Some advice for a first time dog owner please :)

[TreeMugger]

We got our lovely lab/golden retriever cross in August. He will be 2yo in November. He is wonderful and we all love him but we have been having some issues with food that I'd like some advice on please.

When he came to us he was on Royal Canin and came with a 3 week supply. We used this to slowly change him on to Eden dog food which he was fine with, until...! We went for a walk where there was a man made loch, he went swimming in this and played with some other dogs, had a lovely time then we went home. That evening we put his food out and he wouldnt eat it. The next day he was sick and in the sick was some seaweed (which he must have eaten while he was swimming). Over the next couple of weeks he got his appetite back a bit but was still leaving food in the bowl and sometimes not eating at all in the morning. Throughout all of this he's been absolutely fine in himself, running around playing and enjoying his walks.

We decided to change dog food again, this time to James Wellbeloved, because we were worried he wasn't eating enough. He moved onto the new food very quickly because, although we mixed the two foods together, he would just pick out the new stuff. He was happy on James Wellbeloved until I wormed him last week and he was sick again and now it's the same story. He is eating but not all of what is put out for him and he's sniffing around looking for any crumbs on the floor while I'm cooking so I think he is hungry. What would you do now? I've been looking into raw feeding as I thought that the different flavours and textures might be good for him.

Sorry for the essay any advice appreciated!

He's a dog. They don't often go off food, they don't have the same sort of taste buds as us.

If I'm understanding correctly, you've had him for max 2 months? And he's on his 3rd dog food already? I suggest you slow down, choose a food and stick to it.

He wasn't sick because of the food, and won't have gone off it because of vomiting either. Dogs are sick with no real reason sometimes.

How much does he weigh and how much are you feeding him?

I'm not an expert but I think that dogs can be a bit out of sorts because of the worming, so it might just be that.

However, I do raw feed my dog. I fed him on raw from the day we got him (he's a rescue, just under 2 yrs like yours). He has a mixture of the mince "blocks" you can get a Pets@home (chicken, lamb, turkey, rabbit etc), sprats, chicken wings, hearts, liver, an egg once a week and tripe (again, big bag of frozen from P@H). You're aiming for 80% meat, 10% offal, 10% bone but you will soon see from his poos if you have too much bone, for example.

I recently got a sample order from Raw To Go (which is pre-mixed to above %'s) which he also eats without any problem. His poos are firm and small, regular and he hasn't turned up his nose at anything yet (although he showed no interest in the cheap treats at P@H!). If you have good local supermarkets/butchers, you don't have to have loads of freezer space, you can just pick up stuff on a weekly basis when you do your normal shopping.

It's worth a try and not any different from handling raw chicken/meat that you would when preparing meals for you and your family.

If you're interested, you could join the Raw Feeding UK group on Facebook. They have loads of info and people on there will always answer any questions you have. Usually recommended to start with something simple like chicken or turkey for a week or two, then try a wider variety of meats. Tripe is very beneficial. You just have to steer clear of big, weight-bearing bones like cow legs (might chip teeth) but otherwise you can try almost anything. Good luck - let us know how it goes if you do try

I agree with daisy, slow down, choose a food and stick to it. It's still really early days IMO and he is still settling in. Give him time.

My dog sometimes sicks up for no reason. OK there probably is a reason, but none that I can see. As long as the upset stomach doesn't go on for more than a day or so, it's nothing to worry about.

My dog is always sniffing around looking for any crumbs on the floor while I'm cooking. It's normal dog behaviour. It doesn't mean they haven't eaten enough.

Yes, dogs go off their food when there's somethign else wrong with their insides- it isn't the food that's at fault.

Both Canin and JWB are well respected quality brands, I wouldn't be trying a different feed just yet.

Plain boiled chicken and rice maybe if his appetite's low and you think he's hungry.

Thanks for the replies! We'll persevere with the food he's on just now then. He weighs 30kgs and gets 400g of food per day and around 30g of treats (which is just his normal food) so all the weights have stayed the same as before he came to us.

Just saw your reply Melanie, we did give him some boiled rice after he was sick the day he was wormed and he wolfed that down. I might try some more of that with some chicken if he doesn't eat tonight. He hasn't eaten anything today but did have a bit of both feeds yesterday.

He's such a lovely dog, I dont want to screw him up!!

OK - I'd say you're over feeding tbh.

430g a day for a 30kg dog is quite a lot of food. Cut it down to 150g twice a day and see how he goes. My guess is he just isn't hungry so is picking at the food - and remember as he gets more settled at your house, his stress levels will decline and so will the number of calories he burns.

Put the food down for 15 minutes, and if he hasn't eaten it, take it away and bin it. Don't feed again until his next meal is due. Mine are fed at 6am and 4pm, pretty much on the dot (they can tell the time ) if that helps.

Great, thank you! We were feeding him what we'd been advised by his trainer who fostered him before he came to us (he's a withdrawn guide dog). My next question was going to be how long to leave food out for so thank you for answering that in advance he's fed at 7am and 4pm which, again, is the same as he was fed before we got him so that seems to suit him fine.

I think I just need to chill out and wait for him to start eating normally again then!

What's the angry face about then?!

I cannot imagine we've said anything which could have made Ms Stressed angry! It's not even that interesting if you haven't got a dog.

Watch him a while - he won't starve just yet. See how he feels about food in 48 hours time.

Thanks Daisydot :) he ate last night but not this morning. fingers crossed he gets his appetite back over the next couple of days!

How's he going Tree?

He's eaten two full meals Two days in a row now so it looks like we've cracked it! Thank you so much for all the advice, I'm sure I'll be back with my next problem in the not too distant future!

good news.