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Newly adopted dog won't eat dog food
Hi,
We recently adopted a 3 year old male Saint Bernard. He was not eating at the shelter, and within a few days of getting him home, he developed pneumonia, which our vet is treating with antibiotics.
When we tried to give him dog food (pedigree dry, canned, and a mix of both), he backs away from the dish as if he's afraid of it. The only thing we've been able to get him to eat is food that I've cooked. Today he had a mixture of deboned chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, & lima beans. He has lost a lot of weight from his illness & not eating.
How can I get him to eat dog food?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
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Hope you have checked out all possible medical reasons for eating problems with vet first,however we had a problem with our hound dog mix similar to yours,food for him is an issue!!! When we found him he was starving; so close to death the vet who treated him said he would have been dead within days if we hadn't found him.As your dog is a rescue too you don't really know his history either. Once you eliminate the medical reasons for his eating problems you may be dealing with some of the same things we dealt with our boy.The fact that your dog acts afraid of the food tells me someone has mistreated him,taken food away,maybe hit him when he tried to eat,done something to scare him.Our dog was probably starved so he would hunt,we were told this by the vet.We had to feed him cooked chicken and rice mix for months and slowly added a little dry food and 2 years later he still gets a little sliced chicken hotdog and alpo slices mixed in the dry .Be patient & reassure him that eating is a good thing,it takes time to get through to him but we have rescued 10 dogs all with their own problems but they do respond quickly once they know they are safe and loved.Just make sure that there is no medical reason first,we had everything checked out with our vet .We feed our dog in a crate but that is to keep our dogs separated ,Buddy barks and growls but I think it does keep him eating so the others don't get it.Hope this helps ,he's worth it,our Buddy is .
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Im not expert, but maybe try mixing some dog food in with the mashed potatoes or chicken. With each meal add more dog food and less of other food. Eventually he will be eating the dog food. or try several brands of dog food, preferabely one that has a strong smell. This might make him want to eat it
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I used to work at a veterinary clinic, and what we used to do is, if a dog wasn't eating, heat up some canned dog food. It releases the smell and makes the food more appetizing to them... it almost always works!
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If he's eating the chicken mashed potatoes and lima beans, I'm assuming it's boiled chicken and no butter or anything on the potatoes. This is a bland diet, I work at a vet clinic and this is what we tell people to feed their animals when they're having trouble with diarrhea. Having a bland diet helps to keep their G.I. system healthy when their sick.
BUT this kind of diet can't be fed for too long of a time. Feeding only those items aren't formulated properly like store bought dog foods. He's not getting the right amount of vitamins and minerals. But, for now, the most important thing is that he keeps eating. If he's sick, has an infection in his lungs, then he absolutely needs to get food in his stomach to help him get better. The previous person mentioned that dogs won't starve themselves. But, what she might not realize is that a dog who is not healthy isn't going to eat like a healthy one. You can't totally take away the only food that he's eating right now, because he needs the energy.
So, what you need to do is find out what kind of food he will eat. Try different brands and different flavors. There may be some flavors that actually have chicken, potatoes and lima beans. Wellness is a pet food brand that has many different flavors. You could also try to get some prescription diets from your vet, they have a lot of different flavors. I know where I work, we try Hills A/D, and animals who won't eat anything usually try that.
Your vet can give you some ideas as well.
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St Bernards are working dogs, so this means they should work first and eat later...or basically they have a need to earn their food. The previous owner may have fed the dog table food, and in addition didn't make him work for it. Since he's been ill and is thinner it's all to tempting to give in and feed him people food. Most dogs will not starve themselves to death. If the only thing you provide is dog food he will eventually eat it. Mixing canned and dry is okay, perhaps try something with a chicken flavor. Don't leave the food out to free feed...because once he starts eating he will become overweight easily. When he's better you can take him for a long walk, then when you get back home, offer him his food. If he hasn't eaten the food within an hour, remove it and try later. Since he's sick now, you can work on obedience training or trick training in the house, in otherwords you will be exercising his mind. When you are through with your session offer the dog his meal.
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Well, first things first:
Get a food dish that isn't shiney and metallic. GEt a plastic one high enough for your dog. If he has a collar and tags on it, remove it so it won't hit against the dish making a clinking sound.
Experiment with different food. Believe it or not, dogs have preferances..like my picky little doggy. XD My dog eats Blue product food. It's a really good company and they don't contain any artificial stuff and no fat or whatever (like all the other dog foods--they have really cheap "food" in there and it's bad for doggies)
For now, mix dog food with some boiled chicken breast (Get one of those precut and frozen chicken from Tyso and boil it in water, shred it into pieces and mix half dog food and half chicken.) Make sure he eats everything. If he doesnt, put the dog food one by one into his my even if you have to force it.
When he eats his food, reward him with a treat that he'd like. Also, cut back on the food that you give him that isn't made for dogs--like chicken, potatoes, etc. Just give him doggy treats and food. When he starts to eat his food on his own, slowly decrease the amount of chicken and give him a treat each time he finishes eating his food.
Good luck. If you need more help, just send me a question =]
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