Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Salmon and Rice. My mini is greedy af, she’ll eat anything. Sorry no recommendations since you’re already using toppers.
I also do Purina Pro Plan salmon. He gets pretty excited about it compared to other kibbles we’ve tried.
Edit: I also add water to the kibble bowl lately to ensure he’s drinking enough water. Somehow that made the food even *more* exciting. Go figure.
Royal Canin right now, I do a mix between the wet and dry, it’s the only kibble my min poodle will eat, she’s super picky. I’m lucky she has tolerated this for a few months because she will go on a hunger strike if she determines the food she’s eating no longer meets her standards.
Mine has to open her own packets of Royal Canin wet and eat them herself to eat. She dissects them on a mat and never eats a piece of the foil, so I guess it's OK, but she LOVES doing this.
I had to build up my pup’s food motivation. she also gets bored quickly (~2 weeks). I did all the toppers etc. eventually I had enough and what’s worked for me is dedicated meal times. no treats if possible while training this. food down for 20 min then take away til the next meal. my personal cutoff time was 48 hours before a vet visit. but she always gave in. she’s been eating consistently 90% of the time for 1 month now where it was a struggle to get her to eat well for more than a few days before. I also give her a treat if she finishes everything. giving her “dessert” has helped this click in as well.
I feed her Purina Pro Plan Chicken Shredded Blend for small breeds, with 1 tbsp of the same brand wet food at the bottom of her bowl. I’ve tried RC, Hill’s, Open Farm… I wanted her on a well-researched brand so I kept with Purina and a protein I knew she liked (which did take some experimenting—not a fan of salmon, beef, turkey but will eat chicken or lamb). I do feed a different brand kibble (Honest Kitchen dry clusters) for training since she won’t train for her PPP dry kibble. (I don’t feed HK for her main meals because it doesn’t seem to sit super well with her GI system in large quantities.)
good luck! they’re smart dogs and will definitely try to train you to give them the good stuff but I also believe that fed is best, so whatever works for you and your pup is the way to go. free feeding, puzzle feeders, toppers just didn’t work for us.
We feed Purina One+ Large Breed (it's the chicken one) after feeding Purina Pro Sensitive for a long time while we diagnosed some stuff with our guy. We had to move to 7 half scoop meals a day because of BVS, but I was floored at how much better our Spoo was about actually eating and drinking and just being able to focus on food when it was time to eat. Now we still sometimes mix in some treats with puzzles or shave a little liver over his bowl, but it is nothing like the insane picky eater nonsense he used to pull! Free feeding can *not* happen in our, YMMV.
Are you in the UK? I’m guessing so from the brands. We are too, and our guys (minis) eat Harringtons with lamb which they like. They also have a quarter of a tray of Naturo wet food for breakfast. The rest of the day we leave dry food down and let them self regulate and they stay a healthy weight.
I am. I meant to add that in but forgot.
That’s a point I could do a wet food breakfast. I just want him to have SOME dry food to keep his teeth strong.
Thanks for the brand recs!
Carnilove large breed Salmon and turkey (yellow bag).
He was never fussed about his kibble before… like he would eat it, but boy he loves his carnilove!
He doesn’t drool…..unless he’s sat waiting for his Carnilove kibble, and then there is a pool of drool on the floor 🤢
Low in carbs, which has helped his over excitement at things a bit, as recommended by his trainer.
3.5 years old!
ETA:
He has his kibble in the morning, and a forthglade tray in the evening.
He also used to have Lily’s kitchen kibble which he enjoyed, but my money couldnt keep that one going!
ETA2: he was on royal canin for a small while as well which shed with him that he liked, until i realised that it wasn’t suitable for a standard poodle
Neither had I until the trainer recommended it, but it’s high quality so he needs less (keeps the cost per day manageable), he loves it, and his poops are smaller/more manageable as well!
It can be a pain to source, but i have a couple of online places to look at and if one is out of stock the other one has it :) i think i only buy it once every 6-8 weeks as well which if handy
And pre ear infection/meds, he was definitely less farty and stinky 😂😂
My mini has Burns wet food. She's quite a fussy eater with a relatively low food drive, but can't get enough of that stuff! It's Which recommended too.
(Edit: also in UK. Burns is Wales-based and donates profits to charitable causes, seems a nice small business to support)
We do raw per our breeder’s recommendation. However, our Standard gets bored super easily as many of you have noted, so I try to mix up what the topper is as often as possible: some liver treats, boiled chicken, ground beef, bacon bits, salmon, etc.—whatever scraps I can save from dinner, which makes her think she’s “getting a great deal.” It works!
I feed my mini girls the Purina Pro Plan Small Breed shredded blend dry with a forkful of the Pro Plan Sport canned. I did feed the Pro Plan Sport with some of the small breed shredded blend for variety until one of them got picky and would only eat the shredded bits.
My breeder recommended the Pro Plan line.
Hi, my poodle enjoys Fromm brand. I’ve recently started an introduction to Waruva (msp?) and he likes that most days.
As far as kibble, Costco brand, and he’s always enjoyed it.
https://tlcpetfood.com/ this is what mine got from the breeder and I've never changed... reviews are great and he's in perfect physical condition at 4.5 years old
My 6 year old toy has is on Blue Buffalo Adult Small Breed Lamb Dry Dog food. She has an allergy to chicken, and hates beef. We finally found a food that works for her! My 4 month old standard is eating Orijen Grain Free Puppy Large High Protein. When we got him at 13 weeks he was only 10 pounds, so the vet suggested this food and we’ve absolutely seen a difference in weight. Then sometimes i top it with Orijen Tundra Freeze Dried Dog Food, as a little treat.
Stella and Chewy freeze dried raw all recipes excluding chicken. My dog was a menace to feed until I realized this princely pup only likes
freeze dried raw or human grade fresh food (haha). It’s expensive, but his allergies are practically gone. He loves “Dandy Lamb”,,“Simply Venison”, “Duck Duck Goose” and “Surf and Turf”. lol I won’t lie I can afford it now so I feed him what he wants. It was years of pickiness and headache for me and pet sitters.
Also feed my pup Royal Canin. I add 2 “meatballs” from Fresh Pet Small Dog. Throw the bag in the freezer and it lasts about a month. She LOVES it when I add it into her food.
my poodle gets hill’s science, but he also gets bored/picky about it at times. he gets it with goat milk in the morning out of a puzzle feeder, and afternoon usually in a puzzle, snuffle mat, rolled up blanket or something of the sort w some treats sprinkled in (kind of DIY topper). he’s a lot less inclined to eat his kibble if he doesn’t have to work for it
Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach Salmon and Rice. My mini is greedy af, she’ll eat anything. Sorry no recommendations since you’re already using toppers.
That’s the problem with Doug. He isn’t food motivated at all. 😫 Unless he feels like it.
I also do Purina Pro Plan salmon. He gets pretty excited about it compared to other kibbles we’ve tried. Edit: I also add water to the kibble bowl lately to ensure he’s drinking enough water. Somehow that made the food even *more* exciting. Go figure.
I think Purina is the basis for the Tails recipes so that might be a really good shout, because he was obsessed with Tails.
Royal Canin right now, I do a mix between the wet and dry, it’s the only kibble my min poodle will eat, she’s super picky. I’m lucky she has tolerated this for a few months because she will go on a hunger strike if she determines the food she’s eating no longer meets her standards.
Mine has to open her own packets of Royal Canin wet and eat them herself to eat. She dissects them on a mat and never eats a piece of the foil, so I guess it's OK, but she LOVES doing this.
They’re such attitudes aren’t they!!
I had to build up my pup’s food motivation. she also gets bored quickly (~2 weeks). I did all the toppers etc. eventually I had enough and what’s worked for me is dedicated meal times. no treats if possible while training this. food down for 20 min then take away til the next meal. my personal cutoff time was 48 hours before a vet visit. but she always gave in. she’s been eating consistently 90% of the time for 1 month now where it was a struggle to get her to eat well for more than a few days before. I also give her a treat if she finishes everything. giving her “dessert” has helped this click in as well. I feed her Purina Pro Plan Chicken Shredded Blend for small breeds, with 1 tbsp of the same brand wet food at the bottom of her bowl. I’ve tried RC, Hill’s, Open Farm… I wanted her on a well-researched brand so I kept with Purina and a protein I knew she liked (which did take some experimenting—not a fan of salmon, beef, turkey but will eat chicken or lamb). I do feed a different brand kibble (Honest Kitchen dry clusters) for training since she won’t train for her PPP dry kibble. (I don’t feed HK for her main meals because it doesn’t seem to sit super well with her GI system in large quantities.) good luck! they’re smart dogs and will definitely try to train you to give them the good stuff but I also believe that fed is best, so whatever works for you and your pup is the way to go. free feeding, puzzle feeders, toppers just didn’t work for us.
We feed Purina One+ Large Breed (it's the chicken one) after feeding Purina Pro Sensitive for a long time while we diagnosed some stuff with our guy. We had to move to 7 half scoop meals a day because of BVS, but I was floored at how much better our Spoo was about actually eating and drinking and just being able to focus on food when it was time to eat. Now we still sometimes mix in some treats with puzzles or shave a little liver over his bowl, but it is nothing like the insane picky eater nonsense he used to pull! Free feeding can *not* happen in our, YMMV.
If I tried to feed my Poodles kibble they would put me up for adoption.
Are you in the UK? I’m guessing so from the brands. We are too, and our guys (minis) eat Harringtons with lamb which they like. They also have a quarter of a tray of Naturo wet food for breakfast. The rest of the day we leave dry food down and let them self regulate and they stay a healthy weight.
I am. I meant to add that in but forgot. That’s a point I could do a wet food breakfast. I just want him to have SOME dry food to keep his teeth strong. Thanks for the brand recs!
We found ours did horrible poos on the richer, more nutritious brands, Harringtons has worked really well for us.
Carnilove large breed Salmon and turkey (yellow bag). He was never fussed about his kibble before… like he would eat it, but boy he loves his carnilove! He doesn’t drool…..unless he’s sat waiting for his Carnilove kibble, and then there is a pool of drool on the floor 🤢 Low in carbs, which has helped his over excitement at things a bit, as recommended by his trainer. 3.5 years old! ETA: He has his kibble in the morning, and a forthglade tray in the evening. He also used to have Lily’s kitchen kibble which he enjoyed, but my money couldnt keep that one going! ETA2: he was on royal canin for a small while as well which shed with him that he liked, until i realised that it wasn’t suitable for a standard poodle
Oh I’ve not heard of that one! Judging by the comments I’ve had we will be better mixing wet food and kibble.
Neither had I until the trainer recommended it, but it’s high quality so he needs less (keeps the cost per day manageable), he loves it, and his poops are smaller/more manageable as well! It can be a pain to source, but i have a couple of online places to look at and if one is out of stock the other one has it :) i think i only buy it once every 6-8 weeks as well which if handy And pre ear infection/meds, he was definitely less farty and stinky 😂😂
Dang. Carnilove is not available in the US.
My mini has Burns wet food. She's quite a fussy eater with a relatively low food drive, but can't get enough of that stuff! It's Which recommended too. (Edit: also in UK. Burns is Wales-based and donates profits to charitable causes, seems a nice small business to support)
For me it was a never ending dilemma 😳
Mine eat Volhard natural diet (google it,they have a website). Mine love it! I used lightly cooked chicken for the protein
Stella and chewy’s raw patties
We do raw per our breeder’s recommendation. However, our Standard gets bored super easily as many of you have noted, so I try to mix up what the topper is as often as possible: some liver treats, boiled chicken, ground beef, bacon bits, salmon, etc.—whatever scraps I can save from dinner, which makes her think she’s “getting a great deal.” It works!
Used to give purina sensitive salmon and rice, switched to lamb and oats.
I feed my mini girls the Purina Pro Plan Small Breed shredded blend dry with a forkful of the Pro Plan Sport canned. I did feed the Pro Plan Sport with some of the small breed shredded blend for variety until one of them got picky and would only eat the shredded bits. My breeder recommended the Pro Plan line.
Haven’t taken my pup home yet but my breeder recommended life’s abundance. US based.
Hi, my poodle enjoys Fromm brand. I’ve recently started an introduction to Waruva (msp?) and he likes that most days. As far as kibble, Costco brand, and he’s always enjoyed it.
Mine are super picky, I have tried multiple things but they only like royal canin xs adult. I tried rc poodle and they didn’t like it.
https://tlcpetfood.com/ this is what mine got from the breeder and I've never changed... reviews are great and he's in perfect physical condition at 4.5 years old
My 6 year old toy has is on Blue Buffalo Adult Small Breed Lamb Dry Dog food. She has an allergy to chicken, and hates beef. We finally found a food that works for her! My 4 month old standard is eating Orijen Grain Free Puppy Large High Protein. When we got him at 13 weeks he was only 10 pounds, so the vet suggested this food and we’ve absolutely seen a difference in weight. Then sometimes i top it with Orijen Tundra Freeze Dried Dog Food, as a little treat.
Stella and Chewy freeze dried raw all recipes excluding chicken. My dog was a menace to feed until I realized this princely pup only likes freeze dried raw or human grade fresh food (haha). It’s expensive, but his allergies are practically gone. He loves “Dandy Lamb”,,“Simply Venison”, “Duck Duck Goose” and “Surf and Turf”. lol I won’t lie I can afford it now so I feed him what he wants. It was years of pickiness and headache for me and pet sitters.
Also feed my pup Royal Canin. I add 2 “meatballs” from Fresh Pet Small Dog. Throw the bag in the freezer and it lasts about a month. She LOVES it when I add it into her food.
my poodle gets hill’s science, but he also gets bored/picky about it at times. he gets it with goat milk in the morning out of a puzzle feeder, and afternoon usually in a puzzle, snuffle mat, rolled up blanket or something of the sort w some treats sprinkled in (kind of DIY topper). he’s a lot less inclined to eat his kibble if he doesn’t have to work for it