My dog is a very fussy eater

Question
I have an 8 months old Pushon (Pug x Bichone Frise). She used to eat Royal Canine Junior 88 for 2 - 10 months old puppies but got fed up with it(?) I started giving her other Royal Canine food for small dogs, Baker and Barking Heads. She does not like any of it. When I mix her food with wet food she picks only the bits of meat and leave the rest.
She will not eat dry food and if she eats only meat she vomits. I give her bits of our food like cooked fish, bread and butter etc. but I am not so sure what food is good or food that might be harmful for her (or dogs in general). How would I know how much to feed her and if she got all the Vitamins she needs. Can you maybe recommend another brand of food that she might like and will be healthy for her?
Thanks Edit

Answer
Hi Edit,
Please look for my response tomorrow. I wanted to write something to you so this site moderator doesn't email me because I didn't respond promptly. Normally, I respond the day I get a request but too many things intervened and I could not get here. Now it is very late and I have PT in the a.m. Will write you tomorrow, ok? Nite, Susan

Hi again Edit, (Is it Edith or is it really Edit?),
I am sorry that I couldn't give you my response last night but I hope what I have to say will help you somewhat. First of all, when was her last rabies shot? Or any vaccinations? You did not ask for this opinion but I still have to ask this question. You would not believe how many dogs start to have digestive and other problems after these horrendous shots. What to do? When you dog is a pup and just starting out, there isn't much you can do as you must make sure she is vaccinated at least this first time. Mine were and have not been vaccinated since..I TITER (please look this up and use in the future rather than just knee jerk react to the cards the vets send you that she is 'due' for her vaccinations--PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS...TITER, TITER, TITER. OK, I am off on a tangent here and I'll stop.

On to your food question. GOOD FOR HER FOR HATING DRY FOOD--DRY FOOD IS REALLY NOT SAFE NOR GOOD FOR ANY DOGS. And never mix water with it cause as it is it expands in the belly and adding water only makes this worse. So forget dry food. If she is having trouble digesting meat (is this why she was already on Royal Canin?? Digestive problems? Colitis? IBS or IBD?) and now won't eat the Royal Canin then have you considered home cooking? Believe me, I am the most UNdomestic woman in the world and I "steam" and "pulverize" for my dogs and am amazed how easy it is to 'cook' for all three. If we are still in touch, I will share with you the horrendous, scary and EXPENSIVE problems I have been having with one of my rescues which is why I pursued an all natural route with him + supplements to make sure he gets his vitamins, antioxidents, dig. enzymes etc.

Ok, having said that, this SAME DOG got so sick he almost died. And guess what? I was 'forced' to listen to two wonderful vets who said that unless I started over with him, he was going to die. Well, I wanted to die cause both recommended Royal Canin (rabbit because he had never tasted this protein) and he's been on the rabbit now for three months and shockingly, he is doing very well. Yes, it goes against my grain because I had been cooking for him but as it turns out, he was INTOLERANT for almost a year of the organic chicken I had been  using. I share this with you to give you some idea of how I got into the nutrition angle with dogs. I have no degrees, am NOT a wannabe vet but I do have experience.

For your dog: have you tried another variety of the Royal Canin? It certainly sounds to me like your baby already has an extremely sensitive tummy and that you MUST feed her things that are easy to digest and healthy. You ask what brand of food you should feed? Well, for now, if she reacting to commercial foods as you say she is, then PLEASE consider lightly steaming hormone, steroid and antibiotic free chicken, turkey, rabbit or any other meat. I know you said that she does not digest meat well, so if you find that this is till the case, then maybe you should try another meat variety of Royal Canin. Dogs are carnivores so her inability to digest meat is a redflag. I am sure she loves meat so you must do something here. BUT WHATEVER YOU DO GO SLOWLY, KNOCK OFF THE BREAD AND BUTTER, TREATS OR SNACKS (unless these are her REGULAR FOOD)AND PLEASE BEGIN TO FEED ONE ITEM ONLY...NOTHING ELSE, AND I MEAN NOTHING. I would like to see you try a protein, a novel protein that she has nver tasted before and NOT VARY FROM THIS..NO MATTER WHAT!! To calm her tummy you might even be forced to try one of the prescription diets for dogs with sensitive stomachs (I know that Royal Canin is such a thing. By the way, HOW DID SHE DO ON THE ROYAL CANIN ASIDE FROM TIRING OF IT?) BUT I'd like to see you try lightly steaming a single protein with added supplements first...start VERY SLOWLY and supplement lightly.

I can be much more specific with you if you will write to me privately. I do not want to go into too much detail about the supplements because, due to my little Buddy's startling recovery when I put him on a Probiotic, dig. enzyme and APA Blend (vitamins and nutrients), I went to work for the supplement company but I hesitate to tell you much lest you think I am pushing my supplements. If you want more info I will be glad to explain more and will send you my link. I will give you my email at the end of this.

What is she eating now?? Her main meal? PLEASE CUT OUT ALL SNACKS, YOUR FOOD ETC...AND I MEAN ALL OTHER FOODS EXCEPT HER single protein. If you had her on a good digestive enzyme, I feel certain that he problems in this area would abate. But  you must start over with her and KEEP IT SIMPLE. Whatever meat you choose to steam (I use Purdue, boneless skinless breasts which are hormone and steroid free unless the organic chicken is on sale. Do you have a Whole Foods near you?) For her 'treats' use the same food. SAme with snacks. Give this dog NOTHING COMMERCIAL AT ALL..there are too many ingredients in the commercial foods and most are synthetic..no matter what brand you choose. If you are determined to use commercial food then try another flavor of RC or Natural Balance (limited ingredient food in both wet and dry). I hope you will see the benefits of home steaming for your baby. For now, do not worry about vitamins etc. FIRST YOU MUST SEE WHAT SHE CAN TOLERATE AND THEN YOU CAN ADD SUPPLEMENTS. Having said that, she should be on a dig. enzyme as soon as possible.

If you want more info on this please write to me at: DazzlinDaawg@aol.com. I Hope to heck I didn't confuse you. To sum up: KEEP IT SIMPLE, CUY OUT ALL SNACKS, TREATS AND GRAINS. You must go back to square one with you dog and the only way to find out what the real problem is to give her ONE PROTEIN AND CUT OUT ALL COMMERCIAL JUNK...and all commercial foods, even the high end foods, are basically junk food because they are loaded with synthetics. It is entirely possible that you dog is reacting to any one of the myriad of ingredients in those snacks...trust me on this one.

Let me hear from you if you are so inclined.
Sue aka DazzlinDaawg@aol.com