I Have An Odd Dog

[Vanessa]

Getting Chance to eat his meals daily really takes a lot of effort on my part. In the beginning dry food was fine. Now he hates dry food so I decided to mix wet food in with the dry and he loved it (for a short while) NOW he dislikes what I am giving him. Who would of thought a Basenji gets tired of the same old food on a daily basis :rolleyes:
He will only take a bite or two of breakfast and then we don’t feed him till dinner time. Then at dinnertime he just looks at his food as if to tell me…"are you serious...I have to eat this??" Yah...thats the expression he gives me.
I am starting to worry. Not eating in 2 days isn't healthy. He is active (when I peal him off the couch), will eat treats and seems fine. What am I supposed to do? I have been told that eventually he will get hungry and eat but I don't like this.

People who do not own a Basenji tease me telling me how I pamper my pup and cater to his meals. Little do they know that If I don't, I'll have lovely stains all over my carpet from puke. :rolleyes: Am I supposed to design a menu and serve him something different everyday? Ummmm...now I sound crazy. I guess owning a Basenji is like having a kid. At least when he turns 16 he won't be asking for the keys to the car :p Instead, he will just hide the keys from me!

[jys1011]

Could he be having some allergic reaction to what you are feeding? If you don't think it's a food allergy then pour some parmesan cheese over his food. This worked for Topaz when she was a finicky eater..I also use it to hide medicine

[Vanessa]

@jys1011:

Could he be having some allergic reaction to what you are feeding? If you don't think it's a food allergy then pour some parmesan cheese over his food. This worked for Topaz when she was a finicky eater..I also use it to hide medicine

Do you melt the cheese or just grate it over it cuz I think he would just eat the cheese on top and leave the food :rolleyes:

[jys1011]

I grate it over it & mix it in so he can't pick off just the top. The smell is really what gets them interested. The stinkier the better! LOL

[nomrbddgs]

What you could also do is let up on the treats. If he is getting treats (I don't know how much he is getting) he may have decided, "If I don't eat I'll get treats!" Some dogs are more finicky than others also. Unfortunately, Basenji's IMO are really good at this. "oh, look, if I don't eat and I puke my guts up all over the place I'll get my own way."

[Vanessa]

@nomrbddgs:

What you could also do is let up on the treats. If he is getting treats (I don't know how much he is getting) he may have decided, "If I don't eat I'll get treats!" Some dogs are more finicky than others also. Unfortunately, Basenji's IMO are really good at this. "oh, look, if I don't eat and I puke my guts up all over the place I'll get my own way."

OMG too funny! You are probably right. :rolleyes:
I will only give him one treat during the day and no bones. Thats why I can't figure out why he does this.

[nomrbddgs]

It may take a few days for him to figure out that the treats are not forthcoming with the frequency that they were. Basenji's are masters of manipulation.:eek:

[Barklessdog]

My kids did the same thing after I went to the Candy Convention and brought home bags of candy. All they would eat was candy. Unless he is sick he wont starve himself to death. But stick to one food at a time.

[lvoss]

Another factor is that it is breeding season and some males lose their appetite during this time of year even if they are not around girls. They just have their minds on something other than food.

[tanza]

@lvoss:

Another factor is that it is breeding season and some males lose their appetite during this time of year even if they are not around girls. They just have their minds on something other than food.

Exactly… that is what I would say too... And believe me... if they are hungry they will eat.... I went through that with my male and he had a horrible appetite until he was about 4yrs old... however I never gave in.... he either ate or he did, his choice... I did not change food, I did not do anything special (I did make sure it was good food, however).... and when he was 4.. everything changed and from then on he ate like a horse!!!! and ate everything that was put in front of him....

[tanza]

@Vanessa626:

Getting Chance to eat his meals daily really takes a lot of effort on my part. In the beginning dry food was fine. Now he hates dry food so I decided to mix wet food in with the dry and he loved it (for a short while) NOW he dislikes what I am giving him. Who would of thought a Basenji gets tired of the same old food on a daily basis :rolleyes:
He will only take a bite or two of breakfast and then we don’t feed him till dinner time. Then at dinnertime he just looks at his food as if to tell me…"are you serious...I have to eat this??" Yah...thats the expression he gives me.
I am starting to worry. Not eating in 2 days isn't healthy. He is active (when I peal him off the couch), will eat treats and seems fine. What am I supposed to do? I have been told that eventually he will get hungry and eat but I don't like this.

People who do not own a Basenji tease me telling me how I pamper my pup and cater to his meals. Little do they know that If I don't, I'll have lovely stains all over my carpet from puke. :rolleyes: Am I supposed to design a menu and serve him something different everyday? Ummmm...now I sound crazy. I guess owning a Basenji is like having a kid. At least when he turns 16 he won't be asking for the keys to the car :p Instead, he will just hide the keys from me!

By the way… the fact that he "eats" treat is the key that he is yanking your chain

[Vanessa]

@tanza:

Exactly… that is what I would say too... And believe me... if they are hungry they will eat.... I went through that with my male and he had a horrible appetite until he was about 4yrs old... however I never gave in.... he either ate or he did, his choice... I did not change food, I did not do anything special (I did make sure it was good food, however).... and when he was 4.. everything changed and from then on he ate like a horse!!!! and ate everything that was put in front of him....

Good Point Pat and Lisa. I swear…this time of month really gets annoying :rolleyes:
I'll stop giving him treats to compensate for not eating. He can just deal with it. (muahahahahah)
I guess your right...he is really working me! Smart lil' devil!
This is where I apparently need to slap myself in the head and say "duh" I just got outsmarted by my dog.

[Barklessdog]

This is where I apparently need to slap myself in the head and say "duh" I just got outsmarted by my dog

Get used to it, they are constantly plotting how to get their way or get you on their agenda. The older they get the better they get at it.

[Vanessa]

@Barklessdog:

Get used to it, they are constantly plotting how to get their way or get you on their agenda. The older they get the better they get at it.

Hahahahaha!

[MacPack]

A dear friend said to me many years ago, when I was struggling with a new basenji puppy, "First you have to be smarter than the dog". I knew which of us was smarter, so I gave up! She was a great pack leader.

Anne in Tampa

[phoenix3]

Mine will get picky once and a while and i put Baby food in it i mix the dry and baby food { chicken or beef} and they LOVE IT they would eat anything with baby food in it lol I usually only have to do it for a few days and then they are fine to switch back to there normal

[tanza]

@phoenix3:

Mine will get picky once and a while and i put Baby food in it i mix the dry and baby food { chicken or beef} and they LOVE IT they would eat anything with baby food in it lol I usually only have to do it for a few days and then they are fine to switch back to there normal

Yes, usually baby food will get them to eat… point here is it is not necessary... if they are hungry they will eat... only change to that is a sick or elder dog... then anything that works should be used

I am a firm, very firm believer that if you baby your dog into eating you will never ever develope a dog that has good eating habits... and therefore.. if they are sick you will never know if really not eating because there is something going on or if they are "yanking" your chain...

[phoenix3]

@tanza:

Yes, usually baby food will get them to eat… point here is it is not necessary... if they are hungry they will eat... only change to that is a sick or elder dog... then anything that works should be used

I am a firm, very firm believer that if you baby your dog into eating you will never ever develope a dog that has good eating habits... and therefore.. if they are sick you will never know if really not eating because there is something going on or if they are "yanking" your chain...

I think sometimes it depends on where u live and how ur dogs are for intance mine usually have no problem eating but when it's summer here and hot and muggy they usally don't eat very much that's when the vet suggested putting alittle baby food in it to get them to eat alittle more when it's hot and they just want to sleep all day i don't mind when its just a day or 2 and they don't eat to much but when it's a heatwave and they really don't want to eat alll week that's when i would put the baby food in it to help them out alittle works like i charm i understand where there coming from who likes to eat when it's really really hot and muggy out but they need something in them

[Quercus]

@Vanessa626:

Getting Chance to eat his meals daily really takes a lot of effort on my part. In the beginning dry food was fine. Now he hates dry food so I decided to mix wet food in with the dry and he loved it (for a short while) NOW he dislikes what I am giving him. Who would of thought a Basenji gets tired of the same old food on a daily basis :rolleyes:
He will only take a bite or two of breakfast and then we don’t feed him till dinner time. Then at dinnertime he just looks at his food as if to tell me…"are you serious...I have to eat this??" Yah...thats the expression he gives me.
I am starting to worry. Not eating in 2 days isn't healthy. He is active (when I peal him off the couch), will eat treats and seems fine. What am I supposed to do? I have been told that eventually he will get hungry and eat but I don't like this.

People who do not own a Basenji tease me telling me how I pamper my pup and cater to his meals. Little do they know that If I don't, I'll have lovely stains all over my carpet from puke. :rolleyes: Am I supposed to design a menu and serve him something different everyday? Ummmm...now I sound crazy. I guess owning a Basenji is like having a kid. At least when he turns 16 he won't be asking for the keys to the car :p Instead, he will just hide the keys from me!

He is SOOO playing you! Querk was like this as a pup….skinny, skinny, skinny...didn't care about eating. I was worried; particularly because he was a show dog. Everyone told me to just wait him out....and I finally said fine, eat or don't eat, I would give him about 30 minutes to eat what he wanted and then the food would go away until the next meal...he started eating. I had to hand feed him when we were on the road for about a year...but I refused to add stuff to his food, or feed him extras.

[Quercus]

@tanza:

Exactly… that is what I would say too... And believe me... if they are hungry they will eat.... I went through that with my male and he had a horrible appetite until he was about 4yrs old... however I never gave in.... he either ate or he did, his choice... I did not change food, I did not do anything special (I did make sure it was good food, however).... and when he was 4.. everything changed and from then on he ate like a horse!!!! and ate everything that was put in front of him....

Oh, and I ditto this. Pat was one of the ones who told me 'he will eat when he is hungry'…and she was sooo right