# Are most Maltese picky eaters?????????



## Mari B (Oct 29, 2007)

I'm researching Maltese and keep reading again and again that they are picky eaters. At a very high end local doggy boutique that has many, many Maltese owner customers, I talked to several people that said it's a common problem. They owners and works said people come in day after day almost in tears over not being able to get these little dogs to eat consistently and worrying because they are so small and can't just be left to go without food for a day or two while they try to tough-love it. The other common complaint they get is inability to housetrain. It's about turned me off from considering this breed as much as I love the beauty and sweet disposition of everyone I've ever met.

Thoughts??????????


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

:smrofl: :smrofl: :smrofl: :smrofl: :smrofl: I'm sorry.....hhhhmmmm not all.......but 2 out of my three are......even when I am home cooking. Right now besides home cooking I have 4 different bags of kibble open :smpullhair: to see if I can get them to at least snack on them. Snoopy my Bull Terrier just benefits from all the food they reject!


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## Bonnie's Mommie (Mar 2, 2006)

My Bonnie is not picky at all. 

Edit re: pottytraining - Bonnie was potty trained, to wee wee pads, within two weeks. I simply put pads everywhere she had access, and praised her like crazy and treated her. Then I would pick up the pad and not replace it, until we were down to one pad.


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## momtoboo (Jan 30, 2006)

Neither of my fluffs are a picky eater, they'll eat anything. Boo was picky when he was a puppy, but that only lasted a couple mths. Boo was very easy to pottytrain, he is 100% outside trained. Hannah, my little retiree, is 99.99% pottypad trained. She was nearly 5 yrs old when I adopted her & it did take a while to properly train her although she was about 50% trained when she came to us.


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

Ok, this is probably going to sound harsh, and I certainly don't mean any disrespect to any of the SM members here ... but.... one of my peeves is seeing the term 'picky eater' .......... I certainly don't mean the pets with medical conditions - they are entirely different!! - however .........here goes, I'm just going to hop up on my soapbox for a minute ..... 

Pick a food, and stick to it!!! Do you live in a restaurant? Do you get to pick from a menu every meal you have? I don't, so my pups don't either. 

Research a good quality food, and stick to it - if your pup turns it's nose up to it - bad luck! Eat it or go hungry! Yes, tough love - but it works around here. I have only ever switched kibble once - and that was because I found I was using was very poor quality, so I switched to a better quality food.

If a very young, or small pup is not eating on day 2 of 'tough love'- then that would lead me to think there is a medical reason for it, and I would seek professional advice.

Just my 5 cents worth 

edit: oh, and potty training - its not so much training the pup, its the human that needs the training! LOL - Consistency! Patience! thats all you really need.


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

Nemo is not at all a picky eater.
He eats like a race horse  
I agree, I would pick a food and stick with it for a while and see how it goes.
Unless they show signs of problems such as itching or staining , I would just give it a chance.
They will eat when they are hungry, you can't spoil them, in a way they are like children and if you let them get away with it they will
(They are soooooo smart) :biggrin:


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

Jacs easier said then done. Yes Mia has bouts with IBS but Cody is 100% healthy. They have gone 2 days with out eating when I have tried the tough love method. :bysmilie:


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

QUOTE (LuvMyFurbaby @ Nov 28 2008, 12:40 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=678276


> Jacs easier said then done. Yes Mia has bouts with IBS but Cody is 100% healthy. They have gone 2 days with out eating when I have tried the tough love method. :bysmilie:[/B]


I agree 100% it's easier said than done! It worries me when my guys dont eat their meals, but it would never enter my mind switch them to something else to entice them to eat when there is nothing wrong with what they are offered. I would be more likely to think that if they went for more than 2 days without eating, then there was something medically wrong with them. 

I'm not suggesting starvation, I just think, well, for my 2 anyway, they need consistency. I know every little one is different - and I have 2 like chalk & cheese - one will gobble everything the minute I put the meal down, the other will sometimes take it or leave it, then go back later & graze. 

I guess what I mean is, that the term 'picky eater' applies only if you let it.


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## a2z (Aug 23, 2004)

My little girl throws up yellow bile when she doesn't eat. And all those stomach acids eat away at her stomach lining. And then her bowels get upset.

It's a nasty cycle. And it's not imagination or weakness on my part. She just doesn't eat some days. I give her nutri-cal or nutri-stat (whateverf I have on hand) and that seems to help.


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## Morkie4 (Oct 13, 2006)

All I can say is that mine are very spoiled and gobble up their food in a flash but then they get three different types of dog food. Here is there twice a day feeding. Maybe this is why they aren't "picky" eaters!

They get 2 tablespoons of Wellness Weight Management, a tablespoon of Nature's Variety New Zealand Venison and Medley, a tablespoon of Natural Balance Duck/Potato, a teaspoon of an Organic Wellness canned dog food (varies from Salmon, beef, chicken, turkey) and a tablespoon of cooked chicken breast.

So what is there not to like about that mixture???? They are healthy, happy and good little eaters .......... and if they were to stop eating this "mixture"........would I change? Sure would! I'd make sure that what I was giving them was pleasing to their palate and healthy! Yep, they are spoiled and I enjoy spoiling them. I mean this is not called "SPOILED MALTESE" for nothing!!


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## mamamia (Jul 26, 2008)

Blue is not a picky eater at all!!!! He will eat it before he even knows what he is eating....as long as I am giving it to him. As far as house training goes...Maltese are extremely intellegent. Bleu was house trained fairly easily and quickly. My only complaint is...he will have an occasional poop accident in the house :angry:


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## Julie718 (Feb 17, 2006)

Mine aren't picky at all! They would eat everything if I let them! LOL.


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## Moxie'smom (Dec 16, 2007)

Moxie was picky. I also did the tough love thing, but i did switch after trying to entice. Now I finally found something that works. I was not going to switch constantly.


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## TheButtercup (Mar 3, 2005)

The Buttercup isn't so much picky, as she just eats when she feels like it. She'll fast for a couple of days, every so often, but never enough that I worry about her. If she's acting normal otherwise, and eating her good-girl-potty-treats (really? at 8 years old she's still getting these from me? shame on me LOL), then I just figure she's not interested and will come back when she IS. I do switch her food every year or so. Mostly for variety at MY end of it, LOL, or ease in getting a particular food. 

As for potty training, oye, it was hard for ME. I wasn't consistent, and had a hard time reading her 'signs' that she needed to 'go'. She sniffs at everything, so to see her do a pre-potty sniff... it wasn't much of a different sniff than a 'oooh there was a cookie here at one point... i just KNOW IT!' kind of sniff. Once I was smart enough to move the potty pad from carpet to tile/wood floor, she became 100000% more consistent. I think the carpet was confusing to her feet, if that makes sense. 

I tend not to make a lot of sense here. Just a warning ;P


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## allheart (Oct 3, 2008)

QUOTE (Harley & Dakotas Mum @ Nov 27 2008, 09:18 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=678278


> QUOTE (LuvMyFurbaby @ Nov 28 2008, 12:40 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=678276





> Jacs easier said then done. Yes Mia has bouts with IBS but Cody is 100% healthy. They have gone 2 days with out eating when I have tried the tough love method. :bysmilie:[/B]


I agree 100% it's easier said than done! It worries me when my guys dont eat their meals, but it would never enter my mind switch them to something else to entice them to eat when there is nothing wrong with what they are offered. I would be more likely to think that if they went for more than 2 days without eating, then there was something medically wrong with them. 

I'm not suggesting starvation, I just think, well, for my 2 anyway, they need consistency. I know every little one is different - and I have 2 like chalk & cheese - one will gobble everything the minute I put the meal down, the other will sometimes take it or leave it, then go back later & graze. 

I guess what I mean is, that the term 'picky eater' applies only if you let it.
[/B][/QUOTE]


I do agree with this and try and drill this into hubby's head. When you research and find the right one, I think it's best to stick with it. Right now I have my babies on Blue food. And I am hoping to God, it givies them all they need. I did ask my vet, and she did say it was a good product, but she didn't overly fuss about the product, and say, it's great, which kind of made me a little nervous. But my litle stinker babies, love it and look forward to their meals.

The only thing that would make my past fur-babies "picky eaters", was their DADDY!!! grrrr. He'd fill their bellys with treats, and when it came time for Mommy to make sure they got their meals, I had to hand feed them, or they just would turn away . So, Daddy is on stricked orders about the treats!!! He aslo would say, "how would you like to eat the same thing everyday...grrrrr. Within the Blue product line is different flavors , or they have different flavored health bars, to me, if it's good for them, that is variety enough. Their bellys are so small, so if you fill it with treats, there is no room or desire for the meals that they truly need. My vet had a good talking to with hubby .

So, I don't really think they are pick eaters, Mia for sure is not, she'd eat round the clock if I let her, little Leo, so far so good.

I think any breed, aside from health problems will eat well, as long as consistency is in place, and treats or anything else, is at a minimum.

I think also, once you introduce table food (meaning from your plate), your done. It will be so hard to get them back to what they should be eating and I think this goes for any breed.

I could be wrong, but just going by my past babies.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Excuse me in advance for saying that I am not a fan of commercial dog food, so I have no recommendations for you in that regard. 

Nikki was a little bit picky at first. She wouldn't eat kibble, and she didn't like most commercial dog treats/cookies. I tried various canned foods and there's one that she loves, Spot's Stew. It's my backup food. 

Since I started home cooking for her, she isn't picky at all. She eats her food every day, twice a day. She loves all fruits and veggies. I think if you find a good quality food that agrees with your dog (no itching, acceptable "output", etc.) then stick with it, despite their little "protests." Eventually, they'll eat. 

Regarding potty training, it takes a while, but once they "get it," you're pretty much done. Nikki is a "marker." She has marked every blanket in my house. But only once, LOL. She hasn't had an accident in a long time, and she sleeps in our bed and holds it all night long.


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## BABYSNOWY (Jul 8, 2008)

I personally have a bit of both...Snowy is a picky eater but I do not change the food, she has to eat eventually and does.....Icy on the other hand OMG im lucky she hasnt taken a piece off my finger because she would eat anything and everything......Potty training...Snowy is great with it, Icy I still have problems, but she is just a baby so im very patient with it.


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

I dont think its a breed thing.

Cooper and Gracie have been very good about eating whatever I give them. They're really good sports. I've had to change foods frequently because of our bulldog's allergies and they've eaten everything thats been put in front of them.

Mind you, I just recently had to put Cooper on his own food, because he has gained a tremendous amount of weight. So now he is back on Wellness reduced fat. Gracie and Brody are still on NB Duck and potato...and have NO issues with weight - how odd is that?!?


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

Tilly isn't really a picky eater. The only thing I've ever fed her that she won't eat is Raw. As soon as she takes a bite (if she does), she throws it up. Other than that, she will eat most food just fine.

It's Lacie that doesn't eat unless it's what she wants. She's more than willing to starve herself to death if need be instead of eating something she doesn't care for.

Lacie, however, loves RAW and gobbles it down. She also gobbles down my homecooking.

I usually homecook for both girls and put down a little kibble for them to munch on throughout the day with the homecooked meal for dinner.

With all the problems with a lot of the foods on the shelves, however, I'm more than happy to homecook for the girls.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

I've never had a picky maltese eater. I have had a picky yorkie eater, but discovered no matter
what I fed she would eat when SHE was READY. LOL I don't change foods unless there's a problem
with the food itself......such as recalls.


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## beckinwolf (Sep 2, 2008)

I think they are kind of picky, but I also think its hard to judge how much they need sometimes because their little stomachs are so small. So the little snacks that my grandparents give to Micky, amount to enough to fill him up so he won't eat his scheduled kibble. So we get on this pattern of not eating much at all sometimes. Another strange thing I've found is in the morning I leave down 1/4 cup of dry food. By the time I get home in the evening, its still there. So I take it up and mix it with a heaping spoonful of canned. As soon as I do that, he eats it all... Its like the canned food stimulates his appetite. I can't really figure them out. Our last dog, we always fed him canned or pouch food because he lost all his teeth and couldn't chew kibble. My grandparents would just feed him at random times during the day. Sometimes once a day, sometimes twice. Sometimes he ate and sometimes he didn't.


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