nutrition question

10 week old pup has gone off the puppy food that she was weaned on and i've tried other specialised puppy foods but she will only eat cooked meat such as ham and chicken or some raw mince . Do you think there is something wrong with her or is she just spoilt and will it do her any damage if she doesn't get a "complete" puppy food.I would appreciate any feed back.

Thanks Shirley

As you can see she's not starving

 

Some dogs are just picky. Often if you decide what YOU want them to eat and then ONLY offer that and don't make a fuss over them, they will eventually decide to eat. There may be some missed meals along the way, but you should ignore that.

However, with a puppy I would imagine you want to be careful. Someone with more puppy experience may want to comment on this.

As far as a "complete" food.....most people here know my views on this and are probably running away now. To make it brief - kibble is not good for dogs (or cats). Think of it like commercial human infant formula versus breastmilk - science just can't replicate what nature has already made! And eating the exact same food day in and day out leads to imbalances and deficiencies and can lead to food allergies. Also, most nutrients were not designed to be ingested all together at every meal - they are designed to be eaten separately!

Dogs and cats on kibble tend to get the same old age diseases that humans do - arthritis, kidney disease, liver disease, thyroid disease, diabetes, etc - not to mention allergies and cancer. These diseases were a LOT more rare before commercial kibble existed.

I feed raw MEATY bones, whole fish, some eggs, some canned fish, and organ meats. I go by the prey model, which says the closer you can get to whole prey food items, the better it is. Also, the more variety the better - chicken, pork, beef, rabbit, buffalo, duck, turkey, kangaroo, etc.

Some people do feed cooked food. You CAN make it work, however it is not as good for the animal. Cooking destroys some nutrients and changes others. Also, you can't feed bones that have been cooked (they can splinter and cause lots of damage inside your dog) so you have to work harder at getting the balance right. Some people grind bone and while that's not ideal, at least the nutrients are still there.

So I guess what I am saying is - I bet she would LOVE a raw diet and would eat it avidly. If you want to do cooked food, it takes a lot more work and commitment on your part and is not as healthy as raw - but it IS possible. If you want to go this route, find out how to do it correctly! Meat alone is NOT enough for a dog and she will have many problems on a totally meat diet. If you want her to eat kibble, then select a GOOD kibble (such that it is) and put it down. Don't fuss over her if she doesn't eat it.

Do check with your vet to make sure she is gaining weight properly and make sure she has plenty of water to stay hydrated.


Jamiya

 

Sounds like she's just spoiled and is holding out for the good stuff. If you want her to eat her dog kibble I would just put down 2 meals per day for about 15mintues each...uneaten portions are removed. This way she will learn to eat when you put down her meal...you will probably have to cut out the people food for now to accomplish this though.
If you prefer to prepare your own diet for her, I agree with Jamiya on doing some research before hand so you can balance her meals properly.

 

will she eat those pre made rolled up meats? dogs usually find those tasty and good brands are balanced. im not sure if giving her tough love with food in the puppy stage is a good idea. vets advised me to do that with kuma when she was a pup. it completely backfired. she would only pick at her meals so now she is very small for her breed. maybe find a home prepared meal, whether is be cooked or raw, that she likes and ask a vet for a good supplement and dosage. we now feed kuma chicken mince, brown rice and vitamin/flaxseed oil supplement. she loves it. if only i had fed it to her when she was a pup and THEN experimented once she had finished growing. ](*,)

 

If she has been solely eating the meat, wean her off slowly. If it is an addition, cut it out immediately and entirely. That includes treats. For training, use a food portion from her meal.

 

The short answer is that what you're feeding now isn't balanced, and some of it isn't good for her as a diet (for example, ham is usually very salty, and while some salt is fine, that much isn't very good for them). It soudns as if she's just "trained" you to give her the tasty stuff, not that she actually has a health problem. If you do want to continue feeding her a homemade diet, there are ways to do so and maintain a good balance of nutrients (I don't know of any links for that sort of info though, so maybe someone else can help). If you want her to eat dog kibble, I'd do as nern suggested, she'll learn to eat what she's given or not at all, then you can go back to treating her with occasional goodies, just not overloading. She's very cute, btw

 

Thank you folks for all your advice on diet and nutrition , i kind of go along with what jamiya is saying.I think a lot of the food we eat and that which we feed our animals is just crap that does nothing but line the pockets of the food manufacutring business.I've been a vegitarian for many years now, i made that decision because of factory farming etc, but my partner based his decision to go veggie based on all the stuff they were adding to meat fo human consumption so who knows what they're putting in pet food!
I do belive that natural and homeopathic route is the best one so I'll do some more research on behalf of Saffys health.
Shirley