for a long time...corgi doesnt eat

[jumblejack]

hi guyz, my 1 1/2 yr old corgi has this problem of eating since she was 5 mths old. when she was young, we fed her dry kibbles and she used to eat from her bowl quickly......but as she grew older, she started to dislike them. so we changed from science diet to many good dry food like solid gold, chicken soup, currently she is in canidae. now she doesnt eat from her bowl and my mum has got to hand feed her 2 times a day. she is very healthy and lean but i juz dun understand y she has problems eating. even though my mum feeds her, my dog doesnt open her mouth and i can tell that she hates the food...but we have to force her to eat or else she would die! i dunnoe what else to do....have tried all methods like adding wet food to her dry kibbles....even my dog doesnt eat wet food alone in the bowl. tht's how troublesome she is in her eating habits. i dunnoe wat else to do...should i give a try on raw feeding? what do u think guyz?

[Raised By Wolves]

Hi there,

I think a visit to the vet would be my first recommendation, just to make sure there is nothing wrong with the dog's health or teeth. Ask your vet if they think your dog is underweight and if she is healthy enough for long walks, too.

If everything checks out, my next suggestion would be to not feed your dog in the morning. Get her out for a hour long, structured walk. Keep her at your side or behind you during the walk and move like you have a purpose. This should help stimulate her appitite. Laying around with no stimulation or walking is not "normal" for a dog, IMO.

I would not hand feed her or make any high-pitched noises, (which can make us sound stressed or anxious), around her food. No scraps off of your plates while you are eating or paying attention to her while you are eating either.

Make sure she has plenty of fresh water available, but do not feed her until later in the day, after taking another, shorter walk.

Put a small amount of food in her bowl, and then leave her completely alone, no attention. If she eats, great! Be happy for her without making a fuss. If she doesn't, don't make a big deal out of it, just put the food up, and take another walk later on towards evening, and try again.

I don't think your dog will let herself starve, but you do need to break the feeding "ritual" you are currently using, and get her back to eating as a dog should. IMO

I'm not too familiar with the raw diet, but I'm sure someone here might be able to help you with this.

We also have a trainer here called Flyndog, who is very good at understanding and using "scents" in helping troubled dogs. She might have some tips to help you stimulate your dog's appitite with some "scent therapy".

Ask your vet about the raw diet, too. Sometimes vets have some good tips on helping with feeding/eating problems. I think it's important to keep your vet involved with this situation.

Good luck to you!

[calgal]

Try cooking rice and add cooked ground beef. If she wont eat that, then she really needs to have a check-up. I would never force a dog to eat dog food. Dog food is not good food. I would not feed my dogs anything that I wouldn't eat.

[bigdoglover]

We all have our preferences for what we feed our dogs, I personally feed Royal Canin, some feed Raw, others cooked, and still others combine the two. Its what works for our dogs, and our lifestyle.

I would get her to the vet. If she isn't opening her mouth, it could be a sign of something going on inside.

As for dog food, no, not all are the same by any means. How long did you try feeding the different foods? What I mean is, when you switched from Science Diet, to Solid Gold, how long did you stay with Solid Gold before switching again?

There are many high quality dog foods out there, and we all do our best for our pups!

[Shadowkins]

You've gotten wonderful advice and I would have definitely have her checked by your vet, to rule out any physical problems...something just doesn't seem right.

[Checkers]

I also own a corgi of a very similar age. Not eating is one of two things I would think. The first is that there is something seriously wrong with the dog, health wise. Very likely it could be a tooth/gum issue that causes pain when trying to chew. How much are you feeding and how much does she weigh? My boy is a very healthy weight at around 25lbs. He currently eats only 1/2 cup of Chicken Soup morning and night. They really don't need much! Anything more than 30lbs for a corgi and you should be considering the idea that she might be overweight...any less than 18lbs could indicate being underweight. Of course, that varies by dog based on their individual structure and again should be evaluated by a vet.

The second possibility is that somehow the event of eating has turned traumatic for her. Given that this peculiarity started at 5 months of age and that she was gobbling the food prior to that, and that you are now force feeding her (not a good idea) I can't help but believe this might be the case. I have had several dogs that were just not that interested in eating... until I started this. Feed in the morning (after a brisk walk is even better)... leave the bowl down for about 10 minutes or so... and leave the dog alone! After that time, pick the bowl up and don't offer the food again until the next feeding time. In the evening repeat the same routine. If she isn't interested in the food then it's okay... believe it or not, she won't starve herself. This is, of course, AFTER the vet has seen her and verified that she does not have any health issues that are causing the problem.

Whatever you do... don't continue to make meal-time a big ordeal. Corgi's LIVE for attention and if she has figured out by not eating that she will get attention (even if it means being force fed) then she will play you! My little guy figured out if he dropped a dirty dog toy on my clean laundry that I would toss it out... and has been doing it ever since! Good luck!

That being said.... post pictures please! I love seeing all the corgi's I can get my eyes on!

-Cheryl

[jumblejack]

thanx for all the beautiful replies that i have got...so now i am going to break the feeding ritual for my corgi.....so from tomorrow onwards, i am not going to feed her but juz put the food bowl down and wait for 10 mins for her to eat...if she eats, then good...if she doesn't then i would juz continue the ritual...provided i have gone to the vet and have her thoroughly checked....but however, i have actually tried this ritual here and what she does is that, she would starve for 1 1/2 day, then pobABLY gets hungry, eats one meal, and then continue starving for another day.....and this goes on....so she got quite thin and therefore, i have started to hand feed her....so should i juz continue with that ritual or something else?

[Cassiepeia]

Did you take her to the vet? If so, what did the vet say? I think it's extremely important this dog see the vet as soon as possible. Ask them to check everything especially teeth and gums and also check that she hasn't swollowed anything that is stuck inside her.

Take her to the vet!!!!

Cass.