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YUK! |
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She won’t eat it! And, “it” could be anything from a piece of
steak to a raw bone to a switch in kibble brands to a treat offered for
training lessons. Why would an
otherwise sane appearing dog refuse a bone or a piece of steak? Scientific studies as
stated in Handbook of APPLIED DOG BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING (Steven R. Lindsay)
indicate that dogs are influenced by what they are accustomed to eating and
if raised on kibble, for example, may well refuse “real”, fresh, food that is
more normal for canines to eat. There
are even studies that clearly indicate that dogs are influenced by what their
mothers ate before they were born.
This applies to other animals as well including rats and human
babies! Certainly, in a purely
anecdotal format, I can say that I encountered that problem when I made the
switch from commercial foods to a natural, raw diet for my dogs. Two of my dogs made the switch with the
attitude of – “You finally got it right!” while my third dog made it clear –
Whatever this is in my bowl it clearly is NOT food! It took some convincing. Also, I frequently encounter this problem
in training sessions. Dogs will not – NOT – accept a treat. Yes, stress is a major issue but often it
has to do with not being familiar with anything besides pieces of
kibble. What a sad thing that is. What does this mean for
people who will only buy food that comes in little tiny pieces and all those
pieces are presented in nice, clean, attractive bags sold in vet stores and
(please, no!), supermarkets? For starters it means that
your dog is not the best judge of what he or she should be eating. It means that you, the custodian of your
wonderful canine companion, really should become more educated about what goes
into those wonderfully convenient packages and take that step beyond. It means also, that any
time that you switch foods you really must take time and do so
gradually. Of course, if you switch
between high quality foods which offer human grade
meats and minimums of grains the risks of having a major case of diarrhea
decrease. Just for the record, your choices of quality packaged foods
available here are really and truly limited.
Please! Do not take my word for
it. Investigate it on the “net”. If you cannot do that possibly you have a
friend who will do so for you. Your
dog’s well being may well be at stake – steak? Final suggestions: any time you switch foods do so over a
minimum of 7 to 10 days. Never buy
“kibble” in a supermarket. There
simply are no quality foods available there. Learn how to read the labels of
food in the “super” or available anywhere else. (See previous articles or call me.)
Never feed cooked bones. And, while it may well seem
contradictory, do seek that important line between fussy eating and dogs who
know when garbage has been placed in their bowl! N |