Struggling to get my dog to eat consistently

[Joe G]

I have a 7 year old male, who i've had for about 4 years. He came from a stressful, lonely living situation and adjust well to living with me and my other dog (he never tears things apart or chews them like he did with his prior owner). However, since I got him, he seems to get tired of dry dog food every couple months. I change it and he is fine for a while. Now, since around Christmas, I struggle to get him to eat every single meal. I've changed his food, Ive put freezedried raw toppings on it, dog gravy, etc. He is excited and eats it right up for a couple of days, then looses interest. Sometimes, he wont even come in the room when i put the food down. Sometimes he will just lay down next to the bowl. He almost always tips the bowl over. When he does eat, he usually doesnt finish the bowl unless i put more topping on it. Ive had it to the vet and there is nothing physically wrong. He gets a good amount of exercise, I play with him a couple times a day and he plays with my other dog everyday too. Ive contacted a trainer, Neither of them have any input on how to resolve this. Any idea would be greatly appreciated. This is very frustrating. Thank you. 

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Feed him, if he doesn't eat it within half hour take it up, he won't starve himself n all the different changes will be making him fussy too, my boy has days where he doesn't eat at all

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[robke]

I agree with Nix...get a good food leave 30 mins then take away...

[Joe G]

Ive tried that. He doesn't care at all.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Because he knows eventually you'll give him something better

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[robke]

agree...why would you eat boring toast when you know if you hold out you will get steak....

[PaulG]

He is playing you. get a good food (you do not say where you are from) if your in the UK you could try him on a BARF or Raw diet, i am guessing he would love chicken n beef. Chicken and Tripe, Lamb n beef (i find my dogs do not really like the plain chicken)

He knows you will add something nice to his meal so he plays  you  looking sad knocking bowl over  ignoring it. you can either keep letting him win or take food away then put it down again he may go a day two  three four without eating but sooner or later by being tough and making sure he knows that is what he is getting and all he is getting he will eat it

Dogs are not stupid they also know how to train ypou to do things the way they want you to do them. Huskys Mals Shepherds etc are all high IQ dogs and they will play mind games given half a chance and in a lot of cases the humans give in and let them take over

High IQ dogs  have the intelgence to make you look like an idiot more often than a dog like a lab

[wolfpup]

I agree with PaulG  -  put him on a raw food diet - not only will he wolf it down - but its far healthier than 99% of kibble (you do not say which type you are giving)  -  and no more expensive than a good quality kibble if you do your research.

[p5turne]

As stated in the previous responses, your dog will not starve himself. Too much change in a diet is not good for any dog at any age. Stick to what you know he likes and you will be fine. Try a consistent 2 times a day cycle ( maybe before you go to work & normal dinner time ) and with time you will find he only needs a a.m. or p.m. feeding. Don’t leave the food out, that way he learns this is feeding time, might take even 3 days - always have water available. If unsure of food, start with a good dry/wet mix ( they make these perfect little wet cans in a perfect sitting size for meals )- and you might notice a tendency towards one or the other, or the combo might work. Do your shopping and homework and stick with what makes you feel good about what you give to your baby! Hope this helps.


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[Vickie]

We feed our 7-year-old (turning 8 in 2 months!) female husky only once a day, at dinner. On weekdays she gets a dried kangaroo tail treat in the morning when we leave for work, but that's all. If your husky is okay with eating one larger meal, it could be an option for you. If food is harder to come by he will appreciate it more.

[PaulG]

before i made the switch to Raw diet i fed my dogs once a day I would put down 3 bowls of dry food, I am lucky that my 3 are not food agressive

All three would eat a bit and go back and forth during the day to eat a bit more. in fact the big 17 kilo bag of food was even open and in the kitchen

so self service was an option for food too, but they just at a little and went back when they wanted more. I then switched to raw food.

I got a selection of various mixed food and plain chicken. my husky did not really seem to like the plain food, but all three now eat everything in one go

and are looking really well. Just right now my malinois has had to go back onto a sensative diet due to being post Op when he is no long at risk from

any infection and his stomach has healed i will be putting him back onto the raw food

[Joe G]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I dont leave his food down. the other dog will eat it. Ive been leaving it down for a half hour and taking it up. He hasnt taken more than 2 bites in the last 3 days since I posted this. He either wont even come in the room now or he dumps the bowl over and walks away. He just doesnt like any dry or canned dog food so I think I will look into the raw.

[ARMANI & ALINAH]

A lot of husky owners on site here feed theirs raw and give some different options changing it around so the dogs get the proper nutrients & vitamins. I believe there's a section on raw feeding to help you.
Good luck with your baby!![emoji4][emoji191][emoji252][emoji295]️

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[Luna-tic]

I feed Luna on raw, when we got her she was being fed tinned with mixer. She took to raw right away but she can be picky, sometimes she will eat say raw pork cubes, then she won’t. She will eat raw beef cubes, then she won’t. Her favourite is chicken thighs with bones and skin, she eats those over anything else. So I mix and match, sometimes lamb shanks, short ribs, pork, beef meat, raw sardines, pork ribs cut into sections. She really doesn’t like any minced meat, it’s always left until she’s got nothing else. I add in some crunch via Nature's Menu Country Hunter dehydrated veg cubes.

I was only reading today on how much to feed her, she’s too heavy for my liking. The calculation suggests 500-600g a day. That’s what she had tonight and she hasn’t yet eaten it all. I give her duck necks now and then or a marrow bone, she’s fit and well. She just leaves what she doesn’t want. I have found she’s not keen at all on meat that’s been around for more than a day and I have to keep her bowl clean, any whiff of “off” and she won’t touch what’s in there.


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