Until yesterday afternoon I had begun to grow concerned about Laddie’s health. Turns out it was a failure to communicate.
The first evening after he moved in, I put some kibble in his bowl expecting him to hit it. He sniffed it and walked away. Two or three days later it was still there. He ate biscuits and scraps cheerfully – indeed, with increasing hunger – but that bowl of dry food just sat there. He seemed prepared to wait.
Clearly something wasn’t up to his standards. J&B gave me half a sack of dry food, so probably Laddie had had a hand in eating the other half. He’s not skinny, indeed he could stand to lose a pound or two. Should have asked for more detailed instructions, I guess.
Last night I was up in the pantry working on my own dinner, and came back down with a can of vienna sausages. Don’t care for them much myself, mostly I cut them up in spaghetti sauce. Opened up this can and dumped it, juice and all, into that bowl of kibble.
30 seconds later the bowl was empty and clean.
Ah hah! Okay. But he’s not getting canned food every day. If I had a refrigerator, then maybe like a third of a can a day or something – but without a fridge that’s asking for spoilage and flies.
I used to feed LB one egg a day mixed with his kibble, for his coat. I did that this morning. Laddie also found that immediately acceptable.
So he likes kibble, he just doesn’t like it dry. This is not something I’ve dealt with before. What do you guys mix kibble with?
Try just a bit of water actually. Enough to moisten things without turning it all to slush. Warm water may work better.
Hi Joel…for my old springer a cheap hot dog cut up vienna sausages like you mentioned left over bread with a little butter or peanut butter , if I cook up some eggs or stir fried rice i always make some extra for her…dog has it good , a can of regular good quality dog food once in a while too, dog has it real good…neighbor lady gives her really nice treats sometimes…dog is happy, Patrick
We usually run some hot or warm water into it, let it sit fifteen minutes or so. Depending on age of the dog, we’ll also add in some moist canned food, maybe an egg, or some cottage cheese, or leftover chicken bits, etc. At times we’ll also give them straight moistened kibble. One thing also that can happen, if you swap between dry and moist kibble is sometimes the dog will chow on the dry, suck down lots of water, and then vomit the stomach contents up when they swell too much. YMMV. I’ve also been known to save chicken bones and boil up a broth to add to the food. We’ve had a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, she wasn’t picky, but with a bowl of kibble that had been enhanced, she’d inhale it. While fighting off the Ridgeback and Yellow Lab. They’re an entertaining breed, for sure. Great dogs. Ours made it to 15 years, last six months were a bit rough though, blindness, cancer, etc.
If you want some entertainment, pour some of your liquor into it.
}:-]
If it looks like you have no need for a window air condiitoner, would something like this”
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And put it down as soon as you put the liquid in. Any “crunchy” that he eats helps clean his teeth, which is important for his long term dental health. Unless you really want to play with something like this:
https://www.chewy.com/pet-republique-dog-cat-finger/dp/155573
The juice from anything you cook, meat or vegetables, juice from canned vegetables if low sodium and you aren’t using it to make gravy, canned broth if you can find small cans or packages, as Czechsix said boil up any bones you have and use that broth. It will be easier to keep such things as the weather gets colder. I’d be cautious about regular hot dogs and canned Vienna sausages because of the sodium. There are low sodium bouillon cubes, chicken and beef, add hot water and you have broth. There’s also a product called Better Than Bouillon but it has to be refrigerated after you open it.
See the happy doggy smile…
SPAM…
Oh, he definitely eats Spam, but that doesn’t help with the kibble. 🙂
Might take a bit but he’ll train you to his liking…you can see determination in his eyes. 🙂
Little hot water and some bacon grease. Supposed to be good for the fur.
It has been my experience that a dog will not starve itself if there’s kibble in the bowl. That said, a little warm water, as mentioned, would probably go a long way without totally spoiling the little rascal.
Wow ! You guys are such softies. Dogs eat dog food,people eat people food. If you buy some healthy dog food ( eukanuba or similar ) your dog will be fine without spam supliments. Put the dog food in a bowl,he will eat it if he gets hungry enough. Don’t make things harder than they are.
Water, shredded cheese, yogurt, canned cat food, leftover veggies, toast scraps, soup leftovers.
But — this is the thing — only in tiny, tiny quantities. Not like whole-can-of-Vienna-sausages quantities. In your shoes, I’d gradually work him down until there’s only some tiny taste of something else amid the kibble.
Good luck!
BTW, my list was meant to say, in part, that it doesn’t always even have to be a liquid. It can be anything tempting.
Hi again Joel…that idea of just flavoring the dry food is good too I usually put the “treat” flavoring on top of the dry food, lot’s of times she just eats that but always goes back and finishes the dry later. She’s going on 14 and we still try to get a mile a day on the walks. When I was a kid my mom and dad had a drive-in restaurant, “Sugar” the mutt never had dog food in her lifetime…she was well fed by everyone and lived to 16 Patrick
We used to add hot water and a spoon of bacon grease (or butter or margarine in a pinch). Maybe get folks to save up the drippin’s for you?
Or perhaps good old lard… I recently picked up a big tub of the stuff for around $6 and at a tablespoon at a time, that would go a looooooong ways…
bd
Kibble , Kibble what the hell is Kibble..
Justice , our dachshund progressed from moist canned dog food to baked chicken breasts , thanks to the wife.
Now the mut wakes her up in the middle of the night barking for a milk bone…
A real princess of a dog…and will run your life for you if you let her…
1/4 cup water with a dash (maybe 1/2 teaspoon whatever oil being used) or small glop of bacon grease. That’s to 4 cups of food, so vary as needed. Working dogs and he is working in his own way, can use a bit of help with the coat/skin. Or not.
Of course the water situation must be considered in view of the “local” water being essentially undrinkable. Joel was hauling in water for LB, so I assume the newbie will not be an unusual burden in that regard.
If water or PB or cheese don’t work, you might try canned cat food as your sweetener. It is inexpensive and comes in small cans for some brands. My mother has used it for years.
My mother, who reads your blog, too, asks me to relay this message: Laddie is a former ladies’ dog. He may be used to lots of lap time, cuddling, and conversation. If you can set aside a certain time each day for brushing and talking to Laddie, it may ease his transition.
A dribble of olive or coconut oil. Good for the coat. One of my dogs wouldn’t eat unless I stirred the kibble with my finger. Go figure.
It isn’t unusual for dogs in a new place not to eat for 2-3 days. Then they tend to rediscover their appetites.
Philly cheese steak
That would certainly work.