wont eat anything other than chicken or turkey

[Callum McFarlane]

my 9 week old puppy wont eat anything other than chicken or turkey products! we sneak in some vegeies and rice and garlic but he'll only eat it if its got chicken involved!

does anyone else have a fussy eater?

[Road]

Yes, I have much problems with Bonnie, in as much as she will eat raw chicken wings, drumsticks and necks, as well as any good cuts of raw meat. I worry about a lack of variety as she turns her nose at any commercial dog foods and cooked human "scraps" but will take dried doggy "treat" thingy's. She does enjoy the commercial raw "roo" meat. In hind sight though, if you sit down for a "human" meal then sharing is compulsory, so I gather she is getting some variety. I do wish to post a question in regard to the colour of a dogs gums. Bonnies can vary from a very pale pink to strong dark pink. She did have a problem when desexed, that the vet referred to as a blood thining condition that caused problems with closing the operation, that was twelve months ago.

[mandiefurniss]

Hi, from another fellow Aussie. Have you tried just filling his bowl with whatever YOU want him to eat and if he doesn't eat it, he goes hungry! He will not starve to death,in the long run, giving in to him all the time, and only feeding him what he wants to eat, might make it alot harder on you when he is older. I wouldn't be feeding him chicken bones, we had a Lab that was bought into work on Monday, after his owner gave him chook necks, the dog swallowed them whole and ending up having to have major surgery to get them out of his bowel. I know that he is very young and other members here that have had fussy eaters will help more than I could (I have been lucky, all my dogs have been "garbage cans" and eat what I give them. Good luck. Where abouts in Brissie are you? I am on the Sunshine Coast.

Mandie

[2 Devils]

I second what Mandiefurniss said.

 

You are giving in and allowing him to eat what he wants.

 

I would feed at least twice a day.

 

Put down his food, give him 15 minutes since he is young, and take up whatever he does not eat after that 15 minutes. You do not feed him again until his next meal-Period. It may take a couple days but he will get the idea that he eats what you want him to eat. They will not starve themselves.

 

Unless you are willing to put the dog on the Raw Food/Barf diet, you need to get him eating his commercial food now.

 

You could also try switching brands to something different. He may just not like the taste. If you are keeping the food in a plastic container, I would also switch that to a metal storage container.

 

I have one dog that was very picky. When we first would open a bag of food she really liked but after about a week in a plastci storage bin, she would stop eating. I was told that the plastic bins can make the food taste funny. Once we switched bins, she never stopped eating.

[sea4th]

And remember, picky dogs are made. Set a schedule, pick a decent diet, and stick with it.

 

Vicki

[mandiefurniss]

My Buster (RIP) when he was about 6mths old would actually try and eat the plastic bin his food was in. This dog was the original "clown". Him and Sue LOVED ice cubes. Sue would eat hers on the spot, Buster would take his under the house and hid it. I once went under the house to "catch" him do it, and that day he had, had about 5 cubes, and was looking at this wet patch in the dirt, with this cube in his mouth, and he looked at me like "were did they go". Sorry to go of topic, but it is 6am and I am rambling.....

Mandie

[Tassie]

Hey Callum ? what is this, a Queensland takeover?

 

A question ? what was your pup being fed by the breeder? Most pups come with a diet sheet, and it?s usually wise to make gradual changes to that, but mostly it?s already varied. At 9 weeks he?ll still be on four or at least 3 feeds a day, right? Often one will be mostly cereal, maybe with yoghurt, and the other meals meat based, maybe raw meat and/or kibble.

 

Is the eating only chicken or turkey products a problem? Do you mean just raw chicken/turkey, or complete dog foods with those flavours? If it?s complete dog foods, it?s not really a problem, especially if you can incorporate other foods in with the chicken flavoured stuff. You could gradually try introducing small amounts of other flavours.

 

I certainly go along with the others on the strategy of put it down, and if it?s not eaten in a short time, pick it up and don?t feed him again until the next meal.

[mandiefurniss]

Hi Barb, yep the Cane Toads are taking over the Board!!! (I still call myself a New South Wales girl though- missing home today). Perfect weather here today, a nice mild 25 degrees, great play in the park day today.......

Mandie

[Tassie]

Hey Mandie - I?m coming up ? it?s cold (14 ? that?s Celsius folks, not Fahrenheit!) grey and wet here this week ? although goodness knows, we did need the rain ? but I think we?ve had enough for now. And to think last week I was in T shirt and shorts down the beach with the dogs. Oh well, you probably know the saying about Tassie?s weather ? if you don?t like the weather now, stick around, it?ll be different in five minutes.

[emmetteabrakai]

I agree with the others, pick up the food after several minutes and then try again later in the day. I have a BC that has never been a chow hound. Not always picky now, but certinly not overly intrested in food. As a senior dog with kidney trouble , it makes it harder to get him to eat. I have done things differently with the others and have had no problems.

Hey could I come to Aussie land, I am tired of the Tornado warnings here, we have had a couple of nice days but next week it is suppose to get bad again. I will take wet and gray, as long as I stay on the ground

[mandiefurniss]

Yep, you can come over here to the land of Oz. The weather here were I am is pretty much the same all year round BLOODY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!. Tassie you can keep your 14 degrees, it got to 10 degrees last night here, I had socks on, 3 dogs, cat and hubby in bed and I was still cold. Pretty much solar powered I am.

Mandie

[Callum McFarlane]

yes, yes it is a QLD take over... first QUEENSLAND then the WORLD MWAH HA HA HA HA! ..welll maybe a bit of NSW.

im originally Victorian so...hmmm im one of 'those' sorts of queenslanders. haha.

 

we didnt get a sheet, as Leos is my girlfriends folks dogs pup, so yeah... but he got fed wheatbix with a little bit of watered down eveaporated milk. one part evap milk, 5 parts water.

 

thats tended to work fora little while but now hes discovered the glory of chicken and screws his nose up at soggy wheatbix now...

 

he'll eat chicken pieces and things and SOMETIMES other stuff, like the chubs of puppy food. but hes not really keen on dry food...

but he eats it when he REALLY wants to.

 

yes i will try the eat it or get nothing thing. thankyou for the help everyone!

 

Originally posted by Tassie:

Hey Callum – what is this, a Queensland takeover?

 

A question – what was your pup being fed by the breeder? Most pups come with a diet sheet, and it’s usually wise to make gradual changes to that, but mostly it’s already varied. At 9 weeks he’ll still be on four or at least 3 feeds a day, right? Often one will be mostly cereal, maybe with yoghurt, and the other meals meat based, maybe raw meat and/or kibble.

 

Is the eating only chicken or turkey products a problem? Do you mean just raw chicken/turkey, or complete dog foods with those flavours? If it’s complete dog foods, it’s not really a problem, especially if you can incorporate other foods in with the chicken flavoured stuff. You could gradually try introducing small amounts of other flavours.

 

I certainly go along with the others on the strategy of put it down, and if it’s not eaten in a short time, pick it up and don’t feed him again until the next meal.

[kaos]

Hi all

Just wondering of all you raw feeders out there, what types of raw do you feed? I know about chicken backs, how about legs, thighs, drumsticks, wings etc?

 

what about beef and pork? are they acceptable too? which bones are good and don't splinter? likewise are all the organ and glandular meats alright to feed? Should we worry about hormone or mineral content in these organ meats (ie:kidney and livers....)

 

We generally throw the girls a treat of raw but are considering adding more to their diets.... tried to read the BARF site but it doesn't provide much info just anecdotal referrences, self hype etc.... curious what you all do.

sara

[brookcove]

First I'd highly recommend one of the books that are less hype-y. Some of the "brand name" raw proponents can put out bewildering information that make you think feeding your dog requires a PhD.

 

We're pretty causal. Chicken frames make up the bulk of their diet. They get a taste of a ground vegetable/fish/egg mixture with their evening meals. They do get pork neck or beef rib bones once a week for variety. And they get a small serving of beef or chicken organ meat once or twice a week. I say I'm casual because the only time I measure anything anymore is when I get a new chicken supplier and I need to get an average weight on the frames. Oh, and when I make up my freeze-dried meat patties for traveling.

 

We just had our yearly physicals and all of them had good bloodwork and with the exception of the one who ate the wire (NOT part of the raw diet!), were in tip-top health. I've had three occasions to have x-rays done for other reasons and the vet has never seen anything more than tiny grains of rounded bone. At this point if one of my dogs skewered himself internally with a bone splinter I'd figure he would have been the one to bloat or choke on kibble or get a blockage from a chunk of Nylabone or rawhide.

 

I like this program because I feel more in control - I know where the meat and vegetables come from (some of it my own farm!) and I can adjust the formulations on an as needed basis. When the dog with the wire needed a low-protein diet, I was able to create one that was cheaper than Hills I/D and more like his usual diet.

 

When news of the BSE cow getting into the dog food broke I could just smile since I knew it wasn't MY dogs eating her - even though it's probably not an issue anyway.

 

Anyway, seek out the more informal raw diet materials if you don't want to get overwhelmed. Your dogs will do just fine if they don't eat Billinghurst's Patented Meat/Veg Formula (or whatever it's called now - I think it's sold commercially now, ironically) or if you don't calculate the exact meat to bone ratio of every bite. It is a good idea to find a nice book on what the dog nutritional requirements are so you can get used to shopping for the right combination of veggies and fruits. But it's very similiar to us - balance is the key. In our household, we now eat a lot better now that all these raw fruits and vegetables are around!!

 

Regards,

 

Rebecca

Brook Cove Farm, NC

[diane allen]

I'm following Dr. Pitcairn's diet. It is not so heavily dependent upon bones, but does add calcium to the mix. There are nutritional needs that are NOT met by simply feeding raw meat and bones. I suspect dogs would do fine on just meat, but I think variety is best: different meats, different grains, different vegies, and different supplements.

 

Here's the citation: Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats

by Richard H. Pitcairn, Susan Hubble Pitcairn (Preface). Available on amazon.com or your local bookstore could probably get it for you. He has lots of different recipes, and his web site has recently added the calcium requirement measurements. (www.drpitcairn.com)

 

It also provides recipes and information on cats.

 

diane

[kaos]

Do any of you feed both a premium kibble and Raw? We would like to do this... supplement the one with the other, I was under the impression that the bones would provide enough calcium for the dog (I gotta read up some more I see..)

 

Like wise I was reading a brochure that said that eggs, beef etc were all possible irritants and allergens to dogs.... yet I wonder if they were in the wild wouldn't they be searching out and eating eggs if they could, like wise if they hunted in a pack wouldn't they bring down a beef type prey? I wonder how much to believe the kibble company or the Dr Billinhursts, and how much to just go with my gut.

I would not be comfortable feeding my pets supplements (other than flax seed/oil) and would rather have them get their nurtients from kibble and natural foods.

sara

[brookcove]

One of my dogs could never eat lamb or beef kibble, yet can eat both meats raw with no problem. I have no idea why. He could also never tolerate funky things like tomatoes or beets or carrots in kibble but eats stuff like that every day ground up raw now.

 

Go figure.

 

Rebecca

[diane allen]

Kaos (or owner of Kaos?!), you're on the right track. Do what feels right to you! The "supplements" I refer to are not "cure all" type things; for instance, Dr. Pitcairn provides a recipe for Healthy Powder, which adds many vitamins and minerals to the daily diet. It consists of (you'll have to get the book to get the proportions!) brewer's yeast, lecithin, bone meal, kelp powder and Vitamin C. The last ingredient is quite controversial - it is true that dogs produce their own (we don't), but others say that additional C will improve their immune system. Overdose on C will produce diarrhea, so many sources say, "dose to intolerant level, then back off." No harm done with that.

 

I did start adding "fresh" ingredients to my high quality kibble (Innova or Solid Gold) before I went to a full raw diet. The only/big problem I see is that to keep calorie intake at a reasonable level, you have to reduce the amount of kibble fed....which in turn reduces the amount of "nutrient value" fed. Some of that may be made up by the natural additions, but at that point, you're venturing into the territory of feeding without the scientific basis for a balanced diet. Confusing? Yep. That's why I tend to be a little too rigid in following the recipes - OK, I do vary things, but overall, try to stick to the recommended ratios and amounts.

 

You are also correct in that some ingredients may cause allergies in dogs. But those same ingredients are likely to be in most kibble - and its much harder to separate them out! Of course, once you know what the allergy-causing ingredient is, you can shop around for kibble without it. But its much easier to figure it out with a homemade diet. I've found that one of my dogs is quite sensitive to cottage cheese and yogurt; maybe its a full dairy sensitivity, and maybe its not; but I just don't give her much of those, and she doesn't get the diarrhea it causes! Pretty simple.

 

Hope this helps, and that you find something that works for you and your dog(s)!

 

diane