# Started Raw but 1 dog wont eat



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

Well after months of prodding by a couple of members here I started my pack on Raw. My female dane and my black lab love it. My 14month old male dane wont eat. He will mouth the chicken for a while gnaw on it a little but wont take a good bite. Then gives up after a few min and walks away. In 2 days now all he has eaten is half of one thigh (so a 1/3rd of a Quarter). The female dane who always could care less about eating absolutely loves it. She gets so excited now and if Bleu (male dane) lets her she will take his. So for the two girls I think this is going to be a hit. I am just worried about my boy. Any advice on how to get him to eat would be great.


----------



## Qati (Oct 11, 2009)

Congratuations on the switch to raw food! I had the same problem with my three dogs, two would eat it but my littlest one would look at me like I was insane.

One day just for the heck of it, I threw a de-shelled whole raw egg into their food dishes and the littlest one started eating. Another trick is to add a little bit of cooked garlic. It seems like anything in the world will get an appetite back if a bit of garlic is in it. (Try getting a sick fish to eat!)

So, those are my two suggestions right now, egg and garlic. See how it goes.


----------



## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

You just have to wait him out, when he gets hungry enough, he'll eat. and he has to figure it out too. So when you give him his food, just give it to him, keep him separated from the other dogs, and give him 20 minutes to eat it without cajoling him or anything. If he doesnt eat it in 20 minutes, put it back in the fridge and offer it to him again at dinner with no snacks in between. Repeat as needed until he eats. 

PS - congrats on starting raw! :biggrin:


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

rannmiller said:


> You just have to wait him out, when he gets hungry enough, he'll eat. and he has to figure it out too. So when you give him his food, just give it to him, keep him separated from the other dogs, and give him 20 minutes to eat it without cajoling him or anything. If he doesnt eat it in 20 minutes, put it back in the fridge and offer it to him again at dinner with no snacks in between. Repeat as needed until he eats.
> 
> PS - congrats on starting raw! :biggrin:



This is pretty much what I have been doing. I however have not kept the other dogs away. I look at it as peer pressure. He dose not want them to have it but he is not sure what to do. He watches the girls when they eat. Then tries again as soon as they finish. 

As long as they are watching him he keeps trying to figure it out. As soon as they get bored and realize he is not going to give it to them they leave and he loses focus and leaves it in the kitchen and comes into the living room with every one else. The girls are very well behaved and I don't have to worry about them taking his with out my permission. So I have just been leaving his quarter in his dish on the kitchen floor. 

I'm just a bit worried don't want to see him go too long without eating.


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

Qati said:


> Congratuations on the switch to raw food! I had the same problem with my three dogs, two would eat it but my littlest one would look at me like I was insane.
> 
> One day just for the heck of it, I threw a de-shelled whole raw egg into their food dishes and the littlest one started eating. Another trick is to add a little bit of cooked garlic. It seems like anything in the world will get an appetite back if a bit of garlic is in it. (Try getting a sick fish to eat!)
> 
> So, those are my two suggestions right now, egg and garlic. See how it goes.


OK so decided to give your idea a try. I just sauteed up some garlic. Took his bowl with his chicken quarter in it. Coated the chicken in one raw egg and then added garlic. The dogs were all going nuts. Bleu was licking the air tasting the scent reminded me of a snake. I took the bowl put it outside with him. The girls all look like I betrayed them. Will update you all as to how this works out. I am confident that once he figures out how to eat the chicken he will be fine. Its just getting him to figure it out.


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

Nope... Did not work. He cleaned the bowl got all the garlic and egg and then cleaned the chicken but did not eat the chicken.

So I took the chicken and cut it up into smaller pieces. He ate some of it but not much. 

The girls want to eat his chicken so bad... That part is funny. You can tell they are just like why wont you eat it its so good!


----------



## BGBY (Sep 22, 2009)

If he doesn't eat it, put it back in the fridge and give it to him the next feeding until he eats it. No treats in between. 

He will then realize that if he doesn't eat it, he won't get anything else until he does. If you give him something else, he will become a picky/difficult eater. As RFD says, he will not starve to death with food in front of him. :smile: 

My girl Ava loves her chicken. Casey took a bit longer and definately takes her time with it compared to Ava. 

Good luck and keep working with the same piece of chicken.


----------



## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Well like I said, don't leave it sitting out for too long, just put it back in the fridge if he doesn't eat it in 15 - 20 minutes. No healthy dog will starve itself, he'll eat when he's ready. And you aren't starving him if you're offering him food for every meal. You just don't want that food to be dried out, crusty chicken that sat out for too long (not saying you're letting it sit out that long, just saying it's important to keep the same meal fresh and appealing rather than letting it get nasty). Some dogs will go up to 5 days without eating, and that's ok. 

I think that adding all this stuff to it is just encouraging his pickiness right now because you're catering to his wishes of getting something else to eat. When I was a kid, if I didn't want to eat what my mom made me, I would just go hungry for that meal because my mom wasn't going to make me a whole new meal just cuz I wasn't wanting what she made that night. And if a kid won't eat their veggies so their mom smothers them in butter to make them more appealing, then the kid licks off all the butter and leaves the rest, that's not really healthy either (not that raw eggs aren't healthy for dogs but you get the picture right?). 

Anyway, if he goes 5 days without eating and still won't eat it, you could always try searing it in a pan for about 2 - 3 seconds on each side to bring out the natural aromas of the meat and make it slightly more appealing to get him started. 

I'm glad your girls are doing well on it, they sound like a fun pack of dogs!


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

Well, Sheba was staring at his bowl while he laid down looking at it. So I told her to go ahead and eat it. She did and he looked all hurt. I am not feeding him any thing else. And I have not since I started this. My plan with the coated chicken in garlic was to just try to get him to eat it. I know once he figures out he can eat it whole like that then he would from then on. But we will see. I am not putting anything else down until dinner time tonight. 

I will post some pics of the pack later. They are pretty fun.

Bleu my 14 month old Harley Dane is a puppy from Danemama08's Bailey. He is so sweet laid back and the biggest lover ever. I think he finally stopped growing UP now he just needs to grow out. Jon and Natty have been saying they think this will be the best way to get him to grow out. Now if we can just get him to eat his chicken!

Sheba my almost 4yr old Fawn Dane is the leader of the pack and thinks she runs the entire house (to be fair she sure does try). Nothing makes her happier then a good boxing/slapping match.

Tosha the 13yr old Black lab is the every loyal labby. She is not happy unless she is directly under my feet or stealing the toys from the danes and hiding it in her cave (the foot area under my desk). 

I have to say I love my pack life just would not be nearly the same with out them...


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

LakewoodTrio said:


> Well, Sheba was staring at his bowl while he laid down looking at it. So I told her to go ahead and eat it. She did and he looked all hurt. I am not feeding him any thing else. And I have not since I started this. My plan with the coated chicken in garlic was to just try to get him to eat it. I know once he figures out he can eat it whole like that then he would from then on. But we will see. I am not putting anything else down until dinner time tonight.
> 
> I will post some pics of the pack later. They are pretty fun.
> 
> ...


Yay!!!

Glad you joined...we are in Seattle right now visiting family (trying to convince them to make the switch too LOL). I'm usually on here all the time, but just now saw your post.

Even more glad that you are making the switch. Give him time. When I switched my girls, Bailey and Emmy, they did NOT know what to do with the meat at first. 

And like the others have said, Bleu wont starve himself. He will eat when he gets hungry enough. I remember he was all over the chicken on the camping trip we took a couple months ago (still have your camera BTW...). The interest is there, he just has to figure out that the chicken is his food now.

Are you just giving chicken quarters right now? And we only live a couple of blocks away...so don't be a stranger!!!


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

No chicken backs too. But first meal was the quarters so I have been waiting for him to finish it. I just gave in and let Sheba finish it off for him. So will try chicken back for him tonight. 

On the camping trip he did not get to finish his quarter. He dropped it like he does now to stare at it and the other fawn dane that was there stole it from him. He was a bit upset then. LOL... But it is his own fault for not finishing it.


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

Well good news tonight he ate the Chicken backs no problem.


----------



## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

Yay! That's awesome! Either he was finally hungry enough or he's finally getting it! Either way, yay!


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

well we have to see what happens tomorrow night when I do quarters again


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

LakewoodTrio said:


> well we have to see what happens tomorrow night when I do quarters again


You have to remember that you are the pack leader and YOU decide what he eats. If he doesn't eat what you give him, he has CHOSEN to skip that meal. Serve the exact same thing at the next meal time. If he doesn't eat again, he again chose not to. Repeat until he does. He will eat when he's hungry enough.

...feels funny telling you to "starve" one of my puppies LOL


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

danemama08 said:


> ...feels funny telling you to "starve" one of my puppies LOL


LOL, I'm sure he will be fine now. I think the main thing was the noise the bones made. Each time he would bite hard enough for a bone to break he would drop it and look all surprised that his food made noises. I think he will be fine tomorrow but we will know for sure tomorrow!


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

He does not like the chicken quarters. He loves the chicken backs. It is a chore to get him to eat the quarters.


----------



## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Bailey didn't like the quarters as much at first either. But now she eats them fine


----------



## LakewoodTrio (Oct 11, 2009)

Hmmm must be genetic... O-Well he will learn.


----------

