[Brattina88]

I was hoping I could get some tips for my roommates dog, Mia. She's a 6 year old cocker spaniel, and is coming off of Innova EVO fish. I have been feeding raw for quite a while with my dog, and the ferrets, but I admit Mia's got me on my toes. The ferrets were by far the hardest switch, but in comparison Mia has been much harder. I was hoping someone could sort of walk me through it, if they could.

Mia has a somewhat sensitive stomach, so we were shooting for starting out with chicken and then moving onto different protein sources from there once she adjusted, but she hasn't ate much of anything. We were also going to go the "cold turkey" way, but Mia is simply not eating. We started last Thurs. I thought she'd gobble it up as Maddie did, but she didn't eat Thurs. Friday morning she at some meat off of a wing/section with the skin pulled off and very little bone. Friday evening, nothing. Saturday she only ate a little sliver of meat off of a wing/section and no bone. Sat evening she offered her a chicken back, but Mia wouldn't touch it. Sunday evening she ate, but only because the chicken & bone were ground up. Today she offered her som rabbit, because she was wondering if it was the chicken she didn't like, but she wouldn't eat that either.

We've tried cutting & scoring the meat, and also smearing something she likes on the meat (she did lick it off). If she did not eat after 20mins her bowl was picked up and she was offered the same thing the next meal. She was weighed this afternoon and according to the scale she's lost a pound

I suggesting making a "soupie" to disguise the meat like we did with the ferrets, and then to gradually put bigger and bigger peices of raw in the "soup" and gradually lesson the amount of soup to meat ratio, but I was wondering if others had advice/experience. It has been my experience that a dog will not starve themselves, so I'm supposing that she's eating the bare minimum to get her buy.

I'm sorry this is so long, but Mia is natrally a skinny dog and we (her vet included) don't want her loosing any more weight.

Thank you

 

[RawFedDogs]

She really has y'all trained well. She is Empress Queen Mistress of the house. Y'all are falling all over yourselves trying to please her. Here is the way that is guaranteed to get her to eat whatever you want her to eat.

Get a chicken back. Do absolutely nothing to it. A plane Jane chicken back. Hand it to her or put it in her bowl or lay it on the floor. Let her watch you put it wherever you put it. Give her 10 minutes to begin eating it. Don't hover over her. Stand back and don't crowd her. Don't beg, cajole, bribe or otherwise try to get her to eat.

If she is not eating on it 10 minutes after putting it down, without making a fuss, using a neutral attitude, pick it up and put it back in the fridge. Don't talk to her or fuss at her while you are doing this. NEXT MEAL TIME, not in an hour or so or not in a few minutes ... NEXT MEAL TIME take the same back out of the fridge and put it back in exactly the same place. Repeat the process all over again exactly as before. Continue this process until she finally caves and eats it. It MAY take 3 or 4 days. This won't hurt her. She may loose some weight. She will gain it back when she starts eating. She may only miss one or two meals.

Don't worry about her dying. She won't. No dog will starve to death while in the presence of food. Don't feel guilty that you are starving her. You aren't. You are offering her food every meal time. SHe is the one choosing not to eat.

It's time for the humans in the house to stand up and take responsibility for properly feeding this Diva. It's the human's responsibility of determining the menu for the dogs as well as the feeding times. This is not up to the dog to decide such things.

 

[magicre]

ah, well said.

i have found with malia....that she 'turns' her nose up at food when she has to 'work' at eating.

for all of her ten years, she had kibble or home cooked...and she didn't have to gnaw or bite or mash or anything but inhale and swallow.

suddenly, her world has shifted into this thing called a chicken back or drumstick or turkey neck.

suddenly, she has to gnaw and mash and grind....oh, Lord, the torture this poor dog has to endure....no more boiled chicken that's been cuisinarted...no more mommy food...

this is the real deal and she's not a happy camper...but she IS a hungry camper, so she eats.

once she gets started, she settles in for an enjoying 'eat'....but she'll lick it, walk away from it...probably wishes it would turned into mashed chicken.....and then you can hear her audibly sigh....when she realises this is it.

i feed both dogs either in the kitchen or out on the patio. i only stay with them because bubba is a gulper and i think it's a good idea to supervise food time....but i sit a distance away..and i give them a little more than ten minutes...tops, twenty...

the only thing i do differently is i clean the backs....because leaving the organs and too much skin and fat gave both my dogs the runs.

now they are perfect. thanks to RFD and this forum....

don't give up. be smarter than the dog....taking back my house was the most empowering thing i've done in a long time. it's so nice to be a first class citisen again LOL

 

[Brattina88]

I'll pass it along to my rommate. My next question is, if she eats all of the meat off of the bone, but leaves almost all of the bone do I give her nothing but what she left for the next meal??

 

[Brattina88]

Also, now she has been throwing up yellow stomach acid all night and this morning from not eating. I'm afraid my roommate is about to cave. I'm trying, I really am.

 

[magicre]

tell your roommate that that is what dogs do when they are hungry....but if she does this now, she will avoid a problem down the road as her dog gets older....and her life will be ever so much easier....

she is at a crossroads right now..investment now for future pay off...or give in and pay through the nose....and wallet.....and emotions...which will interfere with her relationship with her dog...

 

[Brattina88]

tell your roommate that that is what dogs do when they are hungry....but if she does this now, she will avoid a problem down the road as her dog gets older....and her life will be ever so much easier....

she is at a crossroads right now..investment now for future pay off...or give in and pay through the nose....and wallet.....and emotions...which will interfere with her relationship with her dog...

With the help from posts in this thread I was able to convince her to out stubborn Mia:biggrin: She didn't eat for about two days (it felt like longer, I kept telling my roommate that dogs don't starve themselves, she's just being lazy, etc LOL) and then finally, she ate! :biggrin:
She literally pulled all the meat off of the bone, and then ate the bone and left the meat ...so I picked up what was left over, and put it in the fridge. Boy she sure was ticked when she got that 'ole nasty meat' for breakfast LOL she didn't eat it until this morning.

This evening was the first time she ate a whole meal (chicken back, a good sized one, too) without giving me dirty looks or hesitating. It's interesting to watch, like a child learning how to use a spoon, she's learning how to eat like a real dog! I hope she learns to eat a little quicker, in time... She just licked it for the first five minutes or so, then she kept flipping it and knawing on it... It seemed like she couldn't make up her mind for 10-15mins! It took her a bit to actually tear and chew! It took her nearly an hour to finish the whole thing, but she was pretty pleased with herself when she was done :wink:

We were worried that her stomach would be a little upset, because she didn't eat for a couple days, and then all she ate was bone. Thought shed be constipated, but she wasn't. Then we wondered if it'd be loose, because all she ate was the meat, but it's been smaller, but consistantly firm. I have to say, I'm very pleased and impressed - I'm glad my roommate stuck with it, I think the hard part is over *knock on wood*

The funniest thing is I have to keep the ferrets put away while Mia's eating because Izzy literally tried to steal Mia's food right out of her bowl! And when she couldn't lift it out of the bowl, she just started dragging the whole thing down the hallway. LOL and and Maddie was waiting at the end of the hallway, she wanted some of the stash, too! They might be enough motivation to make her eat a little quicker now heh heh

 

[RawFedDogs]

This evening was the first time she ate a whole meal (chicken back, a good sized one, too) without giving me dirty looks or hesitating. It's interesting to watch, like a child learning how to use a spoon, she's learning how to eat like a real dog! I hope she learns to eat a little quicker,

A chicken back lasts about 20 seconds w/ my dogs. :smile: Give her time, she'll learn. Congrats on your progress.

 

[magicre]

With the help from posts in this thread I was able to convince her to out stubborn Mia:biggrin: She didn't eat for about two days (it felt like longer, I kept telling my roommate that dogs don't starve themselves, she's just being lazy, etc LOL) and then finally, she ate! :biggrin:
She literally pulled all the meat off of the bone, and then ate the bone and left the meat ...so I picked up what was left over, and put it in the fridge. Boy she sure was ticked when she got that 'ole nasty meat' for breakfast LOL she didn't eat it until this morning.

This evening was the first time she ate a whole meal (chicken back, a good sized one, too) without giving me dirty looks or hesitating. It's interesting to watch, like a child learning how to use a spoon, she's learning how to eat like a real dog! I hope she learns to eat a little quicker, in time... She just licked it for the first five minutes or so, then she kept flipping it and knawing on it... It seemed like she couldn't make up her mind for 10-15mins! It took her a bit to actually tear and chew! It took her nearly an hour to finish the whole thing, but she was pretty pleased with herself when she was done :wink:

We were worried that her stomach would be a little upset, because she didn't eat for a couple days, and then all she ate was bone. Thought shed be constipated, but she wasn't. Then we wondered if it'd be loose, because all she ate was the meat, but it's been smaller, but consistantly firm. I have to say, I'm very pleased and impressed - I'm glad my roommate stuck with it, I think the hard part is over *knock on wood*

The funniest thing is I have to keep the ferrets put away while Mia's eating because Izzy literally tried to steal Mia's food right out of her bowl! And when she couldn't lift it out of the bowl, she just started dragging the whole thing down the hallway. LOL and and Maddie was waiting at the end of the hallway, she wanted some of the stash, too! They might be enough motivation to make her eat a little quicker now heh heh

bubba tries to swallow a chicken back whole, so the length of time it takes him to eat is because he has to regurgitate and start over.

malia, on the other hand....in the beginning, i read chapters of books, while she licked, circled, looked at me, hoped i'd pick it up and feed it to her...a mistake i did make in the very beginning....i got tired of playing tug of war with her...and told her to figure it out for herself...

we started april 7th and she's figured it out....life is good.

 

[funshine]

Wookie (6 month old lab) has come from 35 min per chicken leg quarter to 5-10 minutes. And she a very thorough chewer :biggrin: