# Newly adopted GSD won't eat! Help!



## dashenka85 (Jan 11, 2014)

We just adopted Jasmine yesterday. She is 2 y.o. and she looks really small. She came with 50 lb bag of ole'roy (yuk!!) and she refuses to eat. She did very well last night and she fits perfect in to our family but I'm a little concerned. She refuses to eat dog food. I'm scared to switch her to a different food and I'm worried she will get sick from not eating. My vet is out until Tuesday and she is my first dog ever and my husband only had small dogs. I have no idea what to do. Her previous owner kept her locked in a garage where she often went potty because he didn't have time for her. I don't know if she is just sad or may be its a new situation and she is too anxious. Also she had somewhat loose stools. I took her out last night about 4 times because she was just restless and few times this morning. We played catch and ran around and she seems like she is well but as soon as I bring her in she starts to pace around and whine a bit. Is this normal behavior or do you think she is sick? I'm so afraid that something might happen to her before Tuesday. Any suggestions? TIA









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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

Many dogs in this situation will refuse food. I had a new foster who ate Scooby Snacks (don't judge me!) for quite a few days (and nothing else) until she could calm down and settle in. I would probably start trying to transition her from that food anyway, so that's good that she's refusing it. 

With most foster dogs I will use something like Merrick canned food, a couple of tablespoons, mixed with water and kibble and that seems to kick up the appetite. If I need to I will do other things to stimulate the appetite. Warm homemade food like meat and sweet potatoes, baby food, more canned than dry, are all things I've tried as I get more concerned. 

If she's drinking water, I would be happy. If she's not doing that/refusing water, then I would be very nervous. 

It is always possible when getting a dog that they bring with them parasites and worms, so taking a fecal in, and getting a heartworm and tick test is always a good idea. Take any old vet records/shot records with you. Unless she's not had a rabies shot, I would hold off on shots for another visit and not combine rabies with any others if they are needed. 

Way down the road if she still continues to be picky, have a very low weight (can't tell from the pic other than that she's very pretty) and loose stools you would want to test for SIBO/ARD and EPI. But that's a long way off in terms of what you are likely seeing. 

Good luck and welcome to the board!

ETA - I do a 2 week shutdown to help dogs relax in their new surroundings - you can find it online - I have modified it for myself but pretty much trying to prevent a dog from being overwhelmed and it helps them to resume eating better.


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## havery (Jan 1, 2014)

If she was locked in a garage I'm assuming she wasn't really ever allowed in the house, so there's probably some anxiety about that, she's probably expecting to get in trouble. Crating might help relieve some of that by giving her a safe, cozy place when she feels overwhelmed. As for the eating, she'll come around, I'm sure. Are you still trying to feed her the ol roy? My mother attempted to give her dogs that and they just about starved themselves before she figured out they were never going to eat it. These dogs eat their own poop but refused that crap. She put a bowl of 4health chicken & rice (what I feed) in front of them and they devoured it, neither of them got sick from the switch because they hadn't really eaten in so long.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Been through this with one of my foster dog who would not eat, he also had runny poops and he was tired all the time. We took him to the vet and he spent the night there. He was diagnosed with stress colitis. I bought super smelly chicken baby food without garlic and mixed it with his dog food, he started eating. It was too the point were he refused even raw food...it was more stressful for me because i was worried about him constantly.


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## Jelpy (Nov 8, 2009)

If she has been ignored, she may be confused and frightened by any attention you give her. I've always been partial to rice and gerber's baby food chicken mixed together. They enjoy it and I've never had one refuse to eat at least some of it, plus it's easy on their stomach.


jelpy


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## dashenka85 (Jan 11, 2014)

Thank you  I feel a little better. She is drinking. We live in Florida so I make sure she gets water after walks and I take it with me. How should I switch her food? Should I mix it with ol'roy or just give her different brand? Also her previous owner told me he only fed her once a day. Also what brand would be the best? Sorry for all the questions. I researched some but there is quite a few choices. If you have any other suggestions I would really appreciate it. Oh and I have a 5 yo daughter and jasmine is doing very well with her but when I raised my voice at my daughter asking her to clean her room jasmine got in front of her and almost growled. I didn't yell or anything, just changed my tone a bit. 


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

dashenka85 said:


> Thank you  I feel a little better. She is drinking. We live in Florida so I make sure she gets water after walks and I take it with me. How should I switch her food? Should I mix it with ol'roy or just give her different brand? Also her previous owner told me he only fed her once a day. Also what brand would be the best? Sorry for all the questions. I researched some but there is quite a few choices. If you have any other suggestions I would really appreciate it. Oh and I have a 5 yo daughter and jasmine is doing very well with her but when I raised my voice at my daughter asking her to clean her room jasmine got in front of her and almost growled. I didn't yell or anything, just changed my tone a bit.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



I would be very careful with that sort of behavior, It may progress into something that is not desirable.


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## dashenka85 (Jan 11, 2014)

What should I do to change that? She was growling at me for raising my voice at my daughter. Jasmin follows her around everywhere. We are sitting here and watching her get up every time my daughter get up. Sorry for so many questions. I thought I had read enough but I guess not. 


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Jelpy said:


> If she has been ignored, she may be confused and frightened by any attention you give her. I've always been partial to rice and gerber's baby food chicken mixed together. They enjoy it and I've never had one refuse to eat at least some of it, plus it's easy on their stomach.
> 
> 
> jelpy


Gerbers is a life saver  its smells terrible lol


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## havery (Jan 1, 2014)

dashenka85 said:


> Thank you  I feel a little better. She is drinking. We live in Florida so I make sure she gets water after walks and I take it with me. How should I switch her food? Should I mix it with ol'roy or just give her different brand? Also her previous owner told me he only fed her once a day. Also what brand would be the best? Sorry for all the questions. I researched some but there is quite a few choices.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Honestly, with my experience with ol Roy, she may never eat it. It's possible, as skinny as she is, she was only eating enough to stay alive. That's what my moms dogs did when she tried to feed it to them. I like pp's suggestion of Gerber meats, just avoid any garlic. Mix it with some rice or even baby rice cereal, that'll be easy on the stomach. If she starts eating that, slowly mix in whatever kibble you want to feed her over the next several days until she's eating just kibble. As for what kind of food, that's up to you. I really like tractor supply's 4health brand, it's not much more expensive than grocery store foods, but they use barley and whole grains and the first two ingredients are meat and meat products, versus corn and corn meal that most big name brands have, corn is much harder to digest. Everyone has a different idea of what good dog food is, though, that's a whole other can of worms!!! It depends on how much you're wanting to spend and what stores you have available or if you're willing to have it shipped.


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

dashenka85 said:


> What should I do to change that? She was growling at me for raising my voice at my daughter. Jasmin follows her around everywhere. We are sitting here and watching her get up every time my daughter get up. Sorry for so many questions. I thought I had read enough but I guess not.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


this sounds like resource guarding and must be stopped. please be more worried about this and her behavior than not eating. i pm'ed you.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I would also make sure a fecal is done. You can add pumpkin, low fat cottage cheese and stage 1 baby food meats with the food. I almost think she just doesn't like that food, plus a new environment. I think boiled chicken can work to. Fromm is a decent food and its of higher quality. The worse case scenario is that you get a food that she likes and the switch will cause loose poop for a short time, but at least she is eating. If you go that route I would mix pumpkin with the food right away to help the poop. You also don't want her to feel like she needs to protect your child, that needs to be corrected right away. The good thing is that she seems to like your daughter.


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## OriginalWacky (Dec 21, 2011)

llombardo said:


> I would also make sure a fecal is done. You can add pumpkin, low fat cottage cheese and stage 1 baby food meats with the food. I almost think she just doesn't like that food, plus a new environment. I think boiled chicken can work to. Fromm is a decent food and its of higher quality. The worse case scenario is that you get a food that she likes and the switch will cause loose poop for a short time, but at least she is eating. If you go that route I would mix pumpkin with the food right away to help the poop. You also don't want her to feel like she needs to protect your child, that needs to be corrected right away. The good thing is that she seems to like your daughter.


I'm a HUGE fan of Fromm, and though I raw feed, I tend to keep Fromm on hand and feed it regularly enough (or use it for training) to keep them used to it in case there comes a time when I can't feed raw. There are other great dog foods out there, so you'll have to check around, and figure out which one will work best for you in your budget and for your dog. I personally would probably just switch outright to the new food, whatever you choose, and let her tummy sort itself out with the help of a bit of pumpkin. And maybe donate that Ole Roy (shudder) to a shelter, because even though it's horrid quality, if it's all they've got, it's better than feeding them shoe leather, just not by much. 

Whether she is feeling protective of your daughter because she likes her, or because she wants to consider her a resource, or whatever, this is something you'll want to nip in the bud. Perhaps you can check around your area for a trainer who is experienced with GSDs and get her into training classes. If it were me, I'd probably work on crate training as well, and limit your new dog's freedom a bit to avoid some of these issues. I definitely think that working on obedience with your dog will help a little, and you're being proactive enough to ask about potential issues now is awesome. 

She's a gorgeous dog, and with a little work, I bet that this is going to be a wonderful experience for you all, and your daughter will grow up with a great companion. Feel free to keep asking questions here, there are some great people you can learn a lot from. Most of all, enjoy your new family member!


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## laurenkapitan (Jan 12, 2014)

I just got a very young pup and had the same problem. A few thoughts: 
1. Settling into a new place, while he/she may fit in well and be happy, can be overwhelming and therefore it may just take her a bit to eat while she settles in. 
2. Don't do what I did and feel bad and give her table scraps. Bad habit to break. It will not make your life any easier and obviously not good for their long term health. 
3. AFTER TRYING SEVERAL BRANDS I FINALLY FOUND INSTINCT RAW BOOST!!!! She ate it right there in the store when the associate opened the bag to see if she was interested. Very impressed.









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## TAR HEEL MOM (Mar 22, 2013)

Just about every dog that comes into the shelter as a stray refuses to eat the first few days. I use the canned dog food mixed in with their Science Diet trick to whet their appetite. It is just the stress/change probably.

I also use the 4Health food. My dogs eat the grain free salmon and potato.


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## sarah1366 (Nov 3, 2013)

She is so pretty I know it sounds daft have you tried porridge with touch tinned meat mixed in I had one refused eat full stop so in end tried porridge slightly warm with tinned meat she loved it didn't give runs either after week started decreasing porridge and increasing tinned eventually got her onto raw feeding never looked back also wheatabix it's just get there appetite kicked off but again with milk with one my other rescues would only eat wheataxbix again till appetite kicked in but anything worth a go lol 


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

I think people with a rescue dog like this should introduce the dog to the house over a period of time. Don't worry about the food. 

I would look at it like this. 

A dog living in a garage has nobody and probably gets no walk and no socialization. 

It gets a new family and suddenly has a chance to have a pack and has free roam of the house. If it has no experience in this environment it may make wrong decisions.

It may see the weakest member of the family and try to protect it. 

I would try to recreate a place for the dog which was similar to it's old home and over time introduce it to my house and family.

Use a crate and cover it with a blanket for this dog or give it a room in the house where it can't roam. Allow it time to figure out it's new environment.

It shouldn't be in your families business until it is mentally capable of understanding the dynamics inside your family. 

Walk exercise and train the dog and socialize it with your family but don't give it a chance to develop unhealthy relationships where it feels the need to protect your child from you.


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## Alwaysaworkingdog (Feb 27, 2013)

Why don't you feed her what a dog was actually made to eat? warm raw meat, bones, cartilage and organs? we feed ours chicken frames and wings and it's what? a couple of dollars more expensive than your high end kibble. I think, if you set aside a few more dollars a week for your dog you can provide them with food that is far superior in taste, quality and nutrition than even the best kibble.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

she could be adjusting to her new home. as far as not
eating she may not like ol Roy. switch brands. if you
think something is wrong with her take her to the E-Vet.
good luck with your new dog.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

covering a crate with a blanket isn't safe especially with
a dog that hasn't been crated.



MadLab said:


> I think people with a rescue dog like this should introduce the dog to the house over a period of time. Don't worry about the food.
> 
> I would look at it like this.
> 
> ...


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

> covering a crate with a blanket isn't safe


Why not?


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## Loneforce (Feb 12, 2012)

Mad Lab said:


> Why not?


Because the dog can pull the blanket through the sides of the crate and chew on it and eat it and get an obstruction. I used to give this advice too mad lab, but after being here awhile, I have found out how crazy dogs can really be. Not my own dogs, but what has been happening to others. I have used blanket on the crate before with out any issues, I use and have used a choke collar for over 35 years with out issues and etc... I am turning over a new leaf this year. I will not give anymore advice on here anymore, unless I see it is totally wrong. What works for me or you definitely does not always work for others.


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