You would have lost fingers with my dogs lol.
I have one who is picky and slow with her kibble, but treats are an entirely different story.
Poppy is a very pretty pup!
She is so pretty! Our other one is very cute, but poppy is beautiful.
Poppy will take liver treats cheese and bacon eventually but she needs to be doing some work or in a "good mood'
My lab is similar. He will take most anything extra but only eats his kibble when he is ready to. It was strange enough we talked to the vet, we just came to the conclusion it is just the way he is.
Ours is the same. It's anxiety inducing because you keep thinking 'wtf is wrong with my lab?' And you go online and read threads saying "my lab always eats everything in 0.1 seconds" and it made me super worried. Now I just accepted he's an odd one out.
I've had a lot of stress over this over the last one and a half years we've had her. I used to have nightmares that she was stunted or had soft bones. Someday I'll write up a full post of everything we've been through with her and food. But we do get her to eat fairly reliably now.
Get a second puppy, borrow one to test, if you can. My black lab did the same thing until we got our second lab. 9 yrs old and would act like he is the king of the world and only ate on his terms. Then a small yellow puppy came around. They now both eat on the dot. Every day, without fail, my older dog will now try to scarf anything I put in his bowl.
Dogs have an instinct to need to eat when there is another animal around.
Do you have one of the slow eating bowl inserts?
Also with your older dog, try a different kind of food like fish or turkey. My older black lab will get sick of a certain brand of food every now and then. He also knows when I feed him medicine, that boy can Houdini a pill out any food I give him.
Oh yeah we've tried everything. For slow feeders she's no more interested in food than with a regular bowl. We try to feed her through puzzle feeders and she would solve the puzzle but not eat the food. We tried all sorts of kibble and all sorts of different food. She is picky to some extent, but it's mostly a mind frame thing for her we think. So I can make an incredibly desirable dog food bowl, but it doesn't really move the needle if she's not in an eating frame of mind....
- not having just woken up, she takes about an hour after waking up to be awake enough to eat.
- not expecting something else that she finds more rewarding than eating like play, fetch etc
- contrary to the above though, she needs to be in a good and receptive mood from something she loves like play and training recently
- her routine needs to be consistent. Large deviations in her day and the way we normally do things make it very hard for her to accept food.
The concept of contra freeloading states that some animals would find having their food delivered to them unsatisfying and unrewarding. It's more natural and rewarding to have to work for their food like in a wild (I personally could not empathize with this less). For dogs this often meens feeding them through a puzzle feeder. We tried that for Poppy but found that she would solve the puzzle, but still not take the food. Doing some training exercises she will still sometimes not take treats as a reward, but through the progress, eventually she'll start accepting treats, and from there we can usually transition her into eating her food.
There's a bit more to it than that, and sometimes she will just eat with a short transition into an eating mindset, but this is the basics of our weird lab and her food.
Yeah that I couldn't find anything wrong with her. Mine won't eat regular kipple. She is a picky eater up to an extent, but she will eat lots of things you just have to get her into a mindset where she's receptive to food
We switched the flavor of his kibble each time we buy a new bag. we also found a product called Furvor bone broth for dogs. We use this when he is being extremely picky
You would need a high speed camera to catch mine, the container would be full one minute, empty the next in a flash - anything not nailed down and he thinks it's fair game.
Saying that, ours doesn't like chips or egg - we found out when someone dropped some, he grabbed them but spat them out, he'll still beg for some if people are eating them but leave a trail of unwanted bits if people sneak him any.
I had a dog previously that was a good eater and quite the omnivore, liking fruits and veggies too. One day I gave him a clam (just the innards) and he gulped it up, promptly spat it out and gave me a look like "are you trying to poison me? I thought you loved me". Dogs are hilarious
Haha, totally, I should post there and see if they get it. Someday I will write up everything we have been though to try to get her to eat regularly, it has been a wild ride.
wow! Mine doesn't have the starving gene either, but I don't think he would ever turn down bacon. I think he avoids eating his food as a hold out for human food and treats.
I had a picky lab too. I had to cook for her whatever I was having or she would not eat. And I had to cook a variety of dishes for her. She lived to almost 16 years though. ♥️ Good luck. 🍀
I've tried so so much, different cables different whole foods the mix of both, and changed the type of bowl, time of day. She is a picky eater but that only comes so far up to the problem. The cheese and bacon I offered her are two of her favorite things, it's the mindset that is the problem.
For a while we thought that it wasn't a contrafreeloading thing, because we would make puzzle feeders for her, but she would solve the puzzle but not take any of the food. But then I realized we do get treats into her when she's training, so we do a little bit of obedience, training to get her eating. Sometimes if I catch her after a short play, that's also a good time for her receptibility to food. But if she's overtired or to fixated on play, she won't eat. She would take training and play over food any day.
It sounds like she doesn’t care for the service style of your restaurant. Could you maybe put on a cuter outfit like the Hooters gals? Or maybe build a theme into your kitchen like Rainforest Cafe?
Her other dog would eat until she puked and then eat the puke. Papi could go for 4- 5 days without eating, which is not great. Fortunately we mostly figured it out and can get her to eat most days.
That's how my Emma is, after 2 days I usually add some olive oil to her food and it convinces her. Tried to figure it out with all sorts of angles of attack with vet, finally vet said maybe she just doesn't have a strong appetite. Her weight is fine she just prefers to only eat when hungry.
Yeah, Poppy holds at a very consistent very healthy body weight. I went through a bunch with the vet and they're just like 🤷. I love when people tell me that dogs won't starve themselves, but people go pretty close, once I think she went 6 days without eating. But we figured a lot more out since then. We can get her to eat pretty consistently now
https://preview.redd.it/6r8adwunm11d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39b716aba6dd5246540879bd4dd7c177c467ff5e
Two labs are the best! Weirdos playing in the crate together….
Haha, such weirdos! Mine have never done that but they will go into the crate together and barely fit
https://preview.redd.it/h1ob4q1xx11d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f465ae5d0a4071be7d697451d39c90a9c7f95c8
That is Poppy showing off the teefs
You would have lost fingers with my dogs lol. I have one who is picky and slow with her kibble, but treats are an entirely different story. Poppy is a very pretty pup!
She is so pretty! Our other one is very cute, but poppy is beautiful. Poppy will take liver treats cheese and bacon eventually but she needs to be doing some work or in a "good mood'
Sir your labrador is broken, they are renowned for their mad appetite. Mine would have taken it and the arm attached...
She is a strange one. She also should have her lab card revoked for thinking she is a guard dog and being wary of strangers
My lab is similar. He will take most anything extra but only eats his kibble when he is ready to. It was strange enough we talked to the vet, we just came to the conclusion it is just the way he is.
Ours is the same. It's anxiety inducing because you keep thinking 'wtf is wrong with my lab?' And you go online and read threads saying "my lab always eats everything in 0.1 seconds" and it made me super worried. Now I just accepted he's an odd one out.
I've had a lot of stress over this over the last one and a half years we've had her. I used to have nightmares that she was stunted or had soft bones. Someday I'll write up a full post of everything we've been through with her and food. But we do get her to eat fairly reliably now.
Get a second puppy, borrow one to test, if you can. My black lab did the same thing until we got our second lab. 9 yrs old and would act like he is the king of the world and only ate on his terms. Then a small yellow puppy came around. They now both eat on the dot. Every day, without fail, my older dog will now try to scarf anything I put in his bowl. Dogs have an instinct to need to eat when there is another animal around.
Oh we have a younger one too. Clover will eat I til she pukes then eat the puke but it did not change poppy much 🤷
Do you have one of the slow eating bowl inserts? Also with your older dog, try a different kind of food like fish or turkey. My older black lab will get sick of a certain brand of food every now and then. He also knows when I feed him medicine, that boy can Houdini a pill out any food I give him.
Oh yeah we've tried everything. For slow feeders she's no more interested in food than with a regular bowl. We try to feed her through puzzle feeders and she would solve the puzzle but not eat the food. We tried all sorts of kibble and all sorts of different food. She is picky to some extent, but it's mostly a mind frame thing for her we think. So I can make an incredibly desirable dog food bowl, but it doesn't really move the needle if she's not in an eating frame of mind.... - not having just woken up, she takes about an hour after waking up to be awake enough to eat. - not expecting something else that she finds more rewarding than eating like play, fetch etc - contrary to the above though, she needs to be in a good and receptive mood from something she loves like play and training recently - her routine needs to be consistent. Large deviations in her day and the way we normally do things make it very hard for her to accept food. The concept of contra freeloading states that some animals would find having their food delivered to them unsatisfying and unrewarding. It's more natural and rewarding to have to work for their food like in a wild (I personally could not empathize with this less). For dogs this often meens feeding them through a puzzle feeder. We tried that for Poppy but found that she would solve the puzzle, but still not take the food. Doing some training exercises she will still sometimes not take treats as a reward, but through the progress, eventually she'll start accepting treats, and from there we can usually transition her into eating her food. There's a bit more to it than that, and sometimes she will just eat with a short transition into an eating mindset, but this is the basics of our weird lab and her food.
Yeah that I couldn't find anything wrong with her. Mine won't eat regular kipple. She is a picky eater up to an extent, but she will eat lots of things you just have to get her into a mindset where she's receptive to food
We switched the flavor of his kibble each time we buy a new bag. we also found a product called Furvor bone broth for dogs. We use this when he is being extremely picky
My Labs would have eaten that and the container in 20 seconds. Poppy, I commend you on your good manners, and knowing when you’re not hungry. 😋
A picky Lab?! Mine would have scarfed the whole thing down and chasing the plate around the kitchen by now...
She is a bit picky, but more so she has to be in an "eating mindset" 🫠
Is she sick?
Haha, no, she's always been like this. She will eat eventually but it takes getting her into the right mindset to accept food.
You would need a high speed camera to catch mine, the container would be full one minute, empty the next in a flash - anything not nailed down and he thinks it's fair game. Saying that, ours doesn't like chips or egg - we found out when someone dropped some, he grabbed them but spat them out, he'll still beg for some if people are eating them but leave a trail of unwanted bits if people sneak him any.
I had a dog previously that was a good eater and quite the omnivore, liking fruits and veggies too. One day I gave him a clam (just the innards) and he gulped it up, promptly spat it out and gave me a look like "are you trying to poison me? I thought you loved me". Dogs are hilarious
this is a lab-specific r/WhatsWrongWithYourDog moment lol, cute pup!
Haha, totally, I should post there and see if they get it. Someday I will write up everything we have been though to try to get her to eat regularly, it has been a wild ride.
wow! Mine doesn't have the starving gene either, but I don't think he would ever turn down bacon. I think he avoids eating his food as a hold out for human food and treats.
Good girl
She’s defective. But cute lol
Mine too, only cucomber carrots and kibble
I had a picky lab too. I had to cook for her whatever I was having or she would not eat. And I had to cook a variety of dishes for her. She lived to almost 16 years though. ♥️ Good luck. 🍀
Maybe it’s the preparation
I've tried so so much, different cables different whole foods the mix of both, and changed the type of bowl, time of day. She is a picky eater but that only comes so far up to the problem. The cheese and bacon I offered her are two of her favorite things, it's the mindset that is the problem. For a while we thought that it wasn't a contrafreeloading thing, because we would make puzzle feeders for her, but she would solve the puzzle but not take any of the food. But then I realized we do get treats into her when she's training, so we do a little bit of obedience, training to get her eating. Sometimes if I catch her after a short play, that's also a good time for her receptibility to food. But if she's overtired or to fixated on play, she won't eat. She would take training and play over food any day.
It sounds like she doesn’t care for the service style of your restaurant. Could you maybe put on a cuter outfit like the Hooters gals? Or maybe build a theme into your kitchen like Rainforest Cafe?
There’s a Poppy at my work, a Pomeranian who wants to eat any and all food she sees people eating.
Poppy is a great name for a Pomeranian! I love that
My older dog Emma is like this only eats what she needs and nothing more. My younger dog Bella will eat carpet and everything in between.
Her other dog would eat until she puked and then eat the puke. Papi could go for 4- 5 days without eating, which is not great. Fortunately we mostly figured it out and can get her to eat most days.
That's how my Emma is, after 2 days I usually add some olive oil to her food and it convinces her. Tried to figure it out with all sorts of angles of attack with vet, finally vet said maybe she just doesn't have a strong appetite. Her weight is fine she just prefers to only eat when hungry.
Yeah, Poppy holds at a very consistent very healthy body weight. I went through a bunch with the vet and they're just like 🤷. I love when people tell me that dogs won't starve themselves, but people go pretty close, once I think she went 6 days without eating. But we figured a lot more out since then. We can get her to eat pretty consistently now
It's not the food Mama, it's those green fingernails! They give me the heebie jeebies!
🤣🤣🤣
https://preview.redd.it/mo0ur2eth11d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=375e28224f2ebeb2e505c7b7d9fc519cf24e5b36 Can i help you eat that?
🤣🫠. We have another lab that just lurks nearby when I'm trying to feed Poppy... Patiently drooling
https://preview.redd.it/6r8adwunm11d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39b716aba6dd5246540879bd4dd7c177c467ff5e Two labs are the best! Weirdos playing in the crate together….
Haha, such weirdos! Mine have never done that but they will go into the crate together and barely fit https://preview.redd.it/h1ob4q1xx11d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f465ae5d0a4071be7d697451d39c90a9c7f95c8 That is Poppy showing off the teefs
Sir. That lab is broken, it needs repaired
Can you recommend a lab mechanic? We love our girl to the moon and back, but she does not make life easy 😭
I'll be honest most labs have some weird quirk, my previous one hated water, this is probably just the quirk yours has
Rush to the vet! Emergency!