what do I do?

tltrooster · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:43 am Post subject: what do I do?

I have been feeding Champ Purina One Large breed puppy formula,
when he turned 1, we started mixing the adult breed in with the puppy,
well, he wouldnt eat any of it. and when he did, he would just pick at
it. So I decided to mix some canned wet food with it, well he started
eating again. ( I have tried the yogurt, the peanut butter, he just
licks off the stuff and dont eat the food).

We only have a Petsmart here in town, and I dont show the Candae?
listed on their website. I dont make a lot of money so I have to
be cautious on how much I can spend. He is not overweight, he
get plenty, and I mean plenty of exercise. So what food should I try
to get him to just eat the dry. I have been only trying the gravy
part, but that isnt working. I know he is testing me and getting
what he wants, but I need to know what a good, (not very expensive)
food would be. I have been feeding him twice a day, in the morning
before I go towork and in the evening after we walk. Any suggestions.

I only want to go dry, and feed him and be done with it. We have better
and fun things to do to worry about what to eat every day!

Phoenix1705 · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:10 am Post subject:

I feed Greta and Bo Science Diet. It's what our vet recommends and they seem to do very well with it. They also get some raw throughout the week. I don't put the yogurt or peanut butter on the kibble. I usually freeze the peanut butter in a kong and I put the yogurt in ice cube trays and freeze them into treats. It's not too cheap but it's not expensive plus spending more money on better food means you don't have to feed them as much of it either. The cheaper foods have more fillers and you'll have to give them more of it to keep them full. Greta and Bo get about 3 cups a day of the kibble along with several snacks/treats. Also, Hills Science Diet is on sale at different pet stores/farm stores almost every month anywhere from 5-10 dollars off. I usually look for those sales and get the biggest bag and store it in a tupperware tub to keep it fresh. Hope this helps!

tltrooster · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:21 am Post subject:

I already do the Kong with frozen peanut butter, but I will try the
yogurt in the ice trays. I just bought a bag of the Purina one, I will
go ahead and finish this up and then switch him. I usually feed him
4 cups a day. two in the morning and two in the evening. Along with
the Kong, I do have out for him usually in the afternoon, a knee bone
for him to chew on. Thanks for the suggestions. Any is greatly
appreciated. Smile

kamfam · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:24 am Post subject:

Have you checked out Canidae's website for a listing of stores? I know the Petsmart around here does not carry it, but I found it at Pet Supplies Plus and also some small shops that I didn't even know existed!

Have you tried wetting the food some (let it sit for a few minutes til it gets soft)? Another decent food is Natures Recipe. I think that's available at Petsmart and it's fairly reasonable. Some do really well on it (Kam didn't, though).

jamie8dc · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:44 am Post subject:

To finish the bag, put the food down and walk away. If it's not gone in 20 minutes, take it up, and don't feed him again until his next meal. He'll figure out REAL quickly that while it may not be filet mignon, it's better than going hungry. Keep slathering it with yummy stuff every time he doesn't eat it, and he'll never eat dry kibble again. Why would he, when he could just wait a few minutes and get an upgrade.

I just switched from Science Diet to Eukanuba, and Logan likes it a LOT better. I'm sure it's different from dog to dog though. I hear dogs love Canidae though, and if you google that name and go to their website, you can look up stores that sell it near you.

tltrooster · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:32 pm Post subject:

I have just learned my first real lesson about this breed. They are very smart and they know how to manipulate us humans into getting what
they want. I have not had small children in my household in 20 years,
so I am having to relearn myself on taking care of Champ. He is just
like a small child and he is getting his way with me and I need to
put my foot down and let him know who the boss is. So for dinner
tonight, he is getting food with nothing on it and if he doesnt eat it
in 30 minutes, it comes up and we will go forward from there, after this
bag is gone, we will try something else. I do want to feed him something
that is good for him and not just crappy stuff.(not saying Purina One is crappy) I will start doing my research and see what happens. I am very fortunate that Champ does not have any allergies that I know of to foods
Sometimes it seems like he has a stomach made of iron.

tltrooster · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 12:42 pm Post subject:

I looked on the Canidae website, there are not supplier here where i
live. The closest is going to be in Ft Worth, which is 2-1/2 to 3 hours
away.

I will try one of the ones everyone suggested, and see what happens.

Thanks again for all the suggestions and support. This site is the BEST!

PamK · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject:

I am not sure which Purina one you are feeding him but Derek has always been on Purina One, first puppy and now large breed. Once by mistake I picked up something other than the large breed and he got too skinny on it.

I also mix pumpkin and yogurt together and fill the Kong with it.

good luck

Idaviruma · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject:

Check Target stores in your locations, some carry Drs.Foster&Smith kibble, out of grocery brands, I really cant reccomend any, I know Wal-mart carries a brand called Lamaderm, the kibble is not that great, but canned is decent. If you have Costco membership, look into Kirkland signature kibble, its pretty cheap and no fillers.
Here we also have Harris teeter which carries a brand called Harmony Farms and I believe Newmans own, look into those.
I think Taste of the Wild and Chicken soup is less expensive then most premium brandsm but its made by diamond which has been involved in previous recalls. I'm trying to find my link but my comp is screwed up, so I cant. Go to google.com, type in taste of the wild and on their website check locations.
If you havent yet check local feed stores, where they sell horse feed and supplies, they sometimes carry foods, also health food stores.

good luck.

jaegertheweim · Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:02 pm Post subject:

Have you tried Eagle Pack? There are several different varieties of the Holistic adult foods which you can try (see: http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Dog.html)

And I hear that they are good with samples

tltrooster · Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject:

Champ ate his food with just kibble last night. We will be transitioning
to Canedai in March. I am going to finish off this bag that we have.

Talking to people at the office where I work and there are quite a few
people that would love to feed this to their dogs, Well one of the ladies
that has german shepards and trains them in Agility, has been ordering
it online. She is going to be ordering it in bulk and we will be getting
it from her. YEA!!! She is going to give me some to feed Champ and
see if we can go cold turkey, If that is the case, I will be donating his other food the Rescue the Animals here in town.
She agreed with everyone that this is the best food for your animals. I will be getting a 40lb bag for about 40.00, 1 dollar a day to feed my baby the good stuff!

Thanks again for all the encouraging words, and suggestions. WE are
also talking to a feed store here to get them to start selling it. Wish us
luck.

Banshee13 · Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2008 4:10 pm Post subject:

Good luck, Rooster. I wish you the best. I just switched to Canidae myself two bags ago. I get a 40 lb bag for $37.99, which is cheaper than what I had been feeding--Natural Balance, which was a smaller bag for roughly the same price. The way I decided what food to switch to was from a website someone posted on here in another thread. The link is:
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

I found it to be very helpful. I just called some of the stores listed on the food websites to price shop.

Good luck!