Dog no longer eats dry dog food?

[RED XIII]

My doberman, 1 years old has stop eating his dry dog food. We
have been feeding him Iams puppy since he was born. He had no problem eating it and was growing and gaining weight consistently. Recently, he stopped eating any dry dog food. I have bought him other dry dog food, Science diet and Pinnacle, and he still is not eating dry dog food.

When he was younger he had bad diarrhea a couple of times and we gave him the bland rice, chicken breast, and broth. Now it seems like thats the only thing he will eat. Rice with chicken or Rice with Tuna.

He will only eat a handful of dry dog food if you hand feed him and throw it around the kitchen floor.

Anyone know what is going on?

[FL_dobes]

Don't know why he'd stop eating all dry food, but most smaller shops that carry foods like Orijen, Taste Of the Wild, Evo.....etc.....usually have sample bags. Maybe try a couple to see if something interests him.

The rescue we had was on a bland chicken & rice diet for a few weeks, and it wasn't easy getting her back on dry food but we started adding the dry food into the chicken/rice mix as if we were introducing something new (1/4 the amount then slowly increased).

[Sue J]

This might seem silly but have you checked his teeth/gums/roof to see if the dry hurts his mouth? Is he starting to lose weight? We mix some wet with Jett's dry food and sorta smash it together because she has some missing teeth. She thinks it's a big deal to watch us prepare her special meal, gets silly about it when I tell her how good this is gonna be. Then she has to sit and wait until I tell her she can eat it. He head doesn't come out of the bowl until it's gone and sometimes she tells us she wants more!

[Dobs4ever]

When a dog goes off food the two big things I fear are CAH - I would have a full blood panel done to elminate all the major problems like liver and Is he pooping. Very important or you could be looking at a blockage.

[Big Dogs]

I would have him checked by a vet and have a blood test done if this has gone on for any length of time. If it's only been two or three days and he is pooping fine and urinating ok the other possibility is he is trying to manipulate you. Dogs learn very quickly which people and what to do to get the response they want especially for food. Does some one feed him food other than his own? Is he throwing up? Another sign to look at is his activate level.

[jelly8bean]

3rd on Vet check.. not normal for him to just go off. Unless there is more to the story?

[Cinammo]

Try him on canned food. I may disputed on this point but a diet of only canned food is okay for dogs as long as it contains the right ingredients. My dogs only eat canned now after a consultation with a nutritionist. It's more expensive and it is a myth that dogs need dry kibble to clean their teeth. A weekly tendon can do the job/bully stick. But I would have him see a vet like all suggested.

[Dobs4ever]

Cinammo - you are so right - I strongly disagree wtih canned food. Vets get about 1 hour of nutrition in school and really don't have time to study it later. They get tremendous kick backs to promote certain dog food in their office so that is what they recommend. Even with bully stick and raw chews canned food will still rot their teeth faster unless you are also brushing daily. Once a week will not keep the teeth clean enough.

Dental care is critical as bacteria on the teeth lead directly into the blood stream and can cause infectons to the heart. In humans poor dental care has been reported to shorten the lifespan by 3 to 5 years. I would not gamble with canned food. You would have to pay a lot to find some that had decent ingredients and I doubt you will find it in any pet store - if you did it would be very very costly.

As long as any medical problem has been ruled out then if kibble is all he is offered he will eat it. If he is getting table scraps then he is smart enough to hold out for scraps. Stop the scraps and he will eventually eat. He will not starve himself. - when he gets hungry enough he will eat. Just make sure it is a high quality kibble.

[Sue J]

Red- Any update yet?