Hi.  We have a 15 month old male neutered Golden Retriever who seems to be starting to be a fussy eater.  I didn't think this was typical of this breed (although what dog is "typical"!).  He was on Royal Canin puppy and then went onto RC junior which he wolfed down without any probs.  When we changed him onto RC adult (large breed) he was initially ok on this, but then started turning his nose up at it - literally sniffing his bowl and walking off.  We would take the food away if he hadn't eaten it within half an hour or so.  He would eventually eat it (sometimes missing brekkie and dinner and then eating brekkie the next morning).  I really didn't like this (also his poo was very smelly, a complaint I've read about quite a bit with dogs on RC), so changed him (gradually) onto Arden Grange lamb and rice.  Again, he started fine with this, but after about a month he turned his nose up again.  After going through the same thing, I changed him onto Hills Science diet with chicken - started off fine, now he's starting to turn his nose up!!!  I'm really not sure what to do next.  He has no table scraps at all.  He has a few training treats when we are playing but very few as I don't want him to grow into a porker.  He has a little bit of chicken every so often, really literaly a few scraps, so I know I'm not over-feeding him.  I don't know if anyone else has come across this sort of behaviour.  I'm at a bit of a loss of what to do as I really don't want bags of unused food (charities don't seem keen to take it as the bags are open, of course).  Should I be feeding him different flavours of the same type of food - I haven't done this as I've always read that you change the food over gradually over a week - or is this just the different brands rather than same brand, different flavours???  Would be very grateful for any advice anyone can give me.  Many thanks.

i give my dogs different flavours of the same brand and never take a week to swap over, just change straight over when i buy the next bag.
i've never had a problem as long as it's the same brand. if i changed brand then i would gradually change as you said.
two of my dogs will eat every meal what ever it is and one dog will sometimes turn his nose up and miss breakfast or maybe tea but i don't worry too much as he eats when he's hungry and is in good condition. my dogs never get anything else apart from treats when training and the odd bone for their teeth so i know they should be hungry when their fed.
i it were me i wouldn't worry too much unless your dog starts loosing weight or has anything else wrong with him but i'm sure others will
disagree.
have you checked with the vet just in case he has any other reason not to eat?
some dogs are just fussy but will eat when they get hungry enough.try putting a little bit of chicken with his feeds so they get the taste of it and see if that helps.         

Thanks bear.  I have tried the chicken road once or twice on top of his food and he eats it (of course, I think chicken is his favourite thing, he's even come in from really interesting digging in the garden if I say CHICKEN!).  I didn't want to do this too much as didn't want to "make" him fussy.  He is due to go to the vets next week for weighing/worming so will mention this.  He is in good condition and is his usually lively self.

We had to look after a family members dog for 6 months, she used to be fed on fresh food unlike ours, tins and dried food was on the menu, for the sake of our small pack she was to be fed the same diet as jealously would break out and fights would accour, as she was the lowest member of the pack. Anyway she always turned her nose up at the food that we gave her, we didnt give her a choice if she didnt eat it within 15 mins it was taken away.

The idea of sticking to one brand and changing the flavour sound like a great idea and slipping in a little bit of somthing yummy like chicken with the food will help, persevierance I think is the key I wouldnt give him much choice as he may get into a habbit.  

i don't think you can make him more fussy than he's already being by adding a little chicken and not changing the food apart from the flavour. just put the tiniest amount of chicken in and mix it together so the flavour gets everywhere and stick to that. if he'll eat this then problem solved and abit of chicken is good for him anyway.
i think the more you change the food the more he's going to play up and as you said he's fine in himself so if he's hungry he'll eat and if he gets fussy again and you stick to the same food then hopefully he'll soon realise that nothings going to change.
good luck

One of my goldies is very choosie with her food,if i put just complete kibble down,she will walk away from it and refuse to eat it.
So i buy small pouches from PAH  of wainwrights chicken and rice and make the 150gm pack do morn and eve on her kibble.
She never refuses any thing now...always waiting for dinner.

Iwould rather compensate doing that than her loose wait by not eating.
Just to add to that ,i boil veg up as well a couple times a week and that goes down very well with them both.

Have you tried him with sardines? Because they are so oily they will really stick to the dried food. Typical can has 3 pieces and one piece is usually enough in each meal.

> Have you tried him with sardines?

For anyone who likes to feed Sardines - Lidl have them at 34p per can (125g).  They use smaller fish so you get 4, sometimes 5, per can and they are packed in less oil than I've seen from other stores.  They use Sunflower Oil.

To the OP - Tesco do a variety of tinned dog food which is meaty chunks in gravy.  I sometimes used a spoonful of this for my fussy dog - it's quite runny so coats the kibble nicely.  However, it's worth being aware that most dogs drop food when the weather is warm so anything you try to tempt yours with might not work until it cools down a bit.  Fussy eaters can be a worry can't they   Good luck

Tesco's also do Pilchards in tom sauce, a firm favourite in the househould and great for the coat to.

Tesco are also doing 3 cans for £1 at the moment on all their sardines..

I usually give a whole tin mixed in with their meal, really coating it through the food, this is when my older boy gets his kibble meal. Usually once a week.

Hi, this is a reply to you all for all your really useful info.  I'd never have tried sardines and will do so.  He is eating ok at the moment (Hills chicken kibble) and is wolfing it down.  I do wonder if it did have something to do with the very hot weather we had a week or so ago (was that our summer??) as he has been eating well since the temperature dropped.  Again, many thanks.  Will keep all this in mind when he tries this again!

Hi Goldenz,

I know I'm a tad late in replying but could this be the problem?

>> He has no table scraps at all.  He has a few training treats when we are playing.  He has a little bit of chicken >every so often, really literaly a few scraps,

Could he be bored? I know my dogs would definitely turn their noses up if I offered them the same food for every meal,especially plain dry biscuit.
I change their food around regularly,I rotate dry foods after each bag,but I also add fresh foods with each kibble meal which also gets chopped and changed.They are used to variety and have cast iron tums.