Dry Food Fiasco

[Sheba's Mommy]

Hey!
I haven't been in here for awhile...my apologies.

Sheba, my 4 year old Yorkie-Poo gets dry food for breakfast and canned for dinner.
She's very stubborn and is everything to me so she plays that to the hilt!!

With the dog food recall going on, I have switched her food to ones that don't have questionable ingredients although, at this time who knows what is questionable and what isn't, you know?
I log onto the FDA site before every meal to make sure that what I'm about to feed her hasn't been recalled and I've bought a few different brands to keep on hand in case one is recalled so that I will have a back-up.

I have no problem getting her to eat the healthy canned food for dinner.
My problem is getting her to eat dry food for breakfast.
Sheba won't eat any dry food other than Beneful which is full of fillers and has dyes in it.
I'm at my wits end.
I don't want her to eat fillers.
I want her to eat all healthy food!

I went through this a few years ago...trying all of the healthy dry dog foods but eventually the vet convinced me to give her whatever she'll eat because they need dry food for healthy teeth but I'm not satisfied with that EVEN THOUGH I feel relatively confident that she is getting enough nutrients with her dinner.
I want her to eat ALL good food!

I had thrown out my Beneful dry after reading some discussion groups in which I found a few who have gotten sick from Beneful but nothing's been verified...yet!
I saved a baggie full of Beneful for the transition though.

Right now I have 4 different bags of what the site dogfoodanalysis says are good foods and I've been trying all of them but she won't touch any of them.
I bought a bag of the Pro Plan dry food yesterday but she won't even give it a try. I have Nature's Recipe dry food, and a Science Diet brand that is slightly healthier than the Beneful but is also full of fillers. My friend recommended it because it's similar to Beneful and we thought we could trick Sheba.

I've been trying to get her to eat Authority dry food which I like it's quality for the last few week but she's more stubborn than I am. The only way she'll even give it a wiff is if I add some Beneful dry food in with them and most days she just eats the Beneful out of it and leaves the good stuff behind...
BUT she's still hungry because she barks at the table where her food bowl sits and pushes her nose into my hands and points to food bowl! (I can't leave her bowl down all day because of our 13 year old Sheltie will eat it)

I've tried gravies, I've tried dribbling toppers on it that I got from Petsmart and I've tried adding a small bit of reduced sodium chicken broth on it and heating it up. (she won't eat dinner unless it's at the right temp so I figured if it was warm maybe she'd eat it)
I've tried dribbling boiled chicken on it, scrambled eggs, etc.
I've also tried just putting plain Authority out and waiting for her to get hungry enough...all she does it go outside and eat grass to fill her tummy.
(she is one of those that just likes eating grass sometimes...)

My question is this...
Since it's important for them to eat dry food for teeth health and digestive systems, should I cave in and just give her the Beneful and feel confident that she's getting her nutrients she needs at dinner or should I keep trying?

Thanks you guys!! I want to do the right thing but maybe I'm over stressing about it.
Donna

[LC598]

I just read your post on my thread. You are lucky that Sheba eats the canned in the evening. She is getting a lot out of that meal. As for the dry, I would simply say give her what she likes. My vet told me this too. If I find something Sadie likes just give it to her. Trouble is I haven't found anything yet.


Has Sheba had any reactions to the Beneful? Could you not give her a little more canned food then give her a little of the dry just to help with the teeth?

I know what you mean about leaving them to starve. I feel terrible about it too. Last night her little tummy was going over she was so hungry. Sadie too will eat grass to fill up her tummy rather than eat what I put down.

These dogs certainly know how to make us worry like crazy about them.

[SONYSW]

Most dog will always prefer wet food (it is tastier) and usually they will wait for the wet food. I mixed my wet food (1 spoon) with Canidae kibbles in the morning and Canidae kibbles with either dry liver or rolls (dry) at night. She eats regularly. I think if you give her wet food only it is very hard to ask her to eat the dry food unless if she is hungry. Also if you keep changing the food dogs will become pickier. Try to choose good kibbles such as Innova, solid gold or canidae (most dog likes canidae) and sticks with it. You can ask sample too before you buy the whole bag. Spinkle their food with dry liver or rice roll. That usually do the trick to make them eat the dry food.

[Sheba's Mommy]

Hey LC ~ after reading your post I did count my blessings.
I'm hoping that you will be able to soon as well.

Last year when I spent 3 months trying all of the health foods, I talked to a groomer that works at my vets office. She has 7 Yorkies and all of them love Pedigree which, like Beneful, has corn in it.

I'm wondering if some of these little Sweeties just like corn although my vet says that there's only a few animals that should eat corn.
I wonder then why food manufacturers make theirs with corn besides the obvious cost savings? (semi-rhetorical question)

Does anyone know which one is better of the 2 ~ Beneful or Pedigree?

She has no stomach upset from the Beneful and to be honest, she doesn't eat enough of anything to really do much harm although we've been lucky to have not fed her anything that was known to test positive for melamine and the other poison.

I just fret over things at times...always wanting better.

I tell my husband, John, that he PURPOSELY pulls into McDonalds and eats the way he does. Sheba doesn't so I feel it's my responsibility to feed her high quality food.

Maybe high quality food is too rich for her though???

Of course, on top of this I have heart disease which stress is NO good for and our 12 year old Sheltie I believe is ready to go Home (heaven) as she can barely walk anymore but we're hoping she goes on her own but eventually, probably this week, we're going to have to make an agonizing decision.
I guess I'm putting my stress into making sure Sheba is well because there's nothing I can do about Brandy???

Anyway ~ I appreciate your advice LC and I'm supposing you're right.
I'm probably making things worse with her baby-belly by trying to force feed her food that might be too rich?
UGH ~ I'm so crazy!!!


LC ~ I have a spiritual website and I'm putting you and all of the folks here who are having health issues with their babies on my prayer chain.

Donna

[Sheba's Mommy]

Thanks SonySW ~ I know you're right...but she is used to dry in the morning.
I'm going to stop by a shop that has sample sizes and try the Canidea.

I do boil chicken and chop it up and freeze it and I have to drizzle a tbs. to her wet food just to get her to eat that!
She's got us wrapped around her little paw, huh?

LC ~ have you tried the boiled chicken to entice her?
I have found with Sheba that you have to work up her appetite. Sometimes when she's hungry she turns her nose up at food until she has a bite and then she's ravenous!

[Wylie's Mom]

The whole "hard food cleans teeth" is a myth. It'd be like us humans thinking that anything crunchy is actually cleaning our teeth and removing plaque. If anything, crunchy stuff gets stuck in our/their teeth much worse than non-crunchy food. Bones, on the other hand, do clean teeth.

Have you tried giving only real food at a meal, like chicken and rice?

[LC598]

Originally Posted by Sheba's Mommy

Thanks SonySW ~ I know you're right...but she is used to dry in the morning.
I'm going to stop by a shop that has sample sizes and try the Canidea.

I do boil chicken and chop it up and freeze it and I have to drizzle a tbs. to her wet food just to get her to eat that!
She's got us wrapped around her little paw, huh?

LC ~ have you tried the boiled chicken to entice her?
I have found with Sheba that you have to work up her appetite. Sometimes when she's hungry she turns her nose up at food until she has a bite and then she's ravenous!

I have tried Chicken, it gives her very bad diarrea. Turkey, beef, lamb etc etc also gives her bad diarrea. Basically any human grade food makes her sick. So I cannot cook anything for her. She does like scrambled or boiled eggs but I can't only feed her that...

[LuvMySissy]

Originally Posted by Sheba's Mommy

Thanks SonySW ~ I know you're right...but she is used to dry in the morning.
I'm going to stop by a shop that has sample sizes and try the Canidea.

I do boil chicken and chop it up and freeze it and I have to drizzle a tbs. to her wet food just to get her to eat that!
She's got us wrapped around her little paw, huh?

LC ~ have you tried the boiled chicken to entice her?
I have found with Sheba that you have to work up her appetite. Sometimes when she's hungry she turns her nose up at food until she has a bite and then she's ravenous!

Your baby doesn't really need to be on dry food. Why not use a good organic yogurt, cottage cheese or scrambled egg and a little fruit for breakfast and you can always home-cook completely rather than using canned food. If you are using crunchy treats and brushing teeth regularly, you should be okay.

If you really want kibble and are looking for smaller pieces of a quality kibble, try Solid Gold Wee bits. Beneful, Pro-Plan and the other brands you have mentioned (other than Candidea) all have fillers, by-products, preservatives and other not so good stuff. Good luck!!!

[Sheba's Mommy]

I have heard about the dry dog food being good for their teeth as being a myth but I find that if you ask 5 people or 5 vets for advice, you'll get at least 3 different opinions.
Nothing cleans their teeth like actually cleaning their teeth, you know?
I won't give them bones though...you are talking about real bones, right Wylie's Mom?
Our neighbor lost their dog when a bone lodged in his bowels and tore it.
Bummer.

Well, I went out yesterday and got sample packets of Canidae and Eagle Pack and I also picked up a can of Wellness 95% chicken that is a topper for dry food.

Well, since Canidae is the 5 star food according to dogfoodanalysis I decided to try that first and lo and behold! she ate it this morning!!
I hope she keeps it up...time will tell!!

I did figure out why she's holding out for the Beneful though ~ they add sugar! She want's Sugar Pops, not Special K!
Can't say I blame her but because their diet isn't as versatile as ours is, I'd rather she eat what will do her body good!

The lady that sold me the Wellness Topper said she puts it in ice cube trays and freezes it and when her dog wants a treat when the family's eating ice cream, she gives her dog his own healthy frozen treat! I thought that was pretty cool but I think I'll tackle one problem before I get fancy!

I wouldn't fret about the dry food if she ate more crunchy treats but she's out playing all day and really isn't interested in treats if there's squirrels and chipmunks to chase!

I clean her teeth every night but she won't let me use any of the doggy tooth brushes or devices...I have to use a semi-rough washcloth that works pretty well.
I have heard of some doggy parents whose dogs actually bring them their toothbrush but I've never had that kind of luck with Sheba.
I wish!!!

LC ~ I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers and I hope that this great group can help you find out what will work for Sadie.
There has to be something, you know?

This group is very helpful and I'm sure that as a group, we can find what Sadie and Mommy likes!

My fingers are crossed that this morning wasn't a fluke!

[Yorkiedaze]

If you want her to eat what will do her body good, then why are you feeding her garbage? Please take time to read these.

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/foodbook.html

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1996Q1/madcow13.html

http://www.home.att.net/~wdcusick/03.html

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Sheba's Mommy

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
I won't give them bones though...you are talking about real bones, right Wylie's Mom?

Not necessarily - I feed a real bone only rarely. But, you could use the safer "chewy" treats like Bully Stix, Zukes and SOME of the "dental" chews - you just have to be careful.

I hope the new food is working out - how's it going?

[BAXTER]

Originally Posted by Yorkiedaze

If you want her to eat what will do her body good, then why are you feeding her garbage? Please take time to read these.

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/foodbook.html

http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1996Q1/madcow13.html

http://www.home.att.net/~wdcusick/03.html

Very informative...thanks for sharing! I am glad that I feed my boy food that I would eat!!