@marty said in Picky Basenji:
Not a great idea to feed 'people' food. They will come to expect it and won't eat what they're supposed t. As for raw food, please don't. Unless you go to a reputable butcher, not grocery store, you can run into parasitic issues. I work for a vet and our hearts broke when we had to euthanize a 3 yr old who had chronic diarrhoeas due to raw diet. Best to put food down, 10 mins then pick it up. A healthy dog won't starve themselves.
I agree no "people food" with a picky eater. But my dogs for my entire life have gotten SOME .. maybe a couple of bites.. of most things I eat.
Raw food has killed fewer dogs than commercial food with contaminants, I'm pretty sure. And euthanizing a dog for chronic diarrhea? Are you serious? You get them on a new diet and probiotics. A vet that kills a dog over diarrhea .. holy cow. I seriously hope that there is more to the story.
As for "A healthy dog won't starve" ... and other posters who sort of said the same... I wish. I said that myself. Until I got one that literally looked like she was being starved. You could see her back and hip bones. I spent over $1000 in testing (this was about 15 yrs ago.. so more by today's value), consultations with Univ GA, and nothing was wrong that they could find. She simply ate enough not to die. Anorexia-like behavior does in fact happen in dogs. I spoon fed her for years, and then we put her on an appetite medication cyproheptadine (it's actually an antihistamine with an interesting backstory on how they found it works on appetites) and bingo, normal appetite. A couple of years later she got lymphoma, but nothing else ever appeared that could account for the lack of appetite.
So yes, most of the time, picky eaters are created by the owners... but not always. So if you stick to one food, pick up after 10 mins, give again at dinner, pick up, and the dog goes a few days with almost no food, you have a problem. Get a full check now... do it again if it continues. A puppy that young needs nutrition, but all that changing is not the answer.