at first but then for the last day and a half she has been eating it! I am not sure this will last but lets hope so! It's Forthglade too which isn't cheap but I don't mind what I pay if she eats! I'll update you if anything changes! 

I do love your idea fjm so that might be my next move!


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