I have a female husky weighing 36 lbs. and she is 3 1/2 yrs old. Let me start of by saying my husky has been to the vet and got a clean bill of health so theres nothing wrong there. The vet thinks she is just that way naturally, but recommended she be put on Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy to help absorb the nutrients she eats. That may work, but my husky chooses to eat about a cup a day! She has always been picky but it seems it has gotten worse over time. She used to be on Pedigree, then we switched her to blue buffalo wilderness (after reading the ingredient list), lost interest in about a week so switched her to wellness core, then recently to nutro high energy after a recommendation. Ive tried leaving the bowl down all day but that led to food guarding so we stopped that. we now feed her at three different times throughout the day but she will just sniff it and walk away. I walk her about a mile a day and before the temp. got too hot, used to rollerblade also so she does get excerise. I want to know if anyone has similiar issues at this age. Ive seen similiar post but their issues seem to be for month old huskies. I will add pictures as soon as i figure out how to do it lol. Thanks in advanced for the help

Welcome, another Charlestonian!

Her weight sounds fine and so does her eating amount. Honestly I wouldn't worry and just practice a little tough love. She sounds healthy and probably self regulating which is quite normal for the breed.

I have a 7.5 year old male who weighs 50 lbs and he only eats 1 and 1/4 cup of kibble on the days I feed kibble instead of raw. Even then sometimes he self regulates doesn't eat the entire 1.25 cups he's given.

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Hi Huskyluv, great to see another husky lover in Charleston! I appreciate your reply. The vet said something similiar, but i wanted to get another opinion on it as well, especially from another husky owner. I posted the pictures and what worries me is her frame. Her ribs can be seen when she plays and you can actually feel her spine when petting her back.

She does taper down quite a bit, not uncommon for younger huskies but at her age one would expect her to be filling in more. Is she still eating a cup a day or is she eating less than that?

I hesitate to recommend switching foods a lot because you don't want to create a picky eater but she does look like she could use a little more meat on her bones. Really her waist is all that stands out to me.

Satin balls (you can find lots of good recipes if you google it) are a good way to put on weight quickly if that's something you might be interested in trying.

Have you tried adding a bit of warm water to her food to see if that might help? I know some people try toppers or mix-ins to entice a dog to eat but I don't want to suggest that unless it's something you are willing to do long term as you don't want your dog to hold out for toppers because she expects it. The good thing is that she doesn't look really bad so you do have some wiggle room to show some tough love if that's what the situation calls for.

I am assuming that her stool has been firm and formed when she does have bowel movements?

She does look a bit thin, normal for a growing Husky but at 3 1/2 she should have filled in by now. The satin balls are a quick help, if she'll eat them.

Cheyenne wasn't too interested in food either for some time. I started mixing in stuff that smelled good (off the top of my head I think we used Merrick wet foods- specifically the turducken) and mixed that in with her kibble and warm water. She devoured it- most days. Cut the wet back little by little until she was fine eating plain dry. We then moved to raw and she would always eat the pork, but wouldn't want to touch the bone in chicken. At which point I would make her sit in the crate with the chicken until she ate it. And if she did she got the pork lol

Have you tried confining her with her food for set amounts of time? For example I would crate Cheyenne and set a 15 minute timer and take away the food after it was up. I wouldn't be in there fussing over her and I think being alone with the food (and it being tempting with the wet and warm water) helped her get over her not eating business. If you don't have a crate a bathroom or laundry room works well...

Have you thought of raw? If it's not an option then don't worry about it - but I know from experience that it helped maintain weight much faster than kibble on my female.

Now, I would worry more about getting her on something with dense caloric content per cup of kibble. If you can afford Acana or Orijen, that might be the best. And when she gets bored, don't switch it. Just leave it. Orijen has a little higher protein content per cup

mheath, I looked into the raw options and orijen but the vet also mentioned that higher protein doesn't always mean she will put on weight, which is why we are trying out the prescription dry food. Ive always been afraid of trying the raw option mainly because she is so picky. Is raw food supposed to be more palatable compared to blue buffalo or orijen?

Hi there, I have a very similar case to yours. Ghost is extremely picky with food and he is 14 months. He has a thin waist too, but I'm starting to realize that it is just as he is. He gained a little weight on his upper body but his waist is still thin and he weights something around 28 kg (61 pounds).

Tip #1

Ghost favourite thing is when we mix a little of chicken in his food. My mother cooks the chicken in hot water then she takes of the bones and let the chicken in small pieces (sorry I don't know how you say it in english but it is as if you were preparing chicken for a little child). Then every time we put his food (dry food) we mix a little of the chicken. He eats all together, sometimes he leaves a little and come back asking for more chicken, so we put him another spoon with chicken and mix it all, he eats everything. Notice that we only put a spoon or 2 in each meal so there is chicken for many meals W also mix a little of the water from the chicken so some part of the food gets the taste of it, he seems to like it.

Tip #2

You can ask for some vitamins to your vet to open her appetite at least till she gains a little more weight. We started giving Ghost some that the vet prescribed and sometimes he went to the food to eat, we didn't even have to call him.

Tip #3

This one may seem stupid but it works with Ghost. I go to his food and I start saying "mine, mine mine!" He comes running like crazy to eat and tries to stop you. Sometimes I a put a hand in one of the grains so I can hide it, he start taking my hand out with his paw and when I lift the hand he eats it, and may start eating the rest. Sometimes I put a little of his food on the floor cause he seems to like eating from there too ( who knows what goes in that head...) He is a husky, he loves to play!

Good luck

If I remember something more I'll post again.

mcorea wrote:

mheath, I looked into the raw options and orijen but the vet also mentioned that higher protein doesn't always mean she will put on weight, which is why we are trying out the prescription dry food. Ive always been afraid of trying the raw option mainly because she is so picky. Is raw food supposed to be more palatable compared to blue buffalo or orijen?

I feed raw and I advocate it. However, I do not hate kibble and I think that for many owners that is the best option for them. Feeding raw has changed my dogs life. I have never seen then healthier, happier or in better condition, and I fed really good kibbles. Since I switched to raw I only had Delilah attempt to skip a meal once, in the beginning when she didn't understand hwo to eat a neck. Since then, I've had no issue. And she is picky too. She would just get by on a cup a day and barely weighed 32lb. Now she weights 37...it's amazing what that 5lbs can do.

I do not tend to side with vets on nutrition, unless they have actually had training in it, but most do not. I now have a holistic vet who also feeds raw and feels that feeding the diet can cure most issues with dogs. It was a good choice for me and my vet, maybe not for everyone.


I do want to ask though, what prescription food is she on?

Hello, I thought I would chime in on this one..my Nijaa will be 1 at the end of April..She is also a very finnicky eater, to the point where she would go days without eating..It didn't matter what we fed her..she did not want it!! She was recently spayed and my vet thought she looked a little thin (she is 39 pounds)..He recommended royal canin but we had already tried that for months and she didn't like it..I decided to go to Global Pet in hopes of getting some advice..They recommended orijen kibble and supplementing with tripett...Oh my goodness, I've never seen her eat a meal so quickly. She absolutely loved it!!! The only down fall is that it's a little pricey.

tripe is definitely a way to get dogs eating! Smells like cow poop - but they love it

mheath0429 wrote:

I do want to ask though, what prescription food is she on?

She is currently on royal canin gastrointestinal high energy. Shes been on it for a week or so. She will eat it sometimes, but she isnt crazy about it either. I do want to thank ghost, sherryq and everyone else on the tips for feeding. I guess im not used to a dog being so picky that it can go throughout the day without any food. Btw does tripe need to be cooked or can it be fed raw?

You're welcome Marvin..you can buy tripe in a can.