[brown_eyes_3546]

I changed my dogs food about a month ago and he ate the first bag fine. I bought the second bag about a week ago and he no longer wants to eat. He drinks water and will eat some of the human food I give him but his behavior has changed. He is an 8 month old siberian husky that has demanded to be the center of attention at all times since we got him and now he just lies in the floor at my feet. My chow chow's behavior changed when I became pregnant but it was not like this. Is it possible that he is sensing the tension in our house because we are expecting and getting ready to move or is something really wrong with him? I have gone out of my way to make sure he is eating and drinking something but he is acting depressed and I am worried about him, I just can't afford to take him to the vet for them to tell me he is stressed out <my moms dog has doggy zanex>.

[labman]

It is hard to tell just what all is going on there. As you can tell from your other dog's behavior, they do sense the pregnancy. A pregnancy, short of funds, perhaps other tension, the dog senses all of that. They are very tuned into us. He has his own tension as he matures. Have you neutered him? If not, that only adds to the problem.

Part of the not eating could be a reduced appetite as he finished his growth. Why did you change foods? Use LongLiveYourDog.com - Life Span Study - Rate Your Dog to keep an eye on his weight. If he was over weight, it won't hurt to lose a little. I would like to see a vet visit to see what is going on. It is good to have a vet confirm your judgment of his body condition.

[brown_eyes_3546]

We had him on the science diet large breed puppy food but it was costing about $100 a month to feed them and we have just moved to a bigger apt so that our dogs would have more room to play as they got bigger. They responded well to the change... I mixed the last of their old food with the new and he was fine after that. He has lost quite a bit of weight and he was healthy before. He was also very active and that is what worries me. I can barely get him to fetch now. It has been a few days but our vet doesn't open till Tuesday.

We havnet had him fixed because we want to breed him later. I think their may be a dominance issue in the house because our other dog is a male also but I am worried about him and would like to have an idea of what they are going to tell me when I go to the vet Tuesday, as you can imagine worring about my dogs health is overbearing along with worrying about my baby's health and finances that are being over run by medical bills with the baby.

I am under the impression that he should be okay as long as he doesn't stop drinking water and eating completely. I have been feeding him human food to make sure he doesn't get too weak. (this is the first time either of them has had human food and my chow doesn't like it.) if he get really bad I can take him to an emergency clinic but I would rather take him to my vet. Last time we went to the emerg. Clinic my moms dog had to get a blood transfusion!

Thank you for trying to help.

[The Dog Whisperer]

Hi there

I breed Siberian Huskys and currently have five at home, 2 of which are 8 months old that I bred myself.

Firstly Siberian huskys compared to other dogs do not eat large amounts of food compared to other dogs of the same size and build. Changing their food is not really a good idea. The Diet they require is High Fat and High Protein content at least 24% in each. When you look at the ingredients on the bag these two should be of the highest percentage, and will be listed at the top. Their stomachs do not do well with whey or milk products, goats milk being the exception. They should be on a diet where the food is highly digestible, which means that unlike other dogs the food will stay longer within their system and more is absorbed, that's why their faeces are very smelly. Giving our food could open a whole can of worms. The food I use is by far not one of the expensive ones. They should also not be given Beef,pork,lamb. Fish and chicken are the best and if he is quite weak a little steamed fish should put him back on the road to recovery. How heavy is he now?

Being entire should not be a problem, all mine are and they are all very easy

Do you exercise you dogs everyday? Perhaps you could try to take him for a long brisk walk or let him run next to you on a bicycle then feed him a little later when he cools after the walk say about an hour.

As far as the behavior side, Siberian Huskys are working dogs and need a job of some kind they do need at the very least a 45 min good brisk walk, this will stimulate their appetite and also take out some of their pent up energy and prevent bad behavior.

[brown_eyes_3546]

thank you a lot. I have actually found out what the problem is because he was laying on my feet last night and when I moved he yelped. We have had a problem with him eating fuzzys off the carpet and other random objects. His abdomn is very sensitive and our vet told us to bring him in on the 2nd for x-rays... he believes he has a blockage. He stopped shoo shooing about two days ago and won't eat anything not even bread but he is still drinking water. We are going to take your advice for the dog food though. Can you give me a brand? He loves science diet but I just can't afford it right now because with two big dogs they go through at least two 50 lb bags a month. We really can't afford to take him to the vet but my dogs are like my children and I will make ends meet. He gets exercise every day though. We took him on about a 2 mile walk everyday with my chow when it was warmer out but now he plays fetch in the yard with us for at least 30 minutes a day and we also play in the house. That is what had me worried initially is that he didn't want to play. He plays now but his sides are sore and you can't touch him. We are deffinantly going to the vet because of his sore sides and that he won't go to the bathroom.

I'm not sure how heavy he is because it has been a few months since his last trip to the vet but he has deff lost a significant amount of weight. And fetch or long slow walks are the best we can do because we were hit by a drunk driver a year ago yesterday and it shattered my ankle and broke my bfs leg in 3 places so we don't walk to well and neither of us will ever run again. I'm not allowed to ride a bike even if I could right now though because I'm pregnant.

[The Dog Whisperer]

Its my pleasure! I live in the UK and we have a Shop called Countrywide. They are very large here but I don't know if they are international. I buy large 25kg bags at &#163;19, which is about $30 for their own make premium brand and it's the best. Now if I bought a science plan of hills or pedigree chum make it would cost me at least double. So expensive is not always best especially for this breed. If you don't have a "countrywide" shop or "countrywide farmers" just go along to a local animal feed supplier which should be cheaper than a supermarket and look through their own products. Remember what you are looking for is for the Fat content and the protein to be the 2 highest percentages.

It does also sound to me that you are using far too much food especially for the husky?

[brown_eyes_3546]

We feed them once or twice a day they actually let us know when they are hungry. They are really good dogs but the chow averages about 5 cups of food a day and the husky usually about 3. we don't usually give them people food but since he won't eat his dog food I have been giving him some of w/e I eat because that is all he wants to eat now. I don't eat beef or pork. The only meat he really gets is turkey. I have never heard of a countrywide. Honestly I don't even know of a store in my city that would have dog food other than walmart and grocery stores. Like I said earlier I was feeding him sciencediet from my vet and he told me he needed 5 cups a day but he won't eat that much. I let him eat what he wants because he was staying a healthy wieght but they have an automatic waterer that lets them drink as much as they want.

[labman]

You haven't said what you have been feeding. It may be perfectly fine for your dog once you clear up the blockage problem. Likely 5 cups a day of the Science was too much. Did you check him as illustrated in the link I gave in the first post? While he may have seemed about like many other dogs, many of them are too fat. Even some vets fail to advise owners to keep their dogs lean. It sounds like your dog may have better judgment about what it should eat than your vet.

While blockages are quite serious, likely waiting until Wednesday will be OK.

[brown_eyes_3546]

He is a healthy weight. I have been feeding him just a regualar off brand of dog food. I don't have the name of it because I throw the bag away the day I get it. It is from Lowe's and at our store it is on the second shelf from the top on the left side. I recognize the bag but it is nothing special just the Lowe's brand. I keep the food in a plastic container that keeps it fresh because I buy so much. I'm going to ask the vet where to get some cheaper dog food that will still be good for him.

I think he ate half of a penny. I had one on the couch a few days ago when a friend was over but I don't know if they picked it up or not. I am good about keeping things out of the dogs reach but it is difficult to remember everything when I have guests and of course guys don't pay attention to anything when their video games are on. The vet said that he should be OK as long as he doesn't get dehydrated but we have an emergency clinic if he starts to vomit or bleed.

[The Dog Whisperer]

Have you heard of these?

Eagle Pack

Annamaet Dog Food

Red Paw

Caribou Creek

Another alternative that I had forgotten about is Tripe, a little okay a lot smelly but they love it and it is cheap. Turkey is fine. I do feel that you are giving a little too much, but you should always feed them at the same times. Small and often is better than one large meal. At eight months he should be on minimum of 2 meals a day.

As far as what the vet recommends, he will do probably because its in his interest to. My vet did the same, when I took the 2 pups for a check up he was recommending science plan which I would most definitely not use, he then asked me how when I got them as soon as I said I bred then, he changed his tune and said well you probably know what's best to feed them!! The above brands I don't know but they are state side. I will weigh how much I give my pups in the morning and post it for you

[brown_eyes_3546]

Thanks I will check in then. It is new years eve here and pushing the 12:00 time so I'm going to get off and will check back in the morning for your repost. Thanks again