o/t - Fussy dog

[Shegull]

My son has a Alaskan malamute that point blankly refuses to eat dry dog food and is fast losing weight. We now have him on a diet of boiled chicken and rice and have ground up the dog food to mix in with it so he gets the vitamins. He devours this but now has runny poo. Can anyone out there offer any advice as to whether they have come across this problem and how they sorted it out. Don't want to resort to tinned food if possible.

 

[Hillian1]

Sounds like a stomach issue to me, a trip to the vet is advisable.

 

[KZNSeagull]

Has it been de-wormed?

 

[dougdeep]

Dogs did exist before dog food was invented. As long as it eats and seems healthy then don't worry about it. Dog's can be vegetarian too and still be healthy (Unlike cats)

 

[Mr Bridger]

He's a smart dog and he's holding out for the good stuff!

Exactly what happened to my boxer dog, she wouldn't eat any of the dry stuff which she was initially bought up on until i started giving her my left overs. she drastically lost weight and i worried and took her to the vets.
They told me to put the food down for a set period of time then take the bowl away if she hadn't touched it, which i did and it worked.

 

[skipper734]

Take him to the Vet. Get him tested for Diabetes.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Couple of key points.

Quite surprises some people, but dogs do have quite sensitive stomach. If you change their food, you can expect to be scooping the runny stuff until their stomachs get used to the new food, so this is only really a problem, if it continues.

You don't mention how old the dog is ? Teething puppies can go off dried food, because it is painful to eat. You could try soaking the kibble in water.

This site is really useful for assessing commercial dog food and working out what to feed.

http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/dog-feeding-guide.php

I have a Sussex Spaniel which is coming up to one year old and has been a fussy eater. He now eats twice a day at 16:00 and 20:00 and eats a mixture of three foods, one wet two dry. It sounds a little quirky, but he doesn't get bored or turns his nose up at food anymore. The dried food is fish based, as he really likes fish. If we have to leave him, he gets a kong stuffed with tinned tuna and then frozen, which keeps him occupied for a couple of hours.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

Give him some natural yoghurt, that will sort his digestive system

 

[GreersElbow]

If I remember likely, rice isn't good for dogs and that could be the cause of the runny poo.

 

[CheeseRolls]

More stuff here.

http://www.allabouthuskies.co.uk/food-kibble.html

Another key point runny poo can also be caused by over-eating. Huskies actually don't need much food.

 

[Dr Q]

One of my German Shorthaired Pointers is a little like this, really doesn't like dry food. He also developed pancreatitis at 7yrs old so we keep him on a low fat diet, which rules out a lot of dry and wet food (has to be below 10% fat). I use frozen blocks from Pets at Home (other pet shops are available) made by Natures Menu, the all Beef ones. I defrost and mix with a lot of water so its like a meaty soup and then mix dry food in with this. This seems to moisten the dry food and give it some taste. Blocks are just less than a quid and use 1 a day 50:50 with dry food. Laps it up (quite literally).

 

[drew]

Don't know if you already do it but have you tried adding a little luke warm water just to soften it slightly?

 

[Questions]

Get a Jack Russell. They eat horse shi.t

 

[Superphil]

What's the problem with 'resorting' to tinned food?