Fussy eater

Over the last 3months our Herbie has become quite fussy with his food, he won't touch tinned or sachet dog food in any flavour so we changed to raw which he is doing really well on except he will only eat beef or tripe, we've tried chicken, turkey, rabbit & lamb & he sniffs it but won't touch it. Is it ok to just feed beef or tripe? He has arden grange or burns or jwb or wainwrights as kibble mixed with it but even with the kibble he can be a bit picky!!! He also sometimes has pasta mixed with his raw mince which he enjoys.Is this normal for staffies to be fussy with food? Can anyone recommend anything else to try raw diet wise? He gets a treat a day & that can range from pigs ear to a couple of doggie biscuits to raw carrots xxx

No beef and tripe isn't enough variety long term.

Pasta isn't appropriate for a raw diet either.

Tough love is what i always recommend, put his food down for 15 mintues and take up what isn't eaten. Give nothing until the next meal and offer the same food again.

A healthy dog won't starve and 9 times out of 10 it's us that makes them fussy.

It may take a few days of him eating nothing before he gets the idea he must eat what you give him

I'd go with Ella's advice. Most of the time, a dog is just being picky. They're habitual animals and don't always take to change very easily, so it's likely that being very strict with feeding times may help.

I can only tell you my experience with Kuchar. In fact my first post on this forum was because of his fussy, pernickety appetite. I tried just about everything going - he'd eat some brands once (except raw, which he wouldn't go near), and I gradually discovered that he just didn't like dry, crunchy foods. so I gave him a soft, mince type complete food but had to mix it with something tempting every day, like bits of cooked liver or chicken. Then he had his "snip" and wouldn't look at anything for days no matter what I tried - I thought he would starve himself. Then halleluhah, I stumbled across and bought in desperation a box of Wainwrights trays (12 trays to the box; turkey, duck and lamb) and he yums it up every night. Worth a try? Good luck ><

We've tried just about every decent dog tin/sachet/tray you can buy (we won't entertain bakers/pedigree chum/Chubb/wagg etc)& he likes it for a couple of days then just looks at you as if to say yep I'm not eating that lol that's why we tried raw mince & we are still finding him being picky, I'm all for the tough love routine of 15-20mins then tough if he doesn't eat it but the other half doesn't like the idea of it!!! Is pasta bad for dogs in general then or just not good to feed with raw? Xx

I agree with ella. I have never had a fussy dog in my life because i have never fussed them. If they eat it they eat it, if they don't they go hungry. If you need to coax them to eat cause you are afraid of them being hungry then you are wrapped around the finger. Humans think that soft tones and "oh coem on aww thats nice" is a good thing, its not. In the dog world the only thing good is OMG GO GO GO OMG YES OMGGGG!!! Anything less is anxiety.

I've never fed pasta to be honest so I'm not sure, it may just be that you shouldn't mix it with a raw diet, Ella or someone else will be able to confirm

Pasta is made from wheat and that has no value to dogs. It fills them up, bloats them, gives tummy aches and makes them lethargic.

Thanks Hayley, defo not a good one to feed then!

Lol Herbie doesn't know the meaning of the word lethargic he's a bundle of energy from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed, he won't be getting pasta from now on as I didn't realise it was no good so thank you :0), time for me to tell the other half to man up now then & go for tough love routine when its feeding time :0/ xxx

Frankie was like this when he was younger and like you I worried he would loose weight/be hungry. And I did exactly what Ella has suggested. I also pretended to eat it sometimes (mainly so he knew I was in charge coz this was when he was quite young). Now if you say dinner he runs to the cupboard where his food is. Until he would eat a meal he had no * bits in between. He's like a different dog now!!