Starve Day

[Cassandra & Honey]

I've read a few times lately that some breeders and owners suggest and do a 'starve day', a day which they don't feed the dogs anything.

Which i know wouldn't be bad since some huskies just stop eating on their own and aren't meant to be big eaters, but just wondering if anyone here does a starve day once a week?

Is it worth introducing into my dogs food routine? [not for the pup though until shes older]

I'll try and find some links for where i've read it, if i can remember and canf ind it, it's hard, 'cause if you type it into google it mainly comes up with horror stories of dogs being starved to death. Thanks google!

Here's one page and it briefly mentions it - http://www.amscq.com.au/care.html

[aronoiiel]

I personally haven't read anything about this I did it to Kiana when we were having trouble with her diarrhea and trying to get her on a good consistent diet but other than that I haven't heard of it. I'm curious to see how the responses for this goes

[Joey.Zarly]

I've heard of it but i'd never do it.

Our dogs are domesticated and the way we bring them up having 2-3 meals a day is how it should stay imo.

I have heard doing the 1 day starve (which i have been told is only to be done once a month) is to help with their metabolism.

All in all, I'd never do it because i know my dogs absolutely LOVE having their meals everyday!

[Bec]

Fasting is healthy for dogs, although I don't do it on a regular basis, I will do it before a big obedience comp or training workshop. No more than 24 hours though

[Sarah]

i do this maybe once a week - but slightly differently.

Both boys get fed twice a day - once a week I skip the morning meal and don't feed until night time and at night I only give half of what they would normally have in that serving. It's not a full starve and I vary the days so for eg I didn't feed them yesterday morning however i may not feed them Sunday morning so I just vary the days They don't bother about it

I find this very useful when training them - the work harder for their treats then

I also don't feed when I take them to the dog park - so tomorrow they won't get fed at night as as soon as I get back from work i go straight out - i need them to come back to me for food if I call them

[ISDW]

I think its quite an old fashioned thing to do, and, in one book I read, had more to do with the fact that it was usually a Sunday, and kennels didn't have to pay a kennelmaid overtime to come in then, than any health benefit for the dog:D

[Andy]

I'd heard that it mimics them in the wild where they are not guaranteed to be able to hunt food every day and so some days they would go without.

[davidjk]

the only time i fasted micha was when she had real bad guts, then after 24hrs fed her on chicken and then rice.

I don't know if starving is good or bad, but micha occasionally wont eat, i dont know if this is because she catches something while they are out, or she just doesn't want to eat.

[Bec]

JMO but I don't think of fasting your dog for a day the same as starving them - my dogs are way too well fed for missing one or even two meals to constitute being starved, LOL.

[ISDW]

JMO but I don't think of fasting your dog for a day the same as starving them - my dogs are way too well fed for missing one or even two meals to constitute being starved, LOL.

Very true, although the way mine react at dinner time you'd think they had been starved!

[Sqwidge]

Eika does this herself...honestly she's gone 2 days without food before...where she just didn't want to eat...pain in the bum!

[valkyries]

i don't do this but Odin as done many a time just wont eat his food, theres a girl works where i work she does not feed her dogs on a friday lol if i did not feed Loki and Thor they'd make my life hell xxxx

[Rosemary]

Very true, although the way mine react at dinner time you'd think they had been starved!

Micah is the same, as soon as I reach for their food bowls she starts salivating. She has an inbuilt clock which tells her when its dinner time, and she will come and let me know it is TIME

[Ross]

Sometimes Desna will go without meals on his own. I figured a surefire way to get him to eat is to get out for a good walk, I've noticed most of his non-eating days are immediately following days that I wasn't able to get out for a decent walk. I think he realises that if he didn't exercise he doesn't need the food or something. If he won't eat, then we go for a good walk/run and come back he'll go straight for the water bowl and then look around for his food until I put it back down for him.

Ross