I have 2 Shar Pei, Bailey who's 3 and Dutch who is 7 months.  I have posted on here about changing their diets due to Bailey'si ears.  They have both been brought up on Naturediet which they love but I was advised to change their diet to see if it made a difference to Bailey's ears.  So far it hasn't but its early days. 

Anyway I have been feeding them raw prize choice meats - just blocks of raw meat basically and I have been mixing in veg, sometimes they get sardines, etc as well.  All seemed to be going well for the first week or so but now what ever I offer them they turn down!  This is not so much a problem for Bailey but Dutch is young and still growing and I want him to keep up a good feeding regime.  Dutch will try the food but only eat a little of it and Bailey sniffs it and walks off.  He is occassionaly tempted by rabbit but won't eat the beef at all (yes Bailey will eat a nice bit of cooked steak though)! 

Is it possible that my boys are that fussy that they won't eat raw meat!!!!!!!!!!  I have been putting the food down and if its not gone I take it away and throw it out.  Seems such a waste of good food though.  They have also been getting no treats whatsoever for the last few days but they are still not tempted.  I know they will not starve themselves completely and will eat it eventually but I would rather they would eat it because they enjoyed it.

Sorry for the long post - hope someone has some good ideas.  To note also that neither of them are overweight at all.

Could you be over facing them with too much at one meal time??

Do they eat in the same room?

Id stick with it for a bit longer, but cut the portions down by half or more, if they DO eat it, give a little more at the next meal time.

Em

Its about the same amount of food that they had before with Naturediet.  Yes they are feed in the same room - never had a problem with aggression at meal times as they are not food possessive at all.  Will definately try smaller portions - at least i won't be throwing away so much! Thanks

If you are worried about Dutch at this growing stage, why not keep him on the Naturediet and just change Bailey's food. Also give Naturediet a ring and speak to their advisers (who are very helpful) about the ear problem and see if they can suggest anything.

I find that mine like a pinch of garlic and herbs (sage/thyme/marjoram) and find it irresistable, even the one who turned his nose up at raw meat and wouldn't even try it is sold on 'italian' meat ;) ;)

How much are you feeding?
Archer

Archer - you could be right there, I always think if a dog isn't running for its food then its either getting too much or it's ill :)

I know I always feel giulty that my dogs don't get much to eat...but then they are fit and healthy and a good weight.I often think that we THINK they need more than they do and hence try to feed them more
Archer

Hi

With the current feeding regime they are getting approx 400g of raw meat each (split into 2 meals), plus veg and we tried adding in Natures Menu mixer as well.  They are both fit apart from Bailey's ears (on another post) and healthy.  They get 3 walks a day. Not very long because of Dutch but Bailey gets walked seperately at weekends and evenings so he gets longer.  They also both attend obediance classes once a week.

Bailey will eat fish in preference to meat - any fish actually tinned or fresh to him seems preferable to meat.  He has never had a big appetite.

Thanks

I have 3 male elkhounds.They are fit and healthy and could probably ideally do with loosing a tiny bit of weight.Elkhounds are bigger than Shar pei and yet my boys only get 1/2 - 3/4 lb of meat a day.If I were you I would cut the adult dogs food down slightly.Feed what YOU want them to eat and if it is not eaten in 5 minutes remove it and offer NOTHING till next meal time.It might also be worth trying feeding him once a day rather than twice.
With the youngster...how many times a day do you feed him?...2 times? I would also feed him what you want him to eat and remove after 5 minutes but would keep the same amount as you are feeding now.
By adding 'goodies' you will only make them more fussy :d so resist trying to make the food more tempting....in fact I would cut out the prefered fish until they were eating meat.They will not starve themselves so you need to be hard on them....it will pay off in the long run.
Archer

Thanks Archer

I shall give that a go.  Yes the pup Dutch is feed twice a day also.  Sorry being thick here and can't convert but how much does 1/2-3/4lb of meat to grams so I can get an idea?  How much do your boys weigh?

454g's to a lb so 1/2lb=about 225g.Some breeds are better 'doers' than others....mine would survive on thin air!! LOL
I always think its better to get them into the habit of eating a little and then you can gradually increase rather than trying to get them to eat the full amount straight off
My boys weigh 22-24 Kg and are an average of 21'' tall
Archer

Could it be the texture,the prize choice blocks  seem a little sloppy when thawed,my dog will eat it but much prefers the prize choice minced the texture seems a bit firmer,also comes in tripe,chicken,beef. Just a thought.

Could be the texture - good suggestion.  I might try the mince then.  Archer - my eldest boy Bailey is 22 kilos and 19/20inch to the withers, Dutch is already 20 kilos and 19" to the withers - but they are from totally different lines and the sire of Dutch was a lot bigger than Bailey - US imports and they seem to like them chunkier in the US than here - Bailey has a lot of muscle and looks very lean.  He's a lovely looking boy.  As is Dutch of course but a very different look.  I think you are right though about feeding less and increasing it.  Thanks for you help.

PS Archer
just looked at your website Archer and all the dogs are gorgeous.  Are they hard work being Spitz types?  I automatically think after the independance of my boys with their curly tails any dogs with curly tails must be hard work too! 

I wouldn't swap my boys for the world but they are definately not an easy breed!

Yes...they are very hard work but worth every minute of it.Guess I like my dogs(and my men) to be a bit independant...don't like someone who's too easy to live with...like a challenge LOL
Archer
 

Me too.  Good point my husband and I are both independant and I guess I like my dogs the same.  Just not a clingy person! Will all change soon though as I am expecting a baby and due in Jan!