Advice need for feeding fussy pup!!!

Hi all,

I am new to the forum and would really appreciate some advice.

I have a 14 month old Dogue de Bordeaux who is very sweet and well behaved but has real issues when it comes to feeding time. She has always been a fussy eater and always looks a bit thin. We tried to switch her to a raw diet when she was very young (3 months) but after a couple of days of not eating we decided that dry was better than nothing. Now she is a little bigger we are attempting to swap her over to raw again. She is ok with lamb bone but refuses to eat chicken, I am being firm with her and have refused to give her an alternative for the last couple of nights but she still refuses to eat the chicken.

She is clearly very hungry now and looks very very thin, what do you recommend I do? Should I stay firm or should I cave in and give her an alternative to the chicken? Also, for how long can she go without food before damage is done to her body?

All advice welcome and thanks in advance,


Bruce

Hi..new to forum and making my own but have been feeding raw for 8 years. Bordeaux...they take awhile to mature. She's not Qute done growing i wouldn't continue to fast her. A couple tricks..the're not for the 'purist" raw feeder but they can work. Will she eat ground food? If so mix teeeeny..like i mean teeeeeny...a teaspoons' worth of chicken into say ground lamb..as that's a favorite. Chicken is cheap but I don't refer it as the base for a whole diet. Right no I've a terrier who doesn't prefer chicken He'll eat it mixed with urkey..beef..lamb..buffalo..big fav..venison..another big fav. or believe it or not..grainfree canned chicken..turkey mixedDog or Catfoood just less than a fingertip size mixed through I think it makes it smell more appealing. Lightly brown te outside of the chicken don't let it cook..addgarlic or olive oil.yummy "tablefood" she thinks but not really. If she Truly doesn't like a flavor..my orkie isn't a fish person and it will make him sick if forced to eat it..occasionally a fuzz will refuse a flavor that just doesn't agree with them and they know it. How long has she been on raw? If she's just new then reeeally don't force her you do't want her to dislike the raw food experience. I made that mistake very early on with labrador retriever..let her know i wasn't happy when she refused whole rabbit..got Reeally frustrated an told her she was "bad' lost y temper I shouldn't have..but it was all I had and the order was a week late in getting to me..she thought she was in troube and Never touched it again. with encouragement she'd take groud rabbit or whole anything else if I could get it. I guess I'm saying they can develop an association betwenn a food and an experience. t's not god to let them fast more than 24 hours..some say they won't starve..but you don't wana take that chance especally as her weight isn't where you'd like it to be. You don't want to Start a health problem that isn't there. And if she won't eat chicken..there are other proteins you can use. How but eggs? Don't forget to foodprcess the shell for calcium. Turkey? ornish hen..tastesthe same but is smaller..she might like that? R the grainfree canned chicken..they have a few formulas that only contain meat ad no other stuff..I don't know your feeling on fruit/veg..but it's a way to get in the diet if she's fussy. Feed twice a day for all breeds and the larger breeds def. some sa you don't have to wory about bloat with raw but why take a risk/ A nother thing you can try..offer chunks of chicken by hand as training rewards or just as yummies. If she takes to those hen great..gradually intro. them to te diet..she'll think she's getting yummies. take the pressure off...she'll go for it unless it truly ust doesn't agree with her. cook it less and less if you do the browning thing over time. Add eanutbutter to a chicken wing like a yummytoy..if she bites into it and likes it there you go. Hope some of this helps. I've mostly bee able to get premade but these are some things i have tried over the years as situations hve presented themselves. a little outside the box but maybe some of them will work..sorry for the length. So far this is a really fun forum. Glad you could join.

Hello, Magda! Welcome, and let's see some pics of your pup!

A fussy puppy can be difficult. If she likes lamb and doesn't like chicken, I would suggest to give her lamb. See what other meats she loves, as well, there are many options: beef, rabbit, pork, goat, venison, turkey.

Sometimes, animals just don't like certain meats. My cats hate goat, so I don't give them any. Find out what she does like, and rotate through those meats, offering chicken every so often as well. Maybe she's just sick of it.

Also, you can try lightly searing the chicken on a grill/pan so it is more appetizing to her (boneless only), and smearing it with pb or some canned food.

On the "how long", I think an adult dog can go a few days (perhaps 4-5) as long as they drink water, although that is only if they're healthy. I am also not a vet, and do not know exactly the amount of days or what happens.. that's just what I would be comfortable holding out for, with a healthy adult dog. That said, the other poster seems to say that your breed of dog is still growing? I am not familiar with the breed, so I don't know whether it's true or not, but I will say if the dog is still growing, she needs SOMETHING. I would offer canned though, instead of dry.. and perhaps some ground meat? Or all the lamb she wants!

Hi Magda! Your dog will eat the chicken if you don't offer anything else, but in the meantime because your dog has no fat stores, it will draw energy from it's own muscles. If you go too long, past a few days, you would be endangering her heart, as it too is a muscle.

I would put the chicken away for a while, and go back to lamb. Also check that the chicken you bought is a good one, and not an old one, or one that's been pumped full of water. After eating super flavourful lamb, a flavourless chicken is no fun at all. You could try some other fowl, like turkey and then add chicken in later, once she's used to the smell, flavour and texture.

Searing it can sometimes work, but it's a lot of work, when your dog is supposed to be eating raw. It's supposed to be easy right? You should try feeding your dog FROZEN chicken, if it doesn't like it raw. My dog wouldn't eat the skin on a chicken until I gave it to her frozen. I would try feeding some yummy lamb frozen first though, so that she knows it's food. You could make chicken icecubes, which she might think are regular icecubes, and once she realizes it's food, she should have no problem with it.

Hey Magda, just got this from another post here and their pup had the same pickyness as yours, perhaps it will help!

Heather wrote:It was suggested to me to try some low sodium, low fat chicken of beef broth and I made some chicken broth up and she went crazy over it! After she drank it all she ate a good portion on boneless turkey. Yay!