Hi, I'm getting really worried i have a female husky who is 13 months old and will hardly eat? I think it's down to me spoiling her and giving her to much choice! I have tried the she will eat when she's hungry for 3 days and she literally ate no more than a handful. She loves her veg like carrots and sweet peppers Brussel sprouts etc! But again keeps only when she feels like eating them. (I had a male husky for 10 years and had no problems with him) she's on barking heads biscuits but again will only eat a little. She isn't ill as she will happily eat a dog chews/bones. I think I'm giving her to much choice and she's become spoilt. I try her with chicken, boiled mince,lambs liver etc and she will eat tiny bits of them she now hates wet dog food! As i said she will happily eat dog chews/bones and is healthy. Sometimes i hear her wake up about 4am and eat all her food in the bowl but then that's very rare she does that. She sleeps on my bed and some mornings i hear her tummy making gurgling sounds so i rush to give her food but she turns her nose up. I heard that huskies will only eat as much as they burn off the calories which i don't know if it's true? Sorry for the long message I'm just getting worried. She's not really thin but she's slim and needs to put some weight on. Thank you for reading this.
Forgot to add that she keeps itching and biting her skin/fur and bites her paws, her skin is a little bit flakey/dandruff but she has normal toilet like no loose stools.

Many huskies will self regulate their food. If they are getting less exercise or it is very hot then they will often eat less. Huskies should have an obvious tuck, or curve to their waist. You should be able to feel the last couple ribs when you run your hand down their side lightly. You shouldn't have to press down much to feel the ribs. This is a sign that your husky is in good condition weight wise. they should be svelte, but not bony. How much are you feeding currently. At 13 months she is an adult and should naturally start eating less than she did as a growing puppy since her growing is near done. She may do some more filling out but will do that at the lower adult amount of food.

What do you feed her? I see you mentioned barking heads but which formula do you usually feed? The itching and biting at skin and feet is a sign of allergies. Oftentimes it is food related. Grain is more often than not a culprit. If she is already on a grain free food then it could be the protein source. My male is allergic to chicken. A food allergy can also cause stomach upset so the gurgling might be due to that and not hunger pains.

I agree with Jenn, how much and what food are you feeding? Some huskies are strange, they know certain foods don't agree with them so they avoid them, ask me how I know, lol. Dependent on what and how much, to add, I would cut out all treats, no vegies, no biscuits, and only offer kibble, use kibble for treats and for training. I also do recommend that if you feed vegies that they should be pulverized and made into smoothies or lightly steamed, boiled, cooked, dogs can not process raw vegies like us humans can, they lack certain enzymes that break down the fibrous outside of vegies and fruit. So it literally goes in and out the same way giving no health benefits.

I go to your food of choice, feed twice day an appropriate amount for her optimum weight, leave the food for 20 minutes, remove it until next feeding. She gets water, nothing else in between. If, after a week to two weeks of this she is not eating and losing weight to an unhealthy level time for very evaluation.

Thank you for all your replies, to be honest she is so fussy and i can only be to blame as i have spoiled her. I free feed her and 9 times out of 10 i have to hand feed her by putting food in her mouth to get the taste and then she starts eating. She hates wet food so i give her barking heads biscuits and try her throughout the day with cooked chicken, boiled mince, lambs liver veg etc. I know I'm giving her to much of a variety and she plays on it. I think i need to try what you all said by feeding and taking it away after 20 minutes. The staff in the pet shop said to keep her on puppy biscuits for a few more months? This is all new to me as my last husky was brilliant with food. This husky isn't food oriented with training treats either she's more interested in toys. She does love chicken but I'm thinking she could be allergic to it.

Oh forgot to mention she nearly always burps after eating anything? Like literally if she ate a handful of biscuits she will burp. Is that something to worry about or is that a good thing as i heard about bloat which is where they can't let gas out.

OP see my post down below.

I suspect with the steady availability of food throughout the day she has become a nibbler. I strongly recommend an initial, strict feed/no feed time. Let natural hunger develop.

Also, as Jenn mentioned, the itchy skin and chewing at the paws can indicate allergy. In addition to food, environmental allergies can also be culprit... Pollens, molds, dust... Lots of things. Unlike humans who respond to inhaled allergens with stuffy nose, sneezing, a dogs allergic response is much more likely to be in the skin. (Though, as Jenn unfortunately knows, the allergic response is not exclusively on the skin, can be respiratory, just not as common. )

Louise.......... 1) please feed only the biscuits, your pup has not really had a prolonged time of eating healthy, not eating a balanced diet for the first year of her life means she has not built up any reserves. It would /could be detrimental if you feed at a time frame of eat this and pick up. Free feed and monitor how much she is eating. If she eats one cup a day then good, continue on. Do not add any thing else, no treats, no people food just her biscuits.

2) I have an allergy dog, she chewed on her paws, continuous ear infections, goopy eyes, dry coat, stinky coat, discovered she is allergic to chicken, flax and eggs. Once I removed those items all symptoms disappeared. Chicken is the most common dog allergy, followed by beef. At her age, I would be pretty for sure she would be allergic to a food item. Jenn's dog is older and has a wealth of other physical ailments that causes his issues.

3) she is considered an adult, and huskies are a medium sized breed, the info that the pet store gave you is for large breeds. She will do fine on a grain free, with out chicken all life stage food, or you can feed adult food. Even those people with large breeds typically switch to all life stage food anywhere from 6 months and up.

4) If the food contains grains that is likely the cause of burps. In my girls case it was eating to fast. Since yours does not eat much I would suspect it may be grains that is causing this. I am not familiar with what you're feeding, however, I have recommended in the past with folks in the UK to feed Eden, or Akela. If you are not in the UK, do you mind telling us what country you live in? That would be much easier to recommend a food that might work better for your girl.

Edit: I looked up the food you are feeding, and it is fine, I am guessing you are feeding ones with chicken and or grains in it, and there are a few that contains no grains and no chicken, the food overall looks good, so I would just switch over to grain free and no chicken.

Hi thank you all for the information, with her barking heads biscuits i feed her salmon and trout grain free flavour and I'm going to stop giving her any chicken or beef as i do think she is allergic to them. She does love the barking heads biscuits so i will just keep her on them as they are a complete food. When i asked the vets if i could get her checked for any food allergies they said it's very hard to pinpoint the exact allergies? I really would like to find out as i don't want her feeling ill or itching. Would you recommend i bath her as i used to bath my last husky every 4 months as he used to get so dirty but developed a hot spot. Thank you

As Renee said, my dog is older and most definitely has other issues. Some of his respiratory issues aren't from allergies and are most likely from heartworms. There are rare dogs who will show allergies out of the normal but most all dogs will show itching or a yeast build up that can cause a funky smell or ear infections. Dogs aren't people so we have to look outside people symptoms for complete answers. It takes 4 to 6 weeks for a food allergy to work completely out of a dogs system, so while eliminating things should show improvement when you figure out what is causing the issue it will take time for it to completely clear up.

Mine get bathes twice a year, usually after they blow coat since it makes their skin itchy. Most huskies don't need bathed. Most if getting dirty will do with a rinsing and don't need much more. Just brushing regularly will keep them fairly clean. If she is developing a funky odor that makes you want to bathe her that is probably yeast from allergies.

Allergy testing for food is a chunk of money for not reliable results. Food is best done through an elimination diet where you get rid of pretty much everything she eats except a couple things and see if she gets better, then start adding things back one at a time and seeing if there is a change. If there's a change for the worse, like excess itching, then that is a trigger food and you stop it. Most likely chicken is the problem. It is common to have issue with it. While a bratty eater you might have she does need to eat.

Louis,
I don't have anything to add as much good information has already been said.  You made a comment and I'm going to pick up on it.  Since I've a couple of years on you (okay, I have a lot of years on you) I think we older folks - especially if we're living alone, as I am - have a tendency to baby our dogs.  Now, don't get me wrong, I baby mine to a degree but when I added a third a while back I've had to look at how I treat them - differently.  I used to free feed my male on the front porch and I'd watch him nibble his way through a couple of cups in a day or three.  I've had to change to strict, separate feeding since he wasn't getting much at all - the new female was guarding the food and not letting him eat.  

Except for an occasional topping ( mainly fat / grease from cooking ) to induce him to eat more, my pups (er, they're all 5 yrs old or more) all get two cups of kibble a day ... if they don't eat it, it gets picked up and held till their next meal.  It's all too common with Husky owners to actually think their dogs are underweight (well, their vet says he is and friends and neighbors say he is) when in fact, they're, mostly, normally slim.  As was already said, they tend to eat less than a "normal" dog so, all told, we do have a tendency to overfeed.

I'm still working on my first cup of coffee, so if this doesn't make any sense you can blame it on the fact that I'm not really awake yet.

Al, makes perfect sense. And totally agree with Jenn on not spending money on food allergy testing. Elimination diet is the way to go. My son's dog, Archer, is seasonally itchy and chews himself. At first we thought it was food but just as we were going to start well eliminating... Waiting for bag of food to be gone, seasons changed and itching vanished. Only to return on late spring. Suspect p pollens, probably grass. He's much better at his house where he spends most of his time inside. Here, b he's outside all the time playing with my boy.