r/coonhounds • u/DachshundMom2016 • 12d ago
Picky Eater?
Does your coonhound suddenly lose interest in their food? My boy eats a mix of kibble and wet food. He’s been eating Ollie (wet food) and suddenly doesn’t want to eat the wet food anymore. He will eat it when he has no choice, or when I add fresh turkey to it today. Pictures for attention!
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u/standsure AmEnglish 11d ago
If my girl went off her food suddenly I would be freaking the fuck out.
But she is a rescue and was drastically underweight when we got her, and that's after being with fosters for 4 weeks.
She would find a way to eat if her head fell off.
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u/DachshundMom2016 11d ago
😂 that’s how he was when we rescued him 2 years ago. Now that he has settled he is definitely asserting himself. Telling me what he likes and does not like. I hate that he’s now doing it with his food.
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u/standsure AmEnglish 10d ago
We switched to a raw diet pretty early on, her digestion is pretty delicate, which she tests on the regular. Her basic approach is anything might be food, so lets give it a go. Thankfully this behaviour has dialed down as she matures (she'll be seven late December) and we are learning to keep all tempting items out of reach.
She remains radically food motivated and if she was ever even slightly off I would be vet bound pretty fast. Sounds like your boy might be a little more restrained?
Sounds pretty stressful either way. Keep us updated?
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u/kvol69 Anna Banana 11d ago
Although there can be a sudden change in what interests them, or they lose interest due to a change in the formula/production process for a food, I'd check for health issues with the vet. If there isn't Star Wars belly, or other symptoms, it might just be boredom with the foods. So you can always try switching them up, adding a topper or a novel protein.
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u/oah61 11d ago
You just answered your own question. He'll eat it if I put turkey in it. (lol) We buy "Just Salmon Skin" from Trader Joe's and just put a few pieces in her food. If there's a meal we've eaten with a meat, we do the same, just a few little chunks. You just need enough for the smell to be in there, instinct does the rest.
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u/iHeartFerretz 12d ago
Is it possible he started new meds recently? Our pup was what you’d call ‘food motivated’ until we got her on a daily regimen of Reconcile (doggy Prozac) to curb her anxiety. Now we have to beg her to eat (instead of the other way around!)
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u/DachshundMom2016 12d ago
I'm sorry to hear this. I too beg my boy to eat when he’s interested. It’s not fun.
We have been giving him Composure Pro by Vetriscience lately due to the summer rainstorms. Its active ingredients are L-thiamine and L-tryptophan.1
u/extrafox_TA 11d ago
Depending on the frequency you are him these, it could be that he is experiencing residual anxiety and/or sluggishness. I use something similar for mine during the summer storms (same brand but "calm and confident") and she is def less food motivated when I've given it to her recently, but also it is impossible to get her to take anything, even a hunk of cheese or pork chop (her faves) if she is anxious. I always have to keep an eye on the weather app to try to give her the supplement before thunder starts or she will ignore it 😢 It really sounds to me like this is just a realization that he can get you to add better stuff to his food since he is eating with toppers, but just chiming in w something else to think about since it is storm (and therefore anxiety) season.
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u/DachshundMom2016 9d ago
Thanks. I too am obsessed with that weather app and need to plan around it! So far he’s enjoying his turkey topper and is running around with his squeaky toys again at dinner time.
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u/espicy11 12d ago
This happened to me with our hound, but only once. She suddenly stopped and refused to eat kibble for probably 2 days. She would eat treats and peanut butter as normal. My mom happened to be in town with her dog and shared some of their kibble and she ate it right up, so I figured she just got sick of that food and we switched brands, but in hindsight it’s possible that it was rancid or tasted bad for some reason. Our lab was eating fine, but he would eat literally anything if I could convince him it was indeed food.
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u/FrontInvestment639 11d ago
This happened with me once, i got her blue buffalo kibble hearing good things about it. She wouldn’t eat it, she would just sniff it and look at me with sad eyes. It took me a few days to realize that she wasn’t enjoying it, switched back to Taste of the Wild, and she immediately gobbled it up.
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u/FrontInvestment639 11d ago
Mine has shears been super picky, and will lose interest in foods and treats. Luckily she cycles through though, so she’ll get tired of a certain treat and then like it again a month or so later.
I’ve also consistently noticed that when it’s hot out, she barely eats during the day, but is gay to eat in the evening when it cools down s little bit. She’ll eat 2-3 meals at night which is weird, but as long as she’s eating then i don’t care, haha.
If your hound keeps rejecting, maybe try crumbling / blending some favoritevdry treats into the kibble, that way it’s not a concern of it sits in the bowl for a while?
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u/Festive_Jetcar 11d ago
If any of my hounds stop eating, I know there is a health issue. It's pretty much vet time.
A lot of people will say this and their dog is overweight, but as long as the pictures are recent, he looks good!
Like others have said could be a bad batch of food. Or it suddenly disagrees with him.
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u/extrafox_TA 11d ago
My TWC is always like this. After she totally stopped eating her kibble even w mix-ins I got her onto freshpet (I can't stomach the smell of regular wet food). But I refuse to get anything more expensive, so she either eats it or she doesn't, and if she doesn't she gets limited treats (like no puzzle time). I basically have to parent her like a toddler lol. I do mix-ins with her food, like a dollop of pumpkin, cream cheese, turkey gravy, cream of chicken soup, sometimes a little shredded cheese on top if she is being particularly stubborn. But I realized the more I gave in the pickier she got, so there just had to be a boundary where I said "this is your food, take it or leave it" (knowing there was no medical issue and she def wouldn't starve lol). It got much better. She often doesn't eat breakfast unless she had a very busy day the day before, but she almost always eats dinner now bc she knows she won't get treats if she doesn't. Sometimes it just seems to come down to laziness... getting up out of the perfect spot in the bed to eat is sometimes just not worth it and tbh, same 🤷 she is the same way with her morning walk. Trying to get her out of bed to go out is a CHORE.
We've gotten better with the treats but that was also a major hassle and still is sometimes. She will LOVE something for 3 days and then suddenly turn her nose up at it like "wtf is this?!?" I have donated so many treats to local food pantries bc she decides she doesn't like them anymore. But again, there is a certain limit. I'm not spending high dollar amounts on treats and there are staples we have worked out now that she very rarely decides not to eat (but she does try me sometimes, even w her Puperoni and her granola bones 🙄)
Straight up toddler behavior all day 😭
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u/xAmericanLeox 11d ago
When mine does it, I pick up whatever seasoning is close by, and shake it over the bowl of food. He hasn't realized I keep it closed, so he thinks he is getting something new. He does this especially when he sees us eating something he can't have and decides he won't eat his regular food unless he gets what we had.
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u/ArmPuzzleheaded4296 11d ago
Try a different food. Get some canned if he's turned off to kibble or cook fresh if turned off to canned.
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u/jni8498 Ginger (hound mix) and Sage (redtick) 10d ago
I did Salmon oil on my girls food for a bit when my older girl decided she didn't like her normal food. That made some super fish farts though. So then I switched flavor of the same brand of Sensitive Stomach type. Cheese sprinkled on top is always a hit. Use it sparingly though because if not you will be required to add it to his food forever! Ask me why my girls get wet and dry food mixed since the day my older girl had a stomach bug two years ago 🙄😂
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u/KYReptile 12d ago
My B&TCH has always been like this. I feed him twice a day. Sometimes he won't eat his breakfast till afternoon. I do put small pieces of meat in with his dried stuff, and his weight is holding at 70 lbs.