[Brisen]

I've been wanting to post about this for a while, but it's a little embarrassing, to say the least! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cry.gif

When we first brought Maggie home (almost 2 months ago) she was sick the first couple of weeks with kennel cough. She was on multiple medications, and had almost no appetite.

To try and get her to eat, my husband and I started hand feeding her. Well....she's now almost 4 months old, and the only way we can get her to eat, is to sit on the couch and hand feed her. **Hanging head in shame, 'cuz I DO know better!**

Anyway, unlike my previous beagle Molly, Maggie appears to be somewhat of a picky eater. We started her out on Wellness Just For Puppy, which she didn't seem to care for. We then switched to Merrick Puppy Plate, which she also doesn't seem to care for, but will eat if we hand feed her.

My concern is, she is really only eating once a day, usually in the evening when we have time to hand feed her. I know young puppies should be eating 2-3 times a day, but if I leave food out for her during the day, she either ignors it or spills it and plays with it.

I tried not hand feeding her at all yesterday, and she literally didn't eat ANYTHING the entire day. I'm at a loss as to what to do, and how to break away from this bad habit. Any suggestions? Any special type of premium dog food that is irresistible to the most picky of eaters?

 

[Murphys Dad]

Chloe is eating once a day only too... that's the best schedule I have with her, and she is fine with it.

About the hand feeding, I would just leave the food out in her bowl for 30 minutes, if she eats - fine! Go with the "you snooze, you loose" moto. She may not eat for a day or two, but I'm sure she'll get the point fast.
Another option is to wet her food with warm water a little and let her eat that, or mix the food with a spoon of canned food... to get her senses up and working!

Good luck /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbup2.gif

 

[7beaglelady]

Agree with Chloe's Mom, beagles will eventually succomb to hunger...she will eat, but why should she eat out of the bowl if a hand is feed her!!! Could take a couple of days...she will eat!!! Smart those Beagles, they are the best at training people. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/tired.gif

 

[Electric]

My breeder told me too put some goats milk in with the food. Timber then eats it all up and it works a treat.

 

[Spencer's Mum]

With the Merrick, have you added the warm water to make it saucy? Or you can buy the canned stuff as well and mix it in. You have to go back to the 20 minute rule, if your dog hasn't eaten in 20 minutes, pick up what is left and they don't get anything until their next meal, no treats or anything. They will start to eat within a couple days of that.

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Don't feel bad, when ours were puppies they would not eat from their bowl either. I would make eating a game for them. I would sit on either the kitchen floor or the living room floor and with a bowl of their dry puppy food. I would roll the pieces across the floor. They would chase the pieces of rolling food and gobble them down. It was a game.

You could try a little puppy canned food on top of the dry food. I am bad, I put a tiny bit of crumbled cheese on top of their dry food even now.

 

[Sweetums]

Yes, like kids, they will eat when hungry so I go with putting it "out on the table" for 30 minutes and then withdraw. Try making it more saucey or adding something interesting to it. Our one dog liked the cat's food so we fed the cats and then put water in the empty cat food can and then pour over the dogs' food and they went wild(hear the yelling in the crowds!!).

Remember just like trying to change a child's behavior, their indignation at the change will make their behavior worse initially which will make you want to give up.

Best of luck!

 

[MyKale]

i had the same problem. diesel would not eat unless he was hand fed. and most of the time he wouldnt even eat his dog food hand fed. he loves them table scraps. but i made sure no one in my family fed him anything but dog food. i also when i put the food down i showed him where it was. and if he didnt eat it i would leave it for about 20 min then show him again where it was and if he didnt eat it in 20 min i would take it up.

he eats it now. and i leave it out most of the time because his eating schedual is different from my work schedual now.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I'm with the rest. Sometimes Jersey gets fussy too. When she does, I just pick up her food and put it away. I'll put it down an hour later. If she still won't eat, then I don't feed her again until dinner. It doesn't take long for them to realize that they have to eat what you have given them or they don't eat at all.

 

[Brisen]

Well...no hand feeding today at all. Of course she hasn't eaten anything and it's killing me, but I'll hang in there until tomorrow and see what happens. This is HARD!

 

[Cooawk]

Stubborn little boogers! Usually Snickers takes a few bites and turns away. To get her to eat it all in one sitting, I dice a Vienna sausage and mix it with her kibble. I've never seen her eat that fast. The sausages have a lot of sodium in them, so she drinks a lot of water after that too. I don't know if what I'm doing is right, but it is a good way to make her eat a whole cup in one sitting.

 

[angelaH]

I have never had a beagle that wouldnt eat! I think its more a case of I'll wait until something better comes. You'll have to be hard for a few days. Put food in her bowl at the same time every day. Dont leave it there for more than 15 mins. She will soon learn to eat it or starve. Sounds cruel but its the only way she is going to get into a routine. Make sure the food is tasty and suitable for a pup to eat, of course home cooked would be great, if you have no time then get a good quality puppy food. Later, once her eating habits have become regular, you can introduce ordinary dog food.
I have never heard of a healthy beagle starving itself to death, so dont worry is she doesnt eat for a couple of days.
Good luck

 

[Murphys Dad]

Gale, any news? Is she eating?

Don't give up! you can always add a little warm water to sqeeze out the "grave" from the food. That should encourage her!

 

[Zookeeper]

Duke is finicky with his food, too. Oh, he'll eat any human food there is, but the food in his bowl will often go uneaten. He eats when he wants to. Sometimes, I'll add some low sodium, fat free chicken broth to it and then he downs it like he is starving.

 

[Brisen]

Yes Eleanor, she's FINALLY eating! She went from Friday night until Sunday afternoon before she gave in and ate on her own though. I followed the advice of Spencer's Mum and added a little warm water to the Merrick Puppy Plate, and she seems to like it better with the gravy consistency.

She went to the vet yesterday for her last series of puppy shots, and she weighs 11 pounds (up from 8.5 lbs. a month ago) so she's definitely not starving! LOL

It's up to me now not to give in and hand feed her any more. I'm following the advice everyone gave and putting her food down for 30 minutes, then putting it up if she hasn't eaten it. So far, I've only had to put it up once, so she's making progress for sure!! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/rolleyes.gif

Now if she'd only make as much progress with the potty training, I'd be one happy camper! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[PFR]

I have been adding a teaspoon of pumpkin to my three's food. They love it and devour there food down.