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could i please have

Ciren

Well-known member
some words of support, i am standing firm. i just put down something for lunch she sniffed and ignored and is now back on the sofa asleep.

i know i am probably over reacting but currently i am feeling a failure. maybe people were right she isnt the right dog for me. maybe i shouldnt ever own a dog.

oh before i forget i have got a dog training book and am reading the website Karlin linked me. i will get a ian dunbar book asap but no money on paypal atm. :(
 
I am sorry you are feeling this is difficult -- really, I think you might want to go back and talk to the rescue, which should be giving you full support and talking you through these issues as they will not want either you or the dog to be in a situation where people feel they cannot cope, especially so soon after getting the dog.

Had you talked to the rescue about the challenges of taking on a rescue dog? I am just a little concerned as there are generally many behaviour issues as well as health issues that arise, really with any dog, over its lifetime but there are higher risks of both with a rescue dog from a puppy mill background. You will need the financial commitment for that and it can rise very high with dogs (into the hundreds or sometimes even the thousands). You also will need to work on training and so on.

If you are finding this a really hard situation, please do call the rescue and talk honestly to them. You are looking at up to 10 years of having a dog and you need to feel absolutely sure you are ready for the emotional, time and financial commitment and know that it is the right decision for you. There is nothing wrong with realising it isn't the right choice -- that happens regularly with me and with every rescue that places dogs.
 
Dont feel like a failure, just think when she's eating properley in a few days how well you did standing firm - if you don't she'll be finicky all her life & she'll be like this forever.

I had a few set backs when I got sparky (bad stomach issues) & felt bad when nothing seemed to fix it, but now he's grand & life is good you know!

Just keep going, she will eat eventually, she's just setteling in.
 
i don't want to send her back. there is times like when i came in from the supermarket earlier when she was over the moon to see me. its just this eating thing thats got me worried. i am trying the centre now but its engaged.
 
How long has she been home?

It might just take a bit... Chesney is still off on his eating schedule - too much else going on to want to eat!
 
At the end of the day, if she is hungry enough she'll eat!

Holly can be rather fussy at times, and I stick to the 15 min rule...

Food goes out, if she doesnt eat it in 15 minutes I take it away and she gets NOTHING until the next meal. She soon caught on!

With a rescue it will be different. When Murphy first arrived here he was a bit unsure with feeding... but soon realised that he either ate what he was given or he was getting nothing. That meant no chews or treats or anything.

Both scoff their meals now. Murphy has been with us 2 weeks tomorrow! :)

Good luck, and hugs! x
 
Even new puppies coming home from breeders don't always eat for a while. It's really not so important, she will eat if she was hungry. I know its' really stressful. Just don't act all stressed in front of her, she'll play on it. You know she is just testing you so she gets some chicken. Really you don't want to go down that route.

You clearly care so much about Peaches, so you will be ok. Feel free to PM me if you want some support. You're doing good so far. :hug: (y)
 
I think she will eat, but not before she completely stresses you out! If she was a puppy mill dog, I wonder if she wouldn't prefer eating inside her crate? Maybe it just seems to "exposed" eating out in the open? I don't really have experience with puppy mill dogs, but it's just an idea that occurred to me, based on what her prior life was probably like.

These are rough days, but I think a positive, confident attitude toward it all will go a long way. She's definitely going to take time to trust and get used to "the good life." And she apparently ate all those years in the mill, so I would feel pretty confident that she will get it all figured out, barring any sort of health issues that could cause the problem.

I know how scary it can be when they don't eat. We had a dog sitter stay at our house last summer when we were on vacation. Daisy slowly stopped eating and even when we came back, she still refused to eat. I'll never know if it was because she was upset, or if she had tummy issues. She wasn't eating quite like her normal self a couple of days before left, so I'm not sure if it was something brewing before, or whether it was the stress of us being gone.

When we got back and saw she still wouldn't eat, we took her to the vet repeatedly, did an ultrasound, barium series, blood tests, etc to see if she had an obstruction or other problem. We never found out why, but I eventually got her eating again using the Satin Balls that are often mentioned on this board. That did the trick. Over the course of a few weeks, I got her back on her regular food. So I know the anxiety you are feeling very well. The vet tried her on all the normal canned prescription diets and she would not have any of it. He kept her overnight for 2 whole days and nights because I think he didn't believe me that she wasn't eating. He said he had 5 kinds of canned dog food lined up in front of her and she wouldn't even take a sniff. That's when he got really worried. He said eventually we would have to start force/tube feeding her. That's when I tried the Satin Balls.

Good luck and hang in there!
 
Thats a good point being made by everyone about not stressing.

I didnt stress when my two didnt want to eat... I just though "oh well, tough cookie... you're not getting anything".

I didnt stress out... just thought "your loss".
 
I know it's stressful when a dog won't eat, especially a new dog, but hang in there! I've had alot of puppy mill rescues, back yard breeder rescues, and dogs that where in less-then-desirable homes. Often the stress of moving them from a bad situation into a good situation leaves them stressed for a while, and it's not uncommon for some of my rescue dogs to go a few days, one even went almost a full week without eating, I always have an in depth vet exam to make sure there's no underlying reason (which I do on new rescues anyway), but so far none of the dogs have had a medical reason - Just stress! Give her time to settle in, and stick to your guns. Also try feeding her in her crate as someone else suggested - I often find puppy mill dogs like the comfort of their crate (after all, that's all many of them are use to!), and will sometimes eat in the crate when they won't eat otherwise.
 
It took me a year to get Suki to eat right, i did all the wrongs things, hand fed her, gave her nice treats, added to her meals and all it resulted in was a fussy little moo who wouldnt eat and was underweight.
BUT then I got tough, I was strict with the meals, the times and not leaving food down, I banned all treats and titbits and did not veer from this,
she didn't eat a thing for a week - I was tearing my hair out even crying!!! whilst she was just prancing around waiting for hand outs!!!
but after 2 weeks she gave in and ever since she eats 2 good sized meals of just dog food(kibble) and nothing else.
I will occassionally add to her food as a treat but if she turns her nose up at the next meal which she does at times - i take it straight up and she gets nothing till the next meal is due even if thats not till the following morning!!!

Its hard work especially when your convinced that they will starve to death but its worth it and it will iron out in the end if you stick to your guns

Good Luck
and as Karlin said if your really struggling speak to the rescue :xfngr: for you
 
okay i think i have answers now. at the farm she would have been fed fallen stock. which i presume is old animals that have died. at the rescue she was fed burns that had boiling water poured over and meat added.
so all she is used to eating is plain old meat. they also suggested that she might not be eating as she is the only dog here. they said see if you can find a friend with a dog to pal up.
or adopt another cav. i darent suggest this to hubby lol.
 
Izzy was terribly fussy. He would go for up to four days, eating only a Bonio, but the vet said he was healthy and that no healthy dog would starve. Eventually he did eat, but he had a preference for tinned (butchers) and biscuit, so that is what he mainly got. As he got older and we added Joly, then Teddy, he became much less fussy and tucked in quickly.

Monty who has never been greedy, is getting a little fussy in his later years. he doesn't always finish a bowl of complete, unless there are a few spoonsfull on tinned mixed in-no problem.
 
Well, that is pretty weird advice, to borrow a dog or get another one. :confused: Oh well. I don't really think she can possibly only have been fed fallen stock, all the time. Most puppy farm operations couldn't rely on only fallen animals -- they'd have to be supplementing that with commercial food. No one has that many fallen animals unless they have serious animal husbandry problems! :yikes

Stick with only feeding on schedule and if she doesn't eat for a week, she doesn't eat for a week. She WILL definitely eat if she has been eating Burns before. She would almost surely eat it even if she hasn't eaten it before -- most dogs are truly not that fussy and I've rotated more than 70 dogs onto various foods with no problems. Just give her some time and space. :)

But please, if you are really worried about taking on a dog and worried about finances, do have a serious think as this is a very long term commitment. Eating is really only a very minor matter compared to the broader and long term commitments required of a dog owner. As you raised these issues yourself in your original post, those are the ones I was encouraging you to discuss seriously with the rescue. They are far more important than the feeding questions. (y)
 
Most dogs in a new situations get dodgy tummies and wont eat. I was told Jassy was a really fussy eater and there was only one type of dog food he would eat. For the first few weeks I worried as he wouldnt always eat but he never starved and soon learned when was meal times.
Try not to worry I know it is not always easy when you want to be feeding them a healthy diet.

What are you feeding her? If it is kibble, are her teeth ok as if it is not moistened and she has bad teeth it may be uncomfortable.
 
her teeth seem fine but i will ask the vet when i see them to take her stiches out. i am not worried about the financial side but i will admit to having confidence problems. i suspect it might have something to do with my period coming soon (sorry to any men posting)

we just came back from walkies, i decided to see if she was as bad outside as she is in the back garden. she wasn't she kept going from one side to another and trying to tie me in knots but her tail never stopped wagging and she seemed to enjoy it. now i know that i will be walking her alot more so hopefully that will make her hungry.

thank you guys i know i may come across as someone who won't be a good owner but its just me wanting to be sure she gets the best treatment. i think she is fond of me as she follows he around the house and likes to sit by me for cuddles.
 
Hang in there. Hopefully she will start eating soon. She is probably still getting her bearings.

Maybe what the rescue centre meant was that a bit of competition would make her eat which is possibly true. Our Cassie was a very picky eater and wouldn't eat for days at a time but as soon as Honey came along it was a different story :).

I know this isn't very helpful but I'm sure she will settle down soon and feel comfortable enough to eat. If she doesn't then you really should talk to your vet. Good luck and let us know how she gets on :lotsaluv:
 
Sorry but I haven't had time to read all the previous posts so forgive me if I duplicate what anyone else has already said.

I can only speak from my own experience with a rescue so here goes. When Minnie came to us we were told that she would only eat chicken :eek:
I gave her chicken the first night just so she would not go hungry. Next day I put her Burns dry nuts in her "new" food dish and she would not eat it. I, like you, felt very upset and wondered what I was doing wrong and if I was capable of looking after a rescue dog at all :( Then, logic kicked in; I realised that if Minnie put her head into the food dish, she would not be able to see what was going on around her and I figured this made her feel very nervous SO I put her food on a flat plate and made sure that she was away from doors etc. In other words she was in a safe corner of the kitchen and she could see everything going on around her. It worked and she ate but it took time and as I said in an earlier post, Cara came to us a couple of weeks later and Minnie realised that if she didn't eat her food out of her bowl - Cara would :shifty:
Try her with a plate or saucer or anything flat and see if it helps but do take it up after the fifteen minutes and I'm sure that she will eat it when she gets hungry enough. Don't despair :hug:In a few weeks you'll be complaining about what a little beggar she's turned into :lol:
 
And, sometimes it can be overwhelming having your first dog--I definitely felt like that when I first got Oliver as a 12-week old puppy. I made lots of mistakes and did lots of things wrong, but once I knew better, I did better! I don't worry nearly as much now was when I first got him. Just give it time--for you and her to settle in! Good luck! :)
 
I agree with Claire :). I doubt if Peaches knows what a food bowl is. I would imagine it was a free-for-all in her previous environment, where she may have had to compete for food, or it was just chucked into her living accommodation (whatever that might have been).

I've been there so many times. It is so stressful when a dog doesn't eat (or drink), but keep strong as you are doing and it will work out. Sooner or later she will become very hungry. You need to stick to your guns to prevent problems in future.

Did the rescue do a dental whilst she was spayed? If this was the case, she could be really sore still. Bradley came from the same rescue, and he'd had a dental at the same time as he was neutered.

Good luck. :)
 
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