No changes? Not eating? Help!

[Kyleigh]

The two posts above me - LHCZTH and BILLSHARP have nailed it!

Some people might find me a bit strict, but here goes my philosophy when feeding your dog the raw diet, especially if you switched from kibble to raw.

If your dog ate kibble before, for months or for years, it literally ate the same thing every single day, twice a day. The dog ate, no one thought anything of it. Switch to raw and the dog's in heaven b/c it's getting REAL food and suddenly realizes there are OPTIONS!!!

I have found that most dogs do this after a while. They'll hold out every now and then because they want something "different" or "better" than what's in their bowl. Especially, if they can see / smell the other options in the fridge!

Kyleigh did it a couple of days ago (and she's never had kibble). While I'm mixing her food up, I'll toss her a chicken leg, drumstick or whatever, and then when she's done that I'll put her food down. She looked at it, looked at me and walked away. Fine, you want to subsist on a chicken leg for the next 24 hours, feel free. I left it for 10 minutes, no takers, took her food off the floor and put it in the fridge.

The next night, NO CHICKEN, and I put her food down, guess what ... she ate it.

IF and a big IF, your dog is healthy, your dog won't starve itself. It will eat. Remember when it ate the same boring old kibble every single day, twice a day, with no complaints?????

There are days when Kyleigh eats her whole bowl of food, other days only half. I don't make a big fuss about it. She's simply not hungry. Most healthy dogs will eat what they need and leave the rest.

[Lauri & The Gang]

Originally Posted by mynameisblc

So, I'm back... he sometimes will deny the food.

How often does he skip meals? Does he not eat ANYTHING or just eat some and then walk away? What's the longest period of time he's gone without food?

And the $24 thousand dollar question - how is his WEIGHT? Not how much does he weigh - how does 70 lbs LOOK on him?

Can you run your hand LIGHTLY over his side and feel his ribs? If yes, then he does need more food and I would take him to the vet for a check-up.

If no, then he's either at a good weight or possibly over weight. I would cut back more food and see how he does.

[GatorBytes]

Originally Posted by 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?

According to your first post his appetite has wained for about 3 months, but poops fine and no symtoms that seem indicative of any gastro issues that may relate to why he won't eat....correct?

By asking or looking at the obvious, there seems to be nothing relative and you question if he doesn't like his food, or maybe not hungry enough.

Think back to when you first noticed a change in behaviour, was there a Vet visit that corrolates to this time? Was he vaccinated for something 3 or so months ago and/or flea/heartworm meds added or changed?

[mynameisblc]

Originally Posted by Lauri & The Gang

How often does he skip meals? Does he not eat ANYTHING or just eat some and then walk away? What's the longest period of time he's gone without food?

And the $24 thousand dollar question - how is his WEIGHT? Not how much does he weigh - how does 70 lbs LOOK on him?

Can you run your hand LIGHTLY over his side and feel his ribs? If yes, then he does need more food and I would take him to the vet for a check-up.

If no, then he's either at a good weight or possibly over weight. I would cut back more food and see how he does.

He skips meals a lot... He will eat tripe and ground meat ALMOST every time though. I think he may have a problem picking up the RMB with his mouth? Because if I hand feed the RMB he will bite on it and when it crunches, that engages him and he will eat it. The longest he's gone without food is a day.
His weight is fine, not fat and not too skinny.
Let me upload a video of me giving him his food... Give me like 20 mins lol.

[mynameisblc]

So here are pics. He's really not that skinny in real life lol.