Picky Eater

R

rclark43

Forums Regular
I am curious to know if shelties are picky eaters or if it's just Daeka. She refuses to eat any treat with peanut butter. She loathes it. She will not chew on any kind of "busy bone" type treat. She also takes her treats and hides them and never eats them unless I break them up into small pieces and make her do tricks for them. :lol:
I also have another question she grunts when I pick her up. Is this normal for shelties? :confused2:
She is also very small, she is 11.8 lbs. is this an ok weight for a 1 yr old sheltie?

Thanks for any help I can get! :smile2:

-Randi
 
I think every sheltie is different! I have one dog that loves all kinds of food and bones. I have another that doesn't like all the usual bones (rawhide, etc...) but will eat some of the fancier kinds (like flossies).

Also, my sheltie that is a bit pickier used to eat his food slowly and not get excited about it until I realized I was feeding him too much. Now that I cut back his food, he gets much more excited about it. Not saying you're over-feeding, but just thought I'd mention it in case it's possible.

Both of my pups grunt when I pick them up! I think it's cute! :yes:

The weight of your dog totally depends on a ton of factors. How tall is she? For example, both of my dogs are the same height (15.5"), but one weighs 17 lbs and the other weighs 13 lbs and they are at good weights. The question you need to ask yourself is if you can easily feel their ribs at their side. If so, they are at a good weight.
 
I agree with Ashley. I have a grunter too, always when I pick her up. It's hysterical and she's so delicate and ladylike that it's a hoot when I hear her grunt.

As for eating, all three of mine are foodies. A piece of anything is gone before it hits the floor. But my first Sheltie was a "diner." She was fussy and only liked certain kinds of food and then would take her time eating it. Until we had multiple dogs ... that's when they learn to eat it or lose it! I had another that wasn't interested in rawhide. It really does depend on the dog.

Maybe you should try some of the soft, high value treats and see if she likes those. Zukes is one that most dogs go nuts for. And her weight might be fine for her size, depending on how tall she is. She might just be a smaller than average Sheltie. If so, her weight may be fine. Check for ribs, as Ashley said. That will tell you if she's on target. She probably also has some filling out to do if she's only one year old.
 
Thank you!! I didn't think anything was wrong with her since she has been grunting since she was a puppy but her new vet apparently does not know some shelties enjoy the grunting.
I don't really feed her very much, actually it seems like it takes her days to eat a cup of food. I am going to attempt to wean her to a different food and see if that helps. She is a very small girl, I have also heard that shelties can easily get fat so I do try to keep an eye on her weight.

Thanks for the feedback. Glad to know my Daeka is normal! :lol:
 
My Diva grunts when you hold her and when she snuggles up at night. It is very cute. My friends dog Pike who is her great uncle does it too as does Coal, one of her sons.

I have a small girl too Ember is 13 1/3", very light framed, 13.5lbs and extremely active. She only eats 1/2 cup total a day to maintain her weight. Any more and she gets heavy. Through Ember would like to eat the whole bag. Could be Daeka is just self regulating. Some dogs do that.

Also funny about the peanut butter. My boy Justice hates popcorn. He always looks so excited when people are eating it but if you give him a piece he gags like he just ate dirt. He is the same with apples and bananas which my girls love. He is not a big chewer either. Ember was that way with liver. SHe acted like you were trying to poison her.
 
I have never had a picky eater. Parker at first would eat slowly, he had been free feed. Once he realized the program here he ate better. He is a grunter and he makes all kinds of moaning when sleeping.
Maggie and Zak love all foods, fruits veggies, popcorn.
 
Picky? Picky, you say? Look in the dictionary under "picky." There's a picture of Layla there.

Yes, some Shelties are picky eaters. Sometimes Layla wants me to lay out her meal one kibble at a time; I think she likes the special attention. Sometimes she wants to eat on the ottoman at 10 a.m.; other times, she'll eat nothing until I bring her bowl right next to my feet at 7:30 p.m. That's ok -- if it's driving me crazy, I just let her starve. :lol:
 
Sca grunts when he is playing frisbee sometimes. As to picky :lol: he eats his food then goes back and licks the bowl clean 2 or 3 times.

One time we got some cookies he didn't want that much but they were really hard to break so that was the issue I think. But normally he is very food obsessed. He will run for anyone in flyball if they have treats otherwise only the coach.
 
Sheltie

Hi, my name is Raheem and I have a Sheltie name Mr.Lucky. My Sheltie also takes his time eating his food and if you give him a treat he runs off into a corner to eat the treat he will never eat it out in the open. Another thing about lucky he is great with people but he has a very bad socializing issues with other dogs. I mean he goes crazy to the point of lunging and charging other dogs so, is this kind of behavior common in Shelties?
 
Hollie was a picky eater too. Anything was better than eating. It got to the point where she would get a treat if she finished her food. That was the only way we could get her to eat. Oddly enough she did become overweight when she got old and we had to cut back her food. Then she had no problems finishing her food.

Shelby on the other hand is very food motivated and there is nothing she will not eat.
 
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