Akita gone off dry food .... not eaing..

jo06555

HI , i have a 14 month old female akita and im not happy with her eating . She has never being a big eater even from the first day , i taught this was due to bein runt to the litter but she did start eating regularly on dry food "once a day" and then at around 8 months she went off the food which was called (best for my dog) 49 euros . She would refuse it and only nip at bits and pieces .. i tried other foods with no joy then she started eating pedigree vital for me so i taught happy days ! but in the last 2 months again its started ,i had bein giving her fish mixed with nuts so i assume she has got taste for other foods and will not eat full bowl of nuts alone now iv tried mixing egg, fish ,wet food but all she does now is lick the juices and pick out best bits she wants while leaving nuts in bowl its so frustrating as i bring her for a walk everyday for appetite, some days she could eat a bowl of nuts no problem but not everyday and i want to get her built up as she is thin , she does not seem sick as i was getting so worried i cooked up chops 3 days ago and she swallowed them down licking bowl clean plus she can pick out food she likes and scratch at door for our food if we eating, so she is very clever, i just need to know how do i get her built up , do i persist with dry food or is their other options not too expensive either thanks hopefully someone can help .

Rommie

Hey Op, what weight is she? My housemate has an underweight rescue akita and it really has been a battle to put weight on him. If she isn't losing weight I wouldn't be too worried, but I would stop mixing stuff in. Get her back onto her bowl of dry food, if she doesn't eat it take it away, rinse and repeat until she eats it. The problem is if you keep giving her tasty stuff she'll keep looking for it and they're so bloody stubborn they'll hold out as long as possible.

jo06555

Rommie wrote: »

Hey Op, what weight is she? My housemate has an underweight rescue akita and it really has been a battle to put weight on him. If she isn't losing weight I wouldn't be too worried, but I would stop mixing stuff in. Get her back onto her bowl of dry food, if she doesn't eat it take it away, rinse and repeat until she eats it. The problem is if you keep giving her tasty stuff she'll keep looking for it and they're so bloody stubborn they'll hold out as long as possible.

last time she was weighed she was just around 12 kg , iv tried weeks of feeding once at night just dry food but she rarely ate full bowl really and i want to get her filled out a bit as my worry is as she still a pup and still growing she may not grow fully if she does not eat properly every day

SillyMangoX

How long ago did you weigh her? You should look at getting her weighed again, at 12 kg she must only have been a baby!

Rommie

jo06555 wrote: »

last time she was weighed she was just around 12 kg , iv tried weeks of feeding once at night just dry food but she rarely ate full bowl really and i want to get her filled out a bit as my worry is as she still a pup and still growing she may not grow fully if she does not eat properly every day

12kg!? Are you sure!? The underweight guy here is 36kgs and at his lightest was 32kg, he's approx 13 months now

Philip82

jo06555 wrote: »

last time she was weighed she was just around 12 kg , iv tried weeks of feeding once at night just dry food but she rarely ate full bowl really and i want to get her filled out a bit as my worry is as she still a pup and still growing she may not grow fully if she does not eat properly every day

The problem has gone too long now at 14 months old your dog wont grow any more all you can do is fill it out. Get a blood test done is my advice to see are they any underlying issues. Some dogs just aint good grubbers. A few injections of vit b12 and a dose of iron supplement is what I would use on my greyhounds if acting up at feeding time but I would do a full blood test and remember to worm thoroughly which can cause anemia and lack of appetite.

jo06555

It would of bein around 10 months i think when got weighed and she is a japanese akita inu so they are not as big as american but still i feel she should be more weightier , its really on driving me crazy as iv done lots of research and tried all the things like leaving food their for 15 min and if no eating taking away til next day but i just wish she was not so clever and fussy and she would eat morning and night ..

Rommie

Inus should be 30kg at least, there is no way she could be 12kg unless she's very tiny and very underweight. What height is she? 12kg is cocker spaniel size!At 32kgs, we could feel his hipbones and ribs

Dodd

If the dog is underweight why not leave food out all day.?

KingIsabella

OP Could you post a photo of her? Might sound silly but....are you sure shes an Akita if shes 12kg??

id see if its just her being picky....boil up a chicken breast and see if she laps it up....or a tin of sardines in aldi (55c) and put it in with her dry food (pour the oil over the dry food too) and see if she laps it up? Should figure out pretty quickly if its her appetite or her being picky!

jimf

Philip82 wrote: »

The problem has gone too long now at 14 months old your dog wont grow any more all you can do is fill it out. Get a blood test done is my advice to see are they any underlying issues. Some dogs just aint good grubbers. A few injections of vit b12 and a dose of iron supplement is what I would use on my greyhounds if acting up at feeding time but I would do a full blood test and remember to worm thoroughly which can cause anemia and lack of appetite.

i would second the vitamin b12 you can also get it in a syrup form my oldest springer 11 now was the most picky eater you could imagine spoke to my local vet about the problem he advised b12 add a little to her food after 2 weeks different dog and has never looked back thank god i also find boiled chicken and the broth is a great body builder and they seem to love it soak the nuts

jo06555

Rommie wrote: »

Inus should be 30kg at least, there is no way she could be 12kg unless she's very tiny and very underweight. What height is she? 12kg is cocker spaniel size!At 32kgs, we could feel his hipbones and ribs

ok sorry i was wrong at 9 months she was 15 kg and she has grown alot since then so she would be larger , she is 24" to neck , and to the poster who said try chicken or fish and pour oil on dry food , i have tried chicken and ham on its own and she cannot get enough of it , strangely i have just mixed tinned food with dry earlier to which she did not tough but i tried again in the last few mins and she is eating it but still bein fussy dropping nuts and chunks out of bowl first :rolleyes: i just wish she would do it everyday not just when starved enough to eat ...

EDIT:she ate all the dry but picked out the tinned food this time so now she will probably wait another day or two again to get that hungry again but i guess i just stick to dry food on its own as she so picky .????

Philip82

The other posters wanted a weight for you dog as he is now, its fairly simple go to the bathroom and weigh yourself then pick your dog up in your arms and weigh both of you together then subtract the difference.....

jimf

when you say she gets a walk everyday is she on the lead or does she have fun /run around time maybe a bit more exercise would help i know this may not make much sense if you are trying to put weight on her but some dogs need to build up an appetite

ISDW

when was she last at the vet?

Rommie

15kg at 9 months is really underweight even for an inu. At 24inches she should be at least 28kgs if not 30

FoxyVixen

This dog sounds skeletal!!

I have an Akita too, and I've never had any issues feeding her. In fact I find the breed to be very food orientated and rarely turn a nose up to anything edible. I feed her Gain Adult dry food as well as feeding raw meat/tuna/eggs throughout her diet. Never an issue feeding her no matter what I put in front of her.

Is your dog up to date on vaccinations? Is she active/energetic? Does she defecate daily and what is its consistency? Is she alert?

Sounds like a vet check is in order and maybe get some blood tests done.

jo06555

thanks , she is due a vet check in 2 months so i may just bring it forward , we had a good 1 hr walk earlier and she has eaten a full bowl today , im not great when it comes to weights so i may be totally off by saying weights, i can assure you she is not a skelethen i wish she would eat dry and other meats but if i try her with chicken she will stop eating dry :rolleyes:

jimf

as suggested earlier weigh yourself then hold your dog and weigh again subtract one from the other and you have a near weight for your dog

tk123

My dog has only actually put on muscle/condition since switching him to raw. I keep thinking he's getting fat but it's just his coat getting thicker :P Unlike your girl he'd eat anything :pac: Have you tried a fish based food - a friend of mine had a picky dog but switched him on Barking Heads and he eats it every time!! Funnily enough the one he eats is called Fuss Pot - he is lol! :P

cgarrad

Get this stuff,

http://dogsfirst.ie/raw-dog-food/

best food out there. ours love it.

dodderangler

An Akita not eating right?
Heard it all now
Are you sure it's a purebred?
My Akita has never turned down food
he's a monster over 10stone
Try less walking and just in general play with her
Keep her happy an offer her food a lot more but less plentiful

jimf

dodderangler wrote: »

An Akita not eating right?
Heard it all now
Are you sure it's a purebred?
My Akita has never turned down food
he's a monster over 10stone
Try less walking and just in general play with her
Keep her happy an offer her food a lot more but less plentiful

any chance of a photo please sounds like a masterful beast

dodderangler

jimf wrote: »

any chance of a photo please sounds like a masterful beast

If someone can tell meh ow to upload from phone I will because I'm not at me computer now but I will put it up when I get the laptop in a few

Philip82

jo06555 wrote: »

thanks , she is due a vet check in 2 months so i may just bring it forward , we had a good 1 hr walk earlier and she has eaten a full bowl today , im not great when it comes to weights so i may be totally off by saying weights, i can assure you she is not a skelethen i wish she would eat dry and other meats but if i try her with chicken she will stop eating dry :rolleyes:

You have the cure there that you just wrote, go get the dog to the vet its not that expensive, and its fairly obvious to say the least that if you feed a dog chicken and nuts and it will only eats the chicken then feed either all or none of it, if you buy a balanced dry feed there is no need to feed anything with it anyway. How do you mean your not great with weights??? If you can read a weighing scales you cant go wrong in fairness..

jo06555

cgarrad wrote: »

Get this stuff,

http://dogsfirst.ie/raw-dog-food/

best food out there. ours love it.

do you mix this with dry food or feed it alone plus how long would it last lets say 10kg bag?

FoxyVixen

dodderangler wrote: »

An Akita not eating right?
Heard it all now
Are you sure it's a purebred?
My Akita has never turned down food
he's a monster over 10stone
Try less walking and just in general play with her
Keep her happy an offer her food a lot more but less plentiful

OVER ten stone :eek:

Not trying to be rude but that's over 60kgs which would be considered overweight for an Akita. Are you sure of his weight? I'd like to see a photo too. He must be really tall at the shoulder to accomodate that weight.

Rommie

One of my housemate's guys is 60kgs, that's after getting him down from 65. He looks way better now that he's lost the weight and he's just over 30inches at the shoulder. Far as I know she wants to get him down a bit more, he still has a bit of padding around his ribs. Over 60kgs is very heavy for an akita, no matter how big they are

FoxyVixen

FoxyVixen wrote: »

OVER ten stone :eek:

Not trying to be rude but that's over 60kgs which would be considered overweight for an Akita. Are you sure of his weight? I'd like to see a photo too. He must be really tall at the shoulder to accomodate that weight.

You're wrong...a typical American Akita male can range from over 40kg to over 60Kg...Akita Inu are lighter and not as heavy

Rommie

Deleted User wrote: »

You're wrong...a typical American Akita male can range from over 40kg to over 60Kg...Akita Inu are lighter and not as heavy

Actually the weight scale for an american akita should be between 34-55kgs. Typically they weigh in around the 40-45kgs. Over 60 is very heavy and not the norm

Rommie

Rommie wrote: »

Actually the weight scale for an american akita should be between 34-55kgs. Typically they weigh in around the 40-45kgs. Over 60 is very heavy and not the norm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akita_(dog) - up to date and accurate content

I keep my guy lighter than that but show dogs can and do exceed 60kg in weight