Dry food and real food!

[dmey]

ayo has always been on a dry food diet, now he is eating eukanuba. He is not a very good eater, even though I always remove the dish after about 20 min and try not to fuss over it ( I do mix in some olive oil from time to time to make him eat some more). He is not way skinny or anything but I wish he had a little more weight. I Was thinking of also giving him other things during the day like,.. For example pumpkin or some of the other things I read some people feed their b,s but I am worried because whenever he has tried something different ,like another brand of dog food, or cat food, or the bait at the show, which was sausage!!! He spends days refusing his food!! What should I do?

[agilebasenji]

are there any grain-free foods where you are? My picky eater put weight on when I started feeding Evo. Unfortunately, Evo just got bought by Proctor and Gamble so when they finish this bag, I'm switching to Taste of the Wild.

[nobarkus]

Today I had eggs with Buffalo top round for breakfast and Buddy got some. All organic of course. Early before we set for early morning walk he got some pieces of chicken breast in a little warm water because it was cold coming right out of the frig. I don't feed Buddy any dry food. I just had his blood panel done and all is good. He's 27.7 lbs. Buddy's appetite is really good too. He'll eat his meal in about 2 minutes or less. I always feed him after walks. I feed some frozen raw food, Taste of the Wild wet ( 3 different types), Solid Gold's Green Cow tripe and Tripet's New Zealand lamb tripe and their green beef tripe and sometimes EVO venison. I rotate them around. In the AM 1 tsp of olive oil in the food and at night 1 cap of Salmon oil squeezed into the dinner. I also add some organic steamed zucchini, asparagus and yellow crockneck squash in his meals. I make alot at one time and extra for him that I store in the frig. The way I warm up his food is to put it all in a sandwich bag, squeeze out the air, zip it closed, put that bag into a small plastic bowl with warm, not hot water then take him out for a walk and when we get back it's room temp.

[dmey]

I don't think so, I've looked everywhere and we only get the very commercial brands, also I get eukanuba at cost price because the person who imports it to the Dominican republic is a close friend, that's why I would like to feed something else as a complement.

[curlytails]

I definitely believe in mixing meals up with good, nutritious supplements. I myself enjoy cooking and eating, but even I wouldn't have much of an appetite if I had to eat the same thing every day!

My guys aren't picky eaters, but they're always super interested in trying something new. And though I don't know for sure, I bet higher quality kibble just tastes better to them. Instead of getting artificial "flavor enhancers," they're tasting better quality ingredients.

Check out sites like Dog Food Chat (http://dogfoodchat.com/), Dog Food Advisor (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/) and Dog Food Analysis (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/) for extensive reviews on many different kinds of commercially available kibble. Hopefully there is more than Eukanaba available in your area!

Other supplements I like to add (and they like to eat!) include raw egg, beaten and poured over kibble, fish flakes (I get them from Asian markets, but you have to check the ingredients carefully as some of them are loaded with MSG – Japanese brands tend to be better about that than Chinese brands), baked mashed sweet potato, etc. I also like steaming vegetables and adding them to the food, but my Basenji picks out almost all vegetables. If you prepare fresh vegetables ahead of time, say once a week, it doesn't take very much time.

[dmey]

Thanks a lot I will check.. I sometimes give him raw egg mixed with the food, with the shell and all, he loves it, but it sort of gives him the runs!!!!.. Lots of soft stool..

[Kipawa]

@nobarkus:

Today I had eggs with Buffalo top round for breakfast and Buddy got some. All organic of course. I also add some organic steamed zucchini, asparagus and yellow crockneck squash

Dan, what time is dinner tonight?

[Nemo]

@dmey:

Thanks a lot I will check.. I sometimes give him raw egg mixed with the food, with the shell and all, he loves it, but it sort of gives him the runs!!!!.. Lots of soft stool..

Try smaller amounts of egg mixed with the food at first until he gets used to it. Sounds like a whole egg is too much right now.

[dmey]

All right, iwill, is that ok to give him every meal? ( the egg) Because when he has it, then he doesn't want his food if it doesn't have it… That's why I am always afraid to give him new things.

[Nemo]

So if he refuses to eat, does he not eat anything for days if you take the food away after 20 minutes? Seems strange for a healthy dog to starve himself.

Also, I have added sardines, tuna, salmon, and ricotta cheese, and vegetables in small quantities to supplement kibble but I don't do it every meal.

[DebraDownSouth]

If he needs more weight, why not routinely just add real food into his kibble, mash it up so he eats it? Try a soft boiled egg instead of raw to avoid diarrhea. Too lazy to look it up but either whites or yellows (pretty sure the white) raw has some issues if fed routinely. Also, a tsp of olive oil once a day really adds on some calories and is healthy. Boiled mashed sweet potatoes and ALWAYS can add rice to food. Nice calorie bump and won't usually cause any tummy upset.

[dmey]

I ve been adding some olive oil, he seems to eat more when I add it , but when I add something like tuna, which I tried, he loves it! And then doesn't want just kibble, he'll go about a day and a half and loose a little weight making the added tuna contra productive
but I guess what I can do is add egg one day, then rice, then tuna and just always add something and vary it.

[nobarkus]

@Kipawa:

Dan, what time is dinner tonight?

I love to have you over for dinner! We could have some good stuff and the dogs get some too.
I remember my last 2 Basenjis getting a bit picky after a while even though it was high quality it was the same thing. Now if I spiced it up with some cooked ground beef and veggies they would woof it down in a minute.

About 11 years ago I had a friend whose dog was recovering from an injury. It was very lethargic and recovering slow. I took care of of it one day when she had to work and instead of putting some regular dog food in front of it which it was not interested in I cooked up some chicken breast. That dog was really interested in that and ate it right up and looked so much better. When she came and got the dog she said "wow, she looks so much better"! "What did you do"? I told her "I fed her real food".

[Kipawa]

Feeding 'real food' will happen when I get my basenji. Right now, all of our cats get organic chicken and fish, in addition to a couple of 'flavours' of the high end kibble stuff. I enjoy hand feeding them their organic protein - fun to have all 3 of them standing in a line and gazing at me, awaiting their next bites. Then it is one huge snooze fest for them while they digest the protein. And this is when I do the 'shake a paw'. All of them must do that for their first 3 or 4 bites.

[thunderbird8588]

Fortuanately for us Malaika is a good eater, she loves anything we give her but our first Basenji was very indifferent to food and it does make life more difficult.
Malaika eats quite a varied diet, i like to do this so that she gets variety but also to make sure she gets all the nutrients she needs.
She has kibble (James Wellbeloved), i also give her Royal Canin everyday, some times i will reduce the amount and mix something in with it. The foods i use are a good quality wet food in a sachet or tin, raw meats, eggs, cheese and veg.
You need to go easy on eggs or cheese because of the cholestral (sp) content

[DebraDownSouth]

Fran, what does BAB after your name stand for?