Difficulty With Chicken (Raw)

Hi all,

I've just started Milton on a raw diet, gave him some ox heart last night and he loved it. Tried him with half a chicken carcass this morning, and he wasn't so sure - he licked it and gave it a few bites, but didn't really eat any of it. I persevered with it for a while, kept taking him back to it but he kept doing the same. I'm wondering if it's because of the texture, he likes the taste because when I pulled a few bits off the bone and fed them to him by hand, he took them straight away.
Has anyone had a similar problem? I'm wondering whether I need to cut it up into smaller pieces, or strip it all off the bone and then mix the bones in with the meat so he doesn't have to work as hard..? And skin off or on?
He's 6 this year, in good health, gets plenty of exercise and doesn't seem to have any other food related problems. The rescue centre gave me a few days worth of Royal Canin, which he'd been on previously, and he always used to eat a bit then go back to it later, but with the heart it was all gone in a few minutes.

Any advice is really welcome!

I've never fed raw but I have found that Logan just won't eat chicken at all. It seems quite a few dogs are intolerant to it on here.

There are a few real experts on raw feeding on here that will be able to give a lot better info on the ways to help.

MatLogan wrote:I've never fed raw but I have found that Logan just won't eat chicken at all. It seems quite a few dogs are intolerant to it on here.

There are a few real experts on raw feeding on here that will be able to give a lot better info on the ways to help.

Tried Vinnie on raw in the beginning but never suited him at all. Chicken used to make him scratch terrible so stopped feeding raw quite somtime ago.

Some dogs just take a bit more convincing. He might not actually realise its food! You could try cutting it up into 'bite size' pieces and see if that helps and gradually cut the chunks bigger until he eats the full carcass. Another method you could try would be putting his bowl down in the morning and if he hasn't ate anything, lift it after 15 minutes. No treats or anything during the day and put it down at the next meal time for 15 minutes again, do this for a couple of days and I'm sure he'll start eating!

Thanks, I've cut a carcass up and I'll see how he gets on with it, he's due a meal quite soon. I've also turned the thermostat down on his fridge, I noticed the chicken was almost freezing which might not have helped.

I'll report back after mealtime

Just takes time sometimes. Like people getting used to eating takeaways all the time they develop taste buds for that type of food. Stick with it and you will see a difference in the first 2 weeks.

Well, he definitely seems to not like chicken! I gave him a bowl of cut-up carcass, no interest at all, didn't even lick it. Tried picking the bowl up and putting it down a bit later, still nothing. Did that a couple more times, then eventually gave him more heart and a bit of tripe, with a few little bits of chicken mixed in, which he just picked out and left on the floor. I'll try again tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.
I guess I'll look into other types of bone then, because he loves the heart and already seems more energetic so I definitely want to stick with the raw feeds.

I may well have a massive bag of chicken carcasses up for grabs soon

Might he's like Logan then. Even if you gave him a real nice chicken breast he wouldn't even consider eating it.

Chris SW wrote:Well, he definitely seems to not like chicken! I gave him a bowl of cut-up carcass, no interest at all, didn't even lick it. Tried picking the bowl up and putting it down a bit later, still nothing. Did that a couple more times, then eventually gave him more heart and a bit of tripe, with a few little bits of chicken mixed in, which he just picked out and left on the floor. I'll try again tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.
I guess I'll look into other types of bone then, because he loves the heart and already seems more energetic so I definitely want to stick with the raw feeds.

I may well have a massive bag of chicken carcasses up for grabs soon

i'm afraid your going to have to do tough love, he obviously doesn't realise the chicken is food.

Put it down and after 20 minutes take it up and back in the fridge, give NOTHING in between meals, no treats nothing and then offer the chicken at each meal. He might miss a few meals but a healthy dog won't starve themselves and he will eat it when he's hungry enough

Would it be better to try him with a chicken wing? It's smaller & easier for him to get the hang of crunching it?

Thanks for the advice, I'll try again tomorrow and see how we get on. I tried him with a wing, he was a little bit better, gave it a bite but didn't really eat it. Think I just need to be a bit less of a pushover and not give in... easier said than done though haha

Bit of an update, I've tried what Ella suggested and he still wouldn't eat it. I even tried him with some fresh chicken thighs, still turned his nose up. I guess he just doesn't like chicken. :-<

I'm going to go and get some lamb bones tomorrow and see if he likes those, fingers crossed...

Chris SW wrote:Bit of an update, I've tried what Ella suggested and he still wouldn't eat it. I even tried him with some fresh chicken thighs, still turned his nose up. I guess he just doesn't like chicken. :-<

I'm going to go and get some lamb bones tomorrow and see if he likes those, fingers crossed...

it may take days doing the method i mentioned the longest i've heard a dog refuse until giving up is 10 days so i wouldn't give up yet

ella wrote:

Chris SW wrote:Bit of an update, I've tried what Ella suggested and he still wouldn't eat it. I even tried him with some fresh chicken thighs, still turned his nose up. I guess he just doesn't like chicken. :-<

I'm going to go and get some lamb bones tomorrow and see if he likes those, fingers crossed...

it may take days doing the method i mentioned the longest i've heard a dog refuse until giving up is 10 days so i wouldn't give up yet

Oh really? I wasn't expecting it to take that long, I might stick with it then, thanks!

Had a right result today, went to the butcher to get more ox hearts and also got a massive bag of lamb bones (about 10kg) for the princely sum of one whole pound And even better, Milton loves them! I had to give him the first one by hand until he got the hang of it but after that there was no stopping him. Really chuffed, didn't want to have to put him back on kibble.

Again, thanks very much to everyone for their help though

don't forget to make sure he has plenty of boneless meat and to take it slowly with adding in new foods

ella wrote:don't forget to make sure he has plenty of boneless meat and to take it slowly with adding in new foods

Thanks ella he has a bowl of heart in the morning, sometimes mixed with green tripe, sometimes a little bit of liver, and now I'll be giving him the lamb bones in the evening. Unless people recommend doing it the other way around? I'll be adding a few more bits as he gets used to it too

have a look at the guide at the top of this page:

www.preymodelraw.com

It's a great guide for starting out and for any problems

ella wrote:have a look at the guide at the top of this page:

www.preymodelraw.com

It's a great guide for starting out and for any problems

Awesome, thanks a lot

my bruno don't like raw chicken, i gave him some once, he looked at me like i was mad, he likes it boiled lol