# Very fussy puppy since starting raw



## OffgridAlex (Dec 11, 2012)

Hello everyone, I was looking for some help, since we started duke eating raw a month ago he has got seriously picky with what he will eat and I am worried about the balance of his diet. 

Duke has never had very high food drive. He would never eat dry kibble, turned down most treats and was underweight as a result. 

A month ago I started Duke on raw with a box of chicken carcasses and a box of chicken off cuts but now that and minced green tripe are the ONLY things he will eat. 

At first he was really excited about raw chicken and wolfed it in a way I had never seen from him with any other food but now he is a bit indifferent and will only eat if he is hungry - if I put a whole chicken down he will eat about quarter and leave the rest. but he is eating chicken so that is good and he is putting on weight well and he looks and smells really healthy. 

He will also eat minced green tripe but that is all. 

i have bought and tried so many things for him and he will not even look at them. 

Things he has refused:

Pork
Phesant
Quail
Beef
liver
Kidney
Hearts
Eggs
Rice
Potato
Kibble
markies
dog biscuits of any variety
Hotdogs
Any vegetables or fruits
human food (chips, pasta, cake, biscuits, casserole) 
Meaty beef bones (raw, roasted, smoked)
Mince my butcher does of chicken and offal. 

If I put five pieces of kibble in some tripe he will eat the tripe and five pieces of kibble will be left at the bottom of the bowl

If I stuff a chicken carcass with organ meat he will eat the carcass and leave the meat

Is there a way I can broaden his appetite? I am worried he will not get the variety he needs. 

Also this had made training hard because he will refuse any treat apart from raw chicken which isn't nice to carry around and even then he isn't that bothered by it. 

Apart from the food fussyness he seems really healthy, he has bags of energy will walk, run and play way after we are all tired out, his behavior is what is expected for his age and he is regularly wormed and given flea treatment etc. 

Anyone else have a super fussy raw dog? What can I do?


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Organ meat can be tough with some dogs. Alexis will only eat beef liver or kidney and won't touch poultry. Even then I have to feed liver partially frozen mixed with eggs and yogurt. My other guys will gobble any type of offal. 

Now that he is feeling better and putting on weight he may not be hungry enough to try other things. Does he turn his nose up at raw or cooked eggs? He won't even try chunks of other boneless meats at all? 

Maybe try turkey. Yes, he really does need more variety in his diet than just chicken and tripe. I would also put the food down for 15 minutes and if he doesn't eat then pick it up for later. 

No, I have never had a fussy eater.


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

Oh boy... my GSD is a picky eater as well and no, I did not make him that way. He would go for DAYS without eating just because he didn't like what was offered. Couple that with me being stubborn as a rock and unwilling to offer something else just to please him, well, that makes for one skinny dog. He was so bad that I considered putting him on kibble (which he loves ) many, MANY times. He is much better now that I know what he is willing to eat right away, but boy did he frustrate me.

You can try starting with tough love. Put it down for 15 minutes and then it goes away until the next meal time. Nothing else until he's eaten what he is offered. One thing which has worked for me is just slightly searing the meat to give it a nice smell. Kaiser hates raw pork/chicken, but if I sear it lightly he will eat it happily.  

Another thing you can try is freezing the meat. I had trouble getting Kaiser to eat raw organs until I froze them in ice cube trays. He loves them frozen. Haven't tried to feed organs any other way since then. 

Kaiser also hates big chunks of food so I feed a lot of ground stuff. If I'm in a nice mood then I will cut things up for him, but if I don't or it's something I can't cut then I'm not surprised when he hasn't even tried to eat it after 15 minutes in his crate.


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