desperate for ideas please

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dragonflys

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Hollie border collie is now 17 weeks.

I havnt had a very good time with her and food and her digestive system and am desperate for ideas.

She seems to go off her food very quickly and as soon as that happens she starts to eat everything in her path, licks the kitchen floor, grass etc, and as soon as that happens and she eats something bad, she gets a dodgy tummy and we have to go back to rice and egg and chicken.

She is really skinny but active and healthy.

I got her some CSJ which at first she liked but then went off, i have now got her some Burns and crossed fingers.
I think if i can fill her up she wont eat stuff she shouldnt so much. I know she will still pick up some stuff but as soon as i get a little weight on her it comes off because of diarrhea!

Its really taken the pleasure away from having a puppy to some degree, and i feel worried about taking her anywhere incase she eats stuff she shouldnt.

If you have ANY ideas i would be really grateful to hear them.
Thanks : )
 
My lurcher is a very fussy eater but for the last few months I have had him on IAMS and he is now carrying more weight than he ever has before, has a lovely glossy coat, nice firm poos and no farting!!. The best thing about it IMO is that the RDA is much less than other feeds so it's easy to get the required amount into him.

The list of foods I have tried include:
James Wellbeloved
Burns
Naturediet
Bakers (I threw the bag away after 3 days)
Eukanuba
Purina
Skinners
Chudleys sensitive (better than most, he stayed on this for a couple of years)
Autarky

Some of these have been great but he mostly refused to eat them after a bag or two so I got into the habit of rotating brands until now. His trick is to swipe stuff off the worktop or table for himself, or raid the kitchen bin :mad:
 
First off she is only a baby. How much are you feeding her and how often, it could be that she is overfaced.

How long are you giving her with each type of food? IE, how long has she been on each type of feed, and how long/how much of a chance are you giving her to eat it?

Have you tried her with things like scrambled eggs, tuna, mince etc?

At the end of the day she is very young and I would be more worried if she was overweight than underweight - I've never heard of a dog starving itself to death.

I'd also be willing to bet, the stress and worry and trepidation you feel is passing off on her (unwittingly, I know) at meal times. She won't understand, Mum is stressed because I won't eat, she will just feel - mealtimes = stressy vibes.

Re eating other things, the only thing you can do is either watch her like a hawk and correct/distract or put her somewhere where she physically cannot get at things while you are not there.

Have you spoken to the vet about the runs, she sounds very sentisitive.
 
Agree with CC, I would be leaving her food down for 5 minutes and then lift it and offer again, dont pander and fuss and dont change her food beacuse she wont eat the only reason I would chanbge a food is if it was causing horrendous dietry issues but remember changing food alone causes problems with the digestion so it should be done gadually, I would also be filling some kongs with different filling in order to occupy her and stop her eating things she should not.
Get about 4 kongs and hide them and fill them with chicken, her meal and some tuna oil, turkey sandwich paste, and one with sardines, all should be mild on her digestive system this may encourage her to eat more and will occupy her, may also be worth getting a butchers bone for her to gnaw.

I would recommend you try Fish4Puppies and order a bottle of the salmon oil they sell to use for her kongs and to give her some extra condition for her coat, but dont forget food given, then food taketh away:rolleyes: NOT replaced, if it's a good quality food stick with it, they do actually come to the conclusion themselves that if they hold out they get something else.
 
Fantastic advice above as usual :)

But just to add that I have a seven month old collie pup who is not in the least bit food orientated and a skinny bint!

She is full of energy, affectionate, bright eyed and bushy tailed but definitely very thin.

So far, the only thing that she seems to really enjoy eating is Skinners Ruff and Ready. She has now put on a fractional amount of weight - ie her ribs aren't quite so obvious at the moment!! So far, I am refusing to add anything to entice her, tuna, chicken etc as I don't want a fussy eater on my hands but I do add a gloup of Sunflower oil to her food as a calorie booster.

I am not too worried, better thin than fat (tell my labrador that!!!). She is obviously very healthy, wormed, front lined, jabbed etc etc.

When we have puppies, we forget how quickly they turn into mature dogs!
 
Thanks for your replies.

I think you are all correct, i may be passing on my worried vibes - thats what 3 children does to you!

I will try everything, and perhaps i have been overfeeding her in the hope of putting just a little bit of weight on her, and also to stop her eating everything else, so i will cut down and try that.
To me she seems very skinny but vet said she was ok. Vet also said shes a puppy and will get the odd bout of the runs because she picks things up that she shouldnt.

Thanks again
 
What exactly does she weigh?

I happened to have all three of mine in the boot when I went to the vets the other day to get wormers and took Rosie in to be weighed. She is very tall, very leggy and gangly and weighs 15kg. What does your weigh?
 
She is approx 7-8kg when i had her weighed at vets approx 3 weeks ago.
She is very leggy but her coat shines and she has a lot of energy and general enthusiasm.

Thanks for all help :)
 
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