# My dog is going on a hunger strike



## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

... This is so frustrating! He is perfectly healthy, so it has nothing to do with that. I just got a bunch of wild game and he refuses to touch it... He lifts his nose up way in the air when I put his bowl down. 
I read that I should offer him the food, and if he doesn't eat it then too bad! He won't starve himself. I hate the idea of not feeding him but he's getting picky... I tried feeding him rabbit and he stuck his nose up and he did the same thing with sardines the other day which he never used too. 
im hoping that a little bit of tough love will do the trick.
How many days has your dog not eaten for?? One lady wrote that it took 10 days for him to eat... I don't think I could do that to McGee... ill probably cave after 2 days...if it lasts that long.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Yes I would go for the tough love route for being picky with food. Your dog definitely will not starve himself. For the time being do not offer him any treats as well.

I doubt it'll take 10 whole days. Especially since you guys are so active.

I petsit a very picky Poodle and when I watched him for 3 weeks he picked at his food for the first three days, but by the fourth day he was so hungry he started finishing his bowl clean. By the time they picked him up he was eating his food the moment it was put down, and I was feeding him way more food than the owners were. His owners had been feeding him canned tuna and lunch meat because he wouldn't eat anything else lol. The moment he realized he was not getting any choice he started chowing down


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

Thanks Taquitos! I feel terrible doing it, but he can't be picky especially when it comes to wild game. It's so nutrient packed and free! 
As far as training goes, we usually have 3 to 5 sessions a day and Monday night we have a class... Maybe I'll just give him treats on Monday night and keep them minimal. I could use a toy as a reward.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Wirehairedvizslalove said:


> Thanks Taquitos! I feel terrible doing it, but he can't be picky especially when it comes to wild game. It's so nutrient packed and free!
> As far as training goes, we usually have 3 to 5 sessions a day and Monday night we have a class... Maybe I'll just give him treats on Monday night and keep them minimal. I could use a toy as a reward.


Yeah I would try to keep it minimal, or I would try using his food for reward (but I realize this is hard since you're feeding raw! It's probably not a viable option).

Hopefully he snaps out of it before Monday! I would definitely try to minimize the amount of treats for now, even if it means not training as much. It's only temporary and I don't think it will be too bad, even with a high energy, high drive dog.

If he flat out does not like wild game then I would try to offer some of it mixed with other meats... but this only really works if you can grind it and mix it with some meat he likes, or if you can dice it up and mix it with other kinds of meat.

Don't feel bad! It's for his own good.


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

Yeah, I tried mixing it with meat that he likes and slapped peanut butter on it as well... he just picked out the meat that he likes and locked off the peanut butter LOL 0_0


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Wirehairedvizslalove said:


> Yeah, I tried mixing it with meat that he likes and slapped peanut butter on it as well... he just picked out the meat that he likes and locked off the peanut butter LOL 0_0


LOL yup you're going to have to go the tough love route then


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## Annageckos (Mar 21, 2015)

I've had my basset hound go five days. That said not all dogs like wild game. Vegas can't eat venison and won't touch pheasant, ground hog, squirrel, wild rabbits or mature chickens(over a year old). Venison he vomits. There are some things some dogs just don't like. I'd give it few more days. Sometimes after they give in and try it they find they like. Sometimes not.


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

Annageckos said:


> I've had my basset hound go five days. That said not all dogs like wild game. Vegas can't eat venison and won't touch pheasant, ground hog, squirrel, wild rabbits or mature chickens(over a year old). Venison he vomits. There are some things some dogs just don't like. I'd give it few more days. Sometimes after they give in and try it they find they like. Sometimes not.


The funny thing is, every dog that I've come across go crazy for wild game!! I had assumed it was in their "instinct" to go wild for it. I guess I was wrong! Yeah, we are so active. If he is beginning to look like nothing but a pile of bones I'll feed him. He has eaten venison in the past though. Right now, he is rejecting wild turkey.


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## kdawnk (Mar 26, 2014)

Yeah I asked for the same advice not too long ago.
Our foster Willow would snack and eat a couple pieces of kibble and take hours to finish a meal so I started picking up the bowl after 30 minutes (just how our schedule worked).
Now she eats the whole bowl in MY time frame, not hers.
It took 3 days of eating nothing, 1 day of picking, and then she was all for it and eating everything.


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

My husband is a huge softee, so he is pretty ticked that I am doing this. I told him, give it at least a few days he will be fine! I think dogs handle lack of food better than people do...I am not starving him he is having food offered to him.


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## Annageckos (Mar 21, 2015)

Yeah, don't need to eat like people. They can gorge and fast. Which is something I use to do. Let them eat an extra large meal then fast for a day. I won't do that with Freyja because of the risk of bloat with a great dane. But the others handled it just fine.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

If this is his first experience with game meat he might just need a while to get used to it. And not all game meat is the same to some dogs too. Soro used to turn his nose to raw game of any kind, also organ meat, also eggs, and also quail... He came around to each separately either through tough love (he lasted like... a day.) or by eating little bits of it mixed in with other things. Now he will inhale all of it if he could.


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

Canyx said:


> If this is his first experience with game meat he might just need a while to get used to it. And not all game meat is the same to some dogs too. Soro used to turn his nose to raw game of any kind, also organ meat, also eggs, and also quail... He came around to each separately either through tough love (he lasted like... a day.) or by eating little bits of it mixed in with other things. Now he will inhale all of it if he could.


He has venison in the past and ate it. What I am trying to get down him now is wild turkey. He will gladly eat turkey necks though, I have plenty of them. I tried mixing other meats in his food this morning and he just picked out the meats that he liked. I slapped on peanut butter and olive oil to make it taste better with no success.


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## Sunak (Jul 3, 2014)

Personally if I offer my dogs something new and they do not like it, I move on. Maybe I'll offer it again later, but I won't deprive my dogs of the healthy food they like and are accustomed to. They try some new things, they adopt some of them. Every dog is different, just like every person is different.

I don't argue with a dog's nose, and I won't play games with my dog's food.

But do what you want.


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

I'm going to give it a few days and likely cave in. Again, I read where someone waited 10 days! No way I'd feel. comfortable with that.


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## Wirehairedvizslalove (Oct 24, 2015)

Actually, I almost forgot that him and I are doing a 4 mile night trail race tomorrow...i may just have to feed him something in the morning. I can't have him hungry and running on an empty stomach... Nobody likes that!


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