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The Typhoon Taste Trials continue as we attempt to find a permanent combination of food that he will consistently eat meal after meal.
You expect predictability?
Those of you who have been reading for a while know that Typhoon really struggled with finding food that he liked. He would turn his nose up at meal after meal.
Now, many of you, like the Hu-Dad, would say to let him decide; he will eat when he gets hungry. And that has worked for every other picky eater Hu-Dad has ever worked with. But Typhoon was skipping so many meals that his weight plummeted and it was beginning to affect his health.
And, yes, we have tried raw foods, human foods, various kibble, canned foods, and on and on and on. He will often refuse the tastiest of treats and has rejected numerous human foods.
I am a mystery!
Now, we thought we had found a winning combination. We were feeding Acana Regional Flavors kibble 
And Typhoon stopped eating it. He skipped four meals in a row.
So Hu-Dad went back to square one – a bowl of Acana kibble with nothing added.
Wait for it.
Typhoon ate the whole bowl.
Yes, we started with kibble which he refused to eat. Added lots of variety and ingredients which he would eat . . . and then stop. We ended up adding shredded salmon to his food which he ate – and stopped. And now we are back to plain kibble.
The only question is whether the same meal will work tomorrow.
The lesson is right here.
Yes, Typhoon, the lesson is simple. Just like you wrestling your sister, Hu-Dad will try a variety of moves. Hu-Dad will try different approaches. Hu-Dad will make similar things look different and different things look similar. And, yet, Hu-Dad is never going to win. Nor are you ever going to best your sister in a wrestling match.
And somehow, he still has the energy to create havoc everyday.
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Have you tried chicken livers? My old man here is picky too..he has learned to ignore chicken which used to be his favorite for a long time. But so far he loves his livers.
I have two with similar eating problems, and have lots of different foods that were successful for a while, then rejected! I have learned to not go crazy and buy a lot of anything anymore. Sometimes feeding a little at a time works for one of my guys – just a handful at a time.
You know how much Typhoon loves to wrestle, I think that perhaps this is his form of wrestling with Hu-dad. Lol
On a more serious note, let me start this with a disclaimer that I never encourage bad behavior HOWEVER, my male shepherd has EPI and when it flares up he is the same type of eater as Typhoon. So between the disease and not eating he drops a dramatic amount of weight. When he was younger and I had not gotten him stabilized I truly was afraid he was going to keel over from lack of food. My boy was a counter surfer, and I mean bad… So in a moment of desperation I put his food on a plate and set it on the counter …. Came back food was gone. I literally fed him from the counter for two weeks until he stabilized
Of course the down side to this was when he was well.. I had to be very careful where I put out the roast to thaw!!! He is 6 now, and fairly stable in his food intake do I still have to watch my counters — yep, do I regret what I did, nope because it’s worth the aggravation to have him with me.
Ah, what an interesting journey – I would never have thought of using counter-surfing to feed a picky one. I am glad your boy is eating better now!
I feel for you. Same issue here with one of mine. She was already a grazer but now just refuses whole meals for days. Weight dropped to 20 pounds and she was nothing but bones. Playful and happy bones but it was getting scary how much weight she was losing. Many different vet tests showed nothing wrong. I tried everything. Most canned foods get rejected. I made Satin Balls and those got gobbled up for a few weeks .. and even those got rejected after a while. Cooked, they lasted for another week. A food she previously refused was all of a suddenly ok again. So far, the only thing she has never refused has been the freeze dried food from Stella and Chewy’s. Unfortunately, due to the expense, I mostly use it as a mix in with dry kibble. Though on the occasion she does get several pieces of it. She eats it dry or wet but she seems to almost prefer it dry. There are a variety of meat flavors, including rabbit, which might pique the hunter in Ty as he does seem to like to catch them.
Yes, we thought the satin balls were going to work, until he decided he did not like them any more. And we use the freeze dried liver. Every other member of the Herd loves them; Typhoon decides treat to treat whether he wants one.
I have heard that he might be partial to casseroles, particularly if they are left on kitchen counters…. Just saying…. đ
Knowing our luck with him, that would work for a meal or two – and no more.
Mom sez: Before we lost our Ayla, she and Ice both turned “picky”, but they both loved chicken, so we bought rolls of ground chicken, loose-fried it in coconut oil, and mixed that with their dry kibble (First Mate Wild Blueberry, made in Canada) about ÂŒ ground chicken to Ÿ First Mate. They loved it, problem solved!
Yes, grilled chicken was one of many additives we used. He liked it for a day or two, and then refused it.