Hi we have a 6 month old DDB & since he was 8 weeks old we have been feeding him on Royal canin giant breed puppy kibble..this was fine up until about a month or so ago which is when he started to begin to be fussy.. after seeking some advice we started introducing minced tripe , minced beef ,minced chicken & so on mixed in with his kibble,But now hes gone off this too,we went out & bought him some chickens liver & ox kidneys over the weekend & again mixed this up with kibble but hes still turning his nose up...he goes mad for the smell of our food when we are eating our tea !!! Is he just not enjoying the royal canin if so can anyone suggest another kibble that is just as good as royal canin ...we are at our wits end as we feel as if hes not eating the right amount of food during the day/evening for which his growing body needs & we certaintly dont want him to loose weight.
He has just been diognosed with hyperkeratosis but we dont think hes in any discomfort .
If anyone can give us some sound advice on what to do we would much appreciate it :o)

Think he may be trying it on. Lots of dogs would like to eat what we do but it is not the best food for them so I would not be too quick to change his food. How many meals is he on now, if it is still 4 try cutting one of them out and see if that helps.

Can't help with the hyperkeratosis as I know little about it believe it to be an increase in skin colour and thickening of the skin, is that right? Thought is was a complaint suffered by dark skinned woman but it seems it also effects dog - one lives and learns so I hope we will get someone who has had experience of this and will give us more information.

Hiya Jackie
We had got him down to 2 meals a day but once he started to become fussy & he was wasting more than he was eating we uppeed his feeds back to 3 a day...we thought maybe if he had less in each meal but more times a day  (so he was still getting the right amount) he maybe able to still eat enough through out the day...i did wonder if he was just trying his luck but this has been going on for a good 4/5 weeks now & he barely eats 1 meal a day ! We tried feeding after a nice long walk so hes worked up an appetite but all he wants to do when we get home is sleep ...we didnt know wether we should change his kibble or is he just being a SPOILT pup !  

The Hyperkeratosis is caused by to much keratin ( i think ), it causes his paw pads to harden, dry out & crack.This will be an on going complaint for Our DDB & it will never be cured we just hope our vet can help him with some sort of treatment to keep him comfortable because the older & heavier he gets the more weight he will put on his paws which will cause them to be uncomfortable for him :( we are still in the process with our vet deciding what is the best form of treatment for him. But because of this he has been in & out of the vets & we probably have mother'd him a little which could be the cause of him being tricky to feed !!!!

Have you spoken to the vet about his lack of interest in food - did it start when he was teething. With a dog of his size I would stick to 3 meals a day as the amount he should be eating is too much for just two meals, that is just my opinion.

Thing is if he will eat your food but not his own then there is nothing wrong with him so it is his choice not to eat - keep him on his kibbles and add some cooked human mince or sometimes tinned cat food will help get a dog eating also tinned pilchard in tomato sauce. But don't keep trying different things, lets say try the pilchard as that is easy to get and relatively cheap and strong smelling, add a little to his kibble put it down if he walks away pick it up and cover and put in the fridge and try again in about 3 hours and so on.

The other thing you could try is softening the kibble with hot water and see if that is more to his liking.

If none of this works I would seek the Vets help.

Thanks for the conformation of hyperkeratosis - thought that was what it was but never seen it in a dog - still I do not suppose people would come up to you and show you so unless I had had a dog with it I would not have seen it. Do you know if it is hereditary?

yes it is a gentic disease mainly seen in older dogs but also seen in DDB from about 6 months old & also in irish terriers too.Hes is at the vets tomorrow eve to talk about his feet so we will def mention it to him.We have tried all the things you have suggested ...tinned sardines putting warm water in with his kibble to soften it & so on....i totally agree with feeding him 3 times a day as it seems so much for him to consume his daily amount just within 2 feeds.My husband has just cooked him up some chicken breast that was going out of date & mixed in with his kibbble & he has eaten the lot so there isnt much wrong with him ...just blinking frustrating !!!
We have also been advised by someone else about leaving his food down for a while & if hes not interested pick it up & offer it again a while later..i actually am convinced he's playing us & we are giving in to his every demand...

Thank you Jackie for your advice ....much appreciated :o)

> We tried feeding after a nice long walk

What do you call a nice long walk?  At this age, his walk should only be 30 minutes per day.  Literally, 15 minutes there, and 15 minutes back.  (Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but not everyone realises the importance of this.)

yes he is only walked for 30 minutes max ....but for a DDB this is a nice long walk as he's worn out after !
We have only ever walked him for 5 minutes for each month of his life ie: 6 months 30 minutes

> yes he is only walked for 30 minutes max

:-)  :-)

Now things may have changed but I was told many years ago that you should allow at least an hour either side of a walk before feeding as that avoids the chance of bloat that means he should rest for an hour after the walk before being fed.

I too think he is trying it on and why not if he has success, so I would decide what you are giving him and put it down for a short while and if he does not eat it then put it in the fridge till the next meal. And repeat till you think it is not safe to continue offering it, at his age there is no problem he will eat within a couple of days and if he does not the vet will give you an appetite stimulant.

He is entering his teenage time (the most trying) so giving in to him is not a good idea or he may start challenging you on other matters such as where he sleeps.

I can sympathise with you on this one. My boy also a large breed(Bernese) was a nightmare as a puppy. He would eat kibble for a few meals and then turn his nose up, I did worry because with any growing puppy you want them to eat so that they grow to their full potential.
We went through many different brands of kibble and in the end I moved onto a total raw food diet for him and he ate with gusto, really made a difference.
He is now 4 and will eat kibble and has just polished off his bowl for breakfast. I do mix it up with raw food, but we stay on the same complete of AG.
He too was not keen on RC as a puppy from the breeder and I do wonder about the protein content in the giant RC too, its worth looking into as this can allow large/giant breeds to grow too quickly, personally if you're going to feed RC the Maxidog has better nutritional make up to it.
If you read whats in RC compared to AG I feel that AG is a much better food all round and also much better for the pocket too ;-)

Good luck

> My husband has just cooked him up some chicken breast that was going out of date & mixed in with his kibbble & he has eaten the lot so there isnt much wrong with him

LOL, cheeky monkey has got you well trained :-D

Have you tried adding some raw, green tripe to his meals? It is very stinky, but many dogs find it VERY appetising.

If you soak his kibble in warm water (to allow it to swell prior to it reaching his belly), stir in some raw tripe, let it sit for a minute (to let the smell/juice from the tripe to permeate through the kibble), and see if he enjoys that.

If that doesn't temp him at every meal time, you need to be firm and take up his bowl for a few hours, I did this with my pup when he got fussy for a few days (he was on kibble only then). I binned his meal though and let him see it go in the bin (he seems to know if something goes in the bin it is gone forever!), getting him a fresh meal at the next meal time.

I agree with Nova re. no excersie before/after meals due to the risk of bloat.

The first dog I had in my present breed tried this on with us, think it is common. Anyway I would pick up his kibbles and throw them out for the birds when he would promptly go up the garden and clear them up. So down on the floor in a bowl for quarter of an hour and then thrown up the garden, did not take him long to realise it was easier to eat it from the bowl than have to search for it in the grass.

> So down on the floor in a bowl for quarter of an hour and then thrown up the garden, did not take him long to realise it was easier to eat it from the bowl than have to search for it in the grass.

LOL :-D

I will watch this thread with interest as I have a 9 month old DDB whose quite similar in being very fussy with food. He was on Pro-Plan as a puppy but wasn't interested in the slightest so slowly changed him on to RC. Little bit better but still fussy, he is slowly getting better in his fussyness and but like to have one meal in the morning and then not eat untill 4 ish :)
Although if we have relative's dogs around he will eat great, don't know why though, i know just what you are going throught the amount of worrying that he's had enough to eat and the thoughts of why won't he eat have been constantly there.
We also introduced raw food such as mince, ribs and wings to his diet but he has totally gone of these too :(