[Kimber1]

I just adopted a 1 year old female Doberman. She is the most wonderful dog. I am concerned because she is not eating well and losing weight. I would like to know what is the proper nutrition and maybe get some receipes for her.

Thanks
Kimber

[RubyPitbull]

Kimber, it is always wise to start with the chow that the dog was being fed when you adopted her. You haven't mentioned how long ago you adopted her. Most dogs do not eat well when they are in a new environment, unless they are starving. Dobies generally don't suck up their food as quickly as some other breeds do. When dogs are rehoused, they don't understand what is happening, they get confused and nervous. In general, they don't handle any changes to their routine well. It will take her a little while to adjust to your home. Please be patient with her and don't stress about her not eating. Just give her her usual food and leave her to it. Don't hover and try to push it onto her. The more attention you pay to her when she doesn't eat, the more problems you will have. You will be training her that if she doesn't eat, she will have your undivided attention and you will find yourself with a dog that is finicky about eating.

Labman has some info regarding dogs not eating at the top of this forum that you would do well to follow. I am sure when he sees your post, he will post a link to it for you. I do not advise collecting "recipes" and testing different foods on her. It is not good for her to have her food changed up frequently. It will promote bloat, gas, and basic gastric upset. Stick with a decent chow. It is the easiest thing to feed, will keep her teeth in good condition because it scrapes the tartar off, and it is balanced for a dog's nutritional needs. If you want to change the chow she is on, you need to do it gradually over a one week period, adding a little of the new, taking away a little of the old, and increasing/decreasing very slowly at each feeding until she is completely on the new chow. This will allow her system to adjust with as little gastric distress as possible.

[Choux]

The best food for dogs are the dry meal top of the line dog foods like Purina Dog Chow and so on(I haven't had a dog for awhile do I don't know the brands!)

These products contain all the proper nutrition a dog needs. Add warm water and stir up the chunks.

Don't feed the dog table food or they may not eat their dog food.

Now, my husband added either canned meat(Alpo?) or he cooked up gizzards and hearts he bought at the supermarket and added some of this to the Dog Chow mixture.

Our dog was very happy! With the Dog Chow and fresh cooked gizzard mix. :)

[labman]

RubyPitbull knows what she is talking about and has given you a fine answer. There is not a vacuum on the dog forum that needs to be filled by people that don't even have a dog or others perhaps knowing no more than the OP. Everybody is free to post what they want, but I just don't see how jumping in with a prompt, but poor answer helps anybody. It just makes more work for those that can give better answers.

The results of my extensive training, reading and experience with dogs that don't eat are at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post254171

Adding stuff like gizzards and hearts to a dog chow can only mess up the carefully formulated balance of a dog chow. Forget recipes. Trying to prepare your dog's diet yourself is neither necessary or safe. I prefer to have my dogs' diets tested on Purina's dogs, not mine. If you have read negative things about commercial dog chows, you have to remember knocking the competition is a fine art. Set up a web site, give it some fine sounding name, and post a bunch of exaggerations, half truths, and outright lies about other products.