Hi
I am completely new to this forum and in need of advice. My 8 month old Siberian Husky has been eating Royal Canin food following recommendation by our vet from 8 weeks old. He has thoroughly enjoyed his food until recently when we introduced rice and other bits to his diet (to break up the monotany).

For the last 2 days he has totally given up on eating Royal Canin, he is active, weeing and pooing as per norm and certainly there has not been any drop in weight. He is drinking water and it is very humid during the day and evening where we live. I'm thinking to persevere with the Royal Canin as he may just be trying it on to get the extra rice etc but would greatly appreciate the advice.

Secondly I'm wanting to wean him onto something a little less expensive and would welcome any recommended foods.

Thanks

Try looking at www.dogfoodadvisor.com - I was looking up Royal Canin on there and (this is totally personal opinion / preference) once I did my research, I wasn't very impressed and switched my mind before I bought the first bag.

I've had Stark on Blue Buffalo for about a month/month and a half and he did pretty well on it. The price point is about the same as Royal Canin (if not a bit cheaper), and it's readily available in Petsmart etc.

Right now, I have Stark on a raw diet and he's doing amazing... again though, that is totally personal preference, but I would look at the website and compare what they have to say about the different kibble options available to pet parents.

If he was doing fine on it before it might be because you added stuff to it. Don't. Changing and adding can make them picky. I would try feeding the regular Canin (and yes there are better kibbles out there) and see if he eats.

It may also be because it is humid and hot and I have read on here how many won't eat sometimes when its hot!.

Mine was on Nutro Ultra from breeders, he loved it, but he had constantly mushy pooh, so we kept trying different things. I have found Blue Wilderness to be the best by far. He loves it, and his pooh is better formed than ever.

Have you tryd adding egg or gravy to the meal to get him to eat?
Some huskys can go without meals even days + Sibs can be very manipulative lol. I add different raw meats every so often to avoid boredom with food. Just remember that dogs won't starve themselves. They ll eventually eat.

I agree about trying some other foods. Vets promote / sell Royal Canin, Science Diet, etc., but they are honestly overpriced and not the best quality (dogfoodadvisor is a good resource for getting an idea bout the quality of foods).

Price will determine what food options are available, but as with most things, you get what you pay for, so for better quality food you can expect to pay a bit more; however, with better quality foods / higher protein, you usually don't need to feed as much as a lower quality (heavy grain) food, so it might help off set some of the price difference.

Once you have a good quality food and still having issues with your dog not eating, I've found that adding some Stella & Chewy's freeze dried patties will entice most dogs to eat their kibble...but also not unusual for a husky to skip a meal or two (or three)

waheed.mughal.1232 wrote:

Hi
I am completely new to this forum and in need of advice. My 8 month old Siberian Husky has been eating Royal Canin food following recommendation by our vet from 8 weeks old. He has thoroughly enjoyed his food until recently when we introduced rice and other bits to his diet (to break up the monotany).

For the last 2 days he has totally given up on eating Royal Canin, he is active, weeing and pooing as per norm and certainly there has not been any drop in weight. He is drinking water and it is very humid during the day and evening where we live. I'm thinking to persevere with the Royal Canin as he may just be trying it on to get the extra rice etc but would greatly appreciate the advice.

Secondly I'm wanting to wean him onto something a little less expensive and would welcome any recommended foods.

Thanks

I also had this problem with my husky puppy and it could very well be that your puppy is ready to switch to adult food. When a puppy stops eating their puppy food, they are usually telling you that it is time for the switch. Although, I know that it's not reccommended to change them until they are about 9 months- a year, if not longer, I had to switch my puppy at 7 months and she has been doing great since. Possibly check in with your vet about the switch? Another problem that occured with her is that she for picky (huskies are very picky eaters) I switched her to Blue Buffalo a few days ago from Purina and she seems to be eating that fine.

I will go ahead and agree that I would definitely switch brands- Royal Canine and other "vet specialty" foods are not of high quality and consist of a ton of fillers. For $50 or under, you can get foods with much more beneficial ingredients. If you are wanting to go under the $50 mark, I would look into Nature's Domain if you have a Costco card- it's their own grain free dog food and costs $32-34 for a big bag. You can get some Earthborn formulas for about $45 online, which is my preference for "bargain quality dog food." But aside from the Costco dog food, under $45 for a grain free dog food is not very common.

Did he stop eating a few days after adding the rice and whatnot? His actual food was probably "spoiled" by the rice. It's like giving a kid their veggies and fruits with cupcakes layered on top. They're going to prefer to cupcakes. And dogs are smart- he is probably hoping to get more of the toppings if refusing the kibble. Just use tough love. If he refuses the rest of his meal, pick it up, reoffer it to him the next feeding period. Eventually he will catch on that he gets what he gets. Also, a healthy dog will not starve themselves. He will eat when he gets hungry. I never suggest adding additional food to try to sway them to eat. All that is doing is creating a picky dog. Not saying never to add egg, extra meat, etc- as my dogs did when on kibble- but I didn't do it to persuade them to eat. I could offer a meal with additions or without additions and they still ate it all the same.