She doesnt like RAW???
 

I literally have the most bizarre kid in the world. At the age of 2, I finally found a dry food that Chewy will wat on her own. She was very excited about it in the beginning and eating full meals but now shes down to about half a meal. I think thats fine because the food is there and if shes hungry, she could walk up and eat it.
So I decided to spice up her life and buy her raw Natures Variety rabbit formula (she only eats rabbit and fish- allergies). She wont even come near it to sniff it!!!!! Its raw MEAT!!! Isnt that was dogs eat??
I feel like such an idiot wasting all this money on food my chick wont touch. To make matters worse....... I had a coupon for buy one get one free so I got 2 bags!!!
I would post it here but its one per customer so I cant access it anymore.
You can write them an email though, asking for samples or coupons.. thats how I got mine.

Im going to try again tomorrow.. Does anyone else's dog not like raw meat??? I dont understand why she doesnt like it.

I already separated one of the bags into little zip lock bags so they are easy to defrost without touching raw meat every day!
So I may be getting rid of 2 bags of 48 medallions of rabbit in each... I'll keep you guys posted.

Zoe really like NV raw at first but then decided it wasn't for her but since then I have put her on a prey model raw diet and she is so happy with that. Both my dogs look forward to dinner time and they were always so picky and uninterested before. But as for your problem.... I have heard of people litely searing it before serving it. Don't cook it all thru but just lightly warm it up and maybe she will like it that way?

Same thing happened to me...Chloe loveD NV RAW for a while..now she has no interest at all!!!!!!!!! I still have few bags in my freezer and hopefully one day she will show interest again!!! I need help too!! I am trying to feed her dry/wet mix, then switch to RAW..then back to dry/wet....

You might all need to try a little "tough love"!! Your dog will not starve, you need to put down what you want them to eat. Give them 20 minutes to eat it, pick up whatever they haven't eaten and put it back in the refrig. Next day, give them their food again, with leftovers and see if they will eat it. If not, pick up in 20 minutes and put it away. Dogs can go up to 3 days without eating unless they are puppies or weigh under 2 lbs. My dogs were picky and only weigh 3 lbs. but they learned to eat when it is presented to them and if they don't I know they aren't really hungry. Sometimes dogs gorge one day and then don't feel like eating the next, just like in the wild!! Hope this helps, I don't have any food problems since I've done this and I have 5 picky dogs!!

Don't worry too much about her not likeing RAW. My vet STRONGLY advises against it due to possibility of Samonella. I know others on here sing thee praises of a raw diet but not one bitee of Raw will ever pass my babies lips. :)

I've tried this with her several times when she refused to eat a new food. After about 24 hours of not eating anything, she spend the enire night throwing up yellow foam. Every 10 minures or so she throws up. My vet, as well as others on here said thats because her belly is empty and I found it to be true the next time we were in the same position.
I gave her half a medallion again this morning and she barely even got 6 inches from it.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?/? Im so tired of throwing away food. Between her allergies and pickyness, Ive thrown away/donated at least 100 bucks! And thats with the fact that I usually have some kind of coupons/samples!

This is what would happen with Chloe. She wouldn't eat for days on everything we tried, she'd puke the yellow foam, and she got very thin over a period of a few months. The tough love just doesn't work on all dogs because they may have an underlying health condition that causes them to not eat. The saying is "a healthy dog won't starve itself." Finally, we switched her to Eukanuba, and she has done beautifully ever since.

There may be dozens of so-called "better" foods out there, and I tried every one of them. If they don't eat it, it can't be good for them.

I was always the same way. I could not imagine feeding my baby raw meat because I treat her like my kid rather than a DOG. But after reading all the good reviews and how good it is for dogs with allergies, I decided to give it a try. USUALLY, I trust what i read on this site more than what i hear from vets. I was screwed pretty badly by my first vet, love my regular vet, and robbed by a specialist we saw. Like most regualr people, they are really set in their ways. Chances are if you go to another vet for a food recomendation, they will tell you about something completely dif.

Mine HATE raw. I tried and tried with it and they wont go near it. They would eat dirt b4 raw. Duncan has bad tummy probs and I had a heck of a time trying to find something he would and could eat...picky lil bugger, but now I have them both on Evangers canned. They do very well on it, altho, they still have their picky days. I will put a teasp. of cottage cheese in it sometimes or some cooked carrots & peas ect to change it up a bit. It comes in many flavors and meats for all the diff allergies. I too have tons of food that will never be eaten....*sigh* I even have a bag of wellness kibble that has sat in the bowl for over 3 weeks (Iwanted to see how long it would sit wo them touching it lol) even our big dog Dove wont go near it and he eats everything! I wont let Dove have the lil ones old food coz he well ummmm.....has flatulent issues lol. So I dunno if this helps, but I do know its a pin when they have many issues AND are picky! So gl to you and you wee one. BTW I know you will get a ton of opinions on here like I did, but I had to find what was right for my dogs and what worked best for them.

Yep so officially threw away breakfast...
Gonna try again tonight! Wish me Luck.

My advice is if they don't like the smell - walk away - then don't force them to eat it. No matter what you are told. Dogs are smart and just as we have foods that make us "turn up our nose", so do they.

Granted some days they are just off their food, but if it is continual, then find another food source. Hope this helps.

Warmly, Deborah

I gave up! To Boil or not to Boil? That is the Question!
 

I tried to rub a little piece of the meat on her teeth to see if she will like the taste and maybe eat it then and she clearly didnt so I dont want to force her anymore.

Question:
She does eat regular cooked meat, so I dont see why it wouldnt be OK to maybe boil the medallions in some water and break them up over her kibble. They are probably healthier for her than meat alone since they also have the fruits and veggies in them. They kind of remind me of meatballs.What do you guys think?

I know its not the same as Raw but she clearly doesnt like the raw and I dont wan to throw away 96 medallions!!!!

You don't have to throw it away. All those dogfood companies have contracts with the stores that sell them. You can take it back and get a refund.

I thought about taking it back to the store but since I dont drive I'd have to drag my dad out there again.. Its about 15 minutes from my house. But in this case I may have to do that. In the past I would take the dry and canned food to my vet. They have a woman who feeds stray dogs. I dont think that would work with the raw since its more of a hastle.


As far as pretending to eat the food... That sounds like a pretty good idea. Im going to try that with dinner tonight. The only thing is that she knows what it tastes like because i stuck a piece in her mouth yesterday.

You could try sprinkling a little cheese on top. I had to do that with Piper when we first tried this food. She's really picky, but a little parm will draw her over in no time! I do warm the food up slightly in the microwave at a very low temp to bring it up to room temperature, as she won't eat it cold. Also, I wouldn't cook the NV through because it does have little bits of bone in it and that will make the bone brittle. Piper hated the rabbit and the lamb, but loves the chicken (not the organic version). My suggestion is to return the rabbit, try the small sample bag of the chicken and see how it goes. Good luck!

Thanks you guys have persuaded me to give it another shot tonight for dinner. I will pretend to be eating it with cheese and then after a few minutes give her some right by the table.
Question: Do you give dried parm?? Or do you grate it yourself?
I have dried parm and fresh Gouda that I could shop up really small. She loves Gouda but im afraid shell just eat it off the top.

Unfortunately we ar testing for allergies and so she cant have anything except for rabbit. She is eating the NV rabbit dry foor for over a month and seems to like that.

AND THANK YOU FOr THE WARNING about bones. I didnt think about that. Youre right it shouldnt be cooked.

Nope I give up! I sat at the table and pretended to eat the meat. A few mins later i asked if she wanted one and gave her a little piece with a piece of cheese wrapped around it. She placed it on the floor.. ate the cheese and came back for more. I tried to give her a tiny piece of just meat and she wouldnt even come close enough to smell it. She acts like shes scared of it... she kinda hops backwards when its around and wouldnt come near her bowl the first time i put it in there. Shes a character. So I give up. Im going to see if Ill be able to return it next week...even though i dont have the receipt anymore.
If anyone lives in near brooklyn, NY and feeds raw though, let me know. I have 2 bags and since chances are I will not be able to go back to return it soon, im willing to just give it to someone who can pick it up.

That's a shame. I did use grated cheese and sort of mushed it in there. But it sounds like your dog maybe hates rabbit in general. Piper won't eat rabbit...any of the food that I tried her on containing rabbit caused her to turn up her nose and walk away. Even if it was just one of the ingredients.
There is a dry food called Instinct and I think they have a duck variety. I know I got a sample of that from the store. I had to ask and they made up one. I find that the higher-end dog stores are very happy to have you try food, rather than have you lug it back. And they seem more used to picky eaters and dogs with allergies. Anyway, Instinct is a Nature's Variety food and it apparently has some of the same benefits of raw. I feed the chicken version to Piper, moistened, but only as a second option (like if I forget to thaw out the raw stuff, or if I have to board her. They won't feed raw at PetsHotel). I am lucky she isn't allergic to chicken. She did have problems with grain (itchy eyes and ears)but not the chicken itself! Thus the grain-free choices. Anyway, good luck to you! Fortunately there are so many foods out there, you're sure to find something your litltle one will love.

There may be a reason she doesn't like raw...

I think that before you feed a yorkie raw meat, he/she should be bile acid tested and have a full blood panel to check and make sure he/she is healthy. Otherwise, you could end up doing more harm than good.

Thanks for the advice! She is actually on the NV Instinct food right now, the rabbit. so i know she likes the rabbit flavor. I think she doesnt like the smell of the raw food. It does have a strange odor to it. not sure how to describe it but its not just the smell of raw meat. It doesnt expire for about 6 months.

I wonder if I could just buy some rabbit and grind it up to mix in with her food??/ Or maybe just continue feeding her the NV. I just thought I would actually find a food my dog would be excited to eat. She nibbles on the NV here and there but I really wanted her to get excited and chow down a whole meat as soon as i put it down, the way she does with human food. Im a little dissapointed but if she doesnt like it, ill keep looking for something she does.