why is my dog having a problem with changing his food
 

Hi: I was perscribed a vet food called Medi Cal by Royal Canin Hypoallergenic HP for my older dog who is 9 yrs old now, which ended up not helping his problem.

I have 2 other dog's, one who had kidney and crystal's forming into stones at the age of 14 weeks when I rescued her and the other one just had allergies (I thought it was just pollen allergies as after a car ride he would get a lot sleep in his eyes).

So I decided to feed all the dog's this food, as the vet said it would be good for the girl dog also. Upon finding out a natural cure for my older dog who got hot spots and sores on him, it only took 3 baths and he is now healthy and I can feed him anything now. However, everytime I try to feed my Great Pry a different food as I was worried about the protein count in the vet food 19.5% he get's an upset stomach I think but just won't eat anything but this vet food which is 115.00 a bag. Can this be fixed can I somehow change him off this food. He is not yet 3 years old and needs more protein I think. I am also concerned about the soya as a protein.

I have boughten Go Natural Salmon and Oatmeal formula which he ate for 2 day's then would not and I picked up Natural Balance Sweet Potatoe and Fish Formula. Two very good foods. I feel there should be no reason he is sticking his nose up to them as my other 2 dogs are fine with it. Any advice. Help please. :confused:

[QUOTE=bluebear;1034010]
I have boughten Go Natural Salmon and Oatmeal formula which he ate for 2 day's then would not and I picked up Natural Balance Sweet Potatoe and Fish Formula. Two very good foods. I feel there should be no reason he is sticking his nose up to them as my other 2 dogs are fine with it. [/QUOTE]

Maybe he isn't a fish fan? Have you tried a non-fishy food, with perhaps a slower introduction (like gradually mixing more of the new food in with the old over a period of a week or so)?

forgot to mention
 

Hi: I forgot to mention that I was still feeding him the old food alway's.

I have been just introducing the new foods buy putting it in his kong and he would eat it like a snack.

The reason for this is because the food I was giving my other two dogs only in the morning for breakfast as to make sure there was no problems with them. Tank did get a problem with his ear, not an infection but black inside and shaking of the head and then he would stick his foot in it. I would stop the new food and go back to his old food in his kong and his ear got better.

Now the new food is not causing blackness in the ear so I'm feeling it should work, if I was to switch him. At the moment I give him the new dog food for snacks as to fill the belly and make sure there are no problems with him. This morning I put a cup of new food and 1 cup of old food on top of the new food and he ate only the vet food. Then sat there. I dumped it and put in the old food and he ate it all.

:frustrated:

Will Try
 

Hi: That could be. Not sure though. My better half fishes and Tank had no problem eating salmon before.

Maybe the fish is upsetting his stomach as fish pills do this. Will try another kind. I feel you are correct about the fish. Never thought of it in food form to upset the stomach.

I will try another like the duck one not sure what other's they have. Still frustrated over this. Is it just him? Would it be abuse if I just left the food in the bowl for him to eat? Is the food bad? As dog's can sense this but the other's are eating it. So many question's. Wish they could talk. The dog's are our world, so it's out of the question to not give him what he wants.

Thanks a bunch.

Will keep you posted.

try a slower introduction of the new food - for starters, don't mix it 1/2 and 1/2, add maybe less than 1/4 ( or even less) of the new food and mix it well with the old. Then see what happens, and after two or three days increase the new food by a bit, and so on...
This should also reduce the risk of stomach upset.
Also, it is possible that one bag of food could have been bad - contaminated, old... etc and it smelled/tasted off to him. It happens. Although, now that he is refusing two different brands, it is probably just that he's not yet willing to change.
I would persevere, those two brands are not bad, qualitatively speaking, so it is worth it to get him used to a variety of foods. If he's really, really not keen on fish-based foods, try with another protein source, maybe he'll like it better.
I know mine does not like chicken-based dog food, although he definitely eats cooked chicken :D.

Now, really, lifting his bowl if he is snubbing food without reason and letting him skip ONE meal is definitely not abuse. :) but you wouldn't want to push it into a battle of the wills, right? So, perhaps, starting over and switching him slower will help solve this problem.

Cross our fingers
 

Hi: I laughed at the chicken one. So true. I will try to switch him to a new food slower than I was and going for 1 week before a change. Hopefully that will be long enough. Thank you so much for your reply. Greatly appreciated.