Any ideas on a great, healthy food for an extremely picky 3 yr. old shihtzu/maltese dog?

Question

I have had my dog on science diet, and at one point mixed that with canned food. Also tried Wellness as well as Nutro and now have him on Royal Canin "Special 30" (specifically for picky eaters). I am also mixing it with 1/3 of a sausage treat from Merrick, for example Grammy Pot Pie, Cowboy Cookout, etc. He seems to be just "ok" with it. Some days he eats and others he doesn't. On the days he doesn't, he vomits bile. This happens about twice a week and has been happening since he was 4 months old. The vet said it's the acids in his stomach from being empty. Bottom line...I found out Royal Canin isn't a healthy food and I would like to ween him off this one and on to something better and one that he will LOVE. I am thinking this is impossible. I was thinking about Merrick dry food- the grammys pot pie again or the cowboy cook out- dry. Any ideas on these being particularly tasty for a very finicky dog? Any other ideas?
Remember, he won't even eat 85% of the treats and bones I give him!
I would be forever thankful if someone can help me get me dog to eat and stop throwing up.

Answer 1

Science Diet and Royal Canin are low quality foods. Nutro isn't that great either.



Not all pet food is made equally. A lot of it is full of corn, by-products, dyes, unhealthy preservatives, filler grains and all sorts of nasty stuff. A lot of pet food companies are perfectly happy to dump cheap leftovers in. Will it kill your dog? No, it has to be nutritionally complete and safe to even be marketed. Is it healthy? Not by a long shot.



Corn is a low quality ingredient you never want to see in your pet food. Corn and low quality grains are two of the biggest culprits when it comes to food allergies in our pets.



Thankfully, there are some excellent dog foods being made these days that include organic, human grade ingredients rather than trash not fit for human consumption.



Examples of low quality foods to avoid: Anything you can find in a grocery store will be low end, Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Pedigree, Kibbles n' Bits, Beneful, Ol'Roy.



Examples of high quality foods to look for: Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold, Canidae All Life Stages, Fromm Four Star, Merrick, GO Natural, Nature's Variety Prairie, Nature's Logic, Artemis Fresh Mix.



Although the high quality foods are more expensive, you're getting what you're paying for. Less filler material means more concentrated nutrients... this means you typically need to feed far less of the high quality food than you would of the low quality one. Which also means less poop!



A great option is to go with an entirely grainless diet. Many of the high quality foods now put out grainless formulas. Some good grainless diet's include: Innova EVO, Wellness CORE, Blue Wilderness, Nature's Variety Instinct, Orijen, Fromm Surf & Turf, Now! and Sold Gold Barking At The Moon, Taste of the Wild.



Some pretty decent foods can even be found in common pet stores. Petsmart carries Blue Buffalo products (such as the excellent grain free diet Blue Wilderness). Petco carries Wellness, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Eagle Pack Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Castor & Pollux Organix, Pinnacle, and Halo. If you can't find a food, most of the high quality food brands have websites with store locators on them.



Remember that foods should be switched gradually, especially when switching to a higher quality one, so as not to upset tummies.





Another option for feeding dogs is to feed raw. This is something that should be thoroughly researched before being attempted:

http://www.barfworld.com/

http://www.rawfed.com/

http://www.rawlearning.com/

http://www.wysong.net/controversies/rawmeat.shtml





More on dog food:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=main (Learn how to determine the quality of your dog's food.)

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ (Dog food reviews. Four stars is a decent food, five stars is a great food, and six stars is an excellent food.)

Answer 2

I think you should go to another vet and get a second opinion.

Be that as it may, my dog went thru tons of different health foods, including a freeze-dried raw diet that costs $60.00+ for ten pounds ( yes, I have rocks in my head when it comes to my dog). Well, one day, I was in Trader Joe's buying food for the family, and stumbled upon Trader Joe's dried and canned food. The canned food comes in beef, lamb, and chicken, and the dry food is a lamb and rice based diet. My dog loves it! I give him a little wet mixed with the dry, at each meal, and he devours it. It smells really good!

Good luck with your fussy eater. Did your vet ever suggest that you give your dog an antacid? My dog takes them sometimes, and it helps. I buy him over the counter "people" medicine, and slip the pill into a little peanut butter or canned food.

Answer 3

I am a senior manager at PETCO. I see a lot of picky dogs come into our store. I have found that anything based with venison seems to work the best. The one I always recommend is Natural Balance- Venison and Sweet Potato. I use it for my own dogs and they love it! It is a completely natural food with limited ingredients. They only use one protein source and one carbohydrate source, which is one of the best ways to go concerning dog and cat food. It is easy on the digestive system while still decreasing the amount of stool output and amount needed to feed to give the dog all its nutritional needs. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Answer 4

While my girl wasn't a premie, she's four and can still wear some of her 24 mo. clothes. :) Some kids are just "travel size" :) Unless your ped is directing you to, don't worry about calorie boosting; worry about giving her balanced, whole food meals. She probably still benefits from whole fat milk, yogurt and other dairy, but I wouldn't personally try to give her the empty calories of jam and other sweets. Here are some things to try to get her eating (it is best, of course, if you eat them, too) Plain Yogurt Yogurt with honey (better fat content than sugar) Yogurt with herbs (dill and tarragon are good ones, and if you can find nutritional yeast, it's a big hit!) Bananas - a single banana is about 100 calories, and they're all GOOD calories Beets - try roasting golden ones, they're pretty and not as "earthy" as the red ones, plus they have a high fructose level Pears - high pectin level, a good water-soluble fiber. Nuts - They will fill her up, so don't feed before meal time, but good protein, good fats Non-typical fish (i.e. not salmon and tuna, high mercury levels in those) Brown rice cooked in chicken broth (for flavor) Garbanzo beans Black beans Edamame (soy beans) I know it can be tough getting your little one to eat a diverse menu, but it really helps if you eat these things, too, and act like (even if you don't) you really love them. Good luck!

Answer 5

Nature's Recipe is very healthy and good choices in both dry and canned. I steer clear of Science Diet but won't go into here.

Answer 6

Look for a food that does not have corn, beef, wheat, or fillers.



My shih tzu had a sensitive stomach too. She came from a very bad breeder!!!



Oh, there are gravies you can get and poor over dry or wet food to add taste.

Answer 7

Castor and Pollux.



While you're at it, try a different vet for his stomach problems and also make sure you don't baby him and you don't leave the food available for over 20 minutes each attempt at a feeding.

Answer 8

Try nature's variety instinct. Or a raw diet.

Answer 9

Research a raw diet.



Prey model raw has done wonders for my extremely picky eater.