I have a 18 month Akita bitch. She began her development wonderfully up untill she was 7 months. Then I treated her for ticks using a tick treatment call Tac-Tick with a topical treatment called Betecol, and she shortly lost her appetite. Her coat fell out and i have never been able to get her eating again. Her coat however has returned. I have recently started giving her B complex vitamins cuz i was told they increase apetite, but i am wondering what else i can do to encourage her to eat.

B-complex vitamins are good for stimulating appetites,also royal jelly in capsule form,but make sure your dogs not allergic to bee stings before giving them,my dogs all get 1 cap daily,royal jelly also has alot of other great health benefits,including coat and skin.
Dorwest herbs makes a product called *malted kelp* which is specifically made for poor eaters. www.dorwest.com

Some homeopathic pilules you could try are: calc-carb...thuja and sulphur,given seperately. All these help with appetite problems :)

What are you currently feeding? You could try adding a little baked liver,chicken or meat broth,anything that she really loves,but be careful not to create a fussy eater.

Can you post back with a little more info?

I have been feeding Exclusive Puppy Chow. I tried adding chicken, turkey, sausages, sardines. corned beef, raw eggs, gravy but she soon stopped eatng all those things. So i just give her the dry chow.

Yep you definately have a fuusy eater on your hands who is ruling the roost :D

I used to have a picky eater who could hold out for 3-4 days before giving in to starvation,she was a 6kg lhasa apso. She was a bit of a funny eater when she came to me but i just made her worse by changing her food everytime she turned her nose up to something,until nothing was good enough!I also used to give her treats all the time which in my opinion is the biggest killer of appetite!!

I havnt heard of exclusive puppy chow,do they have a website or can you post the first 5 or 6 ingredients???

How long can your dog hold out for without eating? Do you give in first and give him the food he wants?

This is what worked for my fussy one.I would put her food down(no toppings) for 20 minutes,if she didnt eat i would pick it up and give NOTHING until her next meal,like i said this sometimes went on for 3-4 days,but she eventually ate,and after about a month of doing this she started to eat whatever i put down as she knew she better eat now or else starve!This is easier said than done but it does work,you must not give in tho or else all your hard work will be undone :(

With the B-complex,dont give this on an empty tummy as it can make them feel nausious which will put them off of eating even more,I usually give it after their meals along with a digestive enzyme.

I feed a small amount of dry food,*eaglepack* you can check it out at www.postalpets.co.uk (along with raw and a bit of homecooked) maybe compare it's ingredients to the brand your feeding now,it could be he doesnt like the dry food you are currently feeding?? Have you tried adding naturdiet or something similar?Most dogs love it :)

The website for the brand i am using is http://www.pminutrition.com . There aren't a great variety of chows available here in Barbados. Alpo, Pedigree, Purina, Nutra Nuggets, Exclusive, Pro Plan. I am however planning to start importing Canine Caviar. Please check their website and tell me what you think. http://www.caninecaviar.com . I think it reads as the best chow I have seen on the market thus far.

Hi Kenyatta. Akitas are notoriously bad eaters, especially when they are young, although it's usually the young males who are the worst. We have a male who started off being fussy - but forewarned is forearmed!! We did exactly what Rose is suggesting, except that everytime he didn't finish his food he got about a quarter less in his dish the next time. Once he started eating it all we gradually increased the amount back up to what was reasonable for an Akita ( and they don't generally eat as much as you would expect for their size.)
Just seen you are in Barbados - that's probably doesn't help - as our Akita would never eat in hot weather when he was younger. I wouldn't worry about variety - our boy has the same day in & day out with just a few additions like a raw chicken wing or some veggies once or twice a week.

The canine caviar looks good,do they list the full ingredients on their site?As i could only find snippets.
I couldnt get a list of ingredients for the other food you feed from their website,which usually rings alarm bells for me,if they were proud of what they put in their food than they would post it for everyone to see.

The variety you do have isnt any good either :(

Have you tried feeding exclusively home cooked or raw? Not many dogs can refuse a big juicy raw bone :D

How long has she gone without eating a scrap? And who gives in first,you or him?

I apologise for calling your dog a *he* in my previous posts :o

Yea, they do. It is the most complete website pertaining to details of ingrediants i have ever seen on the web. You need to click on the links provided to see the details.