Not Eating Dry Kibble

[Guest 2dogs4cats]

Since you have tried another flavor of dry and she turned her nose up at it (in addition to pulling this stunt a couple months ago) I think she is trying to train you. I would give her no treats, no canned food. Mix the dry with warm water, if she doesn't eat it in 15 minutes, cover & refrigerate it. Give it to her again the next meal.

Gosh, I'm glad you aren't my mom. That's some pretty tough love.I am going to read your post to my hounds and tell them how lucky they are to have me as their servant.

 

Tough love, yes, but more LOVE than tough.

 

Maybe I think this way because I have always had seniors and really never had a young dog. Maybe then I would give them the tough love. Probably why I like the seniors, I don't feel bad about spoiling them.

 

Until recently, I shared life with three seniors: one raised from 12 weeks, one from a hard-luck track adopted at age 3 who was a hard keeper, and Trojan, adopted at 12 who thought I was crazy the first time I tossed him a split breast, but now can be called just about anything but later for dinner. With the exception of Trojan, all of mine spent their young adult and mature years with me before hitting their senior years, so the perspective there is different than with a newly retired senior where it's soooo tempting to spoil.

 

Picky dogs are made, not born, and they are rarely as healthy and active as dogs where health comes first and enjoyment after. I love that my dogs relish their food, and they each have favorites, but accommodating their whims isn't in the best interest of their health, so they just have to get their love and spoiling in other venues and take it on faith that I know what I'm doing and have their best interests at heart. Like a kid going through a phase wherein the concept of personal choice becomes a fascination, their likes could be accommodated, but not without consequence.

 

 

You say a dog will eat after the 4th day which is probably true, but what about a dog who will eat a quarter of the food every day? They can and will continue to lose weight for weeks, months if you let it happen.

 

If they do so, there's something else at work - either illness/injury of another kind or the dog is properly self regulating but his human has decided he "looks" too thin. No healthy dog will willingly starve. A dog will eat what is offered when the dog is hungry enough to do so and reasonably assured that holding out will allow the dog to get his way. If GT is any indication of greyhound adopters in general, it doesn't take long for most dogs to hold out and get what they want.

 

Also, think it's a huge generalization that people do it because "every other greyhound owner does it". Geez, have you seen some poodle owners? They can make me look like a real meanie!

 

I know a lot of poodle owners, and other breeds hobbyists as well. Each have thier own parculiarities, but it doesn't take long with greyhound adoption folks to note the extent to which the the greyhound adoption community has developed a particular mythology surrounding all manner of things (food choice, sitting, training, etc.) justified based on the mythology of spoling a greyhound because he/she is retired (or, ugh, "rescued") and has never had the opportunity to know home life and/or is special. There's nothing inherently wrong with thinking they're special - unless in doing so you forget that they're dogs - or in spoling them - unless done to the detriment of more important concerns like health and welfare. I'm not saying that other breed owners don't have thier own misguided badges of honor, they sure do, they just don't have the particular mythology surrounding adopted greyhounds.

 

Hmmmm....not sure I know of these "consequences" that you speak of. I really don't think I am harming their health by giving them beef flavor one day instead of chicken. I am definitely not feeding Doritos or Beneful. Just because they are dogs doesn't mean that they don't have individual tastes. I am not saying I am totally right, but I don't think that you are either. It's a matter of opinion. I will agree to disagree.