Not Eating

[jacobite]

Charlie is an 8yo Border Collie. He was fed on table scraps and dried dog food. We saw some Chub on sale at Asda and gae him some of that. We are back to dried dog food and he won't eat. He will eat if being trained, and he had some ice cream when we were eating some, (just the dregs in the cup), but won't eat dinner. He is already under weight and I worry about his becomeing too thin Any ideas? I don't want to spoil him by giing him eggs eat night to coax him

 

[bekah1001]

That's what Brody is like. We feed him lots of table scraps and he got really picky and wouldn't eat his dog food anymore. I switched his dog food and he starting eating his food with no problem. Have you tried giving him 30 min to eat his food and if he doesn't eat his food within the 30 minutes pick it up and put it away.

 

[Dogster]

It's probably the table scraps, LOL. Shivon used to be picky like that. She wouldn't eat, for days, even when we put table scraps in her food, or yogurt, she would eat them out. I would suggest a rotations diet, sara and I do this. Basically, you buy a couple of diferent kinds of foods (dry and canned) and rotate te=hem every couple of days, or even every day. More explained here: http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/doggy-dandruff.4461/ page 2.

 

[MaryK]

Yes I agree, it's probably the table scraps. I've never fed my dogs table scraps for this very reason, they end up being too picky. And not all we eat is good for them either.

I would try as Dogster suggests, rotating and maybe try raw meat, most dogs like raw meat.
Plus as Bekah 1001 says, just leave the food down for 30 minutes and if he's not eaten it, pick it up and give it to him later. Dogs usually respond to this, not like cats who will go on strike forever if they don't have the food they want.

If he likes the Chub, let him have that, mixed with other dog food.

Does he eat bones? If so, that may start his digestive juices and taste buds off again. Nothing like a good juicy RAW bone, most dogs go wild for them.

 

[jacobite]

bekah, I will tell my son to moe his food after 30 minutes. MaryK, he can't eat raw food or bones because it upsets his digestion. We couldn't get some chub at the CO OP so we mixed canned food with the dry food and he ate. I will tell me son, no more table scraps, or he willl do this again.

 

[MaryK]

I understand with the raw meat bones, some dogs are allergic, but it's often because they are switched over too quickly - bit like someone who's always eaten meat then suddenly switching to a veg diet - gives them the trots.

Yes, do keep those table scraps away, he's filling up on those and not hungry when it comes to his own meal time. Canned mixed with dry food is a good way to go.

So glad he's at least eating now, that's a load of your mind.

 

[Ariel]

There is a brilliant product called Natural Balance Dog Roll, and you can cut it, dice it, slice it, or crumble it. I use it both as a treat and a meal topper for picky dogs. It is high in fat, so I use sparingly to maintain a healthy weight, but when Kismet was underweight I gave her a fat slice with every meal and it wasn't long before she was up to a healthy weight again.

 

[sara]

How is Shivon now Dogster? I keep meaning to ask how the rotation diet is going?

 

[Dogster]

It's going absolutely FANTASTIC. She eats almost all the foods, sometimes I have to add a little yogurt to Natural Balance or Chicken Soup, but she almost always eats her food. Her coat is shiny and silky, not like before, and she doesn't have any of the problems she had before, like stomach issues or loose stool. I LOVE this diet, and would recommend it to anyone. Thanks again, Sara!!!!

 

[bekah1001]

I would love to start a rotation diet but it would be nice to know what is causing Brody's allergies first

 

[sara]

I'm so glad it's working for you!!!

You know, I can give my dogs everything now, without diarrhea? I just gave Boo, Mouse and Ollie a bunch of cooked turkey for their meals... perfectly solid poo... I was actually shocked at that LOL I thought I'd see at least soft poo.

 

[Dogster]

Yep, I've noticed that too. I went with her to a friends house and she ate a bowl of cat food... I was sure she'd have diarrhea... I give Shivon cooked meals sometimes, and she never has a problem with her stool. Love this diet.

 

[648117]

Due you have a link or something to stuff about rotation feeding?

I'm thinking about trying this with Holly. She's been on Oijen puppy for at least 4 months now (can't remember exactly when I started giving it to her but she's on her second bag and only gets 3/4 cup per day so it lasts ages) and her poop is a still soft, although she does like eating random stuff (at home and on walks and not all food items) that she finds so I don't know if that is making her loose (although I guess if that were the case then she would only sometimes be loose). She's also recently discovered lawn clippings and races around and eats them

 

[sara]

No, this is something I started personally, because of my research. I decided I needed to get Oliver off a single food... I was tired of him getting sick if he had something even slightly different than he was used to... so I made sure it wouldn't hurt, talked to people (and fought with people) and decided it was the best way to go. there are others who do it on http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/ though not many who do it as extreme as I do. but there are a few threads where I talk about it... hmmm lets see if I can find them all I know there's one somewhere where I have a couple of days meals described in detail.