No changes? Not eating? Help!

[Lauri & The Gang]

If he weighs 70 lbs you should be feeding about 1.75 pounds per day. That would be 2.5% of his weight - which is the basic starting point I suggest for adult dogs.

[mynameisblc]

Originally Posted by lhczth

You could have a vet check done on him to make sure he is healthy. Something that can affect the coat is a low thyroid (you would need to run a complete panel and not the one most vets run). If he is OK then I would say he is not hungry enough. Cut back on the amount of food you are feeding. If you pick up his food, give it to him later and he still doesn't eat then he goes hungry. I would feed more eggs. My guys get a bit more than one a day (from free range hens). The salmon oil should be around 1000 mg per 30# of body weight.

Alexis will not eat liver unless it is cut into small pieces and mixed with eggs and yogurt. Some dogs are that way. I do accommodate her.

The treats also may be more appealing so he is waiting for those instead of eating his meals.

How much are you feeding your dog?

I feed my dogs about 2lbs a day. A little less most of the time(need to save some money!)

[Lauri & The Gang]

I would try cutting back a bit. He might be uninterested because he is over-fed.

Cut him back to 1.5 pound per day and see how he reacts.

[mynameisblc]

I just threw the ball around with my dog
Thanks for all your advice, I'll cut the food back a little and add a bit more exercise. See if that helps. If not, I'll be back .

[mynameisblc]

So, I'm back...
He won't eat or eat much... I've added more walks and more mental excersice to the equation but he sometimes will deny the food. He will eat it more often when I hand feed it to him. But it kind of feels like I'm forcing him to eat. I also give him 2 chances to eat, morning and night.

- 70 lbs
- 1 year and 2 months old
- 1.5-1.75 lbs of meat per day
- This week I've bought veal, ground beef, lamb, tripe, whole chicken, rabbit, and turkey.
- Salmon oil supplement
- Goes outside 3 times a day, 2nd time we do some training, 30 mins - 1 hr each time we go out
- Treats only given when training(not much)

Help and suggestions are greatly appreciated at this time...
Maybe I should go to kibble and see how that works?

[Sunflowers]

Are you trying to give him all the food in one large meal?

If so, then split it in half and do two smaller meals a day.

This is also good for preventing bloat.

[mynameisblc]

No, I split the meals into 2. Morning and night. I feel like my "variety" of meats are not enough..?

[onyx'girl]

Some dogs just don't do well on raw, what about doing home cooked if you want to stay away from kibble?

Have you joined the K9Kitchen@yahoogroups.com and asked for any suggestions?

[lhczth]

Did you ever have him vet checked?

Some dogs are not big eaters. My dogs don't eat they go hungry. No special treats. GAWD, no hand feeding (well, except a dog that is obviously sick).

Your dog has ben on raw for a long time so I don't see this as a diet issue. He either just isn't hungry enough or there is some health reason (which I think you would have seen long before now).

[billsharp]

My two cents, having gone through this: He' just not hungry. He sounds healthy from your description.

Put out one meal in the morning. Give him 30 minutes or so to eat it. If he doesn't, pick it up and refrigerate. Give him NOTHING but water the rest of the day and night-no snacks AT ALL. I have found that even a small piece of table food will sometimes put Liesl off of her raw diet--they like all the fat, spice, salt, and sugar (just like we do!).

You dog will not go hungry or starve itself. Put that same meal out the next morning, same routine--30 minutes to eat it, or nothing else the rest of the day.

I'll bet that by day 3 or so he starts wolfing it down. As long as he keeps getting exercise and stimulation his appetite should return.