I've been feeding my chi the raw diet for a few weeks now and he really likes it. He even eats his liver. But....he is always scavenging for food everywhere. When I first started the diet, I was giving him 3% but he started losing weight. I upped the amount and at 6oz per day, split into two meals his weight is back to normal. He's not a tiny chi, he's about 7-8 pounds. But he's scrounging everywhere. I mean he tries to get his tongue under the refrigerator to get whatever crud might be under there. He licks between the spaces in the rubber mat my husband has in front of the kitchen sink where the dirt, grease and fur collect. He eats the weeds in the yard (I don't spray anything). And...and this really pisses me off...he takes pieces of cat crap out of the litter box. I haven't yet seen him actually eat a piece, but he takes them out of the box and I find them in one of his beds, or on one of his blankets. They aren't fresh pieces (thank goodness) but pieces that have already dried a bit. Is there something lacking in his diet to cause this? Is there anything I can do (moving the litter boxes elsewhere isn't an option)? The word 'no' doesn't seem to mean anything to him for more than a couple of seconds. No matter how many times I try to correct bad behavior, he doesn't listen long term. He'll stop then and there, after I say no several times or clap my hands, or make some other sharp noise to scare him, but then 10 seconds later, he's doing the same thing again. I know he's not a stupid dog, but can chi's have ADD? He's very sweet and I love him, but the scrounging/litter box thing, and the not learning to stop things is very frustrating...which doesn't end up well for either of us.

Did he do any of this before you changed his diet?
was he eating cat litter before the change? or just now..

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Thank you Jan for the lovely siggie!

No, he wasn't doing this before the diet, but then I hadn't had him that long before putting him on the raw diet. When I first got him he was on Pedigree like my nine year old dane is. Then I switched him over the Taste of the Wild which I would leave in his dish and he would pick at piece by piece. Then I switched him to the raw diet. Now he goes crazy at meal time, dancing all over the place while I put the meat in his dish, then he goes into his crate to eat so I can close the door and give the cats and other dog the chance to eat. He finishes his meat right away. Then when the others are done, I go around picking up the cat bowls, and taking away my danes bowl if there's anything left in there when he's done. Then my chi gets let out of his crate and he races into the kitchen to see if the others left any crumbs or pieces on the floor like he hadn't eaten at all.

I would try giving him some 'carbs', like sweet potato, potato, or pumpkin (I think pumpkin and sweet potato you can get canned without anything added) with his meals, start with a tablespoon 2x a day and go from there. I have a few that need carbs, I don't care what anyone says . This can really help them feel fuller. Kibble does stretch out their bellies a lot. When I switch a dog from kibble to raw, they lose about 1/2 an lb per 4 lbs of body weight, because of the kibble bloat they carry...so, I'd guess just like what can happen to people, tummies can stretch from kibble when their food sits in there waiting to be digested (it puffs up quite a bit).

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Thank you Jan & Chico!!

That's a good idea, I'll try that. It would make sense as to why he wants to eat the weeds when he goes outside.

He never looked bloated. He was always lean and tight looking. But when I first started him on the raw diet, I was giving him much less than he's getting now. At the time I even thought it looked like not enough. Then I could tell he was getting thinner/bonier. So I increased his daily amount and now he looks great again. He's a very high energy chi, so he burns off calories very quickly.

Dogs normally are litter box miners. They are attracted to it just like most are attracted to cat food. We look at cat poo and think gross cat poo / they don't see it as waste they see it as a snack and the litter box as their own personal buffet. They make different boxes that deter dogs (top entry/ and fancier contraptions), you could try one of those. I have mine in an area that is little and I baby gate it off. The cats hop the gate easily and the dogs can't get into it. Not sure where yours is situated but if you can't gate it a 24" x-pen placed around should keep your little guy out and allow your cats to hop in and go. On craigslist you could probably find an x-pen for practically nothing.

Both of my dogs LOVE the rabbit poo in my yard. LOVE it. And they both loved it before I started raw. So I'm just gonna go with dogs find crap rather appetizing

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Gunner - 9 month old Blue Chi
Hercules - 3 yr old Boston Terrier

My experience (and my Vet's confirmation) is that cat poo is like caviar & champagne! Some just can't resist!!! Luckily none of my current crew have that taste bud--whew, but my sheltie couldn't resist!

As for the grass thing...(again it was my sheltie), I added kelp powder and alfalfa powder (a 50/50 mix you can make) to his food. For the chi size I would try adding 1/8 to a1/4 t. to a meal.

Good luck!