birdsallpl Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 My springer has gone completly off his dry food. I changed the brand a couple of weeks ago because his usual brand wasn't in stock. He wouldn't touch it, so I have now got his usual brand again and he won't touch that either. We have often given him some meat left over from our meals mixed with his biscuits, he used to scoff the lot down but now picks it out and leaves the biscuit. He is obviously hungry because he hoovers anything up dropped in the kitchen. He will also eat any of his treats. I have tried taking his food up if he doesn't eat it and have stopped giving him any other food except his biscuit since Monday morning. I have come to the conclusion that he has been spoilt with being given some of our left overs and has now considered that the norm. It is two days now and I am worried how long I should push to try and get him to take the biscuit, (which he used to enjoy) he is perfectly normal in every other way, accept he may be drinking slightly more. He had his vaccine boosters and health check last Monday and the vet gave him a clean bill of health. I don't think the vaccines are the cause because he was off his biscuits before then. How long would you keep up the biscuit only regime before another visit to the vets. Or can you suggest anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 I used to feed my two spaniels working crunch mixed with tinned meat and rabbit. They ate it no bother and suddenly one day both of them sorted out the meat and left the biscuit. Next day it was the same thing. I looked at and smelt the biscuit to see if it had got contaminated or something was wrong with it. Couldn’t find anything wrong with it so I left it out for a few days and then tried it again. Neither of them would eat it and sorted it out from the meat. I gave the remainder of half a sack away to another dog owner to see if their dog ate it. The dog did eat it so it must have been my dogs that just went off of it. Must have been a case of >> Not baked beans on toast again. When you read the list of ingredients in most dog food you think what the hell is all that lot. EG -- X % of animal origin ? What is that? X% of vegetable origin? X% KIBBLE >> What is KIBBLE? I looked at different sacks of dog food and the price range is fantastic. So what junk is in the cheaper brands? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted November 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Did you manage to get yours back onto biscuit. fortune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Didn't try the same stuff again as it might have been a whole sack that they wouldn't eat so I got them a sack of terrier meal which is the same as Winalot biscuit. This is mixed with the tinned meat ( Generally PAL multi pack variable flavours) and rabbit meat to give a variety of taste and texture. Also some left over vegetables. Touch wood that’s eaten up and gives a good end result. What about knocking up some oxo gravy and pouring that over the food. Might be worth a try to break up the monotony of the same old stuff. “ Oh no not sausage and chips again” If a crust of bread is put in the bowl that it the first thing that gets eaten every time. Strangely not all that keen on the rabbit. Looney, fussy, beastly spaniel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evo Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 ha ha , had to laugh,, to the op,, your dog has become spoilt with the food you have been giving him,i would certainly stop giving him treats but make sure he has plenty of water about, he will eat it when he is hungry , if when you put his food out and leave it for half hour , if he doesn,t eat it then remove the bowl of food, do not give the dog anything else, then at tea time put his food back down,if after half hour he refuses it again then remove it,and continue to put it back out at feed times, I would personally try mixing some gravy in with it as already stated or mix a small amount of tinned meat in with it and see how that goes but I NEVER give my dog our food as it will get accustomed to it,,if after a couple of days he is refusing to eat the original dried food he usually ate then a trip back to the vets would be called for as it could be another problem, good luck with it and hope you get it sorted atb Evo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 (edited) We feed our lot ad-lib dry food with a drop hopper. We do change the sort ocasionally, but stick within the Skinners field and trial range. They all get a spoon of cod liver oil twice a week and a denta stick in the morning. They get knuckle bones to keep their teeth clean too. We weigh them all regularly on a 20kg baby scales except the setter who gets weighed at the vets to keep a monitor on their weights. They do get left over dinner but not much between the lot of them. The only exception to this is our elderly papillion who stopped eating at 15 and went very frail and lost loads of weight. He would always eat a bit of our dinner, so after discussion with our vet we just made a bit more of our dinner for him and feed him seperatly. The slight imbalance in eating our food is better than starving to death our vet reckons. He is 17 now and still a happy chap. He does get the occasional bit of tinned cat food if we eat out or are having something really unsuitable. Edited November 5, 2014 by loriusgarrulus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wj939 Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Try soaking it in hot water? Change of texture might do the trick. What's his teeth like? Might be a problem there, got a tooth ache last thing you'd want is hard kibble. Some dogs do go off their food for no reason, I'd look at it with three options: 1 change the food 2 add water or gravy 3 wait it out, he'll eat if hungry enough. Some people advocate a starve day here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 You have a clever dog birdsallpl. He is telling you that he prefers leftovers and meat to dry food and why not? Would you eat cardboard in preference to steak and kidney pie? My Sprocker has been trying the same thing on with me and if I feed him wetted down dry food on its own he generally leaves it first time. He gets the same food at the next feed and the next until he eats it. I do want him to have some meat in his diet so I have a rule of one mixed meat and dry food/biscuits meal per week and no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Similar thoughts to my own JDog No dog is going to starve itself to death if it has food available if its keen on it or not . I too only give mine something extra once a week or so , usually some sardines / Tuna or a couple of eggs . Of course if he has not eaten anything after two or three days then a trip to the vet may be a good idea to ensure there is not a underlying problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted November 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Thanks all, I will try the dry food again this morning and remove it if he doesn't eat it after 30 minutes. As this will then be 3 days. Tonight I will put a little gravy in with it, if he eats that at least I will know there's probably not much wrong with him and that he is just a stubborn little so and so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayden Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 We always wet the dried food for all our dogs the night before, in a tub. Ours will eat their breakfast and dinner in around 30 seconds, so there's never any leaving the bowl out, I find this helps with portion control too. Cheers Hayden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker boy Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 No dog in history has ever starved it's self to death because it didn't like its food. It is a dog, it gets fed what the owner gives it. Dead simple really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 We always wet the dried food for all our dogs the night before, in a tub. Ours will eat their breakfast and dinner in around 30 seconds, so there's never any leaving the bowl out, I find this helps with portion control too. Cheers Hayden The key there is dogs . For a number of years I had a cocker , i would feed him once a day , his food would be eaten at any time over the following 24 hrs , he would have a little and leave some for later . When I got a second dog that changed over night , the minute the bowl went down he would eat until it was empty . When there are more than one dog involved they really dont like to give each other chance of nabbing their food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbbracken Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 try putting a spoonful of canned pumpkin in with his food my lab goes mad for it you buy it in a tin what you have left you can freeze in a ice cube maker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbird Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 Check his teeth, too.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 No dog in history has ever starved it's self to death because it didn't like its food. It is a dog, it gets fed what the owner gives it. Dead simple really. About sums it up really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted November 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 About sums it up really So should I take him to the vets then, if he continues not to take the biscuit. Any advise welcome please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 No, give him nothing other than the biscuits. Once he's hungry enough he'll eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 As I write my Sprocker is debating whether to eat the dried (but soaked) food I gave him for his breakfast. He might as well eat it as he will get it this evening if he doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) Weigh some biscuit and put it down 24/7. Weigh it again next day to check if he has eaten any.Don't give him anything else to eat. Make sure he is drinking OK. Weigh your dog to check if he is losing weight. Also check his teeth to make sure he hasn't got any bad ones. Sometimes bad breath will show this even if you can't see it. If he starts to lose a lot of weight say more than 5% or look off colour or if he isn't eating within a couple of days take him to your vet. Make sure your OH is not feeding him extras as well. Edited November 6, 2014 by loriusgarrulus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) Try soaking it in hot water? Change of texture might do the trick. What's his teeth like? Might be a problem there, got a tooth ache last thing you'd want is hard kibble. Some dogs do go off their food for no reason, I'd look at it with three options: 1 change the food 2 add water or gravy 3 wait it out, he'll eat if hungry enough. Some people advocate a starve day here and there. i had problems like this...many years ago...and discovered that all the dry biscuit needs to be soaked in hot water before hand ...as spaniels have a habit of gulping there food and "graizing" their throat and gut...then they go off their food...and drink a lot of water to sooth their throat and gut....... when this happened the only thing they would touch is Chappie on its own.......... Edited November 6, 2014 by ditchman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocker boy Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 (edited) Put the food down and wait 5 minutes, if the dog.doesn't eat it take it away. Repeat on day 2. The dog will get the message sooner rather than later. Edited November 6, 2014 by cocker boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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