Toby, our 13 year old black lab decided to stop eating recently.  No matter
what type of dog food we'd purchase, he'd turn up his nose and ignore it.  I
tried adding eggs to his dry dog food, then a touch of olive oil.. leftovers,
you name it, nothing helped.  He even ignored canned dog food!   Meanwhile he
was losing more and more weight.. Toby didn't have that much poundage to spare
since he was never a "big" lab... he was the runt of his litter (that's why I
picked him, he was so cute ).. so I really started getting concerned
when I saw his weight drop so drastically.  He was literally getting to look
like an ignored starving dog!

I started looking for 'dog food' recipes to make at home and found some that
looked decent.. Once I started making his dog food, of course Toby started
eating like a pig! haha Sure, what dog wouldn't if he got his own specially
prepared dinner :)

This is what I'm making for him - he's eating about 3-4 of these 'patties' a
day and thankfully his weight has returned to normal :)

Toby Dinner Patties:
2 lb. hamburger
2 cups fish (raw shrimp sometimes, canned mackeral sometimes, leftover-salmon
etc.)
1 lb. chicken (whatever I have, usually cheaper bulk thighs deboned) 2 cups
oatmeal or rice
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup brewers yeast
1 cup vegetables (leftover, or carrots or broccoli or peas)

I run the thighs though a Ninja grinder so they'll mix in well with the
hamburger, smash the fish up and smash the cooked veggies as well. I mix
everything up, and put 1 cup of the mix on a cookie sheet, flatten it out a
little, and bake it for an hour...

These get stored in sandwich sized baggies in the 'fridge.  The above amounts
make about 11 or 12 patties, usually enough for almost 2 days.

Now that his weight has returned to normal, and his appetite seems to have
returned, we're hoping to switch him to regular dog food (maybe canned, not
sure yet).  I figure a visit to vet is in order just to check his teeth.. I
don't want to think about what that's going to involve if it is his problem :(
He never complains when comping down on dog cookies so I really doubt it's his
teeth.. I think the old man is just stubborn and spoiled 

Anyone ever run into this kind of thing with an older dog?

Take care,
Janis

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-1
 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)