[tad b]

We rescued a 10 month old Dalmation/Pit mix about 2 months ago and she doesn’t like any of the dog foods I’ve tried. We have tried TOTW, Orijen, Evolve, Trader Joes, Blue Wilderness and/or Buffalo, Wellness and Merrick. We tried different varieties as well as puppy and adult versions and nothing seems to work. She has now developed some itching and minor rashes which I’m sure is caused by some of the foods. We also mixed canned foods from some of the list above but to no success. She will eat the dry cat food when she gets a chance. She was 45 lbs and is now down to 43 lbs and is getting us worried. We took her to the vet and she is healthy other than not liking her foods. I then tried a lesser quality dog food (Purina One) and she seemed to like that but that’s not the way we want to go with her unless we have too. I guess dogs like they’re version of “fast food” over healthy eating just like a lot of us humans. By the way, the foods that were not eaten have been donated to our shelters. I need some help!
Thanks for any responses.

[pugmomsandy]

Is there any way to find out what she was eating before you got her?

[tad b]

When we got her she was eating what the shelter had which was Pedigree. They told us she had very bad diarrhea and not eating much.

[pugmomsandy]

You can feed her the Purina One until she starts to eat regularly. They even have some grain free foods (Purina One Beyond). After she is eating well and regularly, you can introduce other foods. Try 75% Purina with 25% new foods and go on from there. My rescues tend to tolerate foods that are 3.5-4.5 star foods initially. I also give them Probiotics. I also normally recommend for rescue dogs to not go straight to the 5 star foods since they were probably fed poor quality food in shelters and their body’s aren’t acclimated to digest better quality foods.

[tad b]

That makes sense to portion out the foods, I wouldn’t have thought to do that.
Thanks for that info and I’ll try that.
Hopefully it works.

[BEV L]

I forget which brand it is, (might be Pro Plan) but it has salmon in it and it for dogs with sensitive skin & stomachs. If she likes the cat food, fish may be what she wants.

[tad b]

I don’t think it’s fish because some of the foods we’ve tried had that. She had the same picky reaction.
It’s funny to my wife and I that a homeless rescue would be so picky about her food.

[Susan]

When I rescued my boy he didn’t eat kibble, then I brought him a can tin dog food, he saw it & went mad, maybe she was feed tin food instead of kibble or maybe raw pre mixes…

[GSDsForever]

I’ve had good success crumbling Stella & Chewy’s freeze dried raw medallions over the food, just about a quarter to half of a medallion, crumbled fine enough that the dog cannot pick it out and just eat the S&C. I honestly think of it as like doggie crack (lol).

Some dogs have also been attracted to virgin coconut oil mixed into the food.

Turkey/chicken/beef broth warmed & poured over the food is another winner.

Other ideas: parmesan cheese or garlic powder* (or a minced clove*) sprinkled over

*NB: Although this is considered a controversial item by some, I’ve always used it in medium to large breed dogs without problems. I regard it as safe and beneficial to health. The dogs seem to like it. And my vet approved it.

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