She won't eat her food --- Help

[Emmasparents]

Hi All,

I am a little concerned! My baby is a year old and she is fed a very good diet - (a cup or so of ground lamb, chicken and chicken livers; a mixture of finely chopped carrots, broccoli and celery with a cup of kibble - eukanuba lamb and rice formula for big dogs). She gets a small portion in the morning before we leave for work and a bigger portion in the evening.

For the last 3 weeks or so she has been barely nibbling at her food. We have to coax her with peanut butter or other additions to her food to get her to eat some. She seems otherwise her normal self. Even on days that she gets good excercise she barely eats. Just as a note, we do give her a tasty kong (dried beef liver treats, apple, peanut butter, cheerios) when we leave for work in the morning (she stays in her cage while we are gone).

Any ideas why she is exhibiting this kind of behaviour? Is anything ailing her? Please help

 

[sgbtab]

is she spayed? it could be that she is in heat. I have a pappillion that before I had her spayed whenever she went into heat she would stop eating

 

[Emmasparents]

is she spayed? it could be that she is in heat. I have a pappillion that before I had her spayed whenever she went into heat she would stop eating

She was spayed in October 2004 and has been eating ok till about a month ago

 

[Jan]

Hi All,

she is fed a very good diet - (a cup or so of ground lamb, chicken and chicken livers; a mixture of finely chopped carrots, broccoli and celery with a cup of kibble - eukanuba lamb and rice formula for big dogs).

It's a rare dog that will starve itself to death. I would just put the food down for 15 minutes and then pick it up. Give it back to her at the next meal time and again if necessary.

Dogs cannot process chopped vegetables. If you want them to do any good, they need to be finally processed in a food processor or blender. Eukanuba is really not very good food. Look at the ingredients on the bag. There are way too many grains. Have a look at "Feeding Forum" here and you will see some good suggestions.

Good luck!

 

[Emmasparents]

Thanks Jan

First, sucks not having any hockey. Eukanuba came highly recommended by her vet. I do try to take away the food after 15 minutes or so but my wife is a suck when it comes to Emma's face looking for food. But Emma is looking for scraps other than her food. Any recommendations as to a choice of brands for kibble? I must admit that Emma is the first dog that I've had/been responsible for. I wouldn't have thought that the vet would recommend something that wasn't the absolute best.

 

[apollosdad]

most vets do not do enough research in order to determine what is some of the better nutriotional foods out there. most of them even sell the science diet brand of dog food that is not very good either. they get kickbacks from the company for selling it, so that is why they recommend that type of food. read a few more threads on the premium dry kibble and you'll see what i mean. i switched from feeding prop plan to solid gold and have this site to thank for it. try by looking for a few brands off of the WDJ list.

 

[Jan]

I would first read this article as it explains how to pick a good food.
http://www.boxerworld.com/feeding/

Myself, I feed a raw and natural diet. Most people aren't prepared to do that. So the next best thing is a really good kibble. If you check out the feeding forum you will get some ideas. Food like Innova, California Natural, Wellness, Chicken soup, etc Most of them you won't find a Petsmart. You will need to go to an independent pet store. You will pay more a good food, but you will need to feed less. You will also save money down the road in vet bills.

Tell your wife to be tough, unless she wants a fussy dog.

 

[courtney323]

Emmasparents -

Please post your Introduction as well

BOXERWORLD RULES

 

[kragbax]

I first bought a bag of Iams because that was what Champ was being fed. He's a skinny little guy and only a so-so eater. Since I've gotten him he's had a lot of loose stools. The vet thinks it might be colitus(?) causing it (there's some blood as well). It might be, but I also decided to try some better food, both for the health benefits but also because of all the corn and grains in Iams. I'm thinking perhaps he has an allergy (instead of or in addition to possibly having colitus).

Regardless, my point is I found a local pet shop that sells Chicken Soup brand for (much) less then the local PetsMart is selling the Iams. Actually I believe it's quite a bit less. And from what I've read both here and other places, Chicken Soup is a quality dog food.

I only got the new food last night, and there will be a transition to switch him over to it. However, I hope he takes to it well, that it helps his stomach settle a bit, and he ends up eating more of it.

-Krag

 

[dalton100]

food is a touchy subject

I have also heard that Eukanuba is not a good food, so I switched to Iams as well. After reading many posts on this site, it seems that Iams isn't too good either. Another funny tidbit is that I had read about chicken soup and had never heard of it, so I was adding canned chicken soup to Elvis' food! He seemed to like it at least! . I guess we do learn something new every day! Good luck