New rescued stray Husky won't eat

juliefurry

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#1
I recently rescued a 2 year old female husky from a shelter (she was LITERALLY minutes away from being put to sleep when we went to get her). The guy at the shelter said that she had been fed Pedigree but since she had only been at that particular shelter for the one night she hadn't eaten any of it. Well I went out and bought her Eagle Pack and she wouldn't touch it, literally snubbed her nose at it. So I mixed in some canned food with the kibble and she still wouldn't eat it. Yesterday I tried mixing in so chicken brooth in with the food and she still wouldn't eat it. Well today I went out to the store and bought ground beef, and cottage cheese. I mixed in the cooked and rinsed ground beef, rice, and cottage cheese in with the food. I was hoping she would eat something. Well she barely ate it (maybe like two bites). She will eat treats ok though. Has anyone else had this problem? I took her to the vet today. Her teeth look fine, and he said she seems really healthy (except for arthritis in her back legs). Any advice would really be appreciated. Thanks!
 

smkie

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#2
Victor wouldn't eat anything the first month that i had him home.(he was a rescued dog that went from the shelter to a private kennel for a second chance at adoption) .i was frantic to put weight on him and he turned his head away from everything i offered...i ended up stuffing him with tubes of nutrical. Shaffer our stray wasn't too interested in food either the first week (he has since been making up for lost time) so i wonder if it is a stress reaction..Victor now eats twice a day of a good food ( i followed Mordy's advice) and is looking good.
 

juliefurry

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#3
Should I only allow her her kibble or should I give her whatever I can get her to eat. It seems she will eat table scraps (she is an excellent begger) and she will eat most treats. I don't want her to just eat table scraps but I don't know what is the best way to handle this, should I just wait it out?
 

Saje

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#4
I'd feed her whatever she'll eat but when she starts eating regularly don't let her get spoiled!
 

juliefurry

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#5
That's the thing she will eat people food/soft dog treats regularly. She just won't eat her dog food. I want her to eat dog food I don't want her eating people food and treats all the time.
 

moe

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#6
She wont starve herself. put her food down, if not eaten in 10 mins take it away, to be offered later in the day, start as you mean to go on. I have Alaskan Malamutes. had the same problem with my male dog, maybe it has been used to a raw diet? if so kibble is a poor substitute and not very appealing. Northern breed dogs can be extremely stubborn, and although I do think there is an element of unsettlment in new environment, the food issue could also be the dogs way of getting a measure of YOU, to see how far it can push you, dont give tidbits dont give treats, ensure that it has no access to any other food than what you are presenting to it. As you say the dog is healthy, apart from the back legs, BTW if it is having pain this can put it off eating a little. I have given you a link on your other post fro a product that another husky owner has been giving his dogs with arthriis with great results. good luck be firm and give the dog all the love you can.

Mo
 

Purr

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#7
Good advice, Moe! I was going to suggest the same thing; you don't need to feed her table scraps. No healthy dog will starve itself. She'll learn; just don't give in to the "puppy eyes" LOL. Good luck!
 
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#9
Moe and Smkie will put you on the right track here. Just don't make a big deal out of it: put the food down like Moe suggested and walk away and leave it alone for awhile. Come back and check in 10 or 20 minutes (I'm inclined to give a little extra time at first) and pick up whatever's not eaten. Do that two or three times a day and he should get the idea.

There's nothing wrong with a little garnish of lean meat, cooked or raw, just don't give any treats between meals. When he starts eating you can give him a raw bone to work on too.
 

juliefurry

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#10
Well I have sort of good and sort of bad news about the food situation. She will eat the hard food if I feed it to her by hand. If I put it in her bowl she will walk away. I haven't been giving her any treats or people food of any kind. Although my almost one year old daughter is constantly dropping this or that on the floor and she is finding it and eating it. She will however eat canned food from her bowl. I don't know why she will eat one but not the other. And the only canned food she will eat is Pedigree beef and rice. I am trying to move her to a better canned food if she must insist on eating canned. So I have been slowly mixing in Eagle Pack with the Pedigree. Also if I mix in dry kibble with the can she will pick around the kibble. I know canned food is not the best for her but I figured that if that's what she wants then it is worth the extra visits to the vets to get her teeth cleaned.
 

Mordy

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#11
julie, have you tried "pulverizing" the kibble in a blender or food processor and mixing it into the canned food? that way she can't pick it out.

it's easier to grind up the dry kibble rather than soaking it and then blending the wet mixture. add some extra water to the mush right before feeding, since mixing this "kibble meal" into the canned makes a rather sticky mess that can be difficult for the dog to eat.

the statement that canned food is bad for the teeth is just as much of an old wives tale as the claim that dry food keeps the teeth clean. if the canned food is of good quality (and eagle pack definitely is), feeding it is no worse than feeding dry. :)
 

juliefurry

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#12
No, I haven't tried grinding it up yet. I will definetely try that tomorrow morning for her breakfast. I'm glad to hear about the canned not being bad for her teeth. I don't like feeding canned diets mainly for that reason. Plus it's messier than the dry kibble. I will definetely try grinding it in the blender tomorrow morning.
 

Doberluv

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#13
With a big dog like that, he won't starve himself. With a Chihuahua, you can't hold out too long or they get hypoglycemia and can die. So, with your big dog, if it were me, I wouldn't cater to it like that unless you want to forever be feeding canned or grinding up the food or adding this and that or feeding by hand. If you put the food down for 10-20 minutes and then put it away until later in the day, that's all you really need to do. The dog will eat eventually when he feels more at ease and use to his new place. A dog can generally go quite a long time without food. If he eats treats and that's what you're offering him, he may be holding out for those. I'd skip the treats for a while until he settles in and eats his regular food. I'm sure everything will work out. Kudos to you for rescuing him. Good luck.
 

juliefurry

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#14
I haven't given her treats for awhile. I was holding off on all food until she started eating her food from her bowl. I was just excited that she was eating though, because it's good to see her eat. I am going to start enforcing the hard food agian but I always do add some canned to the meal so I figure I will slowly start adding the kibble in and if she doesn't eat the food then she doesn't eat the food. Being a stray though, I don't know what she ate before she came to me. I have a very strong feeling that she wasn't a stray too long before she came to us. I also have a feeling that the previous owners had her really spoiled when it came to food. Right now I am just experimenting and trying to get her to eat whatever dog food that I can at the moment. She has come very far since when I got her though. When I got her she wouldn't even eat the dry kibble if it was offered as a treat, now she thinks it's a treat so she will take it from my hand. So I am making SO progress with her. Slowly but surely I will get her eating the kibble.
 

juliefurry

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#15
Well I have some more bad news for Shelby. She wouldn't eat her canned food today (I gave her the same kind that she ate and liked yesterday). Also she snubbed the hard food too. So she has gone all day today without eating (except for the few scraps that she found on the floor). This dog is REALLY testing me! I have never had a dog go for this long without eating before. She got put on medicine today for her UTI. She's on two different kinds, one is amoxicillian and I forgot the other kind. Maybe she will get an appetite back after this medicine has had a chance to work. I hope so because I am really getting worried about her, and it's a little frustrating to us too.
 

Doberluv

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#16
Try not to worry. Antibiotics often will upset the tummy because they kill, not only the bad bacteria, but all the bacteria which deals with intestinal contents and so forth. So, she may be extra sensative. Keep in touch with your vet and try not to worry. Maybe your nervousness about this is subconsciously seeping into your dog and making her nervous too. In the wild dogs don't always eat every day. They may not get lucky in their hunting quests and go without food for days upon days. Then they get something and gorge away. So, try to relax, as long as your vet knows and has checked her over. Just make sure she has water and just offer her the food a couple of times a day for 15 minutes each and leave it at that. She'll be OK. Don't worry.
 

juliefurry

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#17
I'm trying my best not to worry. Thanks! I'm sure she'll be ok. I'm sure she's just adjusting and trying to see what she can and can't get us to do.
 

Love4Pits

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#18
Exactly she's just adjusting i own 15 Sibes (im a Musher) and 4 of which were shelter dogs. Like said before they will not starve themselves. I think huskies are far smarter then we give them credit for. She sounds like she knows what she's doing. I just would leave food for her and not worry about it don't even pay attention to the food bowl. Your anxiety can be rubbing off on her and making her nervouse about the whole food thing as well (you know dogs know what we're feeling). Also like said before the antibiotics will not make her want to eat anymore then usual.

FYI a Huskies weight ranges from 35-60 lbs this is a healthy huskies weight. Just so you know.
 

juliefurry

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#20
She hasn't been tested for parvo but I know we did the stool and blood sample at the vet when she was first adopted. She will eat just not what I want her to and how I want her to. She will eat kibble from my hand and canned from her bowl (but she will only eat the Pedigree beef and rice). I am trying to get her to eat the Eagle Pack and so far she is doing very well. She doesn't even seem to notice that I am mixing the other canned food in with her regular. The vet weighed her at 47 pounds a week ago.
 

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