I was always told that Dalmatians are stomachs on legs & will eat ANYTHING including in some cases, things that arent edible.
My 18 month old dalmatian is very fussy, never eats much and most things go right through her. She's been on chicken & rice for nearly a week now because of the squits, but they dont seem to be getting any more solid. Literally as soon as she's finished eating, she needs to go out into the garden

Vet checked her over & suggested the chicken rice diet as there is nothing actually wrong with her

She's dreadful enough to get weight on at the best of times, so when she does eat we want it to STAY in so at least she can get the nutrients out of it. I thought about adding eggs to her food as they are binding in humans, I thought they might work the same in a dog? Would they need to be raw or can I cook them?
Cheers

One of my dalmatians is similar - he's always been a 'poor doer' and fussy about his food. At nearly 7 years of age he looks more like a lanky 7-month puppy! I find tinned Chappie is very helpful when his stomach plays up; it's one of the most digestible commercial foods going. Little and often can be the key.

Has the vet checked a stool sample to see if there's anything detectable?

Would tinned chappie be any good for putting weight on a dog?

I wouldn't think so ChloeH as it's only fish, rice and cereals (from memory, don't have one at home :D )   I think it's just a good basic bland diet for upsets before going back onto regular food.  Of course if the dog wont/can't eat anything else but will eat Chappie then I guess it will gain weight!

I have seen lots of posts saying this is a bland food, but must confess it doesn't suit the GSD'S that I have owned. My vet recommended it with my last bitch. It went straight through her. I have put the problem down to the high volume of cereal which is in the food. I have tried it on my current GSD & he can't tolerate it either. I have just posted on the 'supadog sensitive' topic if that is any help. I know from experience that fussy eaters are a nightmare, some dogs just don't have normal appetite's & they are very worrying. I have always had rescue dogs, so can't speak for GSD'S that have come from reputable breeders.

Hi Nellie

Has your vet run faecal and blood tests?  Fasting followed by a bland diet is usually the way to go to let an upset tum settle but if the chicken and rice is going straight through I'd want a further investigation - your girl may even be intolerant / allergic to either (or both) chicken and rice :(

I know all too well how difficult and frustrating it can be to live with a fussy breed but it's worth checking out whether there is an underlying medical cause for the apparent fussy behaviour - it could after all be that your dog knows she will feel nausea or discomfort if she eats certain things.

I hope your vet has ruled out anything untoward before carrying on with your current regime.  In the meantime it may help if you change her onto white fish instead of chicken and plain mashed potato instead of rice to see if she is more tolerant of that combination.   It may also be worth asking for some Kaopectin to firm her stools and also sooth her gut.

If she gets the all clear, I agree with JG that tinned chappie is often a successful alternative complete food and one which is inexpensive and readily available.  It's been used for many years by vets before prescription diets to gradually get poorly dogs eating well again.

HTH, Teri :)    

My dog was the King of Squits when he was younger. knocking furiously on wooden desk I found a couple of eggs (I usually scramble them) did help. My vet told me that if I had frequent problems that chappie was a good food for dogs with propensity to looseness shall we say.

Have you considered that it might be the chicken causing the squits, the reason I ask is because both my dogs have the squits whenever they have chicken, I would try giving beef and rice and see if that helps

Same here - anything with chicken/poultry in it makes her loose.

We had a boxer years ago that loved tinned Chappie better than anything else, and she wasn't thin.

My first thought was that your dog could have an allergy to chicken,most intolerances are to protein sources. You could try this recipe,a kind of souffle for a couple of days.

It's about two thirds cooked white rice, which I then pour into a baking dish with one third egg (about six eggs per two cups cooked rice).  The eggs is processed with the shell before adding in.  I bake this into a souffle like consistency, which I cut into half pound servings and bag up and freeze for emergencies.   Later I'll add in boiled ground meat, whatever the vet suggests. Cook on 150C,45 min for 6 eggs,or add around 20 min for each additional 6 eggs,depending on the depth of the pan.
  Alternately, you can do it in a big dutch oven on the stove - cook the rice, turn the heat to the lowest setting, and add the eggs.  That takes about an hour for twelve eggs.

CHICKEN!!!
of course!
the shop didnt have her usual brand with beef, so bought her usual brand with chicken instead.

Brilliant, thanks very much everyone (quite embarrased that I didnt think about that!) White fish & rice & egg soufle it is for tea then

thank you all very much

fingers crossed!

Hi again,

as you say your girl has always had problems and is normally on a beef based diet, beef is another common intolerance for many dogs so it may be worth investigating other diets with lamb, fish, duck, turkey, rabbit or venison as the main protein :)

HTH, best wishes Teri

Nellie let us know how she gets on and if the souffle and fish does the trick :)

Keeping my fingers crossed that solid poops are on their way for your girl :D

Don't feed raw eggs. Hard boiled are best. Cheese is good for getting dogs to eat. Grate it and sprinkle it on top of her food. As it has rennin added during the manufacturing process, it doesn't cause diarrhoea as milk would. If I'm trying to put weight on one of my show dogs I give them a very good quality bread such as Warburtons seeded batch, spread with a scraping of pate. I've never known a dog refuse it.

Er

If a dog can't tolerate Chicken the EGGS are likely to be just as bad ! (no matter how they're cooked ;) )      Especially at first, before the gut has had time to recover ;)   It can take about 4-6 weeks before the gut recovers enough to try different foods apart from the food that you know the dog is tolerating, and I would certainly leave eggs until the gut was fully recovered, at least then you'd know if the eggs were a problem :)