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  #1  
Old July 31st, 2004, 07:18 PM
cherylanne cherylanne is offline
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dog won't eat

my 5yr old chiau/lapso mix will not eat her food. she is about 6 pds. she will go for days without eating. sometimes she will eat if we hand feed her . she will not eat dry food. any sugg?
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  #2  
Old July 31st, 2004, 07:36 PM
sammiec sammiec is offline
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what steps have you taken so far? Have you spoken to the vet about this? are there any other symptoms?
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  #3  
Old July 31st, 2004, 07:59 PM
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Depends on the reason the dog isn't eating. I'd rule out any medical conditions first. Have you discussed with the vet.

Some dogs are picky eaters and some dogs may have medical problems. Before suggesting anything I suggest you consult your vet.

A dog so small should not go w/o food/water for days it can dehydrate and die!
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  #4  
Old August 1st, 2004, 11:31 AM
cherylanne cherylanne is offline
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other than not eating her food she seems fine. she does drink her water and will eat people food. she will take a few bites of her food if we feed her by hand she puts her nose right up when we try and get her to eat. i dont know what food to switch her to . she now eats ceasar can food. wont touch dry food at all.and no we dont over feed her on people food.we just give her small pieces.
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  #5  
Old August 1st, 2004, 11:52 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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This is a common problem with very small dogs who get people food. They rapidly learn that if they don't eat their dog food, they'll get something much better.

You say, "We just give her small pieces". Maybe so, but if you do that all the time, that may be enough to fill up a 6lb dog enough so that she can ignore her own food and hold out for yours! This dog is 5 years old, so she must be eating something or she would be dead by now.

If she likes the canned food, then give her that and stick with it. Switching food all the time makes dogs very finicky. Put it down, walk away and leave it down for 15 minutes. If she doesn't eat it, take it away and offer a new portion again at her next feeding. Do not give her any people food and do not feed her by hand.
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  #6  
Old August 1st, 2004, 02:03 PM
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This is also common in incredibly spoiled great Danes named Raja
LuckyRescue has given you good advice.
If you insist upon giving the dog human-food treats, use them only as a "reward" for eating the canned dog food. If you are consistant with this, the dog will, in time, eagerly eat up the canned food in order to get a treat.
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  #7  
Old August 9th, 2004, 03:59 PM
cherylanne cherylanne is offline
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Thumbs up thanks

i want to thank you for your advice on getting my small dog to eat. you were right on the money. we no longer feed her people food and she now eats her food. thanks a happy dog owner
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  #8  
Old August 9th, 2004, 05:23 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Glad to be of assistance, and thanks for the update!!
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  #9  
Old August 9th, 2004, 06:23 PM
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Wonderful!!

Thanks for the update!
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  #10  
Old December 20th, 2004, 09:08 AM
PriceT PriceT is offline
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How long can a dog go without eating? My dog has not eaten in 5 days.
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  #11  
Old December 20th, 2004, 09:11 AM
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Not to be a smart-alec,but probably until he does not need food anymore :sad: The dog needs a vet ASAP!
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  #12  
Old April 17th, 2007, 01:31 AM
ichill ichill is offline
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My 2 cents
does your pooch have an underbite? my female staffy has an underbite and she prefers being handfed too....I think her underbite is a contributing factor.She doesn't like eating biscuits because they fall out of her mouth.
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  #13  
Old April 17th, 2007, 02:29 AM
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Ummm....this thread is over two years old and the OP hasn't posted since Nov. 2004.
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  #14  
Old April 17th, 2007, 11:39 AM
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This thread is super old.... I wonder about the underbite thing, though. My dog is very picky, at times I've had to hand feed him and other times he just won't eat. He doesn't appear to be starving but doesn't seem to like his food much either and sometime he doesn't eat all day. He does have a slight underbite... I don't know, though. He never refuses a treat. Perhaps it is time to eliminate all treats/snacks.
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Old April 17th, 2007, 01:02 PM
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Mine holds out for treats I think, we do tones of training with her, we treat her for all kinds of good behavior since she is only 7 months old, and come dinner time I think sometimes she holds out for treats - and as for breakfast, she likes to eat closer to 10 rather then when I get up at 6. Let's call that brunch.
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  #16  
Old April 17th, 2007, 01:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristin7 View Post
This thread is super old.... I wonder about the underbite thing, though. My dog is very picky, at times I've had to hand feed him and other times he just won't eat. He doesn't appear to be starving but doesn't seem to like his food much either and sometime he doesn't eat all day. He does have a slight underbite... I don't know, though. He never refuses a treat. Perhaps it is time to eliminate all treats/snacks.
The underbite thing is silly, unless the dogs mouth is hurting. My pup has an underbite and has no issues eating.
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  #17  
Old July 10th, 2007, 06:40 PM
Calamity Calamity is offline
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Unhappy My dog isn't eating either

My purebred mutt Calamity isn't eating. Since the dog food scare, I started feeding her By Nature dog food, and she was eating that okay, but not great. Then a co-worker told me about Innova, so I bought the Large Dog Senior dry food, and also the canned. She wasn't crazy about the dry, so I added the canned to it, and she was eating it that way at first. Then she stopped, so I tried just feeding her the canned, and she seemed to really like it. Now she refused to eat either the canned or dry. I have tried other healthy brands made by the same company as Innova, and also went back to By Nature, but she doesn't eat that. The vet gave her a complete blood panel, and found nothing wrong, except some hypo thyroid, which he gave me pills for. I called about her not eating, and the vet's partner said I should feed her some chicken and rice and give her some Pepcid every 24 hours. This has not helped. She ate the chicken and rice, but I am afraid this is just spoiling her, and she will never eat the dog food again. I can't keep feeding her the chicken and rice. She always had a sensitive stomach, and sometimes chicken gives her diarrhea. I have heard of people letting their dogs go without eating for a couple of days, and then the dog will suddenly eat the dog food, so I have thought of doing this but I am afraid. I previously had a Ridgeback, that I believe was poisoned by Nutro Large Dog Senior, and she was starving herself to death, until I finally had to put her down. I don't want this to happen to Calamity. I thought of giving her Bil Jac, but I don't like the fact that it has BHA and animal bi-products. It says organs only, but I'm not sure what that means. It doesn't rule out diseased organs.
I don't trust pet food companies anymore. I just want to get my dog to eat and stay healthy. She's pretty old, although I don't know for sure how old (probably about 13).
She's medium sized, and pretty energetic for a dog that size.
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  #18  
Old April 27th, 2008, 11:53 PM
DoriansOwner DoriansOwner is offline
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Hi, my 11 year old Sheltie has not been eating his dog food either over the last few weeks (not much anyway). He is on Innova and Orijen. He liked them both before, although he was never a big eater. He will eat treats and table food (if given), but not his dog food anymore. His activity level is the same - very active. He does not seem 'sick' or lethargic at all but I am worried. He is very small to begin with, only 13 Lbs! This is his normal adult weight, so I don't want him loose any. He has also been throwing up much more often than ever, maybe once a week. He is still drinking water. He has always been finicky with food, and he used to get seizures from certain brands of food too, so I am reluctant to change to new brands. I'm going to the vet in a few weeks for a check up, but am not sure if I should take him in earlier. I'll try not feeding him any human food or any treats and see if that does the trick.
Here's hoping.
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  #19  
Old April 28th, 2008, 12:02 AM
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Hello DoriansOwner. Often, when there's a sudden inexplicable change in a pet's behavior and/or habits, including eating (especially considering the age of your dog), it's best to have him seen by a vet sooner rather than later. the vet can help you figure out what's going on.
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  #20  
Old April 28th, 2008, 12:55 AM
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I second Luckypenny's advice and would take him in to see the vet asap for his checkup. Good luck and keep us posted.
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  #21  
Old January 6th, 2009, 10:29 PM
ahutson ahutson is offline
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My dog won't eat - HELP!

I have a 12 yr old dalmatian that hasn't been eating. I took him to the vet about a month ago (and I was not impressed with this vet by the way) and he treated him for a kidney infection but at that time he said that he didn't know if that was all that was wrong with him. "What do you mean?" He couldn't really give me a straight enough answer. After Oreo took his meds for the kidney infection he started eating again but only oatmeal and Moist n Meaty. No dry dog food or crunchy things at all. Over the past 2 weeks he can't even keep the oatmeal down. He acts like he has diarrhea but goes out to defecate and nothing comes out. I don't want to take him to the same vet as I really don't trust his opinion. I realize that my dog is elderly but I still think he at least has a few more years to go. Suggestions?
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  #22  
Old January 6th, 2009, 10:45 PM
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See if you can find a new vet. Those sorts of symptoms, especially in an older dog, need to be checked out. Is your dog losing weight?
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