Hi All, Firstly a happy new year to you all. Now to business, Whenever I go away on Holiday My girl goes to kennels, a really good one which you have to book months in advance as it is so highly respected. As soon as My girl see's the suitcase coming out she just refuses to eat, I have just come back from a week in Goa at Christmas and she hardly had anything all week and has come home really skinny. She has seen the vet and she said that she gets depressed as she knows I am going away. Yes she is spoilt and I love her more than my partner but I just dont know how to deal with this problem, the vet says that she will eat when she is hungry but people stop me in the street asking why she is so skinny, its got to the point that I am either cooking her a whole chicken or a pork roast every day as this seems to be the only thing that she will eat. I am sure that if I dont do this for her she will just starve. She has always been a fussy eater and I do have to chop and change her diet to keep her excited in food. I have tried different kennels and I have seen seen three different vets but they all say the same. Has anybody else experienced this? Any help would be really appreciated.

Firstly you can't say Happy New Year until it is the New Year :D

Having a dog that won't eat is a nightmare, I would not be going down the cooked chicken route though as you're only teaching her to be fussy, to hold out for something better. I do know how worrying it is when they look so thin but if she's had a full check up at the vets then I'm sure shes fine.

Have you tried one of the appetite stimulant type additives you can get? Petsathome sell one in a tube like toothpaste, think it's called enervite or something like that. I've used it with convalescing dogs with good results. Apart from that have you tried raw green tripe? I would give her tripe and complete meal twice a day, just a small amount to start with so she eats it all. If she doesn't eat it all within 10 mins. lift it up and chuck it out. Give her less the next meal. No treats or anything else. I done this with one of my borzois who was a very fussy eater, it took a huge amount of will power as he looked so thin and poor but within 3 weeks he was wolfing down what I put in front of him and never looked back :)

If you start and stick to this routine, and they follow it in the kennels hopefully she will eat there too. At the moment I can see why she's not eating in the kennels as she is so spoiled at home, they don't have time to cook a roast for the dogs every day :D

Aha, so it's not just me and my dog then :)  My dog goes in the kennels quite a lot - always the same one.  I don't think chopping and changing kennels would help really - consistency is better.  When he sees us getting out the bags/cases he gets all huffy and a bit pathetic and doesn't want to eat his food.  I think he's pining away in the kennels and I think when he comes home he looks thin and I make him chicken etc to tempt him to eat.  What a shame for Copper.

Wrong.  The vet says he knows exactly how to get his own way with me (the dog that is, not the vet) - would you eat supermarket dog food if chicken was on offer????  The kennels say he wolfs his food down no problem and isn't at all upset when he's in there.  Don't give in :)  A dog surely won't starve itself but it might stand around looking miserable if there's a chance of something better in the dog bowl.  My dog is horribly spoilt as well (because of me always caving in to his devious demands :rolleyes:)  Try and be a bit stricter and hopefully you're dog will come round.  Mine ate nothing for 2 days, tried to beg our food so I knew he wasn't ill then went back to his own regular food when he couldn't get anything else. 

Of course, you could holiday in the UK and take the dog with you which is what we do when we can :)

CG

Thanks for the reply's. the trouble is everyone says that their dogs go back to food after a few days, I am sure that mine will not  In the past I have left her for a week and she has not eaten even a snippet of her food, she was seeing the vet throughout this week and she could find nothing wrong. My biggest worry is that in the past we had the SPCA knocking at my door after reports of a very skinny dog living with me, It was only through my proving that the dog had seen the vet several times and that all my other dogs were fit and healthy that they were understanding. I love my dogs and would do anything for them but this tears me apart. I am sure that she would starve herself to death. I think that I will try to get her back into the best condition I can through the chicken option, then try to go with your suggestions.

It is worrying isn't it, 2 of mine were fussy when younger. The first time I too changed his food every few weeks as he would 'go off' the old food. My breeder said I would end up having to feed him roast chicken every day if I wasn't strong. I did have to work to find something he enjoyed, but having found it I stuck to it no matter how guilty and worried I felt and in the end he was fine with it. When I got my girl she tried the same thing on me but I knew better by then! But it must be awful to be so worried and then have the SPCA called on you as well - make sure you keep documenting any vet visits so you can prove you are caring for your dog if it happens again. :-)

Hmmm on reading your posts again and seeing that your dog is just maybe not refusing to eat but not wanting to eat I would go with whatever she will eat, however small amounts that might be.  My dog was being stubborn but yours doesn't seem that way.  If chicken is all she will eat then go with that but do keep in touch with your vet.  If I thought my dog was wasting away and all he would eat was chicken then I'd feed it to him, even although I'd been advised otherwise.  I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope it does improve. 

CG

When I put Skye in kennels last year she didn't eat at all while she was there, When I picked her up she was so skinny she looked like one of the dogs that the RSPCA use for advertising. Now we pay someone to come and stay in the house with her and she is much happier with that, works out about the same as kennels in cost.
Mary

I have just noticed something very interesting over the last couple of days. My gem of a girl has started to hide her food. I am giving her roast chicken which she loves, she is taking it away and hiding it in her bedding. she is eating nothing but hiding everything. Has anybody any experience of this, I am going out of my mind with worry, the vet can find nothing wrong but she is just losing weight all the time. If anybody can help i would really appreciate your comments or ideas, she is only 4 years old so its not an age thing, she is not due a season, i am just so worried that she will starve herself to death. As a point of interest, she has not lost any of her energy and she bounces around like a puppy! She is starting to look like the rescue dogs that you see on the television that have been ill treated by their owners, that is definately not the case here but people do give me strange looks when we are out for a walk, she is just a bag of bones at the minute. Help please!!

Remember as she has not eaten well for a while her stomach will have shrunk, perhaps she fancies the food, but just does not have the appetite to eat it, so is taking it and hiding it to eat later.

If she were my dog, I would be hand feeding her by now, have her sat on my lap and give her small pieces of some fresh chicken, gradually building up to her complete food. I would feed her little and often as a pup again, with lots of protein foods to build her up.

If she hasn't improved in another week, I'd have her back to the vets for another check up, and I agree with a pet sitter or someone to care for her at home next time, I hope she is improving soon. :-)

Hi GG1

I'd not noticed your topic before so have taken the time to read through from the beginning - so here's my tuppence worth and, as with many of the replies you've got already, from all too personal experience :rolleyes:

Firstly, since your vet has ruled out any medical causes, it is glaringly obvious that your girl is not going to eat regular dog food when she's getting much tastier and aromatic human delicacies - I can say this in full confidence as I've fallen into this trap more than once with several dogs (so no excuses, I really SHOULD know better :rolleyes: ) and indeed am currently going through it again with a dog of similar age to your own :( 

This same dog has always been faddy (not uncommon for my breed) and at around 18 months I changed her onto a raw food only diet which was the making of her - personally I'd advise you to do the same :)  Instead of eating just enough to survive on and looking miserable with everything proffered, she really perked up at meal times, wolfed her food down and was OTT every time I opened the fridge.  She quickly, *very quickly*, gained a good covering of weight for the frist time ever and improved in coat and general condition - like your dog she is very energetic so very easily burns off cals etc ;)  This regime has worked very well for her for 2 years and I would recommend it to anyone with similar problems.

So - where has it gone wrong for her now you're wondering :D  Quite simply this - she's used to having her dam here and is temporarily without her and we'd also spent pretty much 6 months at our holiday park retreat on the beach where she has a very different exercise schedule etc (oodles of swimming!)  So now home (less exciting)and mum whisked off at almost the same time, she's had a bit of a lifestyle change in several ways for around 2 months and unfortunately when she began being faddy again we gave in and supplied copious amounts of a la carte delights from the family menu :rolleyes:  HUGE mistake, particularly with her history. 

I'm now playing the "tough love card" and determined that no matter how repulsed she appears at the thought of anything that doesn't come out of the oven she WILL eat what she's given.  I'm sticking it out with Nature Diet (which she would normally adore), substituted for a dry puppy complete when she balks at it :rolleyes: and raw chicken thighs (again, a previous favourite) - this is all she will take raw at the moment.  Slowly but surely we're getting there but it is taking nerves of steel on our part and we've had to be very firm for over a week now.  Her daily intake is still only around half of what she would normally have been on but fortunately she was in very good condition before this faddyness began so she is still not skinny, just a touch lean.

I hope some of this helps - if I can offer any other info that I've missed out but you can think of then please ask away :)  I can genuinely relate to this particular dilemma!
best wishes, Teri

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It is so hard as I all i want is for her to eat something, anything!! I have four Great Danes so she is a big girl, what would you recommend that I feed her on the raw diet? All the other dogs are fine and I get comments on how well they look so im just desperate to get this one as healthy as possible. thanks again.

dont know if this will help anyone, firm called 'Barker and Barker' make liver treats they also sell powdered liver also powdered liver/garlic mix
I got a tub ages ago, used it with about 4 of ours and also given some to other people for reluctant/picky eaters. All I usually do is sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon on top of whatever I am trying to get them to eat. Usually works very well.
They do FREE samples as well.
Chris

Hi again,

I'd start off with something readily available from the supermarket such as chicken portions - raw meaty bones (with the emphasis on meaty) are an ideal starting point :)  I have a considerably smaller breed so began on chicken wings and stuck with them alone for about 2 weeks before adding other raw meats, offal and pulped veggies but in view of your girl's size she would probably be better to start with something larger such as full legs or even half (split length ways) of a chicken :)  Alternatively you could try her on lamb breast which is quite high in fat content compared to chicken but a dog that's been a poor doer for some time may find lamb too strong initially.

Hopefully if she becomes eager to eat the raw chicken with bones you can then introduce meals with for eg whole rabbit, offal and tripe :)  You may find your girl is a bit picky with this to begin with as they seem to realise that raw bones are normally whisked out of their reach but once they start on them generally they very quickly develop a craving for them :)  OTOH if she seems too keen, it may be safer to initially hold onto the end of the piece of bone to ensure she actually crunches them rather than swallows them whole (why I moved onto thighs with my girl rather than wings :rolleyes: )

HTH, Teri :)

Teri, You are a gem, I will give this a try. Thank you so much

Remember to stay emotionally strong through this and please God it will work as well for your girl as it did for mine :)  Please update when you can.

very best wishes, Teri

Is your girl showing any interest in food today?

Have done what you said and she sniffed the chicken and walked away. So I took it away and tried again about an hour later, same reaction. Did the same at 5pm and she has eaten a whole chicken!!, very slowly and I did cut it into smaller pieces but she had the lot. So its fingers crossed!! Thanks for keeping in touch, I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Sounds promising :)  Thanks for the update!

Regards, Teri

My own little tyke seems to have cottoned on to my cunning plan of refusing to panic (noticably anyway :rolleyes: ) so some progress here :)  Any signs of your girl giving in to doggy delights or have you relented and dished up some slow roasted wild boar with honey and herbs and a little creme fresh to cleanse her pallate  ;)

One of my boys goes through patches like this, just sticks his bottom lip out like I'm trying to poison him. He can easily go 5 days without eating anything maybe eat a couple of mouthfulls then go another few days. He got really skinny but never lost his energy.

I checked all past posts on here regarding the kibble he was on and saw that it wasn't a good one so changed to one with no corn or wheat. He gets this half and half with raw chicken mince and green tripe twice a day and he's eaten every meal since. I think smellier must = tastier :)

Not eaten a thing for two days, Im staying strong though. If she has not eaten anything in half an hour I take it away, there are plenty of willing mouths here for unwanted food!. She follows me everywhere and when I stert to get her food for her she just sniffs, looks at me as if she is being really hard done by, then walks away and sulks. Im staying strong though!!! She is at the vets Friday just for a check up. Will keep you updated!!

Oh dear - frustrating isn't it :(  Hopefully all's OK with her general health and you'll get that endorsed by your vet - then I think you just need to keep the tough love mind set (with my breed they have definite anorexic tendancies :rolleyes: so 4 or 5 days of refusing meals isn't totally unheard of!)

Does she look interested in anything you're eating or cooking?  Usually a give away that they are just holding fast because of being faddy ....

Thanks for the update, Teri :)

She is interested in anything that I am eating!!! Energy levels are fine and looks happy in herself. I am convinced that she thinks that she is human Maybe I spoilt her too much as a puppy. The one thing that she never refuses is her cup of tea in a morning!!

>The one thing that she never refuses is her cup of tea in a morning!!

which of course under the new "TL regime" she's not been getting of course :D   You caved, didn't ya!  LOL

She has had this since she was 8 weeks old! im like a menopausal goat if I dont have my morning cuppa so could not do that to my wee girl. OK I Caved!!!!

Tsk, tsk, tsk :rolleyes:  Go on, just HOW many garribaldi's does she have with her morning cuppa then :D :D :D

This is not part of the tough love master plan I know she's a big girl but drag your poor failing body out from under her huge plates of meat and try and regain some equilibrium - and ................... shudder ............... control :D (even if only self control ;) )

Just a cuppa, Honest. Nothing else, nowt, not even a crumb!

How are things now?  Have you noticed any improvement?

regards, Teri

I think she is!! I am being dead hard and standing firm. She will not eat if I watch her but as soon as I leave the room she wolfs it down! Early days but the signs are good! Thanks for asking and sorry it took so long to get back to you.

Good news - hope it keeps up  :) :) :)

Thanks for update,
regards Teri

Sounds exactly like our Chloe..all 3 dogs have been in kennels for 2 weeks(parents were in GOA!) picked them up yesterday and she must have lost a good 2kg, she looks very skinny but ate her tea just fine last night....will just take time to build her up again.
Next time I think my parents will put her with a house sitter....she obviously fretted while in kennels and as she is 9(was the 1st time she'd been in kennels for longer than 3 days) we don't think it's fair to have her lose so much weight again.
Hope you get the weight back on yours soon :)