Super important! You can help me SAVE my dog. I know that human food is bad for dogs?

I had started her on dry food only and she was ok. Then my parents spoiled her while they baby sat her everyday while I'm at work. Suddenly she stopped eating her dry food and would go on hunger strikes until we'd give her human food. I'm scared this will lead to problems in her teeth, bowels, immune system... So I need to bring her back to a dry food only as she is also at risk of over weight. What's the simplest and most creative (coz she's stubborn and smart, so she knows I am trying to trick her...) what do you advise as the best way to train her back to a dog food regime? Thanks for all you answers!

Super important! You can help me SAVE my dog. I know that human food is bad for dogs?
You'll have to stop the human food completely. No dog will starve themselves. If you have a tiny dog and fear hypoglycemia, then give her some Nutracal during her fasting stints.





My dog did the same thing--it happened after a stint at my friends and what turned out to be a cruise line menu of food and all the samples she wanted. When she returned from her five star vacation, she decided to boycott anything fit for dogs--especially her food.





She got to the place where she'd rather take a milimeter of a french fry that found its way to the floor in a weak moment, than to eat a full bowl of hearty dog chicken chunks.





Here is what a vet suggested:





When it's time to eat, put the food you want her to eat in front of her. Leave it there for 15 minutes. If she does eat, remove the food and put it out an hour later. If she still does not eat, remove it and don't put the food down until the next morning.





Repeat the process. If she does not eat that morning, remove the food and don't bring it back until the next afternoon.





Works like a wonder--it did for my dog.





My dog is smart, too! Everytime I eat my dinner, She will pass by me--waiting and watching me eat--hoping for something to drop on the floor or for me to give in. After about 20 minutes of nothing happening--she goes to her dog food and eats it like it was actually the cruise line food she believes she is entitled to.





If you have the time to make human food for her--like Oprah does--then by all means--go for it. It is supposed to be the healthiest choice. Since I barely have time to mircowave a TV dinner--organic dog food is my weapon of choice.





If you are doing dry dog food--check into some of the higher end foods. Brands like Artemis, Karma, Organic Naturals, Organix...Honest Kitchen..all higher grade foods that incorporate human grade ingredients instead of by products and chemicals found in the average store brand dog food.
Reply:umm train him/her so that human food is a reward..... or ask a vet
Reply:I work and go to school full time and my mother watches my dog and ALWAYS spoiling her. I had my 8 month pup on a strict dry food diet but learned that she was getting roast beef dinners from my mom!! My pup never got to the point where she wont eat her dry food though. Try to spice up your dogs dry food a bit, try adding just a little rice, cooked burger or broth to her food and then ween her off of it. Thats what I did and it worked. Good luck!
Reply:Some Ppl food mixed with dog food if fine, I do it.


The recall scare and over-processed dry dog food was a big factor why some ppl now are preferring to cook up food for their dogs.
Reply:Try mixing her dry food with people food and slowly adding more dry food and less people food every day. She'll eat the dry food if she has to, she's not going to starve. You just have to be stronger than she is and not give in when she begs. Make sure not to give her chocolate or onions. I just found out about onions being bad for dogs not too long ago, I had no idea.
Reply:Just put the food down.When she gets hungry,she will eat it.A healthy dog will not starve itself,really! You could try mixing just a spoonful of canned through the dry to tempt her.
Reply:do you exercise your dog before meal time? dog's like to "work" for their food.


not all people food is bad. some toxic kinds are chocolate, sugars, nuts (mostly macademea nuts, but peanuts are prefectly fine), onions, grapes, and raisins.


if you want a healthy dog, feeding appropriate people food can be the best bet. dry dog food is really not that great for dogs and actually causes a LOT of health problems. if you are going to feed dry food look into buying a 5 or 6 star brand. check this site out to find what star your dog food is and look into getting something better. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_...





Raw meat is great for dogs, as is Rice, oatmeal, carrots, yams(sweet potatoes) and other veggies. you can use a pressure cooker and throw in a whole chicken with a mix of veggies. when it's done, the bones will practically dissolve. you can look online for more info about raw diets, it's called BARF. http://www.google.com/search?q=dog+food+...





as for your real question, i would exercise her more and then offer the dry dog food. just don't leave it out all day. take it away after 5/10mins if she doesn't eat it, and offer it a few hours later. you could add something to it, like wet dog food, or "savory sauce" too. here's 1 example http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_P...
Reply:My dog has always been a light eater and I have struggled to get him to eat his allowance of dry food. I bought 3 Kongs of different sizes and now I put his breakfast and dinner into these. He loves it, he seems to enjoy the challenge of 'working' for his food and recently he has been eating his full allowance of food wach day. Good luck!!
Reply:My dog used to eat human food.


Because my old grandpa always give her, for her sad look.


And then my dog don't want to eat her dog food again!


So my mom water it with boiled water until the dry food become bigger and soft.


And will force to put it in my dog's mouth!


for maybe 2-3 days, and...


Until now, my dog eat her dry food normally again.





i'm not a vet, and i just share my experience here.


Sorry if maybe it's not right!
Reply:Try half dry food half other, then every other day gradually reduce the human food, until its all dry food, i would.nt worry to much if he or she does ant eat at all for a day or two,anyway, as long as it has access to clean drinking water at all times, one of my terriers done the same, i just put dry food back down, he had two options, take it or leave it, but only put it down for 10 min if he had not touched it i would take it away until the next day, after 3 days he got the message, cooked veg is great mixed with dry food try mixing some of that in, good luck
Reply:try a mixture of canned dog food mixed in with the dry. more wet than dry at first then slowy ween out the wet until you are left with all dry again. the thing is, your dog is being stubborn and is winning. your dog will not allow itself to starve. when she gets hungry enough..she will eat. this dog seems to have figured you out and has your number. "why should i eat plain ole dog food if when i wait long enough i get yummy people food" feeding your dog human food will be far more damaging then waiting it out til she decides to eat her own food. stand you ground here. you are the alpha dog..not her.
Reply:Actually it's not that big of a worry. Dogs are scavengers and can eat lots of different foods. So long as the dog isn't getting excessive amounts of foods that would be bad for humans too, it's not such a big deal. Meat and veggie scraps are probably better for a dog than a cheap kibble anyway. If weight is an issue than having a dog that isn't into eating whatever you're trying to switch them to, isn't a problem either ;-)





www.fearfuldogs.com
Reply:For years dogs were fed "human" food and thrived on it. What matters is what type of "human" food you mean.





Commercial dog food isn't necessarily the best food for dogs it is just more convenient to feed than either home cooked or raw.





I feed commercial food just because of the convenience but one of my dogs has a digestive problem and I have found "human" food to be the best for him.





I feed 50% brown pasta, 25% veggies and 25% protine (fish, chicken, lamb mince or whatever).





So provided you are feeding a proper diet and your dog is getting the correct vits and mins "human" food isn't "bad" but is often better.





If you do wish to go back to a dry complete diet then hunger ususlly will out. She may go on hunger strike for a couple of days but provided she isn't given anything she will eat the food you provide.
Reply:i would actually try giving her the a cup of dry mix and a quarter of tinned food aswell. When my dog was a pup he got fed up of eating the same food everyday (i mean wouldnt u) so what we do is; give him the dry mix still but get a varity of different tinned god food and just use a quarter each time. Plus it stops the dry mix from being so boring aswell.





xxx
Reply:Now this might sound cruel, but i promise u it works. The dog right now knows that she can get away w/ not eating her dog food b/c prtty soon u will feel sorry for her and give her human food. Get out some dry dog food and put it in her bowl right where u always put it before. Let her see it and then just WAIT. She will eventualy eat the food. Dont worry if she doesnt eat it for a day. Dogs can be remarkable at fasting. She will eventually eat the food. NOTE: if she is still not eating after 2.5 to 3 days, phone the vet, as this could mean she does not feel right. the most important thing to this trick is to not give in to her. let her figure it out on her own, that u are not going to give her human food, no matter how long she does not eat.
Reply:You chop up some white meat, boneless, skinless chicken or lean chop meat and add it to her dry kibble - you can also put in a little rice, carrots, string beans, peas.


Mix it well so that she cannot pick out the human food from the good dry dog kibble. That's what I do with all 5 of my dogs and they love their food.





By the way, I know this is becoming some sort of religion - but there is NO harm in giving dogs good quality lean meat or some veggies and rice.


Dogs are omnivores. There are some things they can't eat, chocolate, raisins, grapes, onions, and salty, sugary, junk food is no better for them than it is for us - so don't give them any of that.





However, cheap supermarket dog food has more corn meal than anything else, so that's just as bad.


A good dry like Canidae, mixed with lean meat and veggies is an excellent diet for dogs and they will happily eat that any time.



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