# Fight to eat - Suggestions?



## JohnnyB (Apr 2, 2008)

My GSD will be 3 in March. We moved to a raw diet as a pup. He initially loved it. However, it's become a battle to get him to eat. The fight is w/boney meat (turkey necks, chicken hind quarters, chicke backs).

At first I thought I would just provide the food & if he didn't eat w/in 10 - 15 minutes take it back up. But he is content going without.

We quit giving him all of his food together because he would eat everything but the boney meat. Thought if we saved the other it might be like a treat for eating the boney.

We're having a hard time putting/keeping weight on him now. I have a vet appointment scheduled to make sure there's nothing wierd going on (my vet supports raw feeding).

Any thoughts on getting him to eat the boney meat? Suggestions on other meat to try?

I'm almost to the point to go to kibble.:help:


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Are his teeth/gums ok? He may have something going on in his mouth that makes crunching bones painful. I'd start there.


----------



## JohnnyB (Apr 2, 2008)

I haven't seen anything w/his mouth. But plan on having the vet check.

He got sick today so that doesn't help.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

If your dog doesn't like the bones, you could always just add calcium by adding crushed eggshell or feed ground RMBs if you can find them.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

You can also give him Tums for calcium


----------



## JohnnyB (Apr 2, 2008)

Any suggestions on other RMB to try? I've read through the diets and looks like the other main RMB is pork neck bones.

By not feeding actual RMB and adding calcium does that cause loose stool?


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Have the vet check his mouth and teeth. Make sure there's nothing going on there.

Try some of the 'lighter' bones - like chicken wings or necks. Maybe the harder bones are too much for him.

If you are going to go with no RMBs then you have to add a calcium source to his diet.

From Mary Strauss' DogAware website:



> *Add 800 to 1000 mg calcium per pound of food fed (cooked weight).* You can use ground eggshell at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per pound of food, or any other form of calcium is fine, including
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Most Tums varieties contain sugar - I would not use them.


----------



## TheLittleBlackBook (Feb 26, 2010)

I wouldn't feed chicken necks as they're too bony. Most dogs don't want a pile of bones in their stomach, they want soft flesh. Think about it from your own perspective and what you would prefer.

Further, many dogs get stopped-up because their stools are (well) "bone" dry and they have difficulty eliminating essentially dry bone for waste.

Chicken _quarters_ are better to feed, they have more meat, abd yet they still provide adequate calcium. You can also add salmon oil to smooth things out and provide a different and possibly more attractive scent.

Good luck.


----------



## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

Ok so I am totally new to this (started raw yesterday LOL) but because I don't want to deal with neck, and other raw things I have decided to go with the prepackaged raw, you can't see any bone in it but they are on the ingredients list so they are in there but just ground up, so maybe if there is no medical issues you can try some of that to get him to eat it without having to crunch it. 

And yes, just in case I worry anyone I do know I need to have items that give jaw work since the prepackaged does not....


----------



## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

The Oma's pride I feed is a raw diet that has ground bone in the mixes. What bone the body doesnt digest it just comes out and fertilizes the grass. The mixes are kinda like meatloaf, so I also feed chicken backs for the chewing.


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

TheLittleBlackBook said:


> I wouldn't feed chicken necks as they're too bony. Most dogs don't want a pile of bones in their stomach, they want soft flesh. Think about it from your own perspective and what you would prefer.


*I* prefer not to eat ANYTHING raw and nothing at ALL with bones but then again - I'm not a DOG.

Chicken necks are perfectly fine to feed. I have used them for over a decade and none of my dogs have had problems.

Since chicken necks DO have more bone than meat you need to adjust the percentages of RMBs and MM - giving more MM and less RMB.

The only whole RMBs my Cresteds get are the chicken necks and wings as those are the only ones they CAN eat whole.


----------

