Extras to food?

hey peoplz!
Just a little question.......
As every one knows my boy is usuallly a greedy pig when it comes to his food.
But another bitch is on heat were we live and all my boy is fusst about is trying to get to her!
He dont want to eat his food...he just wants to get at her thats all hes worried about!
My question to you guys is....
Is it o.k to put liver...chicken or white fish in his food to make him eat it?
Other wise he just wont eat his normal food!
Thanks peeps all advise welcome.....

I know....as long as he eats something then thats the mane thing!
But what I mean is hes 13 months.....so I dont want to give him anything that might afffect him later down the road????
To much protein...or fat etc?
THANKS GUYS!

This might help - not all examples are relevant to your lad of course, and the one he would come under, [ The Anorexic Dog ], is about the stress side which in his case is short term stress due to a bitch in heat being nearby rather than a timid or other problematic stress so it would be a case of taking any snippets which apply to suit him - especially that the more you try to get him to eat the more it can make it a bigger problem

http://www.holisticpethealth.co.uk/h...programme2.htm

Dogs are scavengers by nature so he won`t starve himself, but I would give him small frequent portions, perhaps under the guise of training rewards if he can concentrate enough even if just for a few minutes at a time here and there, and at a push provided he has no food intolerances perhaps add some tasty gravy or sprinkles of grated cheese, [ very small amount ], or melted marge / butter.
Whenever mine have been off their food, [ usually in hot weather particularly ], I`ve done the melted marge, a few bits of grated cheese, and occasionally I`ve sprinkled on some crumbled digestive biscuit as an appetiser, my lot would have to be not eating through illness rather than weather-stress to ignore those items but of course every dog is different and you`ll know what he likes best and won`t react badly to - the main worry would be letting him get used to something extra through, the last thing you want to do is turn him into a fussy eater so you need to carefully balance if you want to go the `extra`s` route rather than the reward out of his usual food allowance tactic until he`s back to normal.

Got to say it of course, for some dogs the stress caused by in heat bitches within a quite large radius can make for a very unhappy dog, you can`t control where and when there will be bitches within range of his sense of smell, and as it`s not like he should be bred from as he`s a cross breed so not going to benefit any genepool`s, please do at least consider the snip to prevent him having to go through this kind of stress for the rest of his life, you can`t stop him getting a whiff of in-heat bitches so if he gets this highly strung over them it would perhaps be far kinder for him than this kind of stress level every time there are intact bitches around, it won`t do him much good to not eat for prolonged time`s repeatedly and sooner or later he could take himself through a closed window or across a road to get to a bitch if he can`t handle what his testosterone is screaming at him to do, I have heard of so many dogs getting badly hurt and worse in desperation when that level of instinct over rides all else

Thanks for your reply...
We are goin to get him done when hes 18 months - 2 years when we feel he has stopped grown and he has fully matured.
I have read alot of info on dogs being neuterd early on and that the can tend not to fully develope properly etc fill out...and they tend to grow taller and gangally?
Everyone has there own views on this of course, but because his head is so big at the mo his body has some filling out to do so we want to wait till he fills out and matures and the hes off to the vets to be snipped!
Hes calmed down alot today and yesterday no more winning and trying to get out to the bitch, hes still abit of his normal food at the mo which is really strange for him as hes usually a greedy git, but I have mixed in some boiled chicken breast and he wolfed it down!
So hopefully hes gona be back to piggy boy soon..lol
Thanks again!

Everything he needs for growth are already in place and have been for some time

In very young neuter some dogs grow slightly taller by one or two mils, that`s all Very young neuter, [ from 8 weeks to approx 7 months ], some times have very slightly slower growth plate closure which is what enables the possible extra mil or two in height, [ and is`nt the case for all of them, for many it makes no difference whatsoever ]. What does happen though in cases of slowed growth plate closure is more density to the bones so they end up with stronger skeletal mass
At your lads age he is well beyond the time scale for any of that to come into it

Maturity mentally is about genetics and nurture / life experiences, not about how old they are when snipped. If I waited for my eldest to be mentally mature first I`d still be waiting, [ he`s 13 1/2 years old but does`nt think he`s ready to be a sensible elder statesman just yet ].
He is very leggy and tall - but he was`nt snipped til he was two years old, and my perfectly normal sized lad, [ same breed ], was done at five months when in rescue so the two of them alone are the complete opposite of the scaremongering you may have read

If anything, all the testosterone might hold him back on filling out, his hormones will have him utilising energy in ways other than for physical development, [ ie burning it off being stressed about bitches nearby for one ], I have known many dogs which were just not filling out well even up to 3 years old in purebreds which are not slow developers generally - until they were snipped and their testosterone levels stopped their bodies being in an alert state all the time.
Your lad being a cross, there is no telling which breeds physical dominance in his build will be leading his development span - but the snip won`t hold him back, that`s just an old wives tale.

Whenever you decide on though, it`s good to know it will be done at some point, at least you`ll know he won`t have to keep going through this level of stress over bitches


Great news that he was so up for it with the chicken mixed in, hope he`s completely back to normal soon

Thanks patch....
Were goin to have a chat tonight.... and hopfully we might get him done sooner...rather than later.
You are right it is very stressful for him... and hes just not his happy self when he goes through this, its not fair on him!
Or us!
Thanks for your info it was very helpful!
Keep you posted!

It's always a slippery slope to start adding titbits or meat/gravy to the normal food, as you'll find it difficult to go back to feeding without the extras.