Dogs are only made fussy eaters by their owners.

At least get the fella something to crunch on and preferably something with nutritional value, unlike these fancy mass marketed, over priced, so called dental sticks.

 

ile go and get him a bone from the butchers.

is there any techniques I can apply to make him not so nasty with stuff like this apart from a boot up the ****? (which dosent work by the way)

 

Ok,

If he gets hungry, he'll eat.

He's probably fussy because he prefers the crap you eat.

Irrespective of what the vet says about his mouth, you need to stop feeding him crap. He'll be a lot healthier for it generally.

Personally I would never give my dogs liver, but you should try a little dry minced beef on top of dry food. If he doesn't eat it, lift it straight away and bin it.

He then goes hungry for 24 hours.

He'll soon get the message

ps - you might want to try splitting his feed into two smaller amounts than one large feed, particularly if he is used to getting "snacks"

 

he has two feeds in a day, morning and early evening, a couple of good handfull's of dry biscuits and a tin of dogfood. should I be giving him less than this? he still begs for more food as is, and hes just over 12 stone atm, but he dosent look fat or overweight, he looks quite toned and in correct proportions.

if it will make him more healthy and get rid of the nasty breath I will try anything

 

You know the myth that the taste of human male's sperm will take on charactersistics of his diet e.g. if he eats lots of curry, it will be spicy etc.

Well, I'd suggest feeding the dog food that doesn't taste horrible and then stop your dog from licking his ***** and ****.

HTH

 

Hard to say without seeing him and to be honest its always part of conditioning a puppy to let him know who's boss.

If he growls at you then he's the Alpha, which in a home is wrong. I'd say the only way now is to firmly let him know you're going to take it and just take it. It would be a case of doing this time after time until you become the Alpha.

Having said that I can only guess that you're actually scared of trying that and so you shouldn't do it because it could turn nasty. If you think he won't actually bite you (as your dog shouldn't) then give it a whirl.

Remember though, even the hardest dogs I've seen will 'out' on command if the owner/handler says so. It's just training and familiarity that allows it.

 

hes not the alpha in the house. I am, it was never an issue when he was a puppy and I always used to take things from him so he knew that. as he has got bigger in the last two years he has started to do it. I dont mind taking it from him so will give it a whirl.

 

*****, if he growls at you then he thinks he is the Alpha, that is clear.

If you say he's not then bloody well tell him he's not and put on your best man face so he can see that what you say goes.

450-500grams a day of food isn't out of the ordinary for your Rottie. He shouldn't need to beg or be given more than necessary, he'll only suffer in the long run.

I'm a massive fan of best quality ingredients for my dogs but I do realise lots of dog owners just feed theirs and wouldn't actually know what difference there is in various dog foods, and consequently think they are doing their best.

 

I'd also say 168LBS is too heavy (without seeing him). Circa 130LBS is usually top end.

 

Best to let dogs chew a few bones as it helps clean there teeth and keep there breath smelling better.

Paul.

 

IIRc, if you are giving him cooked bones, make sure you keep an eye on them whilst they have a gnaw.. if they splinter, they can perforate their intestine if their stomach acids don't digest them properly knuckle bones are the best

 

Never, ever give them cooked bones

Only raw

 

Seconded.

Ours is a bit on the slim side granted (vet happy enough) and he's only 100lbs.

James, time for some pics mate, and we'll see if the lad needs to go on a diet

 

Nail > head > hit.

 

Oh, and if he has your arm off, we want pics of that too

 

this is all i can find, its 7 months old.

 

He looks fine in that pic, bit dark, but WTF is he eating James ??

We are posting about diet and he's eating a book? LOL

ps - just lightened it up. He's not fat, maybe could shed a few pounds, but nothing to worry about. And nothing that stopping feeding him crap won't sort

He's a big lad though some set of shoulders

pps - that pic will have the devildog brigade (and I don't mean my fan club ) up in arms

 

usually anything he shouldnt, looks like hes digesting a book on that occasion though

 

 

He isnt obese, but I do think that he is overweight, which is supported by the weights posted on the thread.

 

Rather like his owner: eh fat boy?

 

pot kettle?? hows the seat hunt going fatty?

 

Ive found them in my spare bedroom. It turns out that they were my composite seats after all and that my bottom has just got 2" fatter! I cant decide whether to fit them and always wear cycling shorts or look for new seats in 'plus' sizes!

Remember though: you now weigh a good deal more than I did, when you first started taking the **** out of me (I was well under 15 stones).....

 

Shaggy,

What did the vet say?

 

Friend of my mothers feeds her mutt ( might be a lab/collie ..?? ) on boiled cabbage ...

Jesuz h christ - i cant fathom how she can put up with the odourage emanating from the rear-end of this thing dayin day out

 

Just my bit....

Tuvaaq gets a diet of dry food (sometimes in porridge form) knuckle bones and raw hide. He really ha no distinctive breath odour at all. Arden Grange is the chosen dry.

Most dogs will always be up for more food given half the chance, but giving in to their pleads is a no no.

As for the Alpha but, Tuv was fine as a pup and tried growling about me taking a bone back............ ONCE ! he was put in his place quickly, and WILL drop any chew or bone he has at my feet on command without arguement now.

Agree with Spoon 100% if he sounds off at you in any circumstances, he needs to be corrected, or it can really end in tears.

Good luck with it all.

 

not taken him yet mate, have cleaned his teeth though, he was ok with it actually. had a good look at his teeth and there isnt anything dodgy in there. I think its the food we are giving him as its been butchers and its got the stuff in it that really stinks.

going to use the meat we have then switch him to dry food. costco do a 19kg bag for about £16 so I am going to get some of that.

cheers

james

 

Are you just gonna have him on that dry food ?
Without being funny £16 quid for a big bag.... It might not have all the stuff in it he will need for a healthy diet.
Just a thought, might be worth getting something a little better, especially for such a lovely dog.

 

You are checking the right end aren't you ?

 

LOL

Butchers with tripe? No wonder his breath stinks

On the food front, if you are going to change his diet do it gradually and introduce the new food slowly.

Snazy, depends on the dog and the age. I'm going to talk Rotties here ('cos I know about them) but the critical period for getting the correct food is the the growth spell.

After that its about maintaining a decent balance. Shaggy, some of the cheaper dried foods are just ash and bulking agents. Some are fine, depending on the needs of a partcular dog.

Burns comes highly recommended for Rotties btw.

Our bitch is on Hills Science plan natures best dried. Its expensive but it works for her and keeps her in excellent heath.

Our boy unfortunately has food sensitivity issues . He's 5 now and since he's been fully grown he gets nothing but Chappie Chicken and Rice. Cheap as chips. But he's great on it.

We've discussed it with the vets over the years and every one has said that's fine for him as far as nutrients go.

The other thing to note is that the feeding guidelines are usually way too high, so reduce what it says on the bag by 25% and see how he goes to begin with. But watch carefully for any signs its not working for him.

Everyone has their favourites, and of course more active dogs need more protien. Non working dogs need less, and often get too much.

James, what is it that cosco is selling?