My second pointer was a picky eater. I had to take canned dog food or use table scraps to get her to eat. My Ginger dog was a glut. She would woof down any dry food with water poured over it. Had any? How did you handle the situation?

never had that experience Bill

ive free fed all my dogs. not sure ill do it again. but to make her eat on hunting trips some olive oil and warm water makes her dry food get eaten.

My Brit was a picky eater until one year old. That’s also when I had her spayed. My oldest pointer won’t eat when dropped off with a trainer. She also didn’t eat when traveling for hunting the first couple seasons. I had to use some canned food. She’s fine now.

I have one that won’t eat if you chain her out on her own stake when traveling. Put her on a chain gang with her friends and she has no problems.

Some dog people feed their dogs quail heads to make their dogs birdie. They would starve now days.

Bill, what was dog food in the 50’s and 60’s? My grandma did the feeding for a pack in the country. There was never store bought dog food.

Pro Plan. It was free. I got coupons through NSTRA.

Bill, when hunting I pour a can of sardines over dry food they love it, most dogs will eat cooked vegetables, do you'll wet dry food are let them eat it dry.

Low sodium chicken broth over their kibble

My best hunting buddy has a short hair that would not eat while we were on the road. That went on for three years. He tried all sorts of creative things to get it to eat with marginal success. Finally he got fed up and started picking up its food immediately if he did not eat. On the third day it ate like it had not been fed in, well, three days. It has not been a problem since.

That's how its done folks.

Every female pointer I have owned has been like this. Grazers at home and will never eat the first night of a hunt, and sometimes not the second night. Wet food doesnt even work, but I bring cans of tuna to mix in now, not sure if its the smell or what, but seems to work pretty good.

Don't fix it if it works.

Vienna sausages work well too. Cheap Chicken Libbys is what I use.

McDonald's cheeseburgers -- minus the pickles. My pointers don't like pickles.

I give a mid day snack of canned mackeral and carry a jar of knorr chicken stock to wet food if the look like they are gettig run down and not eating. the mackeral is some of the cheapest canned protein you can buy. It is oily and nasty and the dogs love it. I've always given dogs a light snack mid day--vets I talk to say this is not a problem, that volume and a lot of dry food shouldn't be fed but a small snack will help ward of hypo.

On a hunt, I've always had to go canned food to get them to eat. Even then, they don't eat much.
Sometimes, raw ground beef. That always worked.

Ever rattle your food pans and bang them together? It is something I did for my pups when I first got them home. I started it to get the accoustomed to loud noises. It finally turned into a call for dinner. The pups really got excited.
.

Mine get pretty excited at feed time at home. I have to put bark collars on 2 of them before feed time.

You are their whole wile world. Robert Wehle of Elhew pointers wrote that they think you are 10 feet tall.

Always

When they get hungry they will eat I have never seen a dog starve itself to death.