# No changes? Not eating? Help!



## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

So I have had my dog on a raw diet since he was 4 months old, he is now a year and a month old. Recently, about 2 months ago, he sometimes won't eat his food... I think it's because he doesn't like it very much. I have tried giving him different varieties of meat, but that doesn't help much. He seems to like chicken more than the other types of meat. But too much chicken = tired of eating the same thing = not eating. He loves green tripe, so I mix a little bit of that in there, but then he'll sometimes just eat that.
I need help! What do you feed your dogs?
And since I started a raw diet, I haven't seen much change in the coat.
I give 50% raw meaty bones, 45% muscle meat, and 5% organ meat. I also supplement with salmon oil and an egg every 10 days...


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## Lucky Paw (Sep 29, 2012)

mynameisblc said:


> So I have had my dog on a raw diet since he was 4 months old, he is now a year and a month old. Recently, about 2 months ago, he sometimes won't eat his food... I think it's because he doesn't like it very much. I have tried giving him different varieties of meat, but that doesn't help much. He seems to like chicken more than the other types of meat. But too much chicken = tired of eating the same thing = not eating. He loves green tripe, so I mix a little bit of that in there, but then he'll sometimes just eat that.
> I need help! What do you feed your dogs?
> And since I started a raw diet, I haven't seen much change in the coat.
> I give 50% raw meaty bones, 45% muscle meat, and 5% organ meat. I also supplement with salmon oil and an egg every 10 days...


i have my 10 month old on Purina lamb and rice formula since 8 months, before i had the same but puppy formula, they both love it , i also work the dogs out ,i walk him at least a mile includes running, jogging, obedience,and socialization with people and other dogs if they are around i do this every other day sometimes everyday, i do bitework 3x a week for now, hes only 10 months and is around 100 pounds. he gets home hungry i feed him 4 cups and 1/2 and give him about 8 treats everyday. tire your dog out and watch him be hungry he,s own body will ask for food like if it was water. feed him at the same time everyday he will learn to split the meal in half on hes own.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

mynameisblc said:


> So I have had my dog on a raw diet since he was 4 months old, he is now a year and a month old. Recently, about 2 months ago, he sometimes won't eat his food... I think it's because he doesn't like it very much. I have tried giving him different varieties of meat, but that doesn't help much. He seems to like chicken more than the other types of meat. But too much chicken = tired of eating the same thing = not eating. He loves green tripe, so I mix a little bit of that in there, but then he'll sometimes just eat that.
> I need help! What do you feed your dogs?
> And since I started a raw diet, I haven't seen much change in the coat.
> I give 50% raw meaty bones, 45% muscle meat, and 5% organ meat. I also supplement with salmon oil and an egg every 10 days...


You give salmon oil daily? How much? Why 1 egg every 10 days? 

Is he losing weight? How are his stools? Any vomiting? Has activity level changed that maybe he's not as hungry?


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

Lucky Paw said:


> i have my 10 month old on Purina lamb and rice formula since 8 months, before i had the same but puppy formula, they both love it , i also work the dogs out ,i walk him at least a mile includes running, jogging, obedience,and socialization with people and other dogs if they are around i do this every other day sometimes everyday, i do bitework 3x a week for now, hes only 10 months and is around 100 pounds. he gets home hungry i feed him 4 cups and 1/2 and give him about 8 treats everyday. tire your dog out and watch him be hungry he,s own body will ask for food like if it was water. feed him at the same time everyday he will learn to split the meal in half on hes own.


Recently I have been busy so I haven't had to chance to give him enough exercise. I may think that is the reason too. But also, back to the raw diet, Sometimes he won't eat beef heart, for example, but when I cut it up into little pieces, he'll eat it.  But anyways, I'll take your advice on the exercise.


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

Jax08 said:


> You give salmon oil daily? How much? Why 1 egg every 10 days?
> 
> Is he losing weight? How are his stools? Any vomiting? Has activity level changed that maybe he's not as hungry?


Salmon Oil everyday, it says 6 pumps for my dogs weight but I give about 4 a day because I think 6 is too "oily". An egg for his coat. 3 times a month, not trying to overdue the eggs?
He is 70lbs. Stools are solid. He used to throw up bile because he was hungry in the mornings, since he wakes up earlier than me. But now I fixed that problem by giving him treats at night(midnight training ha ha). And his energy level is really active, seems really healthy.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I would contact Carmen it there is an issue with his coat. I saw the biggest difference in Jax's coat and skin when I added her Shemp Oil. 

What about the other things I asked? Any other changes?


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

Jax08 said:


> I would contact Carmen it there is an issue with his coat. I saw the biggest difference in Jax's coat and skin when I added her Shemp Oil.
> 
> What about the other things I asked? Any other changes?


I edited my comment below


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Maybe he's not eating as much because of hte midnight snacks? Personally, as long as he's healthy and not losing weight I would not get to concerned. Give him 15 minutes to eat. If he doesn't, pick it up.


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

Jax08 said:


> Maybe he's not eating as much because of hte midnight snacks? Personally, as long as he's healthy and not losing weight I would not get to concerned. Give him 15 minutes to eat. If he doesn't, pick it up.


I don't overdue the snacks, because he hasn't been eating his "real food" lately. I give him about 2-3 little snacks. But I hate picking up his food and trying to give it to him later. If he doesn't eat THAT now. He won't eat THAT later...


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

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?


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

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.


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

lhczth said:


> 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.
> 
> ...



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


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

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.


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

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 .


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

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?


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

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.


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

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


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

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 [email protected] and asked for any suggestions?


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

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).


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## billsharp (May 3, 2011)

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.


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

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.


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

mynameisblc said:


> 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.


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## GatorBytes (Jul 16, 2012)

mynameisblc said:


> 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
> ...


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?


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> 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?
> 
> ...


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.


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## mynameisblc (May 8, 2012)

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


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