# How long for a chi not to eat?



## TonyN (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi all,
I have a chi-poo. She is about 6.5 pounds.

Recently she is getting super finicky about what she eats. I have been trying to feed her raw. I set out a raw turkey neck and she will chew a little then give up. I put out raw chicken breast. She sniffs it and walks away. Should I wait her out and let her go hungry till she eats?

I've tried feeding her high quality kibble and she seems disinterested in that too.

I understand small dogs really need food. Can you give any advice?


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## KittyD (Apr 2, 2010)

Is she a puppy? or is she full grown?

6.5 pounds is not really tiny so she should not suffer from sugar lows. If she's grown dogs CAN go several days without food surprisingly, even the smaller breeds.
I don't have any advice for you about raw, but someone will be along assuredly.
In terms of kibble, I find mine don't like it unless I put some warm water on it, I think it helps to make it more palatable for them.


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## TonyN (Sep 27, 2011)

Thanks KittyD.

Gracie, the chi-poo is three years old.

I too have put warm water in her kibble. She might eat a little of it then just walk away.

Update: a few minutes ago I put some home-made bone marrow gravy (a tablespoon full) on her raw chicken and she ate all 2 1/2 oz of it.

I don't really like doing stuff like that because then she expects it and probably thinks she can wait me out to get what she wants?


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## KittyD (Apr 2, 2010)

TonyN said:


> Thanks KittyD.
> 
> Gracie, the chi-poo is three years old.
> 
> ...


Possibly but possibly not.. l suspect it may be lacking the aroma to her that her kibble had? the gravy probably made it taste/smell more interesting to her.


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## Angel1210 (Mar 14, 2011)

Have you had her since a pup? What type of kibble is she eating? When I got Angel at 9wks old, he loved Royal Canin - you could try that. It's very expensive though. Then I switched him to Orijen - he really liked that. I understand how you feel about "dressing up" her food. I was never one for doing that. Not even with my kids. "Here is the meal, eat it or wait for the next one!" lol.


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## TonyN (Sep 27, 2011)

Yes, I've had her since a pup. The dog food is Nutrisca chicken. But I mainly feed her raw. Last night I just picked up my order from MyPetCarnivore.com

Can't wait for the dogs to dig into those goodies!


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Tony, that's why raw is good for picky dogs. You can mix it up and they don't get the same old boring bowl of kibble day in and day out. Once they are acclimated to raw they can have a chunk of chicken in the morning and a pork rib for supper. Or an egg for breakfast and a piece of steak for supper. And so on. You can mix it up however you like and it's always something different. Personally I think that feeding raw is really fun, I love shopping for different meats, etc.  

I will caution you though... once on raw, it's very hard to get a dog to go back to kibble. They've had the good stuff. They don't want to go back to dry cereal again.


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## TonyN (Sep 27, 2011)

Brodysmom, I just found this about phytates in grains, beans and nuts and how bad phytates are for dogs:

"THE EXPERIMENTS OF EDWARD MELLANBY

"As early as 1949, the researcher Edward Mellanby demonstrated the demineralizing effects of phytic acid. By studying how grains with and without phytic acid affect dogs, Mellanby discovered that consumption of high-phytate cereal grain interferes with bone growth and interrupts vitamin D metabolism. High levels of phytic acid in the context of a diet low in calcium and vitamin D resulted in rickets and a severe lack of bone formation.

"His studies showed that excessive phytate consumption uses up vitamin D. Vitamin D can mitigate the harmful effects of phytates, but according to Mellanby, “When the diet is rich in phytate, perfect bone formation can only be procured if sufficient calcium is added to a diet containing vitamin D.”20

"Mellanby’s studies showed that the ricketsproducing effect of oatmeal is limited by calcium.21 Calcium salts such as calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate prevent oatmeal from exerting rickets-producing effect. According to this view, the degree of active interference with calcification produced by a given cereal will depend on how much phytic acid and how little calcium it contains, or how little calcium the diet contains. Phosphorus in the diet (at least from grains) needs some type of calcium to bind to. This explains the synergistic combination of sourdough bread with cheese. Historically, the cultivation of grains usually accompanies the raising of dairy animals; high levels of calcium in the diet mitigates the mineral-depleting effects of phytic acid.

"In Mellanby’s experiments with dogs, increasing vitamin D made stronger bones regardless of the diet, but this increase did not have a significant impact on the amount of calcium excreted. Those on diets high in phytate excreted lots of calcium; those on diets high in phosphorus from meat or released from phytic acid through proper preparation excreted small amounts of calcium." (end of quote from: Living With Phytic Acid - Weston A Price Foundation )

In reading the whole article it is also important for humans to limit their exposure to phytates in grains, beans and nuts or find a way (discussed in the article) to decrease the phytate load in the food.

P.S. since being on raw my dog Gracie, who I've had going on three years has gone from around 6 lbs. to over 7 lbs! And Pepe' has gone from 4.1 lbs to 5.5 lbs! Bam!


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

Very interesting article. Really makes you think doesn't it? If phytates in grains are that bad for people, imagine how bad they are for a carnivore who is not made to digest them? Dogs don't even have amylase in their saliva which is necessary for the breakdown of grains for digestion. That shows us how unnecessary grains are.


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## TonyN (Sep 27, 2011)

Yea, and to think when I told my vet I was feeding the dogs raw she replied that that is too much protein! Looking at protein on bagged dog food I see some brands contain more protein than found in meat. How much of it can be assimilated in the kibble? Plus, in giving grains to dogs there is a migration of calcium out of their bodies and the phytic acid in grains inhibits calcium absorption as well!


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## TonyN (Sep 27, 2011)

Well, how do I begin? I got some whole prey chickens. Gracie tried a leg and gave up so I gave the leg to Pepe' and he is really enjoying it. Gracie is so freaking finicky. She really knows how to make me feel frustrated. I got some whole ground Emu and both refuse to eat it. Usually Pepe' eats anything. I guess I'm just going to have to wait till Gracie gets hungry enough.


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

Brodysmom said:


> Very interesting article. Really makes you think doesn't it? If phytates in grains are that bad for people, imagine how bad they are for a carnivore who is not made to digest them? Dogs don't even have amylase in their saliva which is necessary for the breakdown of grains for digestion. That shows us how unnecessary grains are.


I had a question about this actually. On another forum it was mentioned that the amalyse thing is not true; because dogs don't begin digestion in their mouths anyway, so the saliva makes little difference since they do a lot of gulping. It was told that digestion begins in stomach and they are able to produce enough pancreatic amalyse to digest the carbs. 
I admittedly know nothing about the science behind it; I just feel "nature knows best" and that's why I feel raw. But wasn't sure what to think when I heard that.


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## bayoumah (Nov 30, 2010)

hi so glad she ate for you i dont like it either when they refuse to eat


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