Great Dane won't eat!

I believe that the Blue healthy weight formula is for overweight dogs?  Check the kcals per cup listed on the label.  Blue has several large breed formula's and one that I've used to keep weight on my boy who drops weight in the cold weather is the Blue Wilderness.

When you change foods, add some canned pumpkin.  Pumpkin is like doggie pepto and works for either constipation or diaherra.  However, changing foods should involve adding 25% of the new food to 75% of the old for about a week, then 50-50, then 75-25 and then finally all new.  Sounds especially that your girl needs a SLOW switch.  Blue makes some nice canned foods, and you shouldn't be using a lot.

I will say honestly, of the foods you've used, the ONLY one I would touch is Blue.  Check your ingredient lists and also the kcals of the foods.

 Hi, thank you for your response!

 Sorry I should have said, it's Large Breed Healthy Weight...410 kcals/cup.  I chose this particular food out of the Large Breed foods based on the protein & fat as all the dogs are fairly young & I was trying to keep the protein ration lower.  The other foods percentage of protein is 26% which I've been told over & over is too high for great dane puppies. This particular food is only at 22%.

 I can switch to another type with higher fat content which in turn has higher protein...but at the same time, she still isn't eating it.

With the pumpkin...canned pumpkin? Raw pumpkin?  I took just over a month to switch her over to the new food this time, and for the first 4 days I put a handful in there in the morning only...and she was still explosive but only for that first few days, then she evens out.  I'm wondering if something is going on with her stomach?

 You say you wouldn't touch the other foods, the Beneful & Pedigree I totally agree...I've never fed it before I've always fed Nutro...but the Nutro isn't a good choice?  Or the medi-cal the vet had her on?  Can you tell me why?  

 She has been to two different vets now...and neither has been very helpful, they both want to sell what they stock in their clinic and when she didn't do well on that they had no other suggestions *sigh*

 I just went and looked at the Blue Wilderness foods...the kcal is 410 per cup, so the same as I have her on...but the protein is 34%.

 What kind of dog do you have?

 Oh...never mind...I just saw your banner lol  How many dogs do you have??  Looks like a lot lol

Blue has made a lot of recent changes, but they DID have some higher kcal foods.  Not sure on the protein levels tho.

Again, I look at the ingredients in foods, and am probably a food snob.  Corn, wheat and soy are ingredients that I avoid like the plague, also glutens and grain fractions.  Nutro, last time I looked was pretty high in all of those.  I like meat or meat meal to be listed first and I want to know WHAT meat.  With poultry, tell me which kind of poultry and don't just list it generically.  Nutro doesn't make what I would classify as a super premium and since that's all I feed........

Plain canned pumpkin, not the prespiced pie mix.  I usually buy and process tons of pie pumpkin in the fall and freeze it for pies, breads and dogs.

I share my home with six furry beasts!  Thunder is the one who has trouble holding his weight in the winter.

And it does sound like you did fine on the switch.  Some dogs just have more sensitive tummies than others.

And people say I'm nuts with three Great Danes...do yours all live inside?  I'm thinking yes with your comment about the winter lol

Thanks again!  I want to learn, so food snob or not doesn't matter to me lol

I would have thought the stuff the vet put her on would have been a good quality food, but honestly I didn't look at the ingredients...I just know out of all of them, it wreaked havoc on her digestive system for sure!

 I will definitely try pumpkin if/when I try to switch again...but I'm really fed up with trying to just get her to eat something without having to mix stuff into it.  I just can't see myself doing that twice a day for the next 7 - 10 years or however long she's around.

  Anyone with other advice on foods that are more palpable or that other people have had finicky eaters actually enjoy?  She is so skinny I feel horrible when I look at her!

You said, in your original post, that this dog is willful, and stubborn. She's been to the vet's, and is healthy, right?

I'd tough love her. Pick out a great food. Sounds like you've already found one you like. Put it down, for 15 minutes, 3 times a day. Say nothing. If she eats it, fine. If she doesn't, fine. All of my dogs will eat anything I put in front of them, fosters included. I just "don't care" whether they eat or not (really, I do! Especially the underweight guys!). Dogs are incredibly intuitive, and Danes are a sensitive breed. If you worry and fuss over what she eats, she will worry, too. Worried dogs don't eat well.

Oh yes, indeed they do. 

Jenny is absolutely right.  Mine get 15 minutes max and then bowls are picked up, empty or not.

And, no, often the stuff the vet sells is absolute crap.

 Yep, she's super willful & stubborn & she's been to the vet...numerous times...just this past week when she sliced open her paw in something in the snow.  We again discussed her weight gain (or lack of) but he had no suggestions of what to do.

I'm tryin the tough love thing but dang!  She'll go two days before she'll touch it...she's gonna waste away to nothin!  Will dogs actually starve themselves to death?

 I don't think she's aware that I'm stressing over it...I put it down, leave it & walk away...I take it away after 30 mins and offer it again in the evening. But...maybe she's picking up on the vibes of please eat...please eat...please eat lol

ETA:  You would think the vet would sell good stuff...I trusted that it would be a decent food.  Interesting...

Vets are rarely truly educated in nutrition.  Think about it...when WE have an ailment, such as diabetes, the doc doesn't give nutrition advice, rather s/he refers to a nutritionalist.

Healthy dogs will not starve themselves, and sadly, they VERY often know exactly what we are thinking and feeling, so I'm sure she IS aware of your worries over her lack of eating.  Dogs are just like kids....when they get hungry enough they WILL eat.

floopy

ETA:  You would think the vet would sell good stuff...I trusted that it would be a decent food.  Interesting...

Yeah, the Hills company has really found their niche sending their reps out to have vets stock their shelves.  The vets, of course, get profit from selling the garbage.

One thing you could try to encourage her to eat the food is to mix in something nummy with it.  Add broth, or yogurt, mix it all in good, and I've seen that work for picky eaters.  I agree, Blue is by far the best quality food of the ones you have listed.

Good luck with your finicky girl!

I'd cut back the amount of time, too. 15 minutes, max. Once she's not thinking about it, any more, taking it away doesn't have much impact. You want her to remember that there was food for her, and see you take it away. All done! Very matter of fact. A healthy dog will NOT starve itself, and 2 days is not too long. Don't give her ANY treats, or snacks.

The reason I got so mean is Emma Nems, the late, great, Parson Russell Terrier. When Emma was 10 months old, her liver numbers shot through the roof. The vet told me NO meat, for Emma. Cook her egg whites, and rice, to get through the hump. She can have fruits and veggies, and a little tofu, but NO MEAT. Emma was gravely ill, and ended up losing 10 lbs, from 22, down to 12. She got so picky, I was spoon feeding her 5 times a day. I looked at her emaciated body, one night, and I just gave up. I left the food down, and walked away. Eat it, or don't. I was tired of begging her, for hours at a time, to eat. Guess what? She started EATING again. All of that worry was worrying her sick!!! She ate, great, for the rest of her life. I learned about the "tough love" method from this board, later. I've been practicing it, ever since.

 Ah tough love.. Maze and I know that all to well..  She went a week without eating because I refused to play musical dog food.  In the end however she did eat.

Try the tough love and adopt an "I don't care if you eat. Starve if you want" attitude.  Obviously you do care but the more you worry about putting weight on your girl, the more it'll worry her, thus no eating. 

Agreed to dropping the time limit. 15 minutes is long enough.  If the vet says she's healthy otherwise, just wait her out.

On the list of foods you've given, I'd stick with Blue.  Actually, you'd probably be good switching all your danes over to Blue

Good luck from Kitty and the ever stubborn, non-food driven Lab (Maze)

With my dog, I've had the best success with using "stinky" foods. The first one that I found that really worked was Royal Canin. After that, we've had success with Innova EVO (though it might be too rich for your dog, so be careful!), Orijen, Wellness CORE, and Acana.

I'm not opposed to "tough love" in general, but I have to admit, I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to food. I myself am something of a food snob, and I can't imagine being forced day-in, day-out, to eat something that I didn't like. In an ideal world, my dog (and me!) would get home-cooked meals that were both delicious and healthy. In the world I actually live in, my dog gets kibble, and I often eat things like macaroni and cheese. I figure finding a kibble that he actually likes to eat is a good compromise between the ideal (fresh, "real food";), and the reality (if he doesn't have something pre-packaged, he might not eat!).

Since your options are more constrained because with a large-breed puppy (it seems most of the "stinky" foods tend to be very high-protein), another compromise I have used successfully is to add some sort of broth to the kibble. Something that smells really good. It doesn't have to be much, or to be heavily concentrated, but if I am cooking and get meat "drippings" I will put those aside to add to the kibble to make it more appetizing.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to try "tough love," but personally I would be very uncomfortable with my dog going without eating for more than 2 days. At that point you might want to try a different tactic.

 Just a couple of ideas - yes the Blue is the best of what you tried but only if she'll eat it! It sounds to me as though she has a very sensitive stomach and some of the foods may be bothering her - thus the grass eating and vomiting.

I might avoid chicken based food for a bit and see if that helps - I know of various dogs that have an intolerance to chicken - it causes stomach upset and very soft frequent poops. Just an idea.

I would definitely keep adding toppers for her - try some sardines (no salt added in water is what I use) or best would be tripe.  It stinks beyond belief but is really good for sensitive stomachs and can help balance things out. Most canned foods are yummy for the pups - mine definitely sees canned food as a treat!

Some people rave about Bil-jac as a way to add weight

My guy goes nuts for cottage cheese, sweet potato (I just nuke one for him), and any meat/organ.

I've never had a finicky eater but I would worry about a dane not eating - they need sooooo much food to maintain and since she is young and has never eaten well I'd be doing all I could to get some muscle on her.

Have you tried some sort of food dispensing toy to increase her interest?

Good luck and I sure hope to see some pics of all three of your danes - I love danes!!

There is a recipe called "satin balls" which has helped some dogs put on some weight.  iDoggers, would you recommend this for her?.  Here's the link:  http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html. 

My dogs generally eat very well, but every now and again...for whatever reason get a bit finicky.  Typically, I'll put a dollop of cottage cheese in the food and that helps regain their appetite.

Try not to stress, that energy will travel from you to her...be as non chalant with her eating as possible.