Fussy puppy!

[Copperpot]

Puppy was fed on raw food with breeders. When I got him he wouldn't eat kibble or any of the food I tried.

So I fed him scrambled egg and steak mince and managed to eventually get him to eat nature diet as it has the vegetables etc in it.

He's now 5 months old and won't eat the nature diet any longer. He will eat steak mince, lambs heart, chicken legs and lamb mince. He won't eat any vegetables or his egg anymore.

I have bought some powder with all the vitamins in to add to the mince but when I do, he won't eat it.

Now my question is, at 5 months old is he developed enough for me to let him starve when he is being fussy? I don't want him to not grow properly so have been reluctant to do this before.

Ideally I'd want him on kibble same as other 4 dogs and I don't have a freezer and he's so fussy on a day to day basis, that I end up going to Tesco every day for fresh meat for that days meals. He's costing me more to feed than my horse! Plus I'm worried he's not getting a balanced diet, just pure meat.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

What is the powder? There is an excellent guide to raw feeding I can send you if you are going to carry on with raw. He does need offal and the usual ratio is 80:10:10 meat, bone, offal. There are some fab suppliers out there who are very cheap and for one dog you won't need tons of freezer room.

However, if you want to switch to kibble, which is easier with other dogs on it, have you tried adding salmon oil or tinned sardines in tomato sauce to encourage him to eat dried food? I'd say at five months,it's not wise to starve him, but defo try the leave food down for ten mins trick then remove, give same food again next time, maybe a couple of times!

Dry dog food traffic light system:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...he-Dry-Dog-Food-Index&p=11176258#post11176258

 

[Copperpot]

The powder is vit 2000 by animal health. He won't eat fish either! Well not sardines. He does like smoked salmon.

Yesterday he gobbled up his steak mince today not interested in it. So I have him lamb chops which he are. Tomorrow he will most likely not want the lamb.

He wasn't keen on the liver I bought him, beef heart was a no but he does like lamb heart. Haven't tried kidney yet.

The chicken wings he eats have bone in and they are the things he likes the most. We call him the chicken kid!!

I will try the ten min thing. I use my staffy as a pressure tool! Let him stand near to make the pup think he'd better eat up! But this doesn't seem to bother him.

 

[Copperpot]

The other dogs eat Symply which on the link isn't a too bad quality kibble. At the moment I wouldn't feed him that anyway as it's adult food. I have bought a few higher end puppy kibbles but he's not interested in the slightest.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Having another dog nearby might be having the opposite effect, particularly if he's a submissive pup. My youngsters defer to the older dog even tho they seem dominant in play so their bowls go down first and the big dog eats 20 seconds later in a different part of the room. Have you tried feeding him away from the other dogs?

I meant tinned fish in tomato sauce, seems to be a favourite of even my fussy older boy. Chicken wings are fab, I wonder if he'd eat kibble plus those? You can get chicken carcasses dirt cheap from various suppliers/butchers, probably much cheaper than wings. He does need offal, but introduce super slowly or it can cause runny poo. Flash fry if he won't eat it raw. My supplier minces whole carcasses so the bone is in there, but it sounds like yours likes the crunch!

My lot have lots of chicken, necks, wings, carcasses, but also green tripe, pig trotters, rabbits, liver, kidney, heart. Go to Morrissons!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

The other dogs eat Symply which on the link isn't a too bad quality kibble. At the moment I wouldn't feed him that anyway as it's adult food. I have bought a few higher end puppy kibbles but he's not interested in the slightest.

Puppy food is a bit of a myth, you don't really need to use it, it certainly didn't exist a few decades ago, bit of a marketing ploy! Try him on a handful of the adult kibble :smile3:

 

[Copperpot]

I will give the tinned sardines a go! I have tried feeding him alone. He does eat alone now as he's still got puppy teeth so his chicken wings take him a while to much thru and don't want the others stealing as they aren't used to raw meat. He does seem to prefer something with a bit of crunch. I wonder if it's cos he's teething.

Would heart be classed as offal? Or is that just kidney, liver etc? Also if I can't get the powder or vegetables in him, how else can I get the vitamins he needs?

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Copperpot]

Only just saw your PM. Many thanks will have a read now

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Heart is muscle so meat. Kidney and liver are offal. If you can get lung, that's a handy extra. If you vary the diet, it should give him all the nutrients he needs. Im not convinced they need veg. Ut frozen carrots are fab for teething-crunchy!!

I swapped my two onto raw after about two months of having them and they're a pair of healthy beasts, I don't give them supplements.

Typical meal. Chicken the pic to go to the album and see more pics of meals and deliveries of raw food.