Throwing up...?

Hello everybody

Once again I come here with a question!
I have a 7month old presa canario girl puppy.

We started on barf with her, around three months ago? At that time she weighed 21kg, and that was more than 10kg less than all her other littermates.

So because we were pretty new to barf, we thought maybe we're doing something wrong and maybe thats why she is not growing too much... And she wasn't growing too much. So we gave her dry food for around 4-5 weeks, where she grew 10kg more. We don't want her to grow fast and just be huge and enormous. But honestly she was not growing much at all! Veery slow progress and we wanted her to put on some weight before we take her back on the barf again.

And now it is the fourth day of barf, again! She is mostly getting whole chicken thighs? Those ones that drumsticks are still attached. And the first time she was on barf, she had everything we gave her, she learned to chew and did'nt swallow it just like that. But enjoyed eating.

Now she (first of all) sniffs at the chicken, sometimes even growls, (let me make it clear, she wasn't growling at us nor she was protecting her food) at the chicken, makes a move where her upper body is against the ground and her bum sticks up (want to play -move). And she doesn't touch the food. She went ONE DAY without food, by her own choice. Then the second day I chopped the chicken in tiny bits and she liked it a bit more.

I dont mind doing some work for her food, but Im just wondering why she is like this suddenly? She also gets lamb necks, shank of lamb, pork ribs, anything that my butcher boyfriend brings for her home :-D

AND THE BIG QUESTION!
I have kinda made this conclusion, that on barf they might puke every now and then. I feel its their way of bringing out all the bad stuff, the undigested stuff, stuff that needs to be chewed in smaller pieces etc... And she does puke every now and then. But now she has puked twice in 4-5 days, and the amount is okay for me. BUT! The puke is like foam.. Yellow colored liquid and it is a bit sticky + foamy on top.

What the heck is that? Am I not giving her enough to drink? Am I not feeding her enough so her tummy is all empty??

:sad:

You may wish to check with your vet to do a simple x-ray of the abdomen and to see what is passing through to the colon. Quite possible that there is just 'too' much bone for her, and it is laying too long. It has happened to our dogs, so it's just a thought...an x-ray would be a good idea. BTW, are you supplementing with berries and other holistic items or are you just feeding raw items? :shrug:

Our dogs will regurgitate shortly after a meal if they've gulped it without adequate chewing (apparently it's just as nice the second time :yuck:). Is there any undigested food in the vomit, or is it mainly just yellowy foam? In our house that usually means a too-empty tummy (i.e. we've gone too long between meals).

You're also feeding organ meats, I assume?

As for the growth rate, with a very large breed dog, the slower the growth the better. There's no rule saying the dog should be gaining X amount of weight every week...what you want is a moderately well-fleshed but NOT FAT pup. Rolly-polly puppies are not really ideal. If she's gradually gaining weight, and her body condition is good (i.e. not skinny), and she's eating and active I wouldn't be worried. It's going to be a good 2 years before she's fully grown.

Thanks for replies!

Our dogs will regurgitate shortly after a meal if they've gulped it without adequate chewing (apparently it's just as nice the second time ). Is there any undigested food in the vomit, or is it mainly just yellowy foam? In our house that usually means a too-empty tummy (i.e. we've gone too long between meals).

Well she has only puked like that twice, but it was just very weird for me. It was just yellow liquid, with some white foamy stuff on top. Nothing else.
She eats twice a day, 10AM and 18AM, and she eats a good amount of food. So I dont think it is because i went too long without meals. And She gets alot of food so I wonder how her tummy could've been empty..
She also chews her food mostly, so its not gulping either.


Anyways, Im not too worried about it. She is very healthy otherwise, and very energetic, eats and drinks regularly.

You're also feeding organ meats, I assume?
BTW, are you supplementing with berries and other holistic items or are you just feeding raw items?

You know I'm not the type who calculates what shes getting. But I try to make it so that during one week she gets pretty much a bit of everything. She gets fruit-mush and veggie-mush couple times a week ~ 100g each time. She gets liver, stomach mostly, and other organ meat whenever I can get hold of.

Guys, could it really be that she is being a big DIVA??

The thing is she isnt eating her raw food that happily anymore! :D I honestly have a theory, and I know dogs are not complicate thinkers, but this is how i think it goes.

She likes the taste of raw food, but I think she would like it easily edible. I give her chicken, but she doesnt even touch it when its a big whole piece of chicken. When I part it in pieces, she likes it more.

Couple days went like that, she was being really picky, so i introduced mince&rice, veggies, pieces of lean nice chopped to small pieces of meat... Just to get some decent amount of food down her throat. Those she likes and they go down no problem.

Now I think she wants doesnt eat her meats just because she is waiting for me to give her something else, that I KNOW she will eat...

Could it be? :D She is being a big diva now...

My plan is to give her food two times a day as I have been doing, but keeping it there for a certain amount of time, if she doesnt touch it, food goes away and bad luck girl!

Im not gonna be mean but I think if I show her that the food is the only thing she is getting and she has to eat it when I provide it, maybe she'll learn?

AND THE BIG QUESTION!
I have kinda made this conclusion, that on barf they might puke every now and then. I feel its their way of bringing out all the bad stuff, the undigested stuff, stuff that needs to be chewed in smaller pieces etc... And she does puke every now and then. But now she has puked twice in 4-5 days, and the amount is okay for me. BUT! The puke is like foam.. Yellow colored liquid and it is a bit sticky + foamy on top.


Vomiting is a very normal part of digestion with dogs. Normally if the pieces are too large for the stomach to handle, the dog hurls it up and re-masticates it again. This process can happen several times before they learn to masticate food properly without 'gulping' it.

Is your dog a gulper? are the pieces of meat too small perhaps???

I'm reading that you are offering a lot of chicken. I can't stress enough that it's important you offer a variety of meats as often as possible. not only chicken. Don't forget fish too, in order to offer your dog omega 3+6 you need to feed fatty fish ( herring/ smelts/ sardines/salmon, etc). Without omega 3/6 I can tell you that your dog won't thrive at all. It is the one important supplement that you really have to pay attention to.

Here is a link to a sample menu
http://www.clubequestre.com/merlinshope/index.php?categoryid=9&p2_articleid=66

Good luck

MM

Well there is absolutely nothing in her vomit. Im guessing she has had empty stomach then?

And those examples of food I gave are only because Im trying to get something down her throat! Chciken is her favorite and thats why ive been trying to get her eat that...

My bf is a butcher, so we get all kinds of meats and bones from different animals for her :)