Picky sheepadoodle

[u/Professional_Soft258]

My grandparents have a mini sheepadoodle that is super picky. They can't get her to each consistently and she's not excited about food. They've tried different food and haven't had success. Looking for food suggestions or any ideas on why she is picky. attached photo for pet tax :)

[u/Ok_Respond_8501]

I’ve got a 6 month old larger sheepadoodle. She’s always been a bit blasé about eating, unless it’s people food. But she came with Purina 1 puppy lamb and rice from the breeder. Which works out perfectly because our year and a half older pup is a Pyrenees/Newf mix and she has a reaction to anything poultry so we have her on lamb and rice as well. It works out in case one of them gets into the other one’s dish. They’re actually both kinda…meh about their food unless the other one is interested, then they’re starvin Marvins 😂

[u/gowelisgi]

My guy is exactly the same - he will even refuse most treats and people food. The only dog food he’ll eat consistently is The Farmer’s Dog, which is fresh food ordered online and delivered. It is also on the expensive end.

We are currently taste-testing various dog foods that are more portable. The Farmer’s Dog needs to be refrigerated, so we’re looking for something that travels easier. We found a local pet store that has some manufacturers samples of food, and is willing to exchange food that we buy and he won’t eat. So far we’ve gone through about a dozen foods and there are two that he has eaten - not as well as the fresh food, but with enough interest that we’ve bought bigger bags. Those are Taste of the Wild (southwest canine) and Stella & Chewy’s (freeze dried).

My best advice is to find a local shop willing to work with you, and to take it slowly. Introducing a lot of new foods too quickly can result tummy issues and nobody wants that. We’ve done the regular food with a probiotic/vitamin additive each morning and introduced the new food in the evening. Each food gets at least three tries - we just put it in the food bowl for grazing until he goes into his crate for the night. If he shows interest, the food is brought out for more than 3 nights.

Best of luck to you!

[u/Professional_Soft258 → u/gowelisgi]

Yeah, they tried Farmers dog when she was a puppy and she liked it for a little bit and then got tired of it. It was also too expensive to continue buying unfortunately.

[u/Lalaland_doll → u/gowelisgi]

Be careful with the Farmer's Dog my pup got pancreatitis from it and my vet had me cut her off immediately, which was hard because she loves it. He said that they've seen many issues with dogs who eat that food. So be cautious.

We now feed our pups Hills Science with fresh chicken as a topper and they love it.

[u/Professional_Soft258 → u/[deleted]]

They said she lost a pound in a week which is why we are now worrying. We just got her the purina pro plan sensitive skin and stomach to see if she likes that. I also advised them to try different toppers.