I have a 2 year old golden retriever. She is a very sweet dog, but we think she is special. She has a lot of weird quirks, which has been challenging to figure out. She gets frightened easily by a lot of things….. can’t figure out stuff…. lets other dogs bully her around…. doesn’t want to go pee in the morning until after she plays with her ball…. gets overly attached to toys…
We got her as a puppy, and she has always been a picky eater. We have tried about 5 different brands of dry food. We basically have had to hand feed her and beg her to eat it every day for the last 2 years. Then we have tried wet food mixed in with her dry food. She only likes lamb flavor I have come to find out. Then I have tried mixing her wet food in with her dry and some hot water. She enjoyed her food like this for about a week, and now she refuses to eat it anymore. If I don’t smash the wet food in enough, she will pick out the wet food.
I am at a loss. I have asked many different vets and they sort of just say “weird… Oh well”. I spend an extra 20 min twice a day trying to get her to eat. My other dog eats PERFECTLY fine. I am so discouraged. Any advice would be amazing! I have thought about just feeding her wet food, but I have no idea how much of that I can give her. On the cans it says to feed them one can for ever 20 pounds or something. LOL. She is 55-60 pounds!!
HELP!!!!!!!
Thanks for the advice! We feed her twice a day. No free feeding. We tried picking up the bowl when she didn’t eat and trying again for the next meal. It might partially be my husband giving her too many treats during the day, so she fills up on those instead. But he’s deployed right now, and I do not do many treats because of that. We never did obedience training classes because 6 sessions around here is $750.00 lol…… We think she came from a puppy mill and did not come with a lot of smarts.. not to be… Read more »
Awesome thank you! I have looked up several places in Annapolis/Crofton and had no luck. (Im in the Annapolis area). I started looking up trainers online since I only work 5 hours a day 5 days a week and have more time with them. My work schedule is super weird though, so I only have the morning off until 2:30PM. So that also be why I can’t find trainers around here. They are all available on weekends (which I work) and after 7PM … and I work till 8. 🙁 We just moved here from Alaska. She has had this… Read more »
So…the pickiness in food is a learned behavior. You can train her to eat what you want her to eat, but you have to be stubborn. Do you free feed, or do you feed meals? If the former, start feeding meals. Set amounts of food, leave the bowl down for a period of time. If she walks away from the bowl, pick the bowl up. She gets it at the next meal. Rinse, repeat for no more than 2 days – if she still won’t eat, then there’s something wrong either with her or the food you’re giving. This not… Read more »
That’s…an unreasonable price, especially in Maryland. If you’re willing to shlep up to Roland Park (JUST off 83 in the city) on Saturdays OR Timonium on a weeknight, I can refer you to an excellent class. Sessions just started, so it’ll be 8 weeks, but seriously consider it? Classes are under $250 for 8 weeks (I can’t remember how much for Basic). Our website isn’t up right now (and I’m poking my boss about it as I type this) but if you head to Facebook and look up Best Friends Dog Obedience, you’ll find the company. For the feeding, you… Read more »
Hmm. In that case, look up Oriole Dog Training. They’re in Halethorpe, and might have morning/daytime classes. I know a few of the trainers there and would recommend them.
I’m told Leash Free Living is based in Annapolis and might have daytime classes, as well.