i want only humane answers to my question?

Question

i asked how to get my lab mix to eat i only want answers that dont tell me to beat her as i have never raised a hand to her, so to those that are going to tell me to beat her dont answer. I know my dog is spoiled but i guess that is my fault. but like i said i only want answers that dont require me to beat her. thanks

Answer 1

I believe your dog has a right to be a bit bias against dry dog food.

Alot of it is not good for your dog, containing carsinigins (BHA and BHT) and other nasty ingredients that cause perminate organ damage (any this that begins with Menadione....)
Many popular brands, purina, old roy use rendered animal parts approved by AAFCO, which they approved euthanized pets, dead zoo animals, road kill, animals who died from illness, and slaugter animals who didn't pass FDA/USDA requirement (BSE?). This will be listed under the ingredients as "animal fats" and "meat meal". AAFCO doesn't see a problem with these ingreidents and don't believe there is a demand for any testing to see what the side effects of feeding diseased animals, euthanized animals (who still have Phenobarbitol solution in their bodies) road kill animals (infested with diseases not common to domestic animals) and slaughter animals who do not meed FDA/USDA inspection requirements ( BSE -mad cow- candidates?). So a little heads up.

Be very picky about what dry dog food you put her on, make sure the first 5 ingreidents have a meat (no more than 2 meat like MEAL), grain (no more than 2 grains - wheat, rice or oatmeal), look for a dog food with barley in it, flax seed or flax seed oil, blue berries (a good carsinigin fighter and full of natural antioxidents), veggies (spinage, not a corn or soy bean - because dogs have issues digesting those) and most importantly look for a dry dog food that has natural preservitives.

Here are some examples:

Wellness
Eagle Pack
Nutro
Wynsong
California Natural
Canidae
To name a few good quailty, nutritious and no harmful ingriedents.

I would gradually introduce some of the dry food with what she normally eats. Use the dry food nibblets at treats, also try increasing her exercise - nothing like that hunger feeling after a good work out!

I had to do this with my husky who is very picky about what she eats, I'd take her for 5 mile runs (used to be in the army) and I'd just make new food introduction into a game, she'd do a trick I'd give her a piece of her dry food. Eventually she started to like it and over a few months she started eating it on her own and loving it. I used to cook my dogs an all orgainic natural food. I had a baby and couldn't cook for my husband - myself, my baby, and three dogs, so I finally did some research on which dry dog food offers the best nutrition with out harmful ingreidents.

If your dog has a chewing problem I'd water the food down to make it semi moist, so chewing is easier. My friends dog had that problem and we thought for the longest time he just wasn't into food, but when we took a closer look we found out his jaw deformity prevented him from chewing his food properly, we wetted it down and now hes put on a good weight and loves to eat his food.

There are many ways of getting her to eat her dog food, starving and beating is not the way, but patients, and just finding that cookie and quirky thing that will work for you and your dog. Good luck.

Answer 2

Why in the world would you want to beat your dog into eating?

What type of food are you giving her? If it is a dry food then try to bait her with a mixture of it and some type of gravy. Whether it is human or from canned dog food, this should tempt her to eat.

You didn't say how long this had been going on. Is she eating anything or nothing? When she does eat, does she vomit it up? If any of this is occuring, you need to get her to the vet. She may have swallowed something and there might be some type of obstruction.

You also didn't say if she had been injured. I have an older Boston female and she had an injury to her mouth. For a few days I actually fed her by hand. Once the injury had healed, she was still being fed a mixture of the dry and moist. Now she is totally on dry. So if your girl is a spoiled young lady, then just try feeding her a little by hand. She just might like the extra attention.

Answer 3

This is humane.

You created the problem without realizing it so now you have to take steps to fix it. What is the worst that will happen if you do not add can food to the dry; she will stop eating, but not forever hunger is a powerful motivator. What you should do is set the food down and walk away, give your dog 10 minutes to eat and if she does not eat pick it up and wait until the next meal and try again. Repeat this until she eats, and she will eventually eat (within days). You may want to offer food 3x a day but she will get the point and she will not starve to death. Good luck !!

The dog missing a few meals is harder on the owner than it is on the dog so do not give in by adding things to the dry food.

Answer 4

Well, does your dog not eat at all, or does your dog not eat during meals. You said that your dog was spoiled, so if you feed her scraps and doggie treats, then stop doing that so then she'll realize that the only food she'll get is her breakfast and dinner. Also, if this isn't the case, she might be sick, and that is serious, so I'd recommend going to the vet. How long has this been going on? If it is only recently, then she might have something wrong with her. Another possible reason might be that her food is too hard for her teeth, so you might need to find softer food. Canned food maybe? Sometimes I would add water to my dogs food dish, and it will make it softer. I hope this helps!

Answer 5

One surefire way to get the dog to eat would be to wear her butt out. Go for a very long walk, play fetch till she doesn't want to anymore, and then come home, wait a couple hours, and give her a normal portion of kibble with some gravy or canned dogfood well mixed. If still does not eat then definitly take her to the vet. You might also try having her sit as soon as she does give her an ok command and set the bowl down.

Answer 6

You should get some good dog food.. Without corn or by-products in it. There is always Lassie Natural Way, that is what I'm feeding my dogs.. It was made for picky eaters. you can find it at www.lassie.com/naturalway
You can also go to the store and get some chicken and red meat, she should take to that. You could also mix some wet canned dog food in with the dry dog food, but it also needs to be corn and by-product free as corn can't be digested and by-products are things like animal feahters, fur and bones which are by No means food for any dog. My lab mix LOVES his raw chicken, so you could put her on a supplemented raw diet. Here is a site with information on it: www.barfworld.com (and yes, I promise you it is a real site)

Answer 7

I used to breed, raise and train pure breed labs, they can be picky. I did a diet of raw meat and bones and the veggies that they liked for a while, some will eat that, some wont, some you have to cook the meat and others refuse. Soft dog food gives them gas, so you might not want to do that. I would say your best bet, that is within price ranger (the diet I just mentiond gets expensive) is to buy a small bag of a different dog food and try it and see if your dog likes it, if not, donate the remainder of it or throw it out, and try another food. If this doesn't work, go to your vet. But, most of the problem is that you have spoiled her.

Answer 8

The saying you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink goes for a dog too. If you want to train your dog the right way to eat, then put his/her food down. If they won't eat, leave it for about an hour. If they won't by then let them see you dump it back in the bag. Next feeding time, do it again. The dog will eventially get hungry and start eating. You are not being cruel if the dog goes without for up to 3 days. He will get hungry and eat.

Answer 9

Make sure the bowl is clean and feed her only once a day. When she gets hungry, she will eat. Just don't cave and give her table foods and treats. These aren't good for her all of the time.

No one should beat an animal that isn't attacking.

Answer 10

There may be an underlying medical issue, but probably not. I have a dog who is hard to get to eat. I refuse to use cheap dog food, so I buy packets of dry gravy mix and put 1/3-1/2 a packet of dry gravy mix on his food and add water and mix it up. He loves it. You get the effect of gravy train withough having to buy horribly unhealthy food. (the cheap food tends to have more salt and fillers which also tend to taste better...like junk food for people)