feeding 2 dogs question

[Yorkiesgotaluvm]

I have 2 dogs. I have a 13 year old that definelty is dominant at feeding time. In the past, the 13 year would eat, then the younger one (now 2yo) would eat when she finished out of the same bowl even though I put food in two seperate ones.

But, I'm trying to switch them to the NV raw, the older one loves it. Eats it up right away. the younger one, sniffs it and walks away. I try giving her a little piece by hand but she licks it, or sometimes even takes it in her mouth, but usually just drops it and walks away.
I even waited til the older one is done, knowing the order they ate in the past.

So I give the younger one the dry still. But she is now not eating it either,
I can't leave the bowl down like usual because the older dog will eat the raw then go to the other bowl and finish it off if i don't tell her to stop.
I have to watch the older one carefully as she will slip over and eat it as soon as I turn my back. (The older one definetly doesn't need the extra food.)
I even tried putting her food down after the older one is done and then goes outside.
But each time I put the bowl down during the day she won't eat. So we have to play games with the food. We make her do tricks, as if the food is a treat. (She sits, lays down, rolls over, shakes, sneaks, and we make a line to her food bowl with the food, but she stops when she has eaten up to food bowl.
But, I don't want to have to make her do a trick every time she gets a piece of food. I've read about making them work for their food but this is a little ridicules.

Now, I know this only just started happening since the switch about two weeks ago. But is there any suggestions to get her to eat right away? Other than starving her for a couple of days.
I've waited a day, thinking she would be hungry the next morning. but the same thing happens and I end up feeding her one piece at a time by the time the days over.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[bjh]

It does sound like you have a dilemma. Some dogs just do not like the raw diet. It sound like the younger one is confused because they had a thing going.....the older one would eat, since she is obviously the pack leader, then the younger one would eat. I just can't think of a simple solution other than going back to the way it was. What kind of dry food are you feeding?

[Suzy]

Hi again! Welcome back to YT! Your name is escaping me at the moment, but I do remember Bridget (and Brandy's name too!) from the meetup!

I agree with the poster above that some dogs just don't like raw-maybe try topping her food with some cottage cheese or some plain or vanilal yogurt (nothing with fake sugar). Or, you could boil a chicken breast in water, and when it's done, shred it up and mix it in with her food.

You might also try feeding them on a schedule-not sure if you're doing that or not right now. My two get fed at 6 and 6, plus a snack around 9 pm, and some treats here and there. My vet told me to do this when we had trouble getting Emma to eat (believe it or not! )...Put food down, and leave the bowl for 10-15 minutes. Whatever she eats, pick up the bowl. Don't put it down again until the next feeding time. They will learn to eat when the food is down.

Another tip-feed them both in the same spot in your house, each on the same side, from the same bowl every time. I have two dishes for them-Milli's is blue and Emma's is yellow. Milli eats on the left, Emma on the right. They know not to touch each other's food (I sat with them while they ate, and kept them from eating each others food for the first couple weeks we had Milli.)

Try a combination of these things, and she should eat somthing-if not, you may want to take her to the vet for a check up, just to make sure she's not sick.

Also, I feed home-prepared food-and use raw meat. I know the raw commercial food is more convenient, but homecooking isn't difficult, and you can make a big batch to freeze and take out just a little every 2 days. If you'd like some help getting started with this, please let me know-I'm happy to help!

Let us know how it's going!

[Yorkiesgotaluvm]

I'm currently feeding EVO the red meat one with no grains, Dry small bites.

Before that they were on the NV dry Lamb and oatmeal, I did let her try that again to see if she would eat it but she didn't want that either. When I switched them over, they never finished the NV they kept picking the EVO out and leaving the NV so, I just quit giving the NV to them. It was a easy switch for them. No diarrhea or anything.

The younger one did eat a little out of her bowl this morning. I mixed a little tuna with the NV raw (chicken) but she only ate the tuna. She spit out the NV when she got it in her mouth. She had a nice little pile of NV left when she was done. I thought I had it mixed up pretty well. I guess not well enough. I only gave her one NV nugget (1oz) and about 1oz. of tuna mixed together.

So, tonight I'll offer her the dry again.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Yorkiesgotaluvm

I'm currently feeding EVO the red meat one with no grains, Dry small bites.

Before that they were on the NV dry Lamb and oatmeal, I did let her try that again to see if she would eat it but she didn't want that either. When I switched them over, they never finished the NV they kept picking the EVO out and leaving the NV so, I just quit giving the NV to them. It was a easy switch for them. No diarrhea or anything.

The younger one did eat a little out of her bowl this morning. I mixed a little tuna with the NV raw (chicken) but she only ate the tuna. She spit out the NV when she got it in her mouth. She had a nice little pile of NV left when she was done. I thought I had it mixed up pretty well. I guess not well enough. I only gave her one NV nugget (1oz) and about 1oz. of tuna mixed together.

So, tonight I'll offer her the dry again.

They're very smart little yorkie girls! Maybe try cottage cheese or yogurt-maybe that will be harder for them to pick the dry food out of. Or, maybe you could mix them together-mix the dry food with some water, and let sit for an hour or so. Stir in a little cottage cheese or yogurt, and see if they'll eat that. If they will, next time add less water, and keep offering...they may just not be used to the taste yet. Just an idea-thought it might help you outsmart them Good luck!

[TLC]

Maybe try this....Mine HATED raw thawed out, so I stated to feed it a little frozen and they loved it!

I have granite counter tops. I used to place the NV medalions on a small piece of clear plastic wrap, oh for about 5 mins, long enough for me to cut it up into tiny pieces.

They really liked it this way, and it also cleaned their teeth

[tumismom]

both of my girls are on NV raw and yes tumi is a piggy so if i just put the food down, she will eat the whole thing and gracie won't get any. So i just hand feed them..gosh they are soooo spoiled!! i tried putting them in 2 different bowls but little ms.tumi will eat both serving if i let her. i warm the NV in the microwave for 10 seconds and then give it to the girls. Gracie is not much of an eater like Tumi but if i hand feed her then she will eat. sigh..

[Yorkiesgotaluvm]

Ok Your not going to beleive this but I figured out what was going on.

My daughter was feeding Bridget when she came home from school, part of her snacks and sandwiches. So Bridget wasn't hungry when I fed her at dinner time, and in the morning she wasn't eating cause I was offereing her the raw. She knew if she waited til my daughter got home, she could have junk!!!! LOL
I told my daughter no more feeding Bridget people food. So today at dinner, Bridget ate just fine. Out of her own bowl, all by herself. LOL

I still have to keep Brandy out of Bridget's bowl, which is a little chanllenging, but all's fine for know.

Thanks for all your help.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Yorkiesgotaluvm

Ok Your not going to beleive this but I figured out what was going on.

My daughter was feeding Bridget when she came home from school, part of her snacks and sandwiches. So Bridget wasn't hungry when I fed her at dinner time, and in the morning she wasn't eating cause I was offereing her the raw. She knew if she waited til my daughter got home, she could have junk!!!! LOL
I told my daughter no more feeding Bridget people food. So today at dinner, Bridget ate just fine. Out of her own bowl, all by herself. LOL

I still have to keep Brandy out of Bridget's bowl, which is a little chanllenging, but all's fine for know.

Thanks for all your help.

No way! That's funny-smart little Bridget

Glad you got the mystery solved!!!