Are Staffies particularly fussy eaters?

Hi, my son and I are new to the breed, we always had Dobermanns before we got our absolutely adorable Kuchar in March this year. Kuchar is now 8 months old. My question is - do Staffies have more delicate stomachs than other dogs, and more particular appetites?

Our Dobies were also obtained as young puppies, and almost from the start were fed on Bakers Complete (first Puppy, then Adult) - dry and unadorned they yummed it up every day, were fit as fleas and lived to good old ages. They also had bones (both cooked and uncooked - not chicken bones of course) with great enjoyment and no ill effects whatsoever.

Kuchar however has always been fussy - variety is the spice of life as far as he is concerned. Until 3 months old (when we got him) he had been fed on Waggs mixed with a little wet food. We gradually moved him onto Bakers Complete Puppy, which always served my dogs so well, but had to soften the dry food soaked in a little water and mix in every increasing amounts of Butchers Tripe, tinned sardines, or other wet tinned dogfood such as Butchers Beef & Liver or Tescos Lamb, etc. A different mix every day was necessary, otherwise he wouldn't eat it, and sometimes not even then. A month or so ago we changed (gradually) to feeding him on Bakers Complete Meaty Meals (soft chunks) - chicken, lamb or beef, a different flavour each day. At first, this was huge success, but Kuchar now frequently turns his nose up at the unadorned Meaty Chunks and we find increasingly that we have to mix various tinned foods again into his dinners to tempt him.

Despite this, Kuchar is a beautiful example of Staffy - muscled but not over so, no excess fat and full of life and exuberance.

He LOVES his bones (lamb leg bones)- he didn't want them raw however so I have been roasting them. He didn't get them every day - about 2 or 3 times a week.

HOWEVER - we have had two very scary episodes, first about 2 months ago and the second last night and they were both after having roasted lamb bones. I can't be sure that the bones were to blame as he has had them many times without trouble, but we didn't take any chances and rushed him off to the vet each time (last night in the middle of the night - X ray, ultrasound, blood tests etc etc etc - over £500 bill). Both times Kuchar was obviously distressed - panting, running a high temperature, diarrohea last night - and each time the vet's investigations showed no real cause for the distress.

We will NEVER give cooked bones to Kuchar again, which is a pity as he loves them - and we are now wary of ever giving him raw bones either.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

I have read other posts on your excellent site and so very many recommend feeding hard-to-get and expensive foods, which brings me back to my original question - are Staffies so much more difficult and expensive to feed than other dogs, and also cannot tolerate the treats which are so ordinarily given to other dogs such as bones, rawhide chews etc?

Bakers is an awful brand of food firstly.

Also bones should never been given cooked, roasted or dried. Only raw bones are safe to give.

To your question no staffs are not fussy eaters in general, don't pander to his whims though choose what you want to feed, be it dry, wet or raw food and stick to it. Put his food down and take whats not eaten in 15 mins and give no treats inbetween. A healthy dog will not starve himself.

Oh and hi!

Moo has a very touchey tum, cost a lot and took a lot of time to get her settled so to speak. Cut out anything chicken based (fish4dogs is her food now).

Hiya and welcome from us

Loki is my first Staff, so for all I know he's an exception to the rule, but I find that he's the farthest thing from fussy. The fussiest he's ever been is it took him a week or so to actually enjoy dog treats.

I pretty much agree with Ella in that you'll have to stick to your guns and pick whatever you feed him and don't switch it up on his request. If you keep doing that when he gets bored of his food, you'll eventually run out of things to feed him. He'll just have to get used to it. I don't think Staffs are fussy eaters or require more expensive food; it's just that the more expensive food can be better for your dog's health. Your Dobermans lived to good ages, but that doesn't necessarily mean the food is good for them. My mum's dog when she was younger used to live on whatever was left over for him, and he lived to be 19. My old dog was fed on some cheap stuff, and he had an average lifespan for his breed.

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. I've never seen one be fussy before to be honest. Just do as advised pick a food and stay with it. If after 10 minutes they won't eat pick it up and wait for the next meal time.

Hi & welcome.

As already said, don't pander to him, choose the food you want him to have & stick with it. Preferably not Bakers, though, it' a truly awful food! Also, raw bones only - cooked bones splinter & can cause serious internal damage!

ella wrote:Bakers is an awful brand of food firstly.

Also bones should never been given cooked, roasted or dried. Only raw bones are safe to give.

To your question no staffs are not fussy eaters in general, don't pander to his whims though choose what you want to feed, be it dry, wet or raw food and stick to it. Put his food down and take whats not eaten in 15 mins and give no treats inbetween. A healthy dog will not starve himself.

What Ella said!

Bakers really is dire, you might think your dogs have done/do do well on it but I'd happily bet you'd see a big change if you switched to a high quality food. It's like us eating fast food all the time.

What's your budget? If money is a limiting factor then there are better foods than Bakers that aren't as expensive as more premium quality food.

www.whichdogfood.co.uk is a helpful website when choosing a food.

Pick the best quality food you can afford then gradually change over, if it agrees with them then you just have to be a bit tough like Ella describes above and not pander to the pickiness.

As above , don't pander to them we have made that mistake and had to work our way back out of it by following advice form here.
Bakers and Wagg are pretty dire foods because of their make up so I would personally take them off it along with any other supermarket own brands and stuff.
Wainwrights is a good medium quality food easily got from Pets at Home which I can personally recommend as ours have both been on this, though I am in the process of changing over to Fish4dogs as a high end alternative because we want to give our dogs the best we can afford.
Failing this check through the links already given with recommendations

Thank you all SO much for your friendly welcomes and advice.

Firstly - yes I have taken on board no feeding of cooked bones! Raw bones only from now on (when I can get them, and when I pluck up the courage).

Secondly - Bakers is the equivalent of fast food (mcDonalds? etc) ? and yes, my budget is restricted, I am now an OAP. I would never want this to compromise my dog's well-being however, and will visit whichdogfood.co.uk as recommended by Galadriel (thank you!) I will also try Wainwrights and investigate fish4dogs (not sure that Kuchar will want fish every day though).

Ref the tough love approach as suggested by everyone - (take up the food after 15 minutes etc) - I KNOW it makes sense but is so hard to do. I also know that Kuchar, or any other dog, will not willingly starve himself and he doesn't - eventually. Maybe I was lucky with my Dobies in that they adored Bakers, ate it up with relish and also enjoyed bones (cooked or raw) with no ill effect. My vet was always appreciative and in awe indeed, as to how my dogs looked in old age - coats you could see you face in, no fat although not thin - magnificent animals. so you see why I always thought Bakers was the best dog food ever, although I am willing to concede that it doesn't suit all dogs - just the dogs I have had before!

Kuchar is also a lovely speciman of dog - no fat, well muscled, lively as heck! and an absolutely glistening coat. I am no photographer, but will put a picture up for him as soon as I can. He is loved to bits.

But please tell me good people, have you ever experienced your Staffy suddenly running a temperature, panting and distressed, for no good reason that the vets could (expensively) find, only to have them 12-24 hours later the same over-active manic little beings that they ever were?

I really DO appreciate your input

Sorry no, but that could well be the food. Bakers and similar contains all kinds of additives including colourings which can make dogs hyperactive and anxious.

There are a few foods out there that whilst not top quality, are miles better than the likes of Bakers/Wagg/supermarket own etc. and are cheap. (Cheaper than Bakers in fact, I think the daily feeding cost for a 15kg dog on Bakers Meaty Meals is about 76p!!! Premium dry foods don't cost much more than that.) Off the top of my head, they are:

Autarky (the adult salmon one, not the chicken one - there's quite a big difference) Approx daily feeding cost for a 15kg dog - 32p

Skinners (the field and trial duck and rice, not the other types, again quite a difference in quality within the brand) Approx DFC 15kg dog - 31p

Vitalin (the sensitive lamb and rice version only) Approx DFC 15kg dog - 28p

There are many pretty good foods with a mid range price tag, all the below are around the 50/60p DFC for a 15kg dog:

Arden Grange
The Natural Dog Food Company
James Wellbeloved
Vitalin (cereal free version)
Simpsons Premium
Wainwrights

Then you have the top bracket of dry foods, some of the really excellent, grain free, high meat content foods that I'll put in so you can see the rough daily feeding cost as they're not far off Bakers meaty meals (actually 2 are cheaper!!) which is at the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of quality:

Orijen - DFC 15kg dog - 84p
Applaws - DFC 15kg dog - 63p
Fish4Dogs - DFC 15kg dog - 83p
Taste of the Wild - DFC 15kg dog - 70p

Thank you Galadriel for the effort you have put in to calculate the daily costs of feeding the various foods. It is very helpful to me and I feel to others who may stumble across this thread.

You know, the more I look into this feeding issue the more confused I become. I always understood by word of mouth from dog people in the past that Pedigree foods are "too rich" and give upset stomachs, so I have never fed Pedigree to any of my dogs, ever. And yet, the Queen, who could afford the most expensive dog foods on earth and presumably has advice from the very best vets, apparently feeds her Corgis Pedigree!

Also, I always understood that dogs don't require a 100% diet of protein (ie meat) and that some carbohydrate in the form of various grains etc is necessary too. In fact, I have always understood that wild dogs and wild members of the dog family (wolves etc) will, after killing their prey (especially the larger animals) firstly tear out the stomach and entrails and eat those, to get the carbohydrate content - the muscular bits are eaten afterwards.

Plus, I have made a brief (for now) foray into the wider web, and have found on a general dogs' website someone saying "if you knew what goes into Wainwrights you wouldn't feed it" and another saying "Arden Grange, although my personal fave for ingredients, sent my staffy doo-lally due to the protein". I am beginning to think that everyone has their own prejudices regarding dog feeding - but who to believe?

To recap, Kuchar is still only a puppy (8 months old) so I am reluctant (at the moment at least) to "force" him into eating through starvation methods; at the moment I am reconciled to the fact that he likes a variety of food (don't we all) and will mix in his favourite foods (cooked liver, Butchers tinned tripe, sardines, left-over roast meats) - I would hate to compromise his development into a mature adult. And, generally, he is thriving on this regime.

The main problem I have had is that twice he has run a temperature, panted and grunted and become distressed for no apparent reason that the vets can find apart from the fact that he had eaten a cooked lamb femur bone previously, although he had eaten these in the past with no ill effects. Maybe he just stuffed himself overfull on these bones - whatever, they won't feature again in his diet (except maybe raw, after he is 12 months old). Maybe his tummy is just not mature yet?

I just want to avoid any repetitions of these incidents (to which - no bones!).

Tough love with regard to general feeding will come more and more into force as he matures. I DO take on board all the advice on various foods you good Staffy people have been so kind to give; it's just that I have never in nearly 40 years of dog-owning come across this problem before, which takes me back to my original question "are Staffies fussy eaters". Maybe I should have titled it "have Staffies delicate tummies, or is just my dog?"

Thank you to all who have responded to my post - I will continue to research in the hopes of finding the perfect food for Kuchar.

I have a rescue dog who was originally being fed Burgess Sensitive at the rescue centre and we carried on feeding this for a while when we got him home, hubby and me this is, sorry.

We then gradually (to void upset tummy) changed his food over to James Welbeloved which he was eating fine until about 3 months ago. He then seemed to go off this food so we decided to change to Barking Heads which we again changed him over to gradually to avoid any upset tummy again.

We have noticed a dramatic change in Rocky since feeding the Barking Heads kibble, he is much calmer and does look healthier having said that he has always had a very shiney coat.

We buy a 2 kilo bag which costs £9 which last about 12 days and he has approx. 160g per day. This works out at .75p per day. Rocky weights approx 17 kilos.

Hope this helps.

http://www.barkingheads.co.uk/

Thank you kathytake2 for your contribution. I wll also look into Barking Heads.

Your experience, my experience, and the very kind responses to my original question as to whether are Staffies are fussy eaters (later amended to to "have Staffies delicate stomachs") have all pointed to yes and yes to both questions.

I will continue to search for a food that Kuchar will eat and enjoy every day, grow to healthy maturity and NOT experience any more pyrexic, distressed episodes.

Your advice is appreciated, and I am glad to hear that Rocky is doing well.

There are a lots of myths out there about dog feeding so you just have to look at what has actually been proven.

The myth that too much (animal) protein makes a dog hyper is just that, a big, fat, myth!

From my experience, Staffies do not have especially sensitive stomachs, nor are they any fussier than other breeds. If I had to pick a breed I thought had the most sensitive stomach (based purely on anecdotal evidence) then it would be the Labrador.

I've heard the queen's corgis have a home cooked diet but even if they were fed Pedigree Chum, it wouldn't make it a good food (nor would it make me feed it to my dogs). Sadly many vets know little about canine nutrition as I believe the training they receive in that area is very brief and provided by the companies that manufacture the not so great foods that are commonly stocked in veterinary surgeries.

This may help (it has been compiled by a food company but it's well referenced):

http://files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

A little look at the ingredients list can also be very helpful; here are just two to compare:

Bakers complete (bacon, liver & veg) - Cereals, meat and animal derivatives (min 4% fresh meat), vegetable protein extracts, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin, various sugars, minerals, vegetables (min 4%), EC permitted additives and colourings.

Fish4Dogs (finest fish) - Fresh fish (30.5%), potato (30.5%), herring meal (21%), salmon oil, beet fibre, brewers yeast, minerals, vitamins.

Now when you consider a large part of a dogs diet should be made up of good quality animal protein and that they don't actually need any grains (not to mention the problems grains can cause) I know which one I'd choose.

Then there's the fact you don't actually know what goes into foods like Bakers or Pedigree.

And why does dog food need colouring?? Dogs can't even see colours like we do.

I could go on and on but I'd be here all day so I'll leave you in peace now

I cant inderstand why people think too much protein makes dogs hyper either, if anything it is the opposite, more protein would have a calming effect on the brain because of the chemicals it releases.

Serotonin is a chemical that helps maintain a "happy feeling," helping with sleep, calming anxiety, and relieving depression.

The same is true for us too.

I'm sorry but NO staffs are not fussy or have a particually delicate stomach then other breeds.

Also agree with Kathy protein does not cause a hyper dog, fillers, grains, carbohydrates do!

Thank you again, all of you, for your input. Galadriel, thank you particularly for directing me to the website http://files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

This makes a lot of sense and has provided much food for thought (no pun intended). More information than I have been able to take in at one go, but I take on board the need for dogs, due to their ancestry and short intestinal tracts etc, to have a high meat-based protein diet, with little or no plant food.

This leads me to think that maybe I should be feeding Kuchar a lump of raw meat each day, maybe interspersed with a bowl of raw eggs or fish now and again. This is possible, although expensive.

I am remembering many years ago when my beloved horse had to be destroyed - his body was sent to the local hunt kennels. Obviously THOSE hounds were fed on animal carcass and not processed food, and foxhounds can run all day.

It is interesting to learn that pet food companies produce food to appeal to humans and their purses, and not to the best dietary interests of our beloved dogs. Why is this allowed to continue?

To recap (again), my lovely Kuchar still remains in the best of health, despite still being fed on Bakers Meaty chunks (more or less free feeding now - he'll eat when he wants to), apart from the two episodes mentioned previously which scared me stiff and has resulted in him NOT having any more bones, much as he loved them.

Thank you all once again for your help and advice.