Lurcher diet

[rob190364 2,594]

I've had my lurcher on BARF for the last year but she's driving me round the twist with her fussy ways. I'll alternate between chicken, beef, beef and liver, turkey etc. (she won't eat rabbit), but she'll turn her nose up at the food a lot of the time and then when I take it up she starts looking round under the baby chair for scraps of food and whining. When I go to peoples houses who feed kibble she'll make a beeline for it but I don't let her have it cos they feed cheap shit. Alternating food doesn't bother me too much but even when alternating it she isn't getting enough food for my liking.

 

So I'm going to start giving her kibble as well as raw food just to make sure she's eating enough. I've just got a small bag of Hill natures best until I find out what the best food is for a lurcher. Is gain 28 any good? I've read that if you feed them that along with raw meat there would be too much protein in the diet, is that right? Not really bothered about the cost, I just want to make sure I'm getting the best stuff.

 

Any advice?

[Gunner123 103]

A dog will "never" starve itself to death. Give the dog NO choice. If it wont eat what you put in front of it, lift it and try again the next day or feeding time, watch how quickly its appetite will return. Providing you keep all house hold foods away from her, and treats. Fussy dogs are not born, they are created. Its your doing, make it easy on you and the dog and dont be afraid to starve the dog to get it back on track. No excuses.

[rob190364 2,594]

A dog will "never" starve itself to death. Give the dog NO choice. If it wont eat what you put in front of it, lift it and try again the next day or feeding time, watch how quickly its appetite will return. Providing you keep all house hold foods away from her, and treats. Fussy dogs are not born, they are created. Its your doing, make it easy on you and the dog and dont be afraid to starve the dog to get it back on track. No excuses.

Tried that, I was giving her chicken legs every day, tried her in the morning, if she didn't eat them I'd put them in the fridge and try in the evening. Never left food down, never give her treats, never give her scraps. After a week or so of her barely touching it I switched to mince and she had that but then gradually stops eating that aswell. It's alright saying she won't starve herself to death, I know that......but two reasons why I don't want her going for days without eating, one, she's still developing so surely it can't be good to be not eating, and two, when she's not eaten for a day or two and I take her out, she has noticably less stamina. As in, a couple of decent runs and she'll have a lie down for a few minutes. She'll run all day when she's eating properly!

 

I'm going to try giving her kibble in the morning, and then a bit of chicken or beef an hour after taking her out to see if that works better. Don't really know what else to try!

[EskdaleHawks 8]

Find a butcher that is willing to give you lamb breast, lamb rack, fat trimmings, lites ( heart, liver & Lungs ). Cut/chop up the meat and bones, Mix with a little Vitalin with gravy. The dog will eat the lot bones and all, and you will see a big improvement. I had probs with keeping weight on the dogs with all them dried feeds. Until I changed back to BARF, the dogs are now in better health and condition than they have been for years.

[Good Man 196]

Rob, gain 28, is excellent complete, mixed with meat.

It sounds like she was raised on kibble from a pup??

Did the breeder weened them on kibble?

I would try the gain and also feed meat, sardines ect, works for me very well.

[rob190364 2,594]

Rob, gain 28, is excellent complete, mixed with meat.

It sounds like she was raised on kibble from a pup??

Did the breeder weened them on kibble?

I would try the gain and also feed meat, sardines ect, works for me very well.

She was eating the raw meat fine for months, probably 12 months of eating raw, and over time she has steadily has got more and more fussy.....I've no doubt gunner123 is right, it's me that's caused her to be fussy. Probably like he says, too much choice for her. Tried her on kibble this morning, turned nose up at it. I have basically created a pain in the arse!

[gnipper 6,596]

Some dogs just don't like it mate.

[Sirius 1,391]

You need to take charge of this situation and re educate the bitch, she eats what you say remember and I suspect that it wont matter if its dry kibble, raw food she just is a picky eater. Dont start getting into the cycle of changing the diet to suit the dog as you will make the problem a whole lot worse, just stick with your choice of food and try and follow the steps below. This is a very common problem in many young sighthounds and also very common when people allow food to be too readily available ie: drip feeding.

This method works and I have recommended it to literally hundreds of dogs with this problem and it works sucessfully.

 

Start with a 24 hour fast, just water and maybe a biscuit treat.

Cut the dogs food back maybe by 2/3rds and only allow the dog a few minutes to eat that small amount of food, if she refused take it away straight away and repeat again at the next meal (ideally the next day).

Keep feeding the small amount until the bitch comes on and clears the small amount of food straight away every time, slowly (and I mean slowly) increase the volume of food over a period of days and weeks. If the bitch shows signs of refusing food again, cut the food back and repeat the process.

 

A product which also helps is called Malted Kelp Tablets and these should be given one hour before feeding to help make the dog more hungry.

 

Good luck

Edited December 7, 2011 by Sirius

[skycat 6,174]

Excellent advice from Sirius.

 

Another thing: a lot of people can't believe how little some dogs actually need to stay healthy and well. Each dog is different. Some get fat on a tiny amount whilst others never look fat no matter how much you feed them. Could be you are just trying to get the dog to eat too much. Got any photos of the dog? I know its difficult to tell exact condition from a photo, but it could be that she just doesn't need anywhere near as much as you are feeding.

[Good Man 196]

You need to take charge of this situation and re educate the bitch, she eats what you say remember and I suspect that it wont matter if its dry kibble, raw food she just is a picky eater. Dont start getting into the cycle of changing the diet to suit the dog as you will make the problem a whole lot worse, just stick with your choice of food and try and follow the steps below. This is a very common problem in many young sighthounds and also very common when people allow food to be too readily available ie: drip feeding.

This method works and I have recommended it to literally hundreds of dogs with this problem and it works sucessfully.

 

Start with a 24 hour fast, just water and maybe a biscuit treat.

Cut the dogs food back maybe by 2/3rds and only allow the dog a few minutes to eat that small amount of food, if she refused take it away straight away and repeat again at the next meal (ideally the next day).

Keep feeding the small amount until the bitch comes on and clears the small amount of food straight away every time, slowly (and I mean slowly) increase the volume of food over a period of days and weeks. If the bitch shows signs of refusing food again, cut the food back and repeat the process.

 

A product which also helps is called Malted Kelp Tablets and these should be given one hour before feeding to help make the dog more hungry.

 

Good luck

 

good post.

sounds like your feeding her too much Rob.

try the above and see how it goes.

[rob190364 2,594]

Yeah there's recent pics on here http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/226504-fao-dfksome-recent-pics-of-tilly/page__hl__tilly__fromsearch__1

 

Thanks for that Sirius, I'll give it a go. She's not skinny or anything, it just gets on my nerves when she hasn't eaten all day, I feed her and she'll either pick at it or leave it completely, and then as soon as I pick it up she's begging for scraps. And I don't mind buying chicken etc., but it kind of gets a bit irritating when you're throwing away just as muc, if not more, than she's eating.

 

I don't think I'm feeding her too much, I'm taking about the equivalent of a chicken leg, or 500g of mince.....that's not too much for a dog that's out for 90 mins to 2 hours a day surely?

 

It is my fault though, must be because my last dog did the same.........ate like a horse when I got him and the longer I had him the fussier he got. She's not eaten anything today yet so I won't give her anything until tomorrow morning now and then it'll just be a small amount until she's eating it all.

[skycat 6,174]

Nice one Rob: it takes a bit of self knowledge to admit you got it wrong: we've all been there one way or another, and dogs are so good at pushing our buttons: lose the scraps immediately! Sounds as though your dogs have got you wrapped round their paws LOL It is all too easy to spoil an only dog, and of course there's no competition at feeding time to make them guzzle their food fast. Parents sometimes have the same problem with their kids, and the whole food thing becomes an enormous and stressful issue.

 

Let us know how you get on with your new approach, but be aware that the habits of a lifetime, albeit only a year's worth, can take some undoing, so don't give in and feel sorry for the dog if she refuses to eat for a couple of days. You'll get there in the end, but only if you are consistent in your approach. Put food down, if dog doesn't eat within 5 minutes, take it up again. You don't need to throw it away, just cover and put in the fridge, and it is safe to do that with the same food for a couple of days.

[moonlighter 1,164]

I starved mine for 48 hours, which if you feed once a day, means missing out 1 feed. I offen fast them every month/6 weeks as I find it keeps them keen feeders and gives them a good appetite. I never starve them after or before they have worked though. Always on a lazy couple of days.