Hi everyone
It's been a long time since I posted here....been keeping my mouth shut and trying to LEARN some things! LOL Anyway, we just rescued a GSD from the local shelter, male, probably about 3 yo, just nuetered and weighs in at about 68 lbs. I am having a heck of a time getting him to eat anything........and he SHOULD weigh at least 80 lbs. The poor guy is basically a bag of bones with a dark sable pelt draped over them......I've been combing the site like mad for the last week or so in preparation to bringing him home and this is the last issue I'd even thought would be a problem. So far he'll eat chicken gizzards and wings....small bits of hamburger and even then only about 1/2 to 1 cup at a time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. BTW he's scheduled to see the vet Monday morning first thing because he's developed a sneezing/cough thing too, which the shelter folks said was going around.........maybe he can't smell the food and so doesn't want any??? Help

1. There are a couple of ailments that present with lack of appetite, so when you see the vet and talk about bloodwork, you could tell him/her about the appetite thing.

2. Meanwhile, you might want to lightly cook some ground beef or turkey, because some dogs who are stressed and have no appetite are still excited by the smell of warm (lightly-cooked) meat, ground up so there is no effort at all. Of course, you know not to give cooked bones.

If this is attractive to him, you could gradually switch it to raw, and then gradually switch that to a regular un-ground raw diet.

I'd be sure and keep him hydrated, too, and if he's not drinking much, it might help to use some no-salt meat broth.

I don't mean these for long-term plans, of course, but if he is stressed and frightened, these things might help.

JMO. Good luck with the vet visit!

And congrats on your rescue, too. I have a rescued GSD (among others) who is just a great dog. He was kind of a mess at first: allergies, bad coat and skin, ear infections, kind of fearful......... and he turned around in every way on real food and motivational obedience training.

thanks Connie........yes he's drinking plenty of water and also some organic chicken broth....I'm taking your suggestion and put his dinner on the stove to cook it a bit with some broth I made earlier. Chicken and ground beef......he actually has worked on a couple of raw beef soup bones but as far as actualy eating a decent amount of food, not yet. He seems like a pretty calm, confident guy, no signs of fear.....in fact I was calling him The Prince Of The City when I was going to visit him at the shelter, his demeanor was almost regal. I can not imagine HOW a dog of this calibre ended up stray.......Oh well! Using the groundwork method of integrating him and he's doing really well. except for the starving refugee thing!

Don't shelters to an exam first thing? Thats the way it looks on TV anyway. So If no med issue's I would give him anything he wants to eat and try everything you can think of. Once you build his appetite up the ball is in your court.

Steve

The shelter gives them a basic exam, heartworm test and a bath. Then he got a psych eval of sorts and got nuetered the morning of the day I picked him up. Heartworm neg, noted that he's "thin" and doesn't like to e restrained. Mostly I'll see what my vet has to say.........he did eat about a cup of dinner once I cooked it a little......guess I'll go thru the fridge and see what there is to eat in this house.........he is starting to remind me of my husband in this....hmmm, maybe ice cream?
Just kidding!
thanks all, I'll just keep trying....

He most likely has kennel cough. my male cought kennel cough from a dog I had imported, he didn't care to eat ,he drank lots
fluid.I think once you see your vet and get the meds he needs he should start eating better.
I hope it all works out for you.

http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/cadogancna/

My GSD who has a history of digestive problems (prior to switching to the raw diet) will occasionally go into a little bout of anorexia when she is stressed. We have actually been dealing with it this week...first time in about 6 months.

Like Connie said, I cook the food and usually drop her down to just beef products which agree with her the most. I also up her dosage of Berte's Immune Blend, which is a blend of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. It's a really good product and is available at b-naturals.com if you are interested.

Oh, and though this is a simple idea and you may have already thought of it...try feeding him multiple times throughout the day...maybe you can get a little more in him that way.

Hope everything checks out well at the vet or he/she can offer some suggestions...congrats on your new boy

Thanks everyone for suggestions and encouragement! He's eating!!! Not a whole lot but at least enough that I'm not scared he'll keel over on us! Vet gave him antibiotic injection and a B12, otherwise said he looks good.....so what I've found is that he likes chicken gizzards best, then ground beef and chunks of beef with fat....the bones he'll chew on for a bit but not long. Also he seems to want me to feed him by hand.
He's got me pegged....'sigh'....I put his dish down and when he stops eating and stares at me I come over and start handing the gunk to him...he likes that quite a bit. He better get healthy pretty quick so I can do a better job of being his leader.....right now I'm the nurse!

Connie, I have a question based on the OP's post. Why would a shelter administer anesthesia and neuter a dog that was skin and bones? This doesn't sound right to me as the dog wasn't healthy enough weight-wise to undergo surgery. Couldn't they have waited and let Saffron take the dog with the condition she brought him back for neutering when he was better? It seems if shelters are neutering in spite of a dog's condition, they're getting too radical about it.