picky eater

[Rocco]

my year old husky is a picky eater. have changed food several times . toppers, broth, whatever it takes to get him to eat. please help

[wolfpup]

No healthy dog will willingly starve himself.     One of my boys was a very picky eater ....................  it turned out he had several severe food allergies  (9 of them).

Does he have any bouts  with diarrhoea / constipation  / vomiting - even if only bile /  apparent tenderness of the gut  etc.    If not and you are positive that it is just fussiness  then you have a few options:-

Look at what you are feeding him  -  is it kibble?     No scientist has ever been able to prove that dogs need carbohydrate  - yet most kibbles contain a minimum of over 40% (and up to 60%) carbs.    Why pay for a bag of food where a minimum of half of it is not only something your dog does not require  - but has to work hard to get rid of, and subsequently storing up future illness/disease like pancreatitis etc.   Dogs should have a max of around 5% carbs - and this should come in the way of fruits and low carb veg.

Are you feeding wet/tinned food?      Slightly better but still most is extremely high in carbs and cheap protein.

Do you home cook your dogs food  -  this is usually the second best way to feed - dogs physiology is not that much different to our own  - just up the meat content and ensure the vegetables are low carb ones  (think veg suitable for keto)  spinach/broccoli/cauli/brussels sprouts etc  - defo no potatoes/chips/peas etc.  Puree any veg you give  -  if you give chunks of carrot etc  - it will reappear in a few hours largely unchanged (and undigested).

Dogs have been around for about 40 million years - and up until the last hundred years or so  - they have always eaten their food raw.    It is how their bodies evolved to utilise the available nutrition.     We have around 20ft of intestine (and more) that enables us to cope with carbohydrates  -  dogs have around 4ft of intestine  - not enough to digest carbs.    At the end of the day  carbs - ALL carbs - turn to sugar  - something your dog really does not need.

Try changing your dog to a raw diet  -  up his nutrition,  -  then if he is still being fussy  -  let him miss a couple of meals  - he will eat eventually  -  just please make it food that will actually benefit him.   However also bear in mind that dogs, like us, get fed up with the same thing day in, day out.   How would you like to eat fortified cornflakes every meal for the rest of your life????     Give at least three different proteins  (say one a week then change to a different one)  Not only will this give your dog variety - but will also go a long way to ensuring that there are no large nutrient gaps.

If you trawl through some of the previous posts you will find I have made some suggestions on raw feeding  (menus) to give you some ideas.    Sites like  Dogs Naturally Magazine will also give you some recipes.

 

 

 

[Rocco]

Thanks for the reply, beating myself up over this. will get started trying to put this to a end.

[wolfpup]

20 hours ago, Rocco said:

Thanks for the reply, beating myself up over this. will get started trying to put this to a end.

Don't beat yourself up  -  you are trying to make a change to your dog's nutrition  - that is a cause for celebration.    If you  want I will happily send you information that will save you  days of research  - and make life a lot easier for you   (I am a qualified dog food nutritionist).

[Rocco]

please do

 

[wolfpup]

Message me with your email address  - at the same time let me know if you are prepared to go completely raw  (it is the best) or whether you want to home cook.  With you being in the States I do not know any good quality raw dog food makes   -  but there is a site called  All About Dog Food  -  this holds information on around 3000 dog foods from around the world  - it might be a good place for you to start.

Once I have your email address I can find out more about your dog - and what you are prepared to try out.