diet problems

[Blue_Arctic_Boy]

Hello!

I have joined this forum to see if I can get advice from other husky owners regarding diet. Our husky is very picky, he will eat a certain food for a short while and then just refuse to eat it anymore. he is also the same with treats. he has had hard biscuits & bread or toast with tuna, with steak slices, with various flavours of tinned dog food (chicken, beef, lamb, tripe etc.) & with chubb roll. he has also had all of these with soft biscuits or without biscuits. he will love it for a few days to a week and then he just won't eat what's given to him other than a few bites but sometimes not even that. on numerous occasions I have had to cook something for him like chicken or make him a bacon or ham sandwich just because he hadn't eaten a proper meal. he is fed twice a day. our other dog would eat literally anything. it's stressing me out at this stage. I would be very grateful for any advice. 

[chelseafan]

Hi, have you tried a raw diet? You could try making the change by giving raw once a day and for the other meal adding some carrots or sweet potato etc and I’d avoid human meals as it’ll be harder to make any changes. He won’t starve himself and husky’s are intelligent, he’s prob realised if he doesn’t eat what you put down for him he knows he’ll get something else. If he doesn’t eat his food after 10-15 mins then take it away and don’t give him anything else, I will add that variety will keep him interested in his meals.


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[wolfpup]

Can you give us a little background on your fussy feeder?    At what age did you get him?   How old is he now?  Was he just kibble fed prior to you getting him?   Research has shown that puppies raised to mums that only ate kibble, and themselves were fed kibble after weaning  - can develop flavour fatigue  -  admittedly this is usualy noticed when changing a dog over ro a raw diet.   They will eat for a few days and then go off it.      (excerpts from my notes below)

Dogs that were weaned and raised on kibble have a couple of barriers when it comes to switching to raw diets.

1.    Research shows that puppies fed a limited number of flavours in their first 4-6 months of life are less likely to accept new flavours later on.  Over time these dogs can develop something called  FLAVOUR FATIGUE – this will make them really picky eaters.  When a flavour deprived dog is not used to the flavours in whole food it makes the transition to raw pretty hard.   Pet Food manufacturers know that puppies tend to prefer whatever food they had after being weaned.  So breeders are aggresively courted by manufactuers with sponsorship, discounts for their own dog food and free food for the puppy buyers to take home.

Studies show that animals prefer the taste and smell of foods they were exposed to in the womb this phenominum is called the pre-natal chemo sensory learning .... pet food companies know that if they win the mother – they win the litter.

Starch really is not good for dogs you may want to leave the bread and toast for rare treats.   

I am another advocate of raw feeding like Chelseafan above  -   and have recently qualified as a raw dog food nutrition specialist  -  I went through this qualification purely for my own interest and the fact that I have a dog with severe food allergies  (i.e.  I am not looking for work! )  however if you know that there is nothing wrong with him physically, no allergies, vomiting, runny poos etc and he just appears fussy  -   then there could be reasons why - hence the questions above.

[Blue_Arctic_Boy]

Hello wolfpup, thank you for the reply. to answer your questions, we got Blue boy when he was 2 years 6 months. he is now 7, nearly 8. he was a mush dog prior to us having him and I believe he was on a homemade diet of dog biscuits and other added bits. he has always been picky as long as we've had him. I appreciate any advice or information you are able to give and have taken on board the advice you have already given. 

Hello chelseafan

thank you for the advice, I appreciate it and will also take it on board 😊

[wolfpup]

Would you consider changing him to a raw diet?     You can start with commercial complete diets to make it easy - and there is plenty of variety nowadays  -  then slowly transition to creating your own - tailored to your dog's preferences  -  it is also a LOT easier to cater for 'fussiness' if that is what it is.  Most commercial raw diets contain too much fat to protein ratio (should be half as much fat to protein ideally - (fat is cheaper than meat but cannabilizes protein).  Not only is it far cheaper to create your own  than buy it ready made  -  but eventually you can ensure he is getting all the nutrition he should in the right proportions.     A lot of new raw feeders are worried about things like  balancing the fats of different prey animals  (herbivores have a different type of fat/fatty acid profile and ratio to say poultry or pork)  but this is very easily (and cheaply) rectified by adding a fresh/frozen sardine or herring once or twice a week.   The fish (whole) also ensures he gets all his essential trace minerals  - wonderful things are fish (says she who is allergic to fish)!

Ruminant’s  meat   are low in polyunsaturated fats while fish are high in polyunsaturated fats.  Whilst chicken is also high in polyunsaturated fats, it is usually also high in the omega 6 fatty acids, but fish is high in the OMEGA 3 fatty acids – so adding fish to poultry will help to balance out the polyunsaturated fat.

Marley, my food allergy husky, is quite similar in as much as he will eat a particular food for a maximum of 2 days  - then he wants something different  and when an allergy kicks in despite my best efforts - he stops eating altogether.    This is happening at the moment and as I suspect he is developing stomach ulcers again he is on a wild-caught white fish only diet for a few weeks  .............  so he is playing up a bit.   My other husky that I got at 3.5 years old will eat anything he is offered  - and is grateful for it  - not so with spoiled Marley - although he was on kibble when I got him, and last year when he was seriously ill  - the vet said the only reason he was still alive at the time was that he was raw fed.

If you are happy to go down this route to see if you can help your dog to stabilize his eating habits I will happily help you with the transitioning and any advice you need  -  no charge of course  - as I said I am not looking for work.

 

[Blue_Arctic_Boy]

I am going to go to my local butchers and see what kind of deals he can do if I bulk by on a regular basis and then I will make my own raw diet meals as from what I've seen on the websites I've browsed, it is rather costly. I have been doing my research about making my own raw meals for both my dogs (the second dog is not a husky) & it seems the best option to me. I have stopped giving them bread & as suggested & I take blues food away after 10/15 minutes if he doesn't eat it and he doesn't get anything else instead. I have also decided not to give him his after meal treat if he does not eat the meal, even if it means my other dog gets one & blue doesn't. today he didn't eat breakfast or dinner but I went out to try again later in the evening & he scoffed it down so I see you are right about him not eating because he knows he would get something else but when he realized he wasn't given anything else instead of his breakfast or dinner, he ate. I will be very grateful for your help and advice as the raw diet is new to me. thank you.

[wolfpup]

Have sent you an email message.