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Hi, I have a large breed purebred puppy who used to be a good eater. She likes to chew, and when she was just around 3 or 4 months old, she tore up the backyard and was eating what ever else she could find in addition to her food. I bought her some rawhide bones to chew on, since she had been eating shoes and wood and whatever else she could find. The rawhides filled her stomach for a couple days. She stopped eating her dog food. I took her to the vet and he said she was fine and she ate the canned Gi dog food they gave her and he believes it is behavorial. She will still eat that, but I have been trying to get her to eat dry dog food again and a better quality dog food. She may nibble a bit, but she doesn't eat much. She is 11 months old and small for her breed. I also had her shaved for the summer and the guy running our dog class thought she was embarrassed. We live in a hot climate and she has a beautiful and very thick coat. She doesn't dig as much, but has been eating our wooden fence outside and had chewed up some wiring to our AC outside. I haven't been able to see her do her number 2 or be sure if one of the ones I see outside are hers. We have another dog who is a westie. If I pour cottage cheese on her food, she will lick that off and eat some of her food. She was never a picky dog before, now she just turns her nose up at dog food in general. I am very worried about her and I don't know if she has an upset stomach or just is going to starve herself and hold out for whatever she wants in her mind. I hope she is not becoming anorexic. I do not know what to do since the pet says it is behavioral in his opinion.
All vets will tell you to give dogs dog food - what else? - and I am not saying anything against it, but my dogs only eat food I cook. It has been years now.
They have had a huge improvement in their health after I switched from dog food to homemade. Shinier eyes, coat, more lively, so much better...
What I give them? Meat, chicken, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, beets etc.
But be careful bc there are many things a dog should not eat, like onions and grapes. You can find lists of these foods on the internet.
It has worked tremendously for me. You just have to switch from time to time so that they get different vitamins from different meat/chicken/veggies.
If your dog is just being stubborn just wait. Dont feed her for a day or so and she will get the clue real quick. Again if there are not underlying medical problems. These dogs have got you wrapped. You need to take charge again. Your dog knows your weakness and is playing you.
You need to show this dog who is the leader of the pack real quick.
Not to be an alarmist but I'd be concerned that she ate something that didnt pass - rawhide is bad for them - it swells and can cause blockages - and if she ate shoes and wood, it's just not good, she c/h a blockage. If it continues, I'd want a 2nd opinion or an xray to see if something shows up - if not, it doesnt necessarily mean all is OK, sometimes things just dont show up - but I tned to think it's physical and not behavioral. JMO
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avalonn
Hi, I have a large breed purebred puppy who used to be a good eater. She likes to chew, and when she was just around 3 or 4 months old, she tore up the backyard and was eating what ever else she could find in addition to her food. I bought her some rawhide bones to chew on, since she had been eating shoes and wood and whatever else she could find. The rawhides filled her stomach for a couple days. She stopped eating her dog food. I took her to the vet and he said she was fine and she ate the canned Gi dog food they gave her and he believes it is behavorial. She will still eat that, but I have been trying to get her to eat dry dog food again and a better quality dog food. She may nibble a bit, but she doesn't eat much. She is 11 months old and small for her breed. I also had her shaved for the summer and the guy running our dog class thought she was embarrassed. We live in a hot climate and she has a beautiful and very thick coat. She doesn't dig as much, but has been eating our wooden fence outside and had chewed up some wiring to our AC outside. I haven't been able to see her do her number 2 or be sure if one of the ones I see outside are hers. We have another dog who is a westie. If I pour cottage cheese on her food, she will lick that off and eat some of her food. She was never a picky dog before, now she just turns her nose up at dog food in general. I am very worried about her and I don't know if she has an upset stomach or just is going to starve herself and hold out for whatever she wants in her mind. I hope she is not becoming anorexic. I do not know what to do since the pet says it is behavioral in his opinion.
She will happily eat any human food I give her. I have stopped giving her human food and tried to switch her to special order organic human grade food both wet and dry. I discovered she does not like wet food mixed with dry. She will eat a half of a can of the new wet food and that is it. She will still down those GI cans, I got her to eat 2 cans this evening and some of the samr prescription food in kibble. I also finally saw her do her number 2 and it was the size of my other dogs because she hasn't been eating much. I ordered different kinds of high end dog food that I dont have yet to see if she will love them so much she will eat. The Gi food is hard and doesn't mix well, but she doesn't enjoy mixed anyway. My westie is putting on the weight as she is happy to eat all of it. I have tried heating food, mixing water with the same results. I did the one day don't feed and she did eat maybe 3/4 of her bowl in the evening the day after. A couple of nights she will eat half her bowl. She doesn't seem to want to be fed earlier in the day anymore. She used to eat all of her food, ask for seconds, and down my westies food.
Not to be an alarmist but I'd be concerned that she ate something that didnt pass - rawhide is bad for them - it swells and can cause blockages - and if she ate shoes and wood, it's just not good, she c/h a blockage. If it continues, I'd want a 2nd opinion or an xray to see if something shows up - if not, it doesnt necessarily mean all is OK, sometimes things just dont show up - but I tned to think it's physical and not behavioral. JMO
I am worried about the same thing because she ate so well before and she has been eating all the wrong things. I bought a muzzle to put on her when I let her out at times. I intend to hire someone to fence off the A/C as soon as I can find someone who doesn't charge an arm and a leg that I can't afford. She has never thrown up......which is another arguement my vet uses against the blockage idea. I hope she outgrown this eating everything but her food thing. I let her outside and she starts to eat a blob of grass/dirt on the porch...I say no. she tries to eat a broken piece of cement on the porch...I say no and she drops it. Somehow we have 2 thirds of bricks on our porch now and I am betting she tries to chew on them too.
I tend to think she has some kind of upset stomach or something is going on in there. It is hard to imagine she would prefer that prescription over 4 and 5 star dog food. I haven't given her any more rawhides, she sure did love those. I have been pondering the idea of pretending to eat the canned food (that is high quality) and giving her some as I pretend to eat it and wonder if I can trick her into thinking...oh yummy human food! My dogs are spoiled, they both sleep on my bed at night. My westie used to have her food bowl available all day, because she would just eat a piece here and there through out the day. The give them 20 minutes to eat and pick up the bowl has gotten my westie to down her food and look to swipe whatever food I am giving the puppy.
I dont know as dogs think that way (pretending) but I'm no expert. Mine slept w/ me til I had surgery recently and now are in the other room, they're less than thrilled but it's getting better - and truthfully it's pretty nice w/o them, LOL, we have more room and can sleep a lot better. Eventually they may come back, I just dont want them walking on me. Anyway, if Im reading the paper, they come up on the bed (easier to read that way) but otherwise, no. Anyway, getting back to your dog's situation, a friend's pug swallowed a peach pit - she saw it happen - every day for months, she'd check the pug's stools to see if it passed - w/o being too gross, at one time she thought it had - the pug was losing weight and not acting like herself - she took her in for xrays, everything checked out - finally one day about 4 or 5 months later (I kid you not), the pit passed - she even brought it in to the vet and he took pictures of it next to a coin - almost immediately her pug was better. There's something toxic w/ peach pits. Not saying that happened to yours, you could be right and it c/b something else entirely - but it's just a thought.
I think your point is well taken. The fact she isn't getting better makes me think something is wrong. Maybe she has a partial blockage or something that is still inside is irritating her system. I think I will have to push to have some more tests done. I wouldn't imagine wood would feel very good going through her digestive system. I don't know why she keeps eating all the wrong things. I guess it is because she is a puppy and with her eating so poorly she is missing what she should have in her system. I have been leaning toward this being something she has eaten and that my vet is incorrect about this being a behavorial issue. I just can't believe my strong appetite puppy has suddenly become more finiky then Morris the cat.
.......... been trying to get her to eat dry dog food again and a better quality dog food. She may nibble a bit, but she doesn't eat much.
is it Eukanuba?
I had a Neapolitan Mastiff that was supposedly raised on that and she hated it ... a LOT! ... would NOT eat it - try a different food.
Do small packs until you find what she likes!
Seriously - so called good food seems to taste bad to dogs ... if they don't like it how is it good?
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