Picky Puppies

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23 September 2008 @ 05:26 pm

Picky Puppies

Does anyone have a very picky Boston?

Lately, our guy hasn't been eating twice a day like he normally does. He does not seem sick at all (i.e. he is not exhibiting lethargy or coughing or anything), he just won't eat. He is happy to beg for people food and is happy to try and steal things that he shouldn't eat, so I can't imagine he's not hungry. He's just picky I guess. I'm just wondering if anyone else's Boston is like this or if we should maybe take him to the vet?

We've also noticed that he is a very sensitive little guy. Some dogs are totally resliant and can handle any change, small or large, but our little guy is totally routine. If he eats more than an hour late, he gets sick (vomit, diharreah). If any little thing about his food changes, he gets sick. Sometimes he also just gets sick for two or three days for reasons we cannot determine (last time we took him to the vet and he just said it could be his food plus a change in weather blah blah blah).

Right now he's not really eating his dinner. Today he's been pouncing at it like it's scary or weird or something. We put the food down at 5:00 and now he's standing there eating it piece by piece - it's 5:30.

Weird.

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sarainc on September 23rd, 2008 10:56 pm (UTC)

my boston isn't picky, but my mutt is. he eats food soooo slow (piece by piece) and sometimes will downright not eat a meal. when he refuses, we just put it up and give it back at the next mealtime and he'll always eat then. sometimes we also try to incorporate healthy people food like plain yogurt, canned pureed pumpkin, or oatmeal. seems to keep his interest up than just giving plain kibble.

my boston is the same as far as a sensitive belly. we have to even be careful what kinds of treats she gets or she'll get awful diarrhea. forget canned dog food!

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jreid4 on September 24th, 2008 11:23 am (UTC)

Do you incorporate the healthy food directly into the dry food? Or just give some of that and then some of the regular food?

Our dog doesn't have tummy problems on a daily basis, but we've found that if we change even one thing very slightly, he'll barf or just be off his pooping schedule.

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goldynkat on September 23rd, 2008 11:08 pm (UTC)

One of my bostons used to vomit every other day; we thought it was just normal for her. Then we changed her food to a higher quality/different protein and the barfing stopped.

Maybe it's time for a food change?

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bird on September 24th, 2008 12:11 am (UTC)

my boston will skip meals all the time. its like she goes through phases, where she will eat one meal a day, and skip the other. other times, she will eat all of her meals and act like she is starving. we spoke to her vet, and he said that as long as she is pooping/peeing normally and acting normal, its not an issue. if they dont eat at all for longer than 3 days, then its an issue. when she skips meals she is still begging/excited for "treats", so i know its just her being a freak.

she also had a lot of vomiting issues, and we had to switch her to a non-allergen food. we have not had excessive vomiting since, but if she skips a meal, she will sometimes vomit.

all in all, sounds a lot like your situation! crazy dogbabies.

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jreid4 on September 24th, 2008 11:22 am (UTC)

I think this best describes Phin.

He doesn't seem sick and he's still 'regular' he just doesn't want to eat sometimes. We actually used to feed him canned food but it was making him so fat that the vet recommended we just move back to dry food only. We use the Pedigree dry food for small does and he seems to enjoy it.

Maybe he is just a crazy dog. Hehehehe.

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bird on September 24th, 2008 04:53 pm (UTC)

if we really need her to eat (like we are taking her out for the day and wont be able to feed her until late, or if we are taking her to doggy day care for the day and we know she is going to be rocking all day), we will scramble her an egg and mix it with a little of her kibble and some hot water. she will eat that up in about 2 seconds flat. so people on here that suggested mixing some "safe" people food- i totally agree. i think sometimes Eloise is just hedging for eggs, seriously.

i am glad if everyone's comments comforted you a bit. its always so nice when i read things on here pertaining to something i was concerned about and everyone is like: pssssh... we have that problem too! no biggie.

xo

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lucy_chronicles on September 24th, 2008 01:02 am (UTC)
Try Raw food

Primal found in the freezer section or dog section in the freezer at Whole foods. It will do wonders. Mine has also stopped the strange itching etc. it simply needs to defrost a bit on its own rather than nuking' it and you'll be fine.

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mindy1024 on September 24th, 2008 10:10 am (UTC)

I agree with bird...my Kermit doesn't eat everyday. Sometimes she will eat right away and sometimes she will just elave it for a while. I just always make sure there is something there for her and she really just eats when she wants it. If she happens to get hungry and there isn't food out, she will go stand by her dish and "cry". She will always beg for people food though! I would just watch your dog and make sure they are going, etc. but you may want to get it checked out by a vet just in case. We also buy a good high quality dog food so I know when she eats she gets good stuff :)

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littlesunflower on September 24th, 2008 11:56 am (UTC)

Gambit is very very fussy, which worries me. Sometimes he won't eat all day. It's hard with two dogs because if he doesn't eat during dinner, I have to pick it up or Daisy will eat his share, too. He likes her puppy kibbles, but he is not a puppy. He'll happily eat if I put a bit of cheese in his dish, but I don't want to encourage that with him. Sometimes he won't eat at all until bedtime and then wolf it all down and puke it all up again (as he did yesterday). He's been on 3 or 4 different brands because it's like he goes on starvation diets until he gets a new kind of food. My mom says no smart dog will starve themselves, but he once went for almost two days without any food because he was on a hunger strike against the brand (holistic, expensive, healthy) we were feeding him. Daisy, however, hoovers up whatever is in front of her. I imagine Gambit asking for a menu at dinnertime...

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scrambledfish on September 24th, 2008 09:18 pm (UTC)

The only thing I'd like to add to what's already been said is to recommend doing your best to keep him from vomiting (I know you're already doing your best but maybe switching foods now instead of waiting). It seems like it's sort of normal for Bostons, however last night I had to take Bandit to the hospital, and turns out it's an ulcer. He just turned 1 last week. I think it's partly b/c his food wasn't working well for him and kept making him a little sick, but because he was only a little sick we just fed him a little less until he felt better and didn't think twice about it.

(Recently we started switching over to a much better food from what we were using called Solid Gold, but he was already stressed and the vet said switching over his food and treats probably helped in making his stomach upset.)

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scrambledfish on September 26th, 2008 03:11 pm (UTC)

After going more time w/the vet and some more excitement I should my amend my previous post. It wasn't an ulcer. It was a buildup of junk in his stomach that wouldn't digest and really started causing problems when a cow hoof toy made little shards that started tearing through his system (we knew about rawhides, but the person who knew food well *said* the hoof wouldn't do that...). Sorry for some of the gross details.

So yeah I'm amending my previous post that it wasn't an ulcer.

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jreid4 on September 26th, 2008 03:18 pm (UTC)

What will you do now? Just never feed him the rawhides? Medication?

I'm sorry to hear that!

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