That is Zen and was Rocky and how most labs roll. Enter Mako....the finicky ( I dislike that work but it fits) Vizsla... $40 bag organic, no grain, duck and sweet potato puppy food- place a dish in front of him and he sniffs and promptly lays down. I know for all of you who are going say #1 he is a dog he will get over it #2 if he is hungry enough he will eat it and to both of those points yes you are correct. But he is our adoring puppy with his ribs poking out and as a good mama I want him to eat. He prefers hot dogs (yes really- we have not bought hot dogs really ever - but his trainer suggested them and he LOVES them), cheese (any kind but Tillamuck seems to be his favorite), cooked chicken and yams and pumpkin pie. Our dog trainer uses food and it hard to reward a dog when you give him the liver treat and he turns his nose away. So we resort to hot dogs, peanut butter and we have more dog treats... refused liver treats, forget milk bones or any similar treat, nixed Charlie bears...but what he loves- dried duck, chicken wrapped sweet potatoes, salmon chummie yummies (which are worse smelling than the Bully sticks) ... I love the fact he is not a food hound but the discerning taste is expensive and frustrating... when he is whining and hungry. You say let him whine....okay it is 6:30 am and I am up with the dogs, John is trying to sleep after a late night. I put Makos food down and he sniffs and runs full tilt up the stairs to John ( I can hear him complaining about the food I presented him with) I run up with a duck treat in hand to coaxhim back down....really who is the boss here? I put his food back down and he is pondering the idea of lowering himself to eat dog kibble and Zen walks by and with one inhale cleans the dish- Mako is now jumping up and down throwing a fit as if Zen took his raw steak.
He seems to prefer to work for his food...doing tricks and the like. So I can usually fill his belly with assorted morsels with lots of sitting, down, touch, and other training exercises, but not today. He protested on the walk, cut it short....as in bolted towards home signaling he was not eager to keep playing at the park. However upon returning home he goes crazy ruining and jumping and eager to play- go figure....I planned to work on training and after 3 or 4 he walked away - signaling not interested..... Vizsla's maybe eager to please....but they have a mind of their own and can be stubborn as well. Love the pup for his individuality!!
Have you considered a raw diet? Vets pooh pooh it, but after kibble issues we switched to raw and our Viszla LOVES it. I switch it up between a couple different brands. Our girl is healthy, her coat is beautiful, and no more "gurking" as I call it and throwing up. We are adding another V in a couple of weeks and we will start the transition right away. Only problem is that you cannot mix kibble and raw, so you would have to watch out for those labs that inhale the kibble. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteHoney, our Vizsla, eats Orijen....she LOVES it!! When she was a puppy she was some what picky...who am I kidding, very picky about eating. I use to put a bit of warm water in her food to make it extra smelly. Another trick that works with her is canned pumpkin. Our most recently discovered doggie treats are EOS Plato, or Plato EOS (I don't know) turkey and pumpkin treats. They are like puppy crack...it's crazy how well it works.
ReplyDelete