hi all so my clumber nearly one has gone of kibble will not eat tin food the only thing I can get him to eat is satin ball's.
I know this is not ideal his breeder has been great with all the help she has given me.
I'm going to try country hunter raw tomorrow
this all started when he was about 4 months old and he thought hmm wonder what concrete will be like to eat.
yes not good so he has been very off his food since then as it made his tum very sore but the passed ten days he has just gone of kibble totally his breeder gave me some tined country hunter which he will not eat
I'm just really worried now what if he will not touch the country hunter nuggets
what do I do then the satin balls I'm making with minced lamb oats egg black treacle and veg
any help I would be grateful

Firstly, could it be a problem that needs a vet visit ? Is his tummy tender to touch and how is his poo ?
If not, have you tried putting something tasty under his kibble in the bowl ? Like tuna or scrambled egg, or anything he can't resist.
Have you tried sprinkling the kibble on the grass ? Some dogs like that as eating out of a bowl is boring.
Is his bowl metal ? Some dogs don't like their reflection in the bowl, some don't like the sound of their collar clanging on the bowl.
My dog was a fussy pup. We went through kibble, tinned and raw. All was eaten to begin with but quickly gone off. She settled on kibble for breakfast, but I put something under it to tempt her, and home cooked for tea. Chicken or a cheap beef steak, with pasta/rice and veg.
Good luck, it's very frustrating but he won't starve himself.

I see a lot of overweight dogs.  I see many clumbers that are overweight too - as a breed they seem quite predisposed to it.

I would not swap through loads of different foods and offer things up to him, as he will train you to continually offer him different stuff and you will create a fussy eater and a dog which lacks food motivation. 

Instead, choose what you want to feed and stick to that.  Put food down for 3 mins at meal times, and remove immediately if it is untouched, offering nothing further until the next meal time.  Do not offer food again until the next meal. 

Picky eaters are made, not born. 

this is assuming he has been thoroughly checked out by a vet and has no physical reason for being off his food - ie - he does not still potentially have concrete in his stomach(!).

hi all I have tried loads of things with the kibble over the passed few months.
also he is not overweight he is about 4kg less than his sisters.
the only thing he will eat is the satin balls how long can I feed them to him
he has had a little tripe today which he likes
we have done the tough love he would eat a very small handful of kibble at about seven at night no treats during the day

Will he eat anything else at all?  High value treats?  How long has it been since the concrete incident?

Have you tried plain raw lamb mince, if he'll eat the satin balls?  Or maybe flash fry to tempt him to eat it, then gradually do it less cooked.

hi Nikita
the only thing he will eat is the satin balls and he has had a bit of tripe today raw
I have not tried the lamb plain he is eating his treats
the lamb is raw when you make the satin balls
i'm just so stuck right now and we go away tomorrow
I can't let him not eat anything

Does he have to be fed cooked food ? Have you tried one of the complete raw foods ?

You will need to be tough with him I'm afraid. If he doesn't eat what's on offer then it gets taken up, it's very rare for a dog to refuse to eat if it's healthy otherwise.

Only ever had one picky eater & he soon learnt to eat what he was offered otherwise he got nothing. Anorexia nervosa doesn't exist in dogs

hi and thank you he is not had cooked it has been raw
he is fit and well very stubborn as a clumber.
we tried the tough bit three handfuls of kibble in three days
we have had some tripe with a complete raw food he will not touch the complete on its own
dogs lol

You need to be really strong. He's been health checked for any underlying conditions I take it ?

I would be very very strict. His food goes down, if he doesn't eat it take it up & offer nothing else until next meal time.  It might take more than a couple of days, as long ache is drinking(I would make up a hydration solution for the water bowl) No treats nothing other than his food in a dish. You are going to have to really harden your resolve.

The ancestors of dogs only ate when they were really hungry as hunting uses energy, wild dogs & wolves often go days between feeding.

Just another thought it could be hormone related as he is coming to the final "flush" of testosterone

yes the vet is not worried about him.
he is eating the tripe likes that we go on holiday tomorrow great timing hey he is coming with us
if it is testosterone all I can say is blooming males
he has not humped anything all the time he has been growing up

I'm not sure what 'satin balls' are(!!), but it sounds like they contain a lot of fat.  Fat is very satiating and will fill him up easily.

I get very frustrated trying to help people with food motivation:  I find it blindingly simple to create a very food motivated dog, and I work daily with owners who can't control their dogs because their dogs don't give a fig about the food they want to use as a reinforcer (and the dog isn't toy motivated).  And it's not something I can help them with in an hour or two and then show them a transformed dog. 

Frankly, I just would not accept that as a scenario.  You decide if you want to accept it. 

It's not about 'can he only eat satin balls' - it's about - what do YOU want to feed him?  What do YOU consider to be a balanced diet?  If you don't think a balanced diet consists of only satin balls (whatever they are), then stop feeding them to him!!  The longer you feed those to him, the less inclined he will be to eat anything else.  As Tommee says - dogs won't starve themselves.  What are you afraid is going to happen??? 

A human can survive about 60 days without food, just living on fat reserves and with water provided.  No idea how long a dog can survive without food, but it's way longer than a few days....

thank you we have worked out a plan
for the next week
and then take it from there

Having had a look for satin balls, apparently they were devised to put weight on malnourished adult dogs quickly, but not meant for puppies.

The original recipe comes from the States!

1 pound ground beef (75-80% lean)
1 1/3 cups Total cereal
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 egg
6 tbsp. wheat germ
1 package unflavored geletin
2 tbsp. coconut oil
2 tbsp. unsulphured molasses
pinch of salt
This recipe is meant to be served raw. It’s important that you take proper preparations when making the meal and serving it to your dog. Any surface that this homemade dog food for weight gain touches needs to be properly sanitized

> he is not overweight he is about 4kg less than his sisters.

What he weighs compared to others is not that relevant, how does he look and feel?

Can you easily feel his ribs with a light covering of flesh, but not have ribs or spine sticking out.

We are too used to seeing overweight dogs and then a slim fit dog looks to be thin.
Most Clumbers, except working ones I have met have been well covered or overweight.

I have found with my own pups that at 4 - 5 months they seem to go off their food, it is because the fast rate of growth has slowed, and often after this you get spurts when they are hungrier and other times when they are not that hungry.

In the past have been tempted to fuss, and then ended up with picky ones. Since learning better I don't fall for it.  Adolescents just like humans can go through a lean stage much healthier than the overweight.

Feeding Satin balls could later cause you Pancreatic issues where the dog can't deal with high levels of fats, so I would stop this unless he is unhealthily lean, and that would be a vet issue.

I second your comments brainless  about feeding satin balls and potential pancreatic issues.  Although dogs need fat for energy  high amounts as in these are risky . Also they lack the full range of nutrients  for a long term diet.

The OP has said that her dog will eat and enjoy raw tripe, wouldn't this be better for him than the satin balls?  Since tripe is a fairly fatty food, it could be mixed with another food to aid  his move to a more balanced diet.

In one post you wrote that he isn't getting treats, in another you wrote that he is eating treats. So I'm not sure which is right, but stop feeding him treats or any other tit-bits.
Feed him the food you want him to eat only. If you need to 'treat' him as a training aid use kibble, but part of his daily allowance, not extra.

I'm surprised at how many posters haven't heard of satin balls. A few years ago everyone knew what they were !!
They are for putting weight on dogs. They are not a long term solution to a dog who is just being fussy. I'm sure most of us have had a dog that's gone through a fussy stage. Unless he has a medical problem he won't starve himself.
It's very hot at the moment so that could be why he's off his food.
As others have said, by offering lots of options you are allowing him to be fussy. Decide which food you want to feed, based on ability to afford and what is a balanced diet, then feed it him.
I'm happy doing home cooked, I can afford it and she eats it.

I agree if he eats tripe it woiddl be a start point and from there I woild head for fully raw but does need to be done quite quickly as without bone the dog is likely to have runny stools after a few days .if it's kibble with tripe for flavour I would stop the satin balls asap for.the reasons  in other posts. Beef tripe is around 23 % fat whereas oddly lamb tripe around 4% fat so quite low. After a vet check decide what u want to feed and plough in with that few healthy dogs will starve themselves and I would stop all.treats .if u want to treat him for rewards use part of his daily food allowance not anything else

My terrier went through similar and it is SO frustrating.  We took the advice of "Don't Give In" very seriously and I had to harden myself.  I mean, he would happily eat cheese or hot dog or bread, paste, human food ... just not his own. So he got nothing. Food down and removed 5 minutes after. Try again in the evening. Three days he ate nothing, didn't even lick his food. Vet just laughed, said there was nothing wrong (meanwhile I'm shaking with anxiety that my dog is dying or something).  And then on day 4 he gobbled it down, and not turned his nose up since.

For context he didn't normally get treats or human food but when he stopped eating I panicked so I tried everything. And in retrospect I figure it's like any hormonal surge (such as my monthly ones!); I don't really WANT any food but hey I'll eat the chocolate ... and maybe a triple-cheese toastie ... followed by more chocolate.  But I don't permit myself to do that, so I cannot permit the dog to do it either :)

If he likes tripe I would stick with tripe meals for a week and then start introducing some lean meats and see how he gets on. Then work your way back to a balanced diet.