Toby is almost 13 weeks and was having TOTW kibble. I have been researching Raw for weeks now in the hope of changing when I felt confident.

Anyway last week he was wormed (3rd dose) the vet gave tablet form (previously he'd had liquid form of same brand) this upset his tummy, vomiting and runs, nothing major, still drinking and generally well.

Vet said to fast him for 24hrs then give something light, such as scrambled egg.
I wasn't happy fasting a young pup for this long so I did it for 12hrs, gave the scrambled egg and he was fine, no more sickness etc.

I then resumed his normal diet (kibble) but he refused it over 2 meals. Toby remained fit and well, drinking and active. I then decided this might be the perfect time to start Raw (prey model).

My husband accurately worked out all the ratios etc, and Toby adjusted brilliantly.
He is having only chicken at present, and the bone element is coming from wings and drum sticks. Chicken backs are difficult to source in UK (not impossible) but we have worked the bone percentage out accurately and the remainder of meat is chicken breast fillet.

The morning of the 2nd day Toby vomited a very small amount (less than 10ml) with some tiny undigested bone (which I gather is normal)  He also had an episode of diarrhoea, but again generally well. I then offered fillet and drum stick for breakfast which he refused, I left it for half an hour and put it back in fridge.

He had a another small amount of diarrhoea, I gave him some stewed pumpkin (home made, canned not widely available in uk)
with scrambled egg, for lunch and he ate it.

Teatime (Dinner) I gave drum stick and fillet he ate it no problem.

Supper - small portion chicken fillet.

Everything fine.

3rd Day - No stomach disturbance, bowel movement small and firm, refused breakfast, tried all sorts to get him to eat, worried myself sick he would starve to death in next 5 seconds, so I gave him couple of Tbsp of scrambled egg. After that he ate all raw no problems at all. Wings, drum, fillet all accurate amounts etc.

(3rd day evening - Obvious Teething Issues - advice from this forum followed)

4th day - (Still teething)  Refused breakfast, panic set in again, so gave him a little scrambled egg (I know I shouldn't, just worry about him so much)

Mid morning - ate drum, refused fillet.

Lunch - Refused. (kept trying)

Bowels small and firm up to now.

Dinner - Refused (kept trying)

Small amount diarrhoea

Supper (8pm) ate wing - refused fillet.

Toby is great eating raw off the bone (when he can be bothered)
I know I should be using tough love to a point, i.e not giving scrambled egg, but I am worried about his daily amounts, it doesn't sit well with me leaving a puppy to his own devices, and let him decide how much he needs etc.

Nutritionally, we estimate if he keeps this up, he is really going to suffer.
Please can someone help us make sense of this, i know the maths, I know the model, what am I doing wrong ?

I know the cooked egg isn't the way to go, but once he has that, he does eat raw for further meals, albeit with to much bone. Am I kidding myself that I can do this raw thing ? and being to soft ?

Any advice would be gratefully respected, please bear in mind I am so new to this and am trying so hard to do the best for Toby, anything negative would reduce me to tears, but again your expert knowledge respected.

Please be gentle with us.

Thanks
Claire.

A dog will not let itself starve to death... It's like you and I, There are times we'd rather wait a couple hours to eat when we are really hungry. I rarely put my dog's food in his bowl to have him instantly gobble it up. Usually takes a while.

I wouldn't start panicking because he doesn't feel like eating. That in itself can transfer to your puppy and he is even less likely to want to eat. Just keep calm and give it a bit later.

Don't make a fuss or try to force him to eat. This again can cause him to not want to eat since he associates food with your stress or frustration. Do make a (positive) fuss if he goes to eat on his own.

Huskies geeneraly don't eat as much as some other breeds. They were built to go LONG distances with minimal food intake. If you puppy doesn't exercise(play) enough he will not really get hungry. Try to feed him after he had some physical activity. This usually triggers hunger and it will teach him he has to ''work'' for his food.

Also I am pretty sure with raw they eat a lot less volume wise than with kibble. Maybe your comparing the two and its to much for him? As long as he is still eating some every day I wouldn't be to worried. My puppy is about the same age and some days he is like a bottomless pit and others he doesn't eat a lot. I keep an eye on his over all body condition and energy level.

Perhaps he has already seen the difference in the filet and the wing and he is really enjoying the back-pressure of bone chewing on his aching puppy gums. If he is teething as you said, the hard chewing may make him feel better. Also, as someone else said, Siberians are very efficient eaters and unless their needs are up from heavy activity they generally eat less than other breeds. They are also smart enough to know a hunger strike can often push mom or dad into giving them something really tasty.
I agree, they won't starve themselves. As long as they appear active and healthy in all other ways, I would feed the dog and not the bowl, meaning if the dog doesn't eat it, pick it up and wait for the next meal. Don't offer a buffet of alternates to try to cajole him into eating as it will make him picky. When he gets hungry he will eat. If you are concerning about the amount of bone, you could try offering a chicken thigh instead of a wing. If he is choosing the wing over the filet because of the teething issue, he will have to get through some of the flesh to get to the bone of a thigh. You could also try freezing the filet. It would be harder for him to chew up and sooth his aching gums, much like when a baby chews on a cold teething ring.

Thankyou all for your replies, I really am overthinking this, aren't I.

1st of all, Rundown, your right, Toby has only ever ate when hungry, he has never been a greedy puppy.
He also is hungry after his walks and play times than any other time, I am now tweaking mealtimes to compliment this, Thank you.

Playing with the big dogs - The volume is a lot less than his kibble, and your right Toby is exactly the same as your puppy, some days he's very keen and other days he's not fussed. I weighed him today and he 9.5 kg he was 7.5 kg last week, so he clearly isn't as malnourished as I seem to imagine. Also since being on Raw he is so much calmer and affectionate, his coat is lovely as ever and his concentration when training seems better. He does seem to be sleeping more, but this is the 1st week he has been on proper walks since he finished his vaccinations (we are advised to wait a week in UK) he soon wakes up when he hears the leash, so thank you for reminding me of this.

Taja - I have given him chicken thigh today and he was fine, he really does love the working around the bone thing, I feel happier as he is getting more meat to bone ratio, with the thigh. I am looking into other chicken parts that offer this, such as breast on the bone. I will certainly give the frozen fillet a try for his next meal, I think this will work well. He really is grinding his back teeth down on toys and his frozen kong. I thought he was a little young to be teething, but he has lost a tooth and a new one is just peeping through. Thank you for reminding me to stay strong. I do have a tendency to pander to him. He is just so adorable.





 

Again, thank you so much, the reassurance has been invaluable. I think I needed a rational outside take on it all.

How much per day are you feeding in lbs?

Also, when my puppy was that age, sometimes he didn't quite know what to do with certain cuts, especially boneless. Have you tried holding it for him to gnaw on? As in, actually holding the chicken filet in your hand and letting him chew on the other end of it? If you're squeamish about this, you could always cut it into smaller pieces. I know in most cases it is recommended to just hold out and keep offering the same thing (which I do with my 11 month old puppy), but I think at 4 months you probably shouldn't hold out for too long. With my puppy, I'll hold out for days, but at that age, I wouldn't have. It seems like a small portion of eggs seems to wet his appetite, so if it's working, why not? You can ween him off of it later, and I'm sure as you introduce other meats, you won't need it anymore.

He's a very cute puppy.

Few things to share:
1: Watch out the frozen fillet, some are with added water, (from on top of my head they are salted water)
2: I normally get mine from Sainsburys chicken portions, which has a good mixture of wings, tight, breast, legs, drumstick. Human grade food with kind to wallet.
3: Don't offer meal A and B at the same tea time. They know if they don't take meal A, you gonna make meal B which is more tasty than meal A. From there, if they don't take meal B, you might get them meal C which could be even more better.
4: You might want to give some probiotic which can be Prokolin or plain yogurt in the meanwhile just keep the gut floral happy.
5: In the future in an event of diarrhea, the best thing for the dog is not giving any food for 24 hr. Please don't put too much human feeling into it. It sounds harsh to us, but this is for their's good.