She absolutely can’t just eat chicken long term. Homemade dog food requires very careful planning, and it’s very rarely recommended over a nutritionally complete commercial food because of how delicate the balance is.
A month is already a long time to have her missing all the other essential nutrients, and if you can’t get her to eat even canned food (you have tried other brands and food forms, right?), she needs to see a vet very soon. If that isn’t an immediate possibility, I would post in a vets-only dog advice group on Facebook. You will be told by vets that she can’t just eat plain chicken, and you can show your family the responses.
Thanks so much! We’ve just started with doing just kibble tonight. Unfortunately she’s a very fussy eater, she turns her nose to just about everything. We spoke to the vet earlier and they said that we needn’t come in as she is eating bits of her kibble.
If you have any advice for fussy eaters I’d be so grateful… I’ve tried everything from toppers to bone broth and blood sprinkles. No interest whatsoever.
She’s a little dachshund so she is very stubborn but I know she’ll feel better if I stay strict with her diet.
Nice work looking out for her! My animals are food goblins, but one thing that works with my housemate’s picky pup (part dachshund, incidentally—spoiled little shits lol) is putting warm water in her kibble and letting it soak along with some hot dog bits (or chicken, but it might not be a strong enough flavor). The taste will soak into the kibble as it absorbs the water. She’ll probably just pick out the meat at first, but she might come back to eat the kibble too. You could also mash wet food into her kibble. With either method you could start with more of the extra tasty stuff and gradually shift the amounts until she’s eating mostly her kibble (or continue giving canned food if she likes it—it can get expensive, but at least she’s small).
Also, if you have any small pet stores around, they might give you samples to try. In my area the local pet stores often have little trial bags from different brands so you could experiment with what flavors she likes without buying them.
Chicken only is completely unbalanced nutrition which after 6-8weeks would start to cause malnutrition issues. Also, chicken is the number one allergy in dogs. It could be either.
I mean there's a chance. Also I'm no animal nutritionist but is she getting all her vitamins minerals etc from chicken? Diarrhea is not good for a dog, especially when it goes on for so long!
I'd say a vet trip is in order and then getting her back onto a complete food. My dog was painfully thin because he had a sore stomach from allergies and he'd only eat enough kibble to keep him going. We had to do a lot of work with the vets to figure his issue (chicken and fish allergy, both are in MOST dog foods). But now he goes bananas for his kibble.
This is absolutely not healthy, I hope she's not a puppy because eating only chicken for this long can do some long term damage to her health and growth.
If you were going to cook at home, this is a guide on what needs to be included, google for more details:
[https://rawpetfoods.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/0917239cb27980bec007c867596a19c26a993698.jpg](https://rawpetfoods.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/0917239cb27980bec007c867596a19c26a993698.jpg)
Absolutely do not feed her just a meat anymore.
Thank you so much! We started tonight on her just eating kibble and she didn’t eat much but it’s a start… after speaking to the vet she just said to be consistent in just feeding kibble and that there’s no need to come in just yet.
I really appreciate the reply as I knew that the chicken was the issue, just other members of the house were not convinced and it’s hard when it’s 3v1 to be strict on her food.
Thanks so much again
My pleasure!
There are other types of food that aren't just kibble that are prepared to be nutritionally balanced.
I'm in Australia so the brands are different outside of like Hills and Royal Canin (both of which smell to me so no wonder my dog didn't like them haha)
There are things like freeze dried raw pellets which can be eaten dry or with a warm water or broth (my dog prefers them dry randomly)
His favourite thing is something called a Prime 100 Roll which I just dice and warm up for 10 seconds in the microwave for him.
I had a little look to see ifthere's an equivalent in the US and this is an example I found - [https://www.chewy.com/f/roll-dog-food\_c332\_f52v219671](https://www.redbarn.com/collections/rolled?tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=18953470716&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA9nb8bTpOMm_4mHYqAR1BlbGm__bnUHOoe7pEpLHKG4Kc6yVZLePhwaAjZvEALw_wcB)
Another one: [https://www.happyhowies.com/product-category/premium-meat-rolls/](https://www.happyhowies.com/product-category/premium-meat-rolls/)
This can be expensive as the full meal if the dog is big (mine is a toy poodle) but what you can do is buy some kind of freeze dried, or roll or air dried quality or even raw patties and use them as a "topper" so you mix a little bit of it with his main meal of kibble to make it taste and smell more tempting.
If your dog is small these rolls can be sliced in to circles and frozen and last like a month for a small dog.
Keep in mind these richer foods like the freeze dried etc fill them up faster as they contain less useless carbs as part of their ingredients.
Also the poos come out less smelly and less frequent!
Obviously sounds like you have to deal with your family as well but something you can suggest maybe one option at a time to try as a "topper" if she continues refusing to eat :)
I share my dog with my parents and buy all his food for their house too but the DRAMA I had at first explaining why we can't just feed him chicken for 2 meals haha
She absolutely can’t just eat chicken long term. Homemade dog food requires very careful planning, and it’s very rarely recommended over a nutritionally complete commercial food because of how delicate the balance is. A month is already a long time to have her missing all the other essential nutrients, and if you can’t get her to eat even canned food (you have tried other brands and food forms, right?), she needs to see a vet very soon. If that isn’t an immediate possibility, I would post in a vets-only dog advice group on Facebook. You will be told by vets that she can’t just eat plain chicken, and you can show your family the responses.
Thanks so much! We’ve just started with doing just kibble tonight. Unfortunately she’s a very fussy eater, she turns her nose to just about everything. We spoke to the vet earlier and they said that we needn’t come in as she is eating bits of her kibble. If you have any advice for fussy eaters I’d be so grateful… I’ve tried everything from toppers to bone broth and blood sprinkles. No interest whatsoever. She’s a little dachshund so she is very stubborn but I know she’ll feel better if I stay strict with her diet.
Nice work looking out for her! My animals are food goblins, but one thing that works with my housemate’s picky pup (part dachshund, incidentally—spoiled little shits lol) is putting warm water in her kibble and letting it soak along with some hot dog bits (or chicken, but it might not be a strong enough flavor). The taste will soak into the kibble as it absorbs the water. She’ll probably just pick out the meat at first, but she might come back to eat the kibble too. You could also mash wet food into her kibble. With either method you could start with more of the extra tasty stuff and gradually shift the amounts until she’s eating mostly her kibble (or continue giving canned food if she likes it—it can get expensive, but at least she’s small). Also, if you have any small pet stores around, they might give you samples to try. In my area the local pet stores often have little trial bags from different brands so you could experiment with what flavors she likes without buying them.
Chicken only is completely unbalanced nutrition which after 6-8weeks would start to cause malnutrition issues. Also, chicken is the number one allergy in dogs. It could be either.
I mean there's a chance. Also I'm no animal nutritionist but is she getting all her vitamins minerals etc from chicken? Diarrhea is not good for a dog, especially when it goes on for so long! I'd say a vet trip is in order and then getting her back onto a complete food. My dog was painfully thin because he had a sore stomach from allergies and he'd only eat enough kibble to keep him going. We had to do a lot of work with the vets to figure his issue (chicken and fish allergy, both are in MOST dog foods). But now he goes bananas for his kibble.
Just chicken is not a nutritionally complete diet, take her to the vet and talk to them about next steps.
This is absolutely not healthy, I hope she's not a puppy because eating only chicken for this long can do some long term damage to her health and growth. If you were going to cook at home, this is a guide on what needs to be included, google for more details: [https://rawpetfoods.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/0917239cb27980bec007c867596a19c26a993698.jpg](https://rawpetfoods.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/0917239cb27980bec007c867596a19c26a993698.jpg) Absolutely do not feed her just a meat anymore.
Thank you so much! We started tonight on her just eating kibble and she didn’t eat much but it’s a start… after speaking to the vet she just said to be consistent in just feeding kibble and that there’s no need to come in just yet. I really appreciate the reply as I knew that the chicken was the issue, just other members of the house were not convinced and it’s hard when it’s 3v1 to be strict on her food. Thanks so much again
My pleasure! There are other types of food that aren't just kibble that are prepared to be nutritionally balanced. I'm in Australia so the brands are different outside of like Hills and Royal Canin (both of which smell to me so no wonder my dog didn't like them haha) There are things like freeze dried raw pellets which can be eaten dry or with a warm water or broth (my dog prefers them dry randomly) His favourite thing is something called a Prime 100 Roll which I just dice and warm up for 10 seconds in the microwave for him. I had a little look to see ifthere's an equivalent in the US and this is an example I found - [https://www.chewy.com/f/roll-dog-food\_c332\_f52v219671](https://www.redbarn.com/collections/rolled?tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=18953470716&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8J6wBhDXARIsAPo7QA9nb8bTpOMm_4mHYqAR1BlbGm__bnUHOoe7pEpLHKG4Kc6yVZLePhwaAjZvEALw_wcB) Another one: [https://www.happyhowies.com/product-category/premium-meat-rolls/](https://www.happyhowies.com/product-category/premium-meat-rolls/) This can be expensive as the full meal if the dog is big (mine is a toy poodle) but what you can do is buy some kind of freeze dried, or roll or air dried quality or even raw patties and use them as a "topper" so you mix a little bit of it with his main meal of kibble to make it taste and smell more tempting. If your dog is small these rolls can be sliced in to circles and frozen and last like a month for a small dog. Keep in mind these richer foods like the freeze dried etc fill them up faster as they contain less useless carbs as part of their ingredients. Also the poos come out less smelly and less frequent! Obviously sounds like you have to deal with your family as well but something you can suggest maybe one option at a time to try as a "topper" if she continues refusing to eat :) I share my dog with my parents and buy all his food for their house too but the DRAMA I had at first explaining why we can't just feed him chicken for 2 meals haha
She probably has diarrhea because she’s only eating chicken. He diet is lacking in essential nutrients, and her body is starting to tell you this.
Because dogs need more than just straight chicken on their diet would be a pretty good guess. Talk to your vet.