Stitch

It seems that eating/food is a real problem area for quite a few dogs. I will take her along to get some blood tests although last time I discussed it with the vet he didn't think it was worth it cause she appeared to be healthy - skinny but healthy. To me, comparing her with my others, she does not appear 'normal' to me!

Just thought I would add that I tried adding a small amount of porridge to the BARF tonight and she won't eat the BARF mix. Any variation to the normal diet seems to cause this reaction. It would appear it has to be the same food with no variation or she won't eat. And I can't feed the same food in greater quantities cause she just leaves it. Aarrrrggghhh!!!

No, definitely not interested in force feeding. Anyone know what test would be useful in this case??

As a pup in the litter situation, this pup was always the one that got everything first. She was the noisiest, the funniest, the most demanding etc. and she ate well BUT when the litter mates went to their new homes the appetite of this one severely diminished. At that stage I went through the try this, try that thing that most of us tend to do but it became obvious that unless I settled on what I wanted to feed her myself and stopped trying to find that special food that would make her eat properly again, I would send myself crazy!!! It seemed to me that eating would make her feel sick, so she would stop after a few mouthfuls. Actually I think it would be worthwhile getting a bloodtest if that is what is needed to see if she has a medical problem. Anyway I settled on feeding her BARF and chicken necks because I found that was what she would eat most of. As it stands at the moment, it generally takes her several hours to eat 1/2 a BARF sachet. The chicken necks go within the first few minutes but if I don't feed the necks first, she doesn't eat the BARF. When I look back on her history I don't think I would have fed differently as I don't consider that this dog has given me the run around deliberately. I really feel that there is an issue here, whether it is a medical or psychological issue is what I want to work out. I am going to try the rolled oats and mince tomorrow morning - rolled oats is very soothing to skin, maybe it will work in the gut too??

Thanks so much for all your replies. It seems like the skinny dog syndrome is much more common than I would have expected!! After reading what you all had to say and knowing what this dog will or won't eat, I think I will try the rolled oats/porridge idea, mix it with a little mince and also add in some enzymes to try to help the digestion/absorbtion - then cross my fingers she will eat it!!! All my others have the opposite problem so they don't need any more left overs!!! LOL I don't know whether leaving food with her is appropriate for this dog as I have left food with her before, albiet 6 months ago, and she just refused to eat it. To me it seemed like it just reinforced the non-eating habit. Maybe she has changed now??? I am also going to restrict her activity during the day by putting her in a kennel run although this may have the effect of reducing the appetite because she isn't getting as much exercise - time will tell!

I have a permanently skinny dog. It has proven impossible to put much weight on her or increase her appetite - in fact at one stage she hardly ate enough to keep a bird alive. She would eat something one day, I would get all encouraged that I had found something she liked to eat, then the next day she wouldn't eat it. I would continue to offer it, she would eat a bit then just leave the rest. Luckily I have others who eat normally and they would be more than willing to have her left overs. (BTW she will not eat Satin Balls) She approaches everything with her nose, it has to smell right before she will even taste it!!! I have even tried cooking stews etc. just to get the appetite going - it didn't work!!! Eventually I settled her on BARF as that is what I give all my lot here - I was able to get her to eat 1/2 patty of BARF and 2 or 3 chicken necks per day which has been going OK for about 4months. Recently I was also able to get her to eat 1/8th cup of Royal Canin dry food in the morning, then she stopped eating it, so I got a sample of EVO which as everyone knows is high protein and also very expensive. She has eaten the EVO twice now OK, I don't mind buying it if I know she will continue to eat it and if it will put some weight on her but I have to be careful because if I feed her too much in the morning she won't eat of an evening. I have taken her to the vet numerous times, all with the same result of the vet finding a heathy dog with no obvious problems. She is now 17 months old, active, healthy looking, no obvious signs of anything wrong except for the fact she is extremely thin which for her breed, she shouldn't be. She is a dog with a lot of nervous energy which is what I put it all down to - but maybe I am wrong and should be looking for another cause??? If anyone has any ideas I would really love to hear them as I have just about run out!! (Of course she is regularly wormed, immunised, doesn't have fleas, etc. etc.)

Thanks for that - I will try contacting Breedmate but that Kintrak looks good too.

I had Breedmate quite a few years ago but lost it on an old computer. I am over keeping the records by hand now so does anyone know if it is still the best breeding program available here in Australia??

Make sure worming is up to date. Feed twice daily - BARF will put weight on as will all the other things already posted. I have found that getting the dog into a routine of eating is the major hurdle. Once you have found the right amount to feed so that the dog eats everything that is given to it, then it is just a matter of gradually increasing the amount of food you feed. Exercising picky dogs usually helps increase the appetite.

I don't have a problem with using check chains - I will use whatever works best for the dog - however I have found that they don't always work on all dogs as you would expect and want them to. I have a pretty headstrong and stubborn breed and using a check chain (correctly) have actually made pulling problems worse because it can desensitise some dogs with of the number of corrections that have to be given. If you had said that to me 10 years ago I wouldn't have believed it but I have found it to be true with some dogs - not all. I have now realised that the important thing is to start off really slowly when they are little - that is why that video seems like a method that would work for my lot. I have started practicing already although I am debating whether I should use a clicker or just a voice marker???

Ooooo - that was a great video clip - that is just what I needed - thank you sooooo much Dxenion!!!

Many thanks for all your ideas - I will try them out. I seem to be going through a bad patch where I am doubting my abilities and consistency is difficult. Every dog is different and produces its own challenges to overcome.

Yes, I do exactly that but there are times when I have them on the lead that I can't do the change of direction thing. When I train which is probably 10 minutes per day when they are youngsters, I can do the change of direction training but it is not always possible in all circumstances especially when moving a dog around on a lead for short distances. It is particularly difficult if I have to move say a young dog and an older dog at the same time on leads. The young one invariably plays up, pulling to catch up to the older dog, which is really just an age thing. I am beginning to question my skills/abilities in this basic training!!

I am going through a big rethink on how I teach my pups to walk calmly on lead. For some reason which I can't pick up, several of my mine over the last 12 months have ended up as pullers which I find is very difficult to change. Does anyone have a good method for training a small to medium dog to walk on the lead without pulling? I find it is way to hard on my back to continually bend down to them holding a treat - which is what has been suggested to try. Not all are pullers but I want to make sure I am not setting myself up for this problem and inadvertantly teaching them to do the very thing I don't want them to do ie. pull. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Yes you do have to experiment but remember ALL bones have marrow, including the ones that are ground up fine in the BARF mixes. Sometimes even this amount of bone is enough to set off sensitive dogs - as I found out!

What you have to understand is that bones ie. BONE MARROW = FAT So a dog may be able to eat say BARF but if you also give raw bones then that may be enough to upset the gut. Some dogs can't eat BARF, one of mine is like that, and she had to have Hills I/D for ages - I was then able to transfer her onto Hills Sensitive Stomach and no bones at all. It is a matter of putting the dog on a bland diet that they can tolerate and then introducing different foods until you can isolate exactly what foods they can't tolerate. Every dog is different so you just have to work out what works for your dog.

Get an enclosure eg. an ex-pen and place it in the area you wish the dog to use. Put the dog in that pen when you take it outside to wee or poo - come back in 10 minutes and you will usually find the dog/pup has obliged by then. Don't allow it to use another area - after a few weeks of this the dog/pup should associate the area with the deed!

I recently hunted around for new clippers when my Oster Golds developed a problem which was way too expensive to spend more money on to fix. I got a great deal & top service from - www.clippersharpening.com.au - on the Wahl KM2 which is also much cheaper to fix when it wears. They also sharpen blades too which is a bonus. You know you are covered by manufacturers warranty when you buy in Australia - not so if you buy from overseas.

If he likes raw food you could try feeding Dr.Billinghurst BARF mix which is a complete food of an evening with a chicken neck to finish off. I don't know about WA but here I can buy it from large pet barns or vets etc. frozen in sachets - it is very easy to feed and the pups love it. At least with that you can get a balanced diet into the pup and then introduce dry food back into the diet by either mixing it with the BARF or feeding it dry or moistened with water of a morning.

Being a pack leader is setting boundaries, not controlling by corrections. This doesn't make you unloving towards your dog but it teaches the dog to get what they want by being polite and patient rather than pushy or demanding. Pack leader controls all the toys, going first in and out and where he/she sleeps. Your control of resources will build a strong bond and is the foundation to teaching good behaviour and learning new exercises & tricks. NILIF is the attitude you should take when training and interacting with your dog consistently. This reinforces you as the pack leader. The main idea of this program is to teach the dog that he/she must work for what he wants. At dinner time, the leader always eats first. It is a good idea for the dog to watch you eat and have to wait until you are finished before you give the dog its food. Place the food down and make the dog wait until you say he/she can eat. This idea can be applied to many situations when training the dog - the important part is to be consistant.

I have recently tried DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromones) spray and have found it works wonders for teaching crate training. Of course there will always be puppies that don't respond but my experience with it has been very positive with pups settling down within minutes of it being sprayed in the crate.

If your solution is working then its OK!! Are you practicing the 'nothing is life is free' method when she is around?? Are you ensuring that she sees you as 'pack leader'? This all helps to prevent food aggression.

You could try Cartmills at Deception Bay. They seem to be quite popular - I have heard their prices are reasonable but I have no idea how good they are at desexing cats. I prefer to go to vets that I know are good at what they do when it comes to operations - not necessarily how cheap they are - although cheap is always appreciated.

The question was - Is the 3 yearly immunisation for parvo, distemper the same as it used to be when they recommended immunising every year?? If it is then all I really need to do is get the kennel cough done yearly??? Trouble is some of mine have been done by one vet on the yearly regime and others have been to another vet and had the 3 yearly parvo etc. & yearly KC - that's why I am wondering if it is the same C4.

Mike Shipstone at West Chermside, Qld Specialist Vets. Telephone: (07) 3359 0777 Fax: (07) 3359 0722 Email: [email protected] Address: 263 Appleby Rd, Stafford Heights, Qld 4053