My dog wont eat!

Question
Hello and please help me:)
Rylee is my 1 year old male miniature Dachshund and the love of my life. Everyone falls in love with Rylee as soon as they see him.  But since the day we got him we have had problems with his eating habits.  As a puppy we only put his food down when we came home from work to help with his house training. But after a few weeks we noticed that Rylee would hardly eat when his food was given to him.  So we started leaving it down all day.  He would munch on it here and there. But we were getting endless comments that he was too thin and sickly looking. (You could see his ribs and back bones:(. He also shed all the time, which I have read is uncommon for this breed to do. He also vomited anything other then his dog food up and we didn't let any other food to be given to him. We took him to the vet and the vet told us he was looking thin and his coat looked flat. So he perscribed Rylee food for his Gastro intestine. He said that he could have problems digesting the food he is eating. Things started to go better. He stoped shedding and put on a bit of weight (just a bit). The next visit to the vet a few months later (for an ear infection).  The vet told us he looked good and that it was natural for a Dachshund to have the physic of a Greyhound.  After this visit we noticed Rylee lost his bit of weight and rarley ate.  We tried the warm water to soften the food and it worked for a bit.  We tried adding Kibbles and Bits to the mix. It worked for a bit too. And the newest thing is Perina (sp?) topper for his food (with the meaty chunks).Now it just drys out in the dish. We also stared giving him a small amount of table scraps at supper time.  He will eat treats no problem and the table scraps and muches on his food now and then which is still left out full time.  But he just doesn't seem to put on any weight. He also no longer vomits (at all:)  He is pretty active if you play with him but sleeps most of the day away.  He is very muscular.  We have an appointment for him in a weeks time to have him fixed and hope that his helps with the weight issue and plan to readdress it with the vet again.  Am I being parinoid? Could he have a kidney/liver problem?  Did a create a finicky eater? Some people say that it is better to feed them chicken and rice and have the dog eat. Other say I am doing harm to him by letting him eat anything other then dog food. My thought so far is as long as he is eating I will give him "people food" as long as it is meat and grains. I really don't know what to do. If you would like me to send you a picture of him I can so you can see what he looks like.  Thank you so much:)
Rylee's Mom

Answer
vlHi Rachelle;
Sounds like he is a bit spoiled to people food, but that isn't his only problem, I think.
It is natural for dachshunds to have the physique of a greyhound, but if you see the ribs, he is too thin. Any breed. The best way to tell is if you cannot SEE the ribs, but you can feel them when you rub your hands gently down their sides.
There may be other tests your vet needs to do to find out what the problem is.
Chicken and rice is good, and the basis of most good brand dog food formulas. that ans lamb and rice.
I would suggest you also give him a good vitamin suppliment. Your Vet can better tell you which to use.
Neutering him will not help with the weight.
Spaying and neutering doesn't normally affect the weight in otherwise healthy dogs.
At one year old, sleeping and lieing around most of the time is not that normal.
His diet will certainly affect his coat, and being undernourished will cause more shedding, but it really sounds like there may be some other culprit.
It is possible to cook for your dog. I do it sometimes.
You just have to make sure they get a balanced diet, for dogs.
I include vegetables when I cook for mine.
They can be finicky, and there can be some vegetables they don't like.
For instance, one of my dogs will NOT eat carrote, two of them Love carrots, and the other one will eat them but not that much.
Stay away from the cabbage family.
My little Lhasa loves brussels sprouts, but you can't stand to be in the house with him if he eats them.
I give him ione or two because he loves them so much.
I feed dry kibbe dog food because it helps keep their teth clean, and that is necessary for their health, as it is for humans' health.

I make stew for mine sometimes. Three of mine are older dogs, and when they get older, their protein intake must be watched closer. Beef is not good for them, any more than it is for us, so i feed beef sparingly.
NO PORK!
There is an enzyme in oork, that if present causes a fatal disease, and the enzyme can't be killed by cooking or freezing. apparently it is only bad for dogs.
I skin a chicken, and get as much of the fat off as possible, then just cover it with water,add a little salt (very little), and slowly cook it. I take the chicken out and let it cool while the potatoes, carrots and greem beans simmer in the broth. Then I add the boned meat, and some noodles (any kind of pasta) or rice for the grains. It makes a nice thick stew that they will eat heartliy.
I used to have two that had frequent stomach viruses. I fed them chicken and rice, and i think sometimes they faked so they could have the chicken and rice.
Maybe you could stew a chicken, and freeze the broth in an ice cube tray. Take a couple of cubes out to heat and put on his kibble. That might flavor it so that he would eat it.
You could put the chicken through a blender, or food processor so it would be very fine, not chunks, and that gruel would add flavor as well as nutrition to kibbles and encourage him to eat it that way.
If you are at home all day with him so that you can feed often, I would suggest feeding him three or four times a day, and feeding smaller amounts, as opposed to leaving it out all the time.
You could gradually increase the amount of food, and the length of time between feedings, untill he is eating normal amounts, twice a day.
I give my dogs human food treats, because the ones I have now eat their food well. When I bring out cheese, they seem to know it, even before I open a package. so I give them a bit of cheese.
I don't give them raw meat of any kind.
I don't trust the supermarkets to have meat that is that fresh and clean enough.
I use tuna packed on water, rather than oil, so when I drain it, I put the water over their food for that meal.
Sometimes I just give them some tuna. They like it so much, and it is good for them.
Maybe tuna packed in oil would be beneficial for Riley. Ask your Veterinarian about that.
Fish oils will help the coat.
When the dog foods were not so healthful as they are now, I used to but cod liver oil and wheat germ oil and put it on my dogs' food. I got it in the pet food isle by the other vitamins, flea soaps etc.
Talk to your Veterinarian about your concerns about his eating.
there may be something in Riley's system tht causes him to just not thrive.
I don't cook for mine as much now, as i am old and my health is not that good, and it is more difficult for me to do all the extra work.
When we make hamburgers, I cook extra patties for them, and when I am cooking something that is good for them, and they like, it is not that hard to make a little more so they can have some too.
I think you are right to be concerned about his eating habits and diet. It is just as important for him to have a balanced diet ( for a dog) as it is for us to have a bakanced diet for humans.
Your Veterinarian should be able to get to the bottom of the problem.
If he/she is not that concerned, maybe another Veterinarian should be considered.
I am as particular about the doctor I have for my dogs, as I was about the Pediatrician I had for my children.
My dogs are my children too, and my responsibility.
I love them to death, and I am a fussy mommy with their health too.
You might make a pot of chicken stew, and freeze it in portions that would be oart of his meal, and add the kibble to that.
When the kibble has ckicken soup soaked into it, he should eat it, and that would give him more of the doggy nutrition he needs.
I would use Science Diet, Walthams, orIams dog food. they are more nourishing and do not have the fillers store bought dog food has.
Of the rands you buy in grocery stores, Purina is the only one i would ever feed. They have less fillers than the cheaper foods.
Those fillers do mothing but fill up the bag, so it lokks like you get more for your money. The dog has to eat a lot more to get nourishment than with the better brands.
Riley is lucky to have a mommy that loves him so much.
If you try the chicken stew, please write me and tell me how he fares with it.
Or if you have further problems you feel I can help with, write anytime.
Charlotte