Lite On Shetland Sheepdog

[lilyandjazz]

Hi,

Looking for some suggestions on boasting appetite of a 1 yr old female sheltie.

She is 15 inches and currently weighs about 7.5 kg. She is the long and slender type of sheltie.

She is not very food orientated, the only thing she goes crazy for is bbq chicken, not sure if that is something she should be eating everyday.

She is currently on hills science biscuits for adult dogs and is having the recommended amount.

Can anyone suggest what to add, thought may be some chicken mince to her food to bulk her up or an appetite booster.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

Mel

[Dogsfevr]

Most dogs dont like hills science diet.

Do you leave her food down all day??

What sort of treats does she get??

With fussy dogs (not that they stay that way long here) we use puppy biscuits.We also feed smallers amounts & if they empty the bowl quickly we dont refill it straight away,the dog is praised for eating all in that bowl & we will try again the next day.They dont get treats from the hand,all food goes into the bowl & we dont pander too its needs if its simply being a stubborn eater,we also make sure there is no reason for why the prolonged fussiness is occuring but normally is a habit the dog has got into as often food time can be too much of a regime & the dog nows it

[bridgie_cat]

hello - I too have a 15" sheltie girl - athletic build - so probably pretty similar to your gal - she was 8.6kg when I last checked - and that was carrying a little more than I would like for agility purposes... but if she wasnt doing all the jumping etc she would be at a good pet weight. Rather than actual weight I go by how she feels - you should be able to feel some ribs through a thin layer of fat - if you have to dig then there is too much fat

my girl is VERY food oriented though...

I tend to feed majority meat rather than dry - at the moment she gets a handfull of dry food in the morning - and the equivalent of 2-3 chicken necks at night - but I swap between lamb flaps, chicken necks, chicken wings, red mince, occasionally processed foods like lamb chunkers etc... essentially whatever meat is in the house! (usually necks) ... and on occasion I will make a meal of cooked eggs etc...

If we are training that day then dry food is left out and she will either eat her meal in treats (bbq chicken, fritz, cooked lamb or steak, cheese) or if we dont do much she gets some necks etc...

If she likes eating chicken/beef/kangaroo mince then you could mix that in with the dry... we went through a small patch of Lana refusing to eat her dry unless I put kitty milk on it

Come join the "shelties, collies and anything crossed" thread in the Breed Sub Forum that is in General look forward to hearing more about your sheltie!

Bridget

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

As bridgie cat has suggested please join us here http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=82604

We have 6 and feed Nutro Natural Choice as the basis of their diet, together with Ziwipeak once a day.

Also sardines and chicken wings and the occasional leftovers, today was roast lamb.

Nutro have adult performance which is for dogs who are highly active and have problems maintaining weight, and Ziwipeak has a higher fat and protein content.

See you in the sheltie thread

[helen]

Hi have a dog who is being very picky at the moment due to being pregnant. I don't normally like tinned food but have been adding Advance chicken and rice tinned food with her biscuits and she is gulping it down. I have used sardines in the past too.

I find with my dogs after a while they do like a change of food, as long as there is no medical reason why you can;t.

[rudie]

Hi have a dog who is being very picky at the moment due to being pregnant. I don't normally like tinned food but have been adding Advance chicken and rice tinned food with her biscuits and she is gulping it down. I have used sardines in the past too.

I find with my dogs after a while they do like a change of food, as long as there is no medical reason why you can;t.

We have found the Advance tin food really handy for getting fussy or non eaters to eat, they just love it!

We find we add it to the biscuits and they wolf it down, we slowly reduce it over a couple of weeks and they just keep eating. Its fantastic

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I agree with the others. Dried food only is extremely boring and many dogs are not happy on this diet. Add dried biscuits to other things and some will eat them then. I combine them with healthy foods such as pet mince, sardines, raw egg (once a week), rice, cooked sweet potato etc etc.

[lilyandjazz]

Hi,

Here are some photos of lily and daisy.

Mel

[ShesaLikeableBiBear]

Ummmm piccies didnt come through?

Please post to the puppy thread in the photo section, started by me, or in the breed sub forums (under general) started by Nacster

[lilyandjazz]

Hi,

Second time lucky. This is a pic of Lily.

Mel

[special_kali]

i disagree with dogmad. i find dry food only to be an extremely effective way of feeding my basset x and my housemate's amstaff. i work in a pet supply store and also have not had any issues with recommending this way of feeding premium dry foods. they are formulated to be fed as a complete diet and the dogs look fantastic. she is probably slightly too skinny bcoz she's so active but looks really healthy and happy other than that.

Dogs stomach's are a lot more simple than ours and changing the diet too often results in fussy eaters and stomach upsets. it's also a lot easier cleaning up the 'mess' in the backyard if you are feeding a concentrated food. Occasionally i'll give my dog some fresh meat, chicken necks etc as a treat but they don't need it.

also, settrlvr said that a lot of dogs don't like hills science diet?? what do you base this information on? i've sold tons of it and vets the world over wouldn't be recommending it if turns out dogs weren't eating it! most of the premium pets foods (incl science diet) have a money back guarantee so don't let the fact the bags are expensive turn you off it bcoz you can always return them (even half empty) if you aren't happy with it.

Plus there's the added bonus of the food having a lower cost per day compared to the 'cheaper' dry foods like supercoat AND less time spent preparing your own foods and more time to spend playing with the dogs!

Sorry this is a bit of a ramble and kinda off topic but i wanted my opinion known about some of the reply posts.

now to the POINT of the topic, lol, elly&lilly you could keep her on the sciencediet but upgrade her to the active formula for some more fat in the diet if she gets lots of exercise. but dogs are not meant to be fat and some just don't eat much and still look healthy. if she's one of those dogs i wouldn't worry too much about her size, my baby is quite skinny but that's just how she's built i think.

[CP*]

My boy (sheltie) didnt eat so I put his dry food in a 'treat bottle'. Which was basically just an empty water bottle with the lid on and holes cut around the sides. He loved rolling it around the floor to get his food out.

It worked so well he is now on a diet. I gave my newest addition a treat bottle (she hates dry food - will only eat raw chicken which I dont always have) and he keeps pinching it.

Make eating fun!