huskies feeding

Question
Dear Faye
My Ginger is very skinny, she's a 9 month old husky,ever since she was a puppy she was very selective in her feeding habits. I tried so many things!
She may stay 2 days without eating...I cook her food: meat and vegetables. I don't give her raw meat as I live in Nigeria (west Africa) I am not always sure about raw meat.

As a last resort, I tried giving her canned food. Not successful....

I worry about her. What can I do to stimulate her appetite.

She's a great dog and has a lot of energy. I do wonder where she gets it from?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for any help or any advise.

Best regards,

Helene










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Answer
Dear Helene,
Some huskies are very picky, I had one who did the same as you. Until she had puppies geting her to eat was a nightmare and she was so thin. This is what I feed huskies and all dogs in general I am unsure about the diseases fresh meat carries in Nigeria, but if it is only worms you are worred about a regular worming will keep your dog free and healthy. I can see though your dog has the sense to reject a diet of commercial dog food that is a good thing.
Well to answer your question as I am asked this one alot, a diet of
commercial dog food is not something I would recomend for any dog. Sadly
to say I see many dogs who fare very badly on this diet. I can never
understand that humans are always told that to eat healthy they must
consume raw unprocessed food to have optimum health.
Yet for some strange reason our dogs and alot of other animals are not
supposed to eat this way. WHY I ASK? It goes against all commonsense and
mystifies me as to how even the most intelligent people are sucked in by
the pet food companies rubbish. Sadly many vets also play into this,
perhaps they dont know any better, and if they do they are downright evil.
It is obvoius there is a connection between vets and pet food companies
and I am not so sure it is a healthy thing.
I would not feed any commercial dog food to my most loved dogs, here are a
multitude of reasons why you should change to a raw diet.
The rule is all the diet must be raw there is no getting out of it, if you
cook a dog's food you will kill all the beneficial enzymes it needs for
optimum health. So in reality preparation is not hard.
Give her a couple of those a day and a raw egg, shell and all, you will
see the difference in no time on this simple and nutritious diet. I feed
no commercial dog food at all and I have 4 huge thriving boys the oldest
is almost 10 he only looks 5! I go to the vets rarely, and they are amazed
at the health of my guys every time. I attribute it to the diet I feed and
the vast amount of excercise I give my guys. I have also raised litters of
puppies on this same diet and my pups weighed 8 lbs at only 6 weeks!
I only ever feed my guys once a day, huskies can be very ruled by food, but occasionally one like yours is not.
But beware huskies were specifically designed to subsist in a very harsh
environment on very little food and work all day on it. So they can become
very overweight in the absence of this.Raw vegetables are also good for your dog, but remember a dog cannot digest raw veggies unless you put them in a food processor first. This mimics the contents of the intestines of the animals they would have hunted in the wild. That was the only vegetable matter they really got.
Here are some feeding hints these are the rules I live by and I have had
great success with. I give all raw meat, all different kinds, keep it varied,
but for growing pups chicken is the best. All uncooked bones are great,
but do try to avoid the real big hard ones like the ones from a cow's leg.
They are so dense and hard they can chip and injure a dogs teeth and cause
wear if they have them too often. Other than that all bones are great. For a growing pup poultry and pork are the best but give him red meats as well. Remember the only dangerous bones are ones that have been cooked, all raw bones arefine. Raw eggs, cottage cheese, lactose reduced milk, all whole milk not skim. Mince is great all different kinds, fish is great too. Blend up some
veggies from time to time and mix them in as well. Honey on the cottage
cheese, yohgurt, all full cream of course, and any general table scraps
you might have as well.
Don't feed cereals, chocolate, or onion ever they are poisonous to a dog.
Only feed him once a day, and what he does not eat, take away.
Feeding should be simple and with this method your dog should thrive.
Basically I feed everything I would eat with the exception of cereals,
even fruit and veg. Beleive it or not, although dog food is full of
cereal, dogs cannot digest it at all, and it has no food value to them what so
ever. So forget the cereals entirely. Cereals can even cause diabeties
which I have seen happen first hand in dogs, and often does as they get
older. Commercial food is also too high in salt and calcium and can cause
a myriad of problems as your dog ages. So give a diet of 80% raw meaty
bones and don't have a vet bill or a broken heart. If you have any further
questions don't hesitate to ask.  Give it a try you have nothing to
lose and everything to gain. Some huskies as they age grow out of not eating too.
I hope this helps you, Faye and Husky Crew.