Help with dog refusing food please

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions that I can pass on to my increasingly worried friend please.

Up until two weeks ago, this young dog would wolf down her food - Burns kibble - but then suddenly acted as though she thought that her mum was trying to poison her, and after a quick sniff would stalk off. Everything has been tried; leaving the food for just ten minutes before removing it; adding some wet food; trying wet food alone, etc. etc. She will happily chew on her bone, and wolfed down a bowl of tuna fish chunks - but as she is a very large dog, this is clearly not enough!

After a couple of days, the vet checked her over for anything obvious but could find absolutely nothing and has said that unless she starts eating properly again he will have to do a blood test. This procedure is now imminent as things have not improved.

The dog is lively and happy.

Any thoughts would be so welcome

Is she eating other food and just not her kibble? This might sound daft but has she tried opening a fresh bag of food? Or did she open a new bag of food when the dog went off of it? Sometimes kibble goes off, we don't notice it but the dogs do! My Moon did the same thing, he'd rather starve than eat this food yet when we opened a fresh bag he went right back to eating. Just a thought...

My friend's dog had this - they switched her to a totally different brand and it worked.

How many different brands and types of food has your friend actually tried?

I think most dogs must get pretty fed up with kibble day in, day out, so it's no wonder they stop enjoying it.

Has your friend ever tried fish (cooked), or maybe some raw meat? She might find this works a treat

Has she had a season ? Some bitches can become very picky when coming into season.

I always have some B-Sorb available & if I have a dog that goes off it's food I give them B-Sorb, which helps the dogs appetite & also gives them all the essential vitamins etc

If the kibble is fed dry try soaking it & adding something tasty to it like tinned food or minced chicken. Ive had dogs go off kibble, changed brands & they start eating altho needs to be gradual change over few days

Hope shes okay

How old is she?

Some adolescent dogs do go off their food and cn get a bit skinny for a few months. However they usually still eat, but are just more picky and may eat some but not all of their food.

Other thoughts - where does she eat, has there been any noise or disruption which she associates with eating there?

Will she eat out of a different type of bowl?

If she has a stomach ache or pain, she may associate that with food and then not want to eat.

Hope it can be resolved,
she would be right to see the vet if it's not,

Wys
x

No it doesn't sound daft at all, and was a consideration but was not the case it seems - my update at the bottom will reveal more!

This is what we wondered too - especially as my suggestion of mixing in a tin of tuna with the kibble seemed to work a treat last night.

She has recently been speyed, and at this point I should perhaps mention that she is a Bernese and is therefore slightly different to most other dogs.! B-Sorb sounds good, and I will definitely pass that on.........thank you so much.

Thank you for that - yes she tried soaking it, and adding chicken, or sausages. She has bought a different brand, and flavour and has added a small amount to the usual kibble along with the above mentioned tasty treats. Yes she is okay..... please read the update below!!!

Thank you so much for all of that........ as in my replies to others, the best thing is to read the update below.

Burns does contain fresh meat and can go off. Especially if stored for too long in damp or warm conditions. I would trust the dog and get a different food.
Burns isn`t particularly appetising for dogs. Smell it. Would you eat that? Yes it`s all good ingredients but I had to add so much other stuff to get them to eat it that it got silly.
I switched to Arden Grange which they loved, but then Raz came and I put them all on raw feeding. Much easier.

Okay - I am really grateful for the replies today, and have passed them all on to my friend.

I went to see her and this tricky Bernese this morning........I have never seen a more healthy and happy dog!!!! I mixed up a bowl of her usual kibble (she is fed four times a day, small amounts, because of the risk of bloat and to reduce the bringing up of bile first thing in the morning) and soaked it in hot water with some crumbled sausage. We put her bowl on a stool outside, and retreated to where she could not see us. She ate the lot.

The vet today weighed her, and she has actually put on weight since being weighed a week or so ago!

The thing is, and this might help others in this situation, it seems that the following has happened:

A lifelong Bernese owner who is used to them throwing up all sorts of medical difficulties understandably became very worried about loss of appetite. She then tried every food treat imaginable to tempt her to eat......... and during the day she was eating quite enough thank you. (Along with a large dollop of cat poo but we won't go there).

This little madam has been taking the pee it seems, and the Vet agrees. He still wants to keep an eye on her, but has not seen fit to take blood samples.

My friend has now hardened her heart, and is withdrawing all treats during the day, and although will make her meals as palatable as possible, if they are not eaten will remove them and not try anything else in their place.

Yesterday it was all such a worry, but now that things are becoming clearer we can laugh about it.

Thank you to everyone who replied, it is so much appreciated.

I will pass on your comments tomorrow......it may well be a good idea to slowly change over to something like Arden Grange. Raw feeding is not an option with this dog, as being a Bernese she has all sorts of other issues!!!!