We recently bought 2 15kg bags of Autarky which is my dog's usual food. She's been on it for about a year and a half and she loves it, she has never refused to eat it.
Since opening the new bag she has been sick a few hours after eating. After a day or two of this she has started refusing to eat it, which is not like her at all. She wont eat a piece if I offer it to her, but she will eat other food/treats. I tricked her by giving her a piece of Autarky along with some other food - she ate it but pulled very strange faces as if she wasn't enjoying it at all! The next time I tried this she spat out the Autarky after one bite (along with another look of disgust).
I think there must be something different about the food. It looks no different to me.
Has anyone else come across this?
I suppose we will have to contact the food company about this, how would I go about it?
We bought 2 bags but only one has been opened, should I open the other one and see if it's the same?

I would ring Dodsen & Horrel, they are very helpful.  Will probably send you two new bags and take these back to see what is wrong.

Thanks!
We called them and we have to send some samples off. They will replace the bags of food and in the meantime they're sending some samples (because the big bags will take longer to arrive).
:)

It could be that there is something wrong with the food, but it can also be a coincidence.

There is a known psychological effect that occurs when people eat a particular food and then feel sick some time after - even if this is NOT related to the food.

For example - when I was a student I ate some caramel spread from a jar one evening.  About an hour later I was violently ill.  I had caught a stomach bug and it wasn't related to the caramel spread at all.  However, even now the thought of caramel spread makes me want to heave! 

This effect has been studied and researched and is well known.  So - it may be nothing wrong with that particular bag, just that it was the last thing your dog ate before he felt ill.

i was once sick when i was a child mum gave me some chicken soup home made i thre up and now cant eat homemade chicken soup but i can eat packet chicken soup

funnily enough though i have thrown up vegimite many many time and i still eat a heap of that

Hmm that's true. I once became ill from the heat when I was on holiday, but not long before I was eating liquorice. Now I can't stand liqourice.
I just assumed that since it was a few hours before she brought it back up, she wouldn't connect it.

Anyway, we recieved the sample bags and she eats them fine, so I think it was something to do with the batch.

I had a simalar problem with autarky five months into feeding suddnely the dogs wouldnt eat it my neighbour used up whast was left so nothing wrong with the bag just that they suddenly decided they wouldnt eat it!

Wow!!!  What a coincidence (and sorry to resurrect an old post)  My 3 yr old lab (eats anything by the way) has suddenly stopped eating Autarky.  She was sick a few weeks back on and off for a week or two.  Took her to the vets but nothing found.  I too had stockpiled the Autarky.  I've tried soaking, dry and with gravy but she just nibbles each kibble one by one as though she can't stand it.

My thoughts were either a dodgy batch or as was already mentioned, because she was sick, she can't stand it now.  

Cutewolf, any news from Autarky on whether there has been a dodgy batch? 

   

Well,this IS strange!!! My Storm eats Autarky and last weekend she had dreadfull diarrhoea, only stopped after 2 attempts to starve her, the last starve being 2 days! She wasn't very keen to eat it...started a new bag yesterday and she's eating it ok! The Vet and I felt she was upset over Cassie being PTS!!! All the best, Dawn

Please make sure and bring this to Autarky's attention! Over the last few years there have been many deaths in the US from dogs eating contaminated pet food.Some had the symptoms you described,yet others died :(

It is so important to let manufacture's know when something is off about their products,no matter how insignificant it may seem.
Hopefully autarky will ask you to send back the bags so they can do tests on it.

I have a similar story. We have two Brittany's, one of whom has been feed on Autarky for about a year and a half and the other who we just got (she's six) and started feeding on Autarky for older dogs as soon as we'd gotten her off the Eukanuba that she'd been fed on before. Both of them are very keen on their food. The one we've been feeding on Autarky for a while seems to have suddenly gone off it, like someone else said they eat it if i mix other things in but act as if they really don't like the taste. I mentioned this to the owner of the shop where we buy it and she said she'd put in a call to the company about a similar problem with some other customers. There's been some vomiting but nothing that couldn't be attributed to them having possibly picked up something dodgy out on a walk. After trying a new bag which the pet shop owner generously gave me, with no change I've decided to look for a new food. It's a shame because I've been pleased with Autarky up to now, it always seemed like a good food at a good price, a lot of the other premium brands (Hills, Burns etc) are about twice as much.

I have had no problems with mine that are on it, so could just be a problem with the batch.

Autarky were purchased by Dodsen & Horrell last year or two.  Seems a logical thing for them to do as they make all the herbal mixtures for the horses (and dog versions too).

This is very interesting because I feed Gusto (same makers, similar food but less stuff in it than Autarky) and my 2 oldies got diarrhoea and when I checked their food carefully it was mouldy! Sent some off to Gold Line Pet Foods who owns Gusto & Autarky now and just got a letter back yesterday saying they are looking into it. Think I might write back now and say I've heard of others with same problem! It is the sceond time this year it has happened with the Mature Lite food.

Never tried the gusto as it doesn't have the herbs which is one reason for feeding the Autarky, and also the meat content is low by comparison.

My dogs do fine on Gusto (when it isn't mouldy!) and in fact back in May I took the contents labels to my vet to ask if he thought there was any reason NOT to feed it, and he said it was all fine. I can't get Autarky where we live.

I just found it was low in the ingredients I was looking for.

I've just written them another letter and mentioned that I've seen comments on a forum from other people with problems!

Interestingly a friend got given some of the senior autarky as her friends dogs wouldn't eat it.  Her old girl has been fine on it, but it did make one of the younger ones sick.

I have never used the senior one only the puppy and adult.

How strange...I feed all 8 of ours on it but 3 or 4 of them have gone really picky with it. they have it on its own in a morning but then I add tripe or chicken for the 2nd feed which they will eat. They just seem to take ages to eat it instead of wolfing it down like they usually do, as if they are not really enjoying it. I never thought it might be the food but possibly the hot weather.???

It seems there really is a problem since so many people have experienced this!
Well Dodsen and Horrell asked us to send a sample of the food she wouldn't eat so we did that and they sent 2 replacement bags... she ate a few mouthfuls to begin with but then decided again that she didn't like it. As others have found - she will eat it if she has to but will be reluctant and make faces as if it tastes really awful!
We called them again and they sent us some Chudleys as a replacement since they make that too. She is eating that at the moment (she will eat it fine) but when it's finished I will change her onto JWB which is what the puppy is eating. I don't think I will feed her Autarky again unless of course these problems go away.

Well we now have 4 15kg bags of Autarky in the garage that the dogs wont eat... we can't give it away in case we poison someone elses dog! :D

I have just spoke to the Customer services who told me to check the batch numbers. It turns out some of my batch might be a problem so they told me to dispose of them and they will replace them plus 2 I have already tried to use over last couple of weeks. have to say they were really helpful. i could not have asked more of how they dealt with the issue.

some other people on another forum has had the same problem it was a batch number they were having problems with,must say so far mine has been ok.
Gill

Did they give you the batch number to see if that's what it was? The first problem was reported on here back in March, so that must be a pretty big batch.

no batch number was given but best before date was 30/01/07 and was purchased around february

I'll ring them tomorrow to see what is happening.  I'm currently mixing it with either tuna or something else to add taste and she is eating it fine.  Don't want to continue this though if there is a problem with the batch.

> Don't want to continue this though if there is a problem with the batch.<

Personally i wouldnt risk it,dogs can sense if there's something off in their food and if a normally chow houndish dog all of a sudden stops eating their regular food or needs to be coaxed into eating it,you can probably bet there's something wrong with the food. Trust your dog :)

Hi, same with my dog.
Bought my usual 2 bags of Autarky and the dog wouldnt touch the stuff, but I still had some of the old left over which he WOULD eat!!! I told them, sent off samples and they said there was nothing wrong or different with the food, they sent me 2 new bags and he still doesnt like them! Ive had to start hunting for new food!

Get your money back.

Well, I've been onto them and they say they KNOW they HAD a problem, but it's okay now. They are sending me two bags and say they will be from a differenty batch.

Storm has her bad tummy back and she didn't want it last night...which is why I phoned...this was a new bag opened 2 days ago, but bought at the same time as the other one.

I would hate to have to stop feeding it as I really rate it as a food, great for conditioning and putting body on....let's hope it doesn't come to that!!!  All the best, Dawn

I stopped feeding Autarky a few months ago because of similar problems - have lost confidence in it now and changed to JWB.

Yep, definately something wrong with a batch, rang customer services this morning.  They said the flavouring process went wrong and it left the food 'unpalattable' (sp).  Sending me 2 new bags, so I will be sticking with it.

Mmmmm, still not sorted.  The small 2.5kg bag we got from them as a 'stopgap' was fine - she wolfed it down.  Just opened one of the 15kg bags they sent, and she is picking at it like before.  Will be ringing customer services again me thinks 

Hi    Sorry Just caught up with this post. Mine were fed Aurtarky for ages , then about 8  months ago  then they went right off it....wouldnt touch it!! I have lost  all confidence in complete foods as they all promise this and that!!!:rolleyes: so im now back to barf feeding and they love it!!
Helen

Batch 17 was one of the faulty ones, I think 16 & 18 were also affected.  I have bags from batch 26 & 28 now, and my dog still doesn't like the taste of the 26 one.  Haven't opened the 28 yet.  Anyone got some batch numbers that appear ok/affected?  

We have just started a new bag Batch 24 - dogs eating it okay!

Seems she likes it now  :rolleyes:

Very strange.
Both my dogs were on Autarky and wolfed it down.
Then they suddenly both went of it and lost loads of weight. Would not touch it even if soaked and covered in meat.
I gave up in the end as Beano hadnt really eaten  anything for 2 1/2 weeks.T
They are now both on Bakers, due to my partners dogs being on it and I cant change them, and gave my dogs some of bakers and they wolfed it down.
incidentally, Gemma has got a shine on her like she has never had!!!!!
But its strange that Beano and Gemma went off Autarky as well.
If I had thought about it I would have questioned it with the maufacturerers. I only threw the rest of the food away the other day but I threw the bag away a couple of months ago.
Lea :)