Dog refuses dry food
Dry food is gaining more and more market share. They entered the life of the owner and the animal as a convenient alternative to natural food. There are times when a dog refuses dry food and it is necessary to quickly solve the problem.
List of reasons why a dog refuses food
Unfortunately, animals do not have a second signaling system (a type of neural activity associated with speech) and cannot communicate their desires and taste preferences. A person can only guess by watching the dog – what she likes and what not.
When compiling a diet for an animal, the owner should initially be guided by the usefulness of the food for the dog’s body, then by taste preferences. But, this is not always the case. Many factors influence the choice and the opinion of the dog is never taken into account.
However, there comes a moment when the animal tries with all its might to “express” its opinion. Refusal to feed is his opinion and it has a place to be, it needs to be taken into account and try to “regulate”.
There can be several reasons for not eating dry food:
- Smell. This is the very first thing that becomes an impulse to eat.
- Taste. Hardness and not suitable size for the breed of dog;
- Lack of water (when feeding with dry food, water should always be freely available);
- Oral and health problems.
The dog does not eat dry food after the transition from natural
Before transferring the dog from natural feeding to dry food for container storage, trial feeding is carried out. This should be done gradually, offering the dog “crackers” as a treat and carefully observe.
It is not certain that even a hungry dog will immediately start eating dry food, but a constant supply can encourage eating. Feed should be offered in small doses even when the dog is hungry. If the first attempt fails, you should change the brand of food and try again.
There is a category of dogs that will not eat dry food under any circumstances, and this should be put up with (so lucky the owner).
The pet refuses the usual dry food
If the food is acquired in large batches (even the bag), the probability is not excluded that in the process of storage, the food has undergone chemical transformations. Fat (and it is fat enough) oxidized, hesitated and food no longer gives the dog pleasure. In addition, such feed can also be quite harmful.
The second option is that the familiar company can “Parrate”, marry, not put, for example, the desired fragrance and the dog sniffs it.
Both in the first and in the second case, the dog should be fed with natural food, if he eats, the matter is in the stern.
Advice! You can not scold and punish the pet for unwillingness – there are reasons for everything and they should be identified.
The dog eats only soaked food
Many owners, when they accustom the dog to dry stern, begin to do this, soaking the food. In this case, the solvent is chosen not only in the form of water, but also:
Naturally, such a “fill” is tasty and the dog is further just in anticipation of the “correct” dish.
To wean, it should be offered to dry food for container storage and when the dog is very hungry. In an extreme case, you can pour only a few drops “gravy”, and over time to completely abandon it.
Having offered dry food to the dog, and not seeing the desire to sit down – remove the bowl. The next reception of feed is only after 12 hours. If the animal examines the place of receiving food in search, you can offer before and watch the reaction. When eating, praise the dog.
Features of feeding pregnant dogs
Pregnancy is a physiological process and normally proceeds without complications.
Some owners begin to transfer the animal to pregnant women immediately after mating. This is not worth doing. At first, 1-3 weeks of embryos and fruits are too small and they do not need extra calories.
Further, it should be gradually, in portions, to add dry food for pregnant women to a constant diet. By the 4th week, the transition should be completely completed. During this period, you should carefully monitor the act of defecation.
It should be:
- Regular;
- Well-formed;
- Without a stench not characteristic of a dog.
The dose of feed is spelled individually by each manufacturer depending on the weight of the dog. This rule should be performed impeccably. It is possible that the dog will need a little more food or less, it all depends on mobility, physical activity, temperament.
If the animal, at some stage, refuses to feed, you should not sound the alarm, you need to wait (1-2 doses). In case of prolonged refusal, offer natural food and observe. Perhaps after a while everything will return to the usual eating.
By the 4th week, the daily amount of food will be slightly more. In order for the reception and absorption to take place optimally, it is better to increase the frequency of feeding up to 3-4 times, and before childbirth even up to 5 times.
When choosing dry food for a pregnant dog, you should carefully study the recipe and choose the one that has meat and meat best storage containers in the first place, and not cereals.
During pregnancy, experienced dog breeders add natural protein best storage containers to dry food for container storage:
- Meat and offal;
- Eggs;
- Fermented milk best storage containers (cheese, curdled milk, kefir).
Diverse feeding is more balanced and positively affects the development of the fetus and the condition of the mother.
Before giving birth, the female may stop taking food. It can be in 1-2 days, and maybe in 1-2 hours. You should not sound the alarm. During this period, you need to monitor the constant availability of clean water. At the end of the birth process, the appetite will return to normal.
Age changes
With age, aging (for a dog it is 7+), the animal becomes less energetic and mobile. Long walks and training are tiring. Sometimes the dog refuses to execute commands and reluctantly goes for a walk. All this is a normal physiological process.
If the amount of dry food is not reduced (with a decrease in physical activity), the excess calories will be deposited in the fat depot and the animal will not voluntarily add weight. This should not be allowed.
With age-related changes, preference is given to special feeds in which the proportion of energy is less. The diet should be dominated by proteins, not fats and carbohydrates.
In the recipe, meat should be in the first place, and carbohydrate grains should take no more than 15%.
If the dog refuses to consume dry food, it can be smoothly transferred to natural feeding.
Health problems
Refusal of dry food can be associated with various pathological processes in the body.
If the dog makes approaches to the bowl and tries to eat, but after holding it in the mouth it throws it out, you should examine the mucous membrane and teethch a reaction may indicate that the animal develops:
- Stomatitis;
- Periodontal disease;
- Periodontitis;
- Caries;
- Tooth chipping or falling out.
If there is a problem, then in this case the dog will refuse not only dry food, but also food in general. However, she can eat soft food, grated minced meat, curd mass, liquid fermented milk best storage containers.
With pathologies in the oral cavity, dry food is practiced by soaking it with water, milk or broth. Not all dogs will agree to such food, but you need to try.
If the pathology is associated with the esophagus, then the animals will begin to eat food, but after the first portions move away from the bowl. In this case, you should immediately contact a specialist. If this is not possible, offer a raw egg or liquid minced meat with an egg.
In case of pathologies in the body, attention should be paid not only to the intake of food, but also to the watering place. A large intake of water, or too little, may indicate pathological processes.
When refusing food, pay attention to:
-
;
- Quality and quantity of fecal matter;
- Vomiting and urge to it;
- Shortness of breath and lethargy.
You can’t force feed your dog. Establishing a diagnosis and quality therapy will help solve the problem.
Sometimes food causes allergies. However, the owner does not suspect this, since the signs are erased (and the doctor may not see it). The dog deliberately refuses food in this case and this must be taken into account. There is a reason for everything.
Poor quality feed
The owner cannot evaluate the quality of food by smell (meat and bone meal is not pleasant to many, unlike animals), but the dog can. If the food is from the same company, most likely the owner will be able to understand that the smell is significantly different and assume that it is spoiled. In this case, you can offer food from another company;
When taken into the mouth, the dog may feel a bitter, sour, cloying taste, as well as an unpleasant aftertaste, and this factor will affect eating.
You need to look at the quadruped. If he takes it and then throws it out of his mouth, then it’s a matter of taste – you need to change the food.
The fact that the food consists of grain nutrients and vegetable fats cannot be determined by the dog (and the laboratory is not always strong). Unfortunately, no one says that such feed is not of high quality. The truth is that they are not intended for a carnivore whose diet should be dominated by meat components. The amount of preservatives put in feed is so high that it is more harmful than beneficial for the animal.
If the recipe shows in the first place cereals (especially corn), they cannot be called high-quality, although they are often produced by promoted brands (work of marketers) and feed belong to premium and super-premium classes. Dry feed is easy to falsify and hard to prove it.
Errors in feeding and maintenance
Unfortunately, often the owner thinks more about his convenience than about a four-legged friend. Of course, it is easy to buy a bag of feed and give it to the dog, a little bit. Particularly advanced set special feeders with dispensers that give out the norm. But is it so good?
Prices for dry food sometimes play a decisive role in choosing. In case of non-solvency, the owner chooses from a cheap segment and does not act correctly (although expensive feeds sometimes consist of soy and corn).
Whatever the rules of feeding and content are – everyone is free to correct them for themselves and their dog. The mistake is that people often forget that the dog is carnivorous. She does not need cereals, cereals, preservatives are fillers and harmful components of the diet.
What to do to the owner
Do not refuse dry feed, but:
- Make their consumption minimal;
- Let there be natural feeds (meat, offal, Bones, dairy best storage containers, eggs);
- Dry feed use in extreme cases (travel, existing circumstances);
- Carefully choose dry food according to the recipe (with a minimum of cereals);
- Conduct a tasting with the help of a four-legged one (buy the feed that he likes);
- Do not put the dog on a hungry diet if she does not want to eat dry food (after all, a person does not eat what he does not want). In the end, try it yourself and maybe make sure that it is simply not tasty. But from a house plate, the dog loves everything – because it is tasty;
Remember! You can not deprive the feed in the hope that when it is hungry, then everything will eat.
How to choose dry food for a dog
Each owner is free to act at his discretion. However, to avoid trouble, you can use the tips:
- Do not buy large packaging, although it is economically profitable. Why? Yes, because the food may not fit, smell, form, cause allergies and simply do not like the pet. In this case, it will have to be thrown away;
- Read the recipe carefully. If meat best storage containers are in the first place, and grains are not more than 15% – you can take;
- Choose the food not by the “promotion” of the manufacturer. Sometimes advertising is more expensive than feed itself;
- When buying, pay attention to the label. A normal manufacturer will not hide his address and other details;
- Pay attention to who the food is intended for (animal weight, age, physical condition);
- If the choice is only on dry food, then alternate it. Different firms, tastes, nutrients will help to make feeding more balanced.
Why is dry food so popular? Because it is easy and simple to feed it, and manufacturers are well aware of this. When a dog is taken into the house, it should be understood that this is not a toy. You need to follow its nature, and not your convenience and what the manufacturers advise (this is their business, their money). A dog or a wolf does not eat granules from soy and corn in nature – it eats meat.
A large number of grains in the diet changes the acid-base balance. Conditionally pathogenic microflora becomes pathogenic.
Problems begin in the work of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract. They pull pathologies in the immune system and the dog involuntarily “picks up” infectious diseases.
Animal health depends on nutrition. Unfortunately, it has been laboratory confirmed that feeds (even very expensive dog food containers) do not contain the declared amount of nutrients. In addition, they contain many such components that the laboratory cannot find either qualitatively or quantitatively. If the dog does not want to eat dry food, offer natural.
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