My families best friend, our pet dog, provides hours of entertainment when it comes to her food. She is a picky eater and like children we have to come up with imaginative ways to get her to eat. Now i don't remember ever starting off in an incorrect manner, so i don't know where she picked up these habits. To get her eating we have fallen into the trap of leftovers which she thoroughly enjoys, before all the doggy people start sending hate mail, we love our dog and are sensible with her
Dry food is typically the best for dogs. I know this, it's balanced and nutritious and all that jazz. The problem is that she will not eat it until after we have finished our meal, dishes are in the dishwasher and leftovers are stashed in the fridge. The then gives us this sad little look as if to say, "Nothing for me?" With that she actually sighs, slowly waddles over to her dog bowl and starts to eat the dry food.
While this might be good for her health and to help her get back in shape, it's breaking my heart. I want my dog to enjoy her meals. I want her to be excited like those pups in the commercials that joyfully run when their person calls "Dinner!" So, here are the changes I've made to get my pet back on her healthy diet with food that she'll actually enjoy.
1. She gets a few leftovers, under her regular food. It might be a few scraps of chicken, or a spoonful of rice, but it's hidden under the boring food. The glare she gives us when we bury the morsel is withering, but she'll dig into her food going after that treat.
2. We keep trying different foods. So far she's incredibly biased against anything that pours out of a bag. But if we ever find something she enjoys we'll definitely try it again.
3. Canned food does get added to the menu once in a while. It brings her so much pleasure to hear that can pop open. Watching her with her little ears perked up and her tail wagging is a kick for us, too. This is an occasional treat, however. She also doesn't usually get an entire can in one meal. She gets half a can with some dry food poured on top.
4. Gravy is great for dogs, too. That's right; they sell gravy for your dog's food. It's not the most calorie friendly condiment for a dogs nutrition, but it does make her enjoy her dry food more. We just pour some on the top, or bottom, of the dry food and watch her tear into it.
5. Cheese is also a good treat. My neighbors do this when we're out of town and they're dog sitting. Sensing her opportunity for table food, she'll refuse to eat her vitalin. After all, they're different people and maybe they're more likely to cave than we are. But, they follow our directions not to give her scraps, much to her chagrin. But they have found a way around this by simply taking a little grated cheese and mixing it into her food. It's protein and a good choice as far as people food goes. Best of all, she'll eat all of the dry food in her bowl.
Dry dog food is the best choice for my precious girl's health, coat and waist. But giving in to the temptation to give her scraps has created quite the little "I don't want dry food" beast. The steps we've been taking have been working to get her eating her healthy food again, and she's slowly coming to accept that we have our food and she has hers.
