Trials and Tribulations of a picky eater

Lola is starting to drive us crazy with food! When we got her from the previous owners, she was used to her Pedigree Puppy food. We decided to switch her to a better brand. For most dogs, this is a relatively easy switch, considering the better foods have more meat and are actually more appetizing to them. But not to our pug, of course! Keep in mind we are mixing wet canned food (that we know she likes) AND some of her Pedigree in each time we try to switch her.

First we tried Taste of the Wild. We bought a bigger bag since we have to go out to Visalia or Fresno for it (30-45 minutes each way). She scoffed at it and refused to eat for 2 days so I gave up on that one. I wrote to them, Dustin had thrown away the bag since he dumped it into our food container, and they said that I could mail in the receipt for a refund. Thankfully, most of these food manufacturers have 100% guarantee. They also sent me a bunch of samples of the other flavors, but she wanted nothing to do with them. Strike one.

Next, we tried Wellness. They sent us some samples of Super5Mix, Core, and a few others. She didn't want anything to do with any of those either. Oh, did I mention that when she doesn't like a food, she will drop it all over the kitchen and living room floors? Lots of fun to pick up, and I'm just hoping we find a good food before the mice start coming out again.

Next, Halo. This is Ellen DeGeneres' food...it's good quality but EXPENSIVE. Well, of course she likes their chicken variety. BUT it's weird shaped and tiny pieces, and because of her weird-shaped mouth, she has trouble eating it I think. When I mix it with her Pedigree, she picks the pieces out and spreads them around as if she doesn't like it, but then she will go back and eat them. Oh well, we bought a 3 lb bag of it since they had a special but we still want to find her something cheaper, and that she won't keep spreading.

Next on the list - Blue Buffalo Small breed (formulated for picky eaters!). Now, she DOES like the food itself. BUT there is a catch. There are these little ball things called "Lifesource Bits". They are a bunch of vitamins/minerals that are cold-formed rather than baked into the food. This preserves their antioxidants and keeps them at relatively full strength. Great thing, right? Well, Lola doesn't like them! She'll eat the regular kibble part of the food, and pick out the Lifesource Bits, spreading those around the floor. Without those Bits, this food is just as good as a cheaper brand. So this food is out, and we get to do our first "satisfaction guaranteed" return of an opened bag of food to Petsmart.

Speaking of which, I never knew so many places had this policy! If they didn't, we would easily be out $100 by now because of her picky taste buds.

So, what's next on the list? There's Solid Gold, who don't offer samples. But most of their products contain fish, and I'm fairly sure she doesn't like fish. So that's a potential "return the opened bag" situation. Another option is Innova Evo, who also don't offer samples. This is the MOST EXPENSIVE brand of dog food, but also the best. It's the closest you can get to a BARF/Raw diet in kibble. In between the two, is Nature's Variety. They have 2 types of food, Prairie (high quality kibble) and Instinct (high quality and also grain-free). Grain-free can be tough on a dog's tummy though, so I think for now we will try Prairie. I have a coupon for "buy 1 get 1 free" on their bags, so that will let us try more than just one flavor.

Now, the question is: do these small pet stores take back opened food? I tried calling 2 of the listed retailers, and I got 2 "answers". One was, "Generally, if its within 14 days and most of the food is there we'll exchange it for another kind of food." The second was, "I believe its 100% satisfaction guaranteed, you can just bring the bag back." I'm kind of curious what ever happened to "yes" and "no" answers. I guess I'll just have to ask again at the store and make sure before we buy it.

And if she doesn't like this? Back to the drawing board, AGAIN! Thankfully, she seems to like whatever canned food we throw at her. I thought Pugs were supposed to looooooooooove food! Oh, and we recently found out she likes lettuce (of all things!) as a snack.