Originally Posted by Lynn

Ollies breeder feeds raw so that is why he is mostly fed raw.
He was on raw chicken wings at 6 weeks old. He isn't so keen on them he prefers the poultry necks. He will eat chicken wings still frozen.
I do not feed him lamb very much it tends to give him soft stools, but he likes marrow bones minced tripe, beef, tripe chunks and beef chunks good for chewing and we can also get something called banquet nuggets here they are a mixture of meats and fruit and veg.
If I give him the mince with no added fruit or veg I put a variety of raw fruits and veg through the food processor excluding tomatoes and potatoes.
He also likes ox heart and lambs hearts, I try to find some meats mixed with liver as this good for them too, but Ollie hates it unless it is really well disguised.
We have some good raw feeding sites here in the UK would be worth you finding some if you want to go this route, I also had a lot of help from Ollies breeder with it.
There are also some good books out there.
I feed 2% of Ollies weight he tends to put weight on, if they are on the lean side it would 3% of body weight.
We can buy most of what he needs from pet stores, we also have suppliers here that will deliver and they all have to be checked by an organisation called DEFRA, to make sure the meat is healthy before it is sold for animal consumption.
Do some research and make sure it is for you and that you can give your dog all that it needs. When we go on Holidays we feed a wet food called Nature Diet which is all natural or a good quality kibble I have just discovered which is all natural and contains fruit and veg.
All bones must be fed raw it is the cooking that softens them and makes them dangerous and splinter, you must also not overfeed bones because they will impact and then your dog will have problems, so it is vital to research to get the ratio right.

do you think eating chicken bones is safe? man they r so jagged edged, i'd be afraid of him chiking os doing damage to his intestines

Originally Posted by mabelfoss

do you think eating chicken bones is safe? man they r so jagged edged, i'd be afraid of him chiking os doing damage to his intestines

Ollie has coped very well his breeder feeds only raw and all her dogs and pups get raw bones ie: poultry necks and chicken wings, must admit I was very worried at first but not had any accidents yet with him and he now has lovely strong white teeth which everyone comments on.
All bones must be raw if fed to your dog they splinter much easier if cooked. It is down to personal choice though and if people feel uncomfortable feeding this way they should avoid it. If his breeder hadn't recommended this way of feeding and didn't feed her dogs that way I would never of attempted it.
He gets chicken wings that are well covered in meat and also chicken carcass again covered in meat.

hello all,

I came across this forum while browsing diets for berners, great site!

Has anyone here had any problems with berners not eating? I have an 11month old bernese and he refuses to eat anything but the most premium of meats... we're talking steak and fresh ground mince, select lamb cutlets etc.

I was feeding him on Hill science plan for large breed puppy with some wet pedigree for flavor but he suddenly went off this. we changed to a few different brands and mixtures but he is only interested for a week at most then goes back to not eating. Vet says he's in good health but needs to stop loosing weight, appetite promoting drugs not working.

the funny thing is I have no idea where he suddenly got this habbit... he never got human food before this, now he turns his nose to his food and won't eat until he gets what he wants! tried weaning this behaviour but it's not working.

any suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks.

Have you tried feeding kibble of slightly better quality than Hills or Pedigree? Somewhere in between the steak and Hill's? lol

Some of the cheaper brands just don't have the taste (I know, they eat their own poo, but I've heard of berners being picky about their food, and all of them were on a diet bought at the vets). Go to your local pet store (PetSmart, Global Pet foods, etc) and you can get small sample bags for really cheap and try that out. You probably don't need to be giving him wet food (if he is really young), a large breed puppy food will have all the nourishment your pup will need. Simply adding a little warm water to the kibble and mixing it up with your hands will release the smells and make it more alluring. Try some of the other diets, ask someone who works at the store.

You don't have to go super expensive, but I think it's important not to cheap out either.

Originally Posted by hwhite84

Have you tried feeding kibble of slightly better quality than Hills or Pedigree? Somewhere in between the steak and Hill's? lol

Some of the cheaper brands just don't have the taste (I know, they eat their own poo, but I've heard of berners being picky about their food, and all of them were on a diet bought at the vets). Go to your local pet store (PetSmart, Global Pet foods, etc) and you can get small sample bags for really cheap and try that out. You probably don't need to be giving him wet food (if he is really young), a large breed puppy food will have all the nourishment your pup will need. Simply adding a little warm water to the kibble and mixing it up with your hands will release the smells and make it more alluring. Try some of the other diets, ask someone who works at the store.

You don't have to go super expensive, but I think it's important not to cheap out either.

Thank hwhite,

tried a large variety of kibble from the best to the worst, spending the cash is not a problem, its just a matter of him not eating thats in question.

He had 'Madra' kibble today (one of the cheapest kibbles on the irish market) and wouldnt you know he ate it all! but i don't like this as the nutrition is all wrong for a growing berner and who knows what else is in it. i'd much prefer if he would eat a premium kibble for large breed dogs. but for now the priority is to put some weight on him.

a few days ago I tried a 6star premium (cant think of the name... started with K?) again and he just turned his nose to it even though he hadn't had food all day and was clearly hungry.

I tried adding warm water before to release the smells but it doesn't work.

pet shops here don't offer the trial bags but i try as much kibbles as i can get my hands on. he just doesn't seem to want to eat kibble in any form/quantity/mixture, even when i add a handful of kibble to 1lbs of mince he will turn his nose to the whole thing just because the kibble has been added!

I try to balance his diet as evenly as possible and he gets 'denta stix' and 'joint care' a few times a week also, which he loves.

to sum up -
-he refuses kibble, especially premium types (at the moment he seems to be eating a low grade kibble)
-he wont eat wet dog food
-he will eat meat but only the best lamb and beef
-he will eat dog treats (pedigree) in large quantities
-he's been to the vet and the vet agrees this is a behaviour problem as he is in good health apart from weight loss.
-feeding him twice daily at the same times, leaving the food down for 10mins and then removing it if he doesn't eat it - has not worked

As you can imagine, having a dog that is clearly losing weight but will not eat is worrying and frustrating.

I have seen picky eaters before but nothing as bad as this!

PS his name is Darby and he's 11 months now.

As recommended by our breeder we have been using Taste of the Wild for his main food.

This may sound silly, but has he had a dental exam at the vet's? Maybe he has a sore tooth or something? That's all I can think of. I've heard of berners being picky eaters but not that bad.... My Toa will eat ANYTHING and I mean anything.... grass, dirt, stones, sticks, leaves, even the seed potatoes I was trying to plant in the garden on the weekend! (don't worry, I got the potato out of his mouth. They are toxic to dogs)

Originally Posted by mabelfoss

do you think eating chicken bones is safe? man they r so jagged edged, i'd be afraid of him chiking os doing damage to his intestines

I'm new to this site and getting my berner in 4 weeks but I had to make a comment as I do currently own a 2 year old Samoyed who is fed Raw. He has always had chicken with bone in and has never encountered a problem. Dogs have very strong jaws and are able to power through those bones and break them in to small managable pieces.

As long as they are fed raw bones, not cooked there is no problems.

My samoyed did have one incident a year ago after eating a turkey leg. The bone fragment was too large for him to digest normally so after loads of tests and xrays they discovered that that was the problem and to hope it passed. It passed! I do not feed him turkey legs anymore as it's a weight bearing bone and does not break easily.

When i'm unable to get chicken backs or pork I buy from Mountain Dog Food

Originally Posted by stitch413

Thank hwhite,

tried a large variety of kibble from the best to the worst, spending the cash is not a problem, its just a matter of him not eating thats in question.

He had 'Madra' kibble today (one of the cheapest kibbles on the irish market) and wouldnt you know he ate it all! but i don't like this as the nutrition is all wrong for a growing berner and who knows what else is in it. i'd much prefer if he would eat a premium kibble for large breed dogs. but for now the priority is to put some weight on him.

a few days ago I tried a 6star premium (cant think of the name... started with K?) again and he just turned his nose to it even though he hadn't had food all day and was clearly hungry.

I tried adding warm water before to release the smells but it doesn't work.

pet shops here don't offer the trial bags but i try as much kibbles as i can get my hands on. he just doesn't seem to want to eat kibble in any form/quantity/mixture, even when i add a handful of kibble to 1lbs of mince he will turn his nose to the whole thing just because the kibble has been added!

I try to balance his diet as evenly as possible and he gets 'denta stix' and 'joint care' a few times a week also, which he loves.

to sum up -
-he refuses kibble, especially premium types (at the moment he seems to be eating a low grade kibble)
-he wont eat wet dog food
-he will eat meat but only the best lamb and beef
-he will eat dog treats (pedigree) in large quantities
-he's been to the vet and the vet agrees this is a behaviour problem as he is in good health apart from weight loss.
-feeding him twice daily at the same times, leaving the food down for 10mins and then removing it if he doesn't eat it - has not worked

As you can imagine, having a dog that is clearly losing weight but will not eat is worrying and frustrating.

I have seen picky eaters before but nothing as bad as this!

PS his name is Darby and he's 11 months now.

I have never heard of Berners being this fussy either most times they have to be watched with how much they eat.

What about trying a good kibble and put a small tin of sardines on the kibble the ones in sunflower oil though sunflower oil is very good for their coats salmon also is good for them the normal bog standard salmon in a tin is fine drain off the brine I also give Ollie sardines or salmon on a piece of toasted brown bread he loves it.

Can you buy raw meat especially for dogs from a supplier like we can here or maybe cheap cuts from a butcher if that is what he prefers.

The suggestion of a dental exam sounds good if he is is being so picky.

hey all,

Been at the vets so many times and he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't eat properly... The problem is solved now though.

We put him up at my sister's house with his Brother 'Buffalo King'. King is an absolute beast and will eat anything... and i mean anything! He would eat Darby's food if darby didn't eat it and soon enough he began to eat.

I have since switched vets (did this when darby came home limping from an overnight stay!) and our new vet has given us a bag of Royal canin giant breed junior (said if he wouldnt eat it to bring it back for a refund). Well he loves it, he will eat it all when its put down though he still doesn't overeat.

The vet also said our dog was weird as he would eat her dog 'treats' made for sick dogs which are completely bland but wouldn't eat any other food she had! until i got home with the new nuts.

I think the problem was the size of the nut, he still doesn't eat small kibble but loves the large crunchy ones like royal canin.

thanks for the help guys