So I tried the raw diet with Missy...other than some goat milk she has no interest in anything I've tried. Started off small with some Primal nuggets both frozen and freeze dried, tried patties and even little bits...nothin. The moved up to the good stuff just in case. Got a pack of turkey necks, other two dogs loved them and chomped away for an hour...Missy wouldn't even lick it. I even tried withholding a meal to see if maybe she was hungry enough she would nibble and see that it was yummy. Nope. She just moped and huffed at me until I gave her her junk food.

I know for a fact she loves cooked 'people' food. But I want to make sure if I'm doing this, since it's not going to be raw that she's getting everything her body needs. She get's a vitamin twice a day as is but is there anything else I should be giving her as a supplement if feeding cooked over raw (with no bones of course).

Also does anyone else do this? If so what do you normally feed, how much and how do you cook it? At this point I'm out of options for her being picky, Beniful and Moist and Meaty are some of the worst things I could be feeding her but it's all she will eat and sometimes she'll pick around the kibble and just go for the moist...driving me nuts.

Thanks in advance!

My breeder always said to juse keep giving them the same thing over and over. If they refuse to eat then they're not really hungry, so you can take the food away and just refuse to give her anything (food related) until the next scheduled feeding time. Huskies tend to be more stubborn and your dog may try to hold out for more than a day, so you maybe have to repeat this cycle several times. Huskies are also extremely smart though and won't let themselves starve, eventually she'll get the memo and reluctantly eat what you put out for her. Of course, if you give in and feed her "junk food" that will only make her more stubborn in the long run.

I personally don't feed raw or cook my dog meals, too much time/effort/money for a broke college student such as myself. But my dog is very picky too so I know what that's like. It's a game of wit, stubborness, and patience; good luck!

AMB wrote:

My breeder always said to juse keep giving them the same thing over and over. If they refuse to eat then they're not really hungry, so you can take the food away and just refuse to give her anything (food related) until the next scheduled feeding time. Huskies tend to be more stubborn and your dog may try to hold out for more than a day, so you maybe have to repeat this cycle several times. Huskies are also extremely smart though and won't let themselves starve, eventually she'll get the memo and reluctantly eat what you put out for her. Of course, if you give in and feed her "junk food" that will only make her more stubborn in the long run.

I personally don't feed raw or cook my dog meals, too much time/effort/money for a broke college student such as myself. But my dog is very picky too so I know what that's like. It's a game of wit, stubborness, and patience; good luck!

We have been playing the hunger strike game for almost 6 years now and it turns into health issues and a very low energy level which isn't great for her. We have had ultrasounds done so we ruled out quiet a few things but the lack of eating became a real problem over just an annoying stubborn thing.

Roo, there are that small percentage of dogs who will eat them selves sick and on the opposite extreme there are those who don't eat enough to keep themselves healthy - we have some *really* odd dogs, you know that??

Generally the advice to let them not eat if they don't feel like it is workable ... I have one who eats when he's hungry (just like his master) and I'm concerned about his health but the vets continually give him high scores for being in great shape - even if he could afford to gain about 10 pounds.

I'm sorry that your pup and a lack of eating is a problem because, like so many things, they can't tell us what the problem is ... and that's frustrating.

... and my response to the topic is "Cook for the dogs??? Most of the time I don't even cook for me!!!"

Roo........since we have compared notes a ton of times..........Miya has ate maybe every other day for the last week. I play tough love with her at times, and sometimes it is the battle of wills. Because you are stressed I will give you a few things to try, but I am seriously running out of ideas for you, and I feel almost as frustrated as you. You have to stop stressing, I know easier said than done, but I feel like Missy feeds off of your stress, they are that smart. Set up a schedule and stick to it, if she eats she eats if she doesn't pay no attention. stick to one type of kibble the kind you want to feed her. Pick 2 different treats and only 2 that you feel is healthy, have one being a long lasting item (you can rotate like I do raw meaty bone one day, bully stick another, cow ear) the bully and cow is only if she eats 1 meal in the day. he raw meaty bone is a supplement but also something that is not everyday, and used more for a day she may not eat a meal. I have found with Miya she needs food enticement, as in, if I don't hand feed her to get her appetite going she will not eat at all. So here is my routine....

Miya is not a morning eater so I give her a happy hip it's by dogs well and it is specific it's this

https://www.chewy.com/dogswell-happy-hips-lamb-strips-dog/dp/101799

I rotate between the lamb, duck, chicken, I give her one in the morning when I eat breakfast. There are even days where I have to break it up and hand feed her to jump start her appetite, she has never refused to eventually eat it. This is about the only treat i can get her to eat, it is pretty nutritious, not a complete meal. She goes the whole day with just that. I will put a half cup of kibble in her bowl, she rarely eats it. At dinner time for me and my husband I add another half cup to one cup, so max 1.5 cups of kibble in her bowl. If I am making a steak I buy bone in and debone it, I cut of small pieces of meat and fat away from my main piece for me and leave some meat on the bone, I hand feed her raw may be 4 bites. To get the weirdo going she will eat mainly the fat and grizzle as a first bite ( I am being super specific so you get where I am going, for some reason she wants that fatty piece, I don't argue with her I give that first fatty piece, and the next piece less fat more meat and so on). I then cook either 3 ounces of turkey burger, if we are having hamburgers then it's 3 ounces of hamburger, if I am making chicken I cut up some chicken bites, I use the turkey if it's something I do not want her to have, like if I eat pizza. If I am making beef I feed a few pieces raw, otherwise that day I make turkey burger for her. The cooked meat that I make I add liquid to it and hope there is some amount of fat, this gets poured over her kibble while hot. I stir the meat, kibble and both around and let it soak in. When I am ready to eat she eats as well, I make her sit and wait then release. I find that if she eats while we eat she will pretty much eat her food. No giving in and giving some of your food. If she eats all of her food she gets a cow ear, bully stick, or raw meaty bone(typically the nights I make steak), if she doesn't eat all of it then I leave it down, because hahaha she is a late night eater and we are all to bed she finishes her meal at 2 am, heard her and have seen her do it. Then again, some mornings when I get up it's still in her bowl, I dump it and begin another day of Miya's crazy eating routine.

I am going to be honest, I will not cave in and give her what she wants, it may appear that I do but I really don't, I have worked this out as a meal plan that involves her, she wants to eat what we are eating, so I stick to my guns on her kibble. Honestly, I have thrown out maybe a cup of kibble once in a while, because she will eventually figure out this is the routine, I better eat what I got. I don't feed much, max is 1.5 cups of kibble, normally winter time, or if we had a long hike. Normally it's a cup of kibble. I have her in that routine, and it works for the most part, I do get a cup of kibble in her, because I limit the amount of meat I add in. When we started out I was ok that she ate just the meat some how some of the kibble ended up in her belly, even if it was a half cup. Tonight she refused to eat plain kibble, because, I had a long day and didn't cook, we had pizza, she had 8 bites of leftover steak from the other night, she did manage a frozen meaty bone, and of course her breakfast, the frozen was because she wouldn't eat her plain kibble, but I do know she got some meat, some bone, and that breakfast, tomorrow, I will give her a proper topper for her kibble and she will eat it all, I am sure......

If my routine is not doable or she still refuses, and stop giving her the junk dog food, I'd rather my girl eat the way I feed than the crap, she does get the good kibble, at least 5 days a week and at least close to a cup every day she does eat. I suggest you contact this person....she has bred and raised, and worked gsd's for over 30 years, and she has developed a supplement for dogs, she has 4 different items. I have not gone this route, because Miya eats enough kibble, imo, to keep her healthy, she is thin, she could gain 10 pounds and not be fat, but Miya prefers being thin. She has a wonderful soft coat, pleanty of energy, maybe too much, lol, she is healthy. If Missy will not give in to a similar tough love meal planning like I do then please contact this lady and see if she has a suggestion as to a supplement to increase appetite or to get the proper vitamins Missy needs.

http://www.carmspack.com/feed-sentials/

This woman is far more knowledgeable about dogs in general than some vets, and far more experience in feeding and nutrition than even I am, which at times it's probably not much. I found a way to be successful, however, if down the road Miya goes back to her non eating ways I will be in contact with her, because I trust her knowledge. Good luck, I know this is long, but after 3.5 years of working on food for my girl, I gladly share what has worked for me, it is not at all what I would recommend someone with a picky puppy, but only to someone who is struggling like I have. Most dogs get over it and will eat what you give, and then there is the like 1% of all huskies (and some other breeds) that just wont budge for whatever reason. please continue to update.

Recently, I have switched from canned food to preparing food for my dogs. For example, I used feed Zhukov a big scoop (about a cup) of kibble with some warm water mixed in to make some "gravy" and about 1/4 of canned food, with the rest of the canned going to Colby.

Now, I started buying ground chicken, chicken livers, and ground turkey at the store. If I break down the pricing, it is actually cheaper this way. I boil the livers, saving the water, then brown the chicken and turkey together. I chop up the livers and mix the meat in and refrigerate it. At meal times, I will mix some kibble with the meat, heat up the juice a little, and pour it over the mix. I usually hide his vitamins in the mix and he LOVES it! For a special dinner, I do the same but with ground beef, a couple of hotdogs, and beef liver.

I have found that I am saving money and they are loving their meals again. As a bonus, Zhukov does not have horrible gas anymore!

i started cooking meals for my boys when my senior chihuahua Joey stopped eating and refused to eat every store bough food i tried.
Leo gets half kibble and half home made food. they love their food.
i posted a recipe on here: https://www.itsahuskything.com/t15131p25-joey-the-prunie-chihuahua if you want to try this one and see how it goes. not sure which page has it but its in there some where.

Mark - liver is hugely high in Vit A (which is fat soluble and thus stored in the body unlike watersoluble vitamans which get pee'd out if more than needed) so you want to be careful not to feed too much. I would not feed liver every day and you might want to re-think feed him the water it was boiled in.

Oh, wow. Thanks Amy! I am getting ready to make a new batch tomorrow, so I will re-work the ingredient list. They didn't seem to be a fan of the beef liver. Both of them picked around it.

I had started using boiled chicken livers crumbled into pee-size for training treats when I ran across this info. Too bad, he loved them. Now, puppy is flirting with being overweight and hubby loves to treat him so I'm think of using boneless skinless chicken breast. Either made into a jerky or boiled/broiled and cutting into tiny pieces. And I no longer plotz about missed meals - I now celebrate missed meals and threaten the husband with mayhem if he tries to entice the big boy to eat