Dog not eating

[londoneye]

Hi

I have posted before saying about my dogs' ear problems, and there were suggestions that it may be due to a food allergy.   My dog is, to say the least, a fussy and irregular eater.   Sometimes she will go 2 days without eating, and I mean it is not uncommon.   As far as the vet is concerned there is nothing wrong with her, eg teeth fine etc etc (she is  only a year old).   Tried to take her off beef food, as had heard this was the most common allergy - no chance, she didn't eat for 3 days - and I mean anything - I have a cupboard full of different dog foods.    So I gave up and went back to her 'normal' food.   However, she doesn't particularly like that either, and frequently turns her nose up.   Spag bol however, well thats a different story.

It worries the hell out of me, she is skinny, but thats her build anyway, so she doesn't look enormously underweight.     So, two issues I guess, firstly I haven't been able to test the food allergy because she refuses to eat all the different foods I have tried.   Secondly, how on earth do you get your dogs to eat something?

As an add on, I read the post below and now I am slightly worried that in my igorance she is not properly vaccinated.   I asked the vet for all of the 'normal' annual vaccinations, plus rabies.   But in truth I don't know much about dogs, and now I am wondering whether Parvo would have been included.   The certificate seems to say 'merial', or it could be 'menial' - you know what vets hand-writing is like - does that sound right ?

[Bilclarie]

Have you tried cat food? Most dog's will eat that and a dog can live on cat food where as a cat can't live on dog food.some dog's like children are fussy eaters it's a case of trial and error and if she prefers human food that fine as long as your adding extra protiens calcium etc, pasta is a good source of food for adding weight mine won't touch pasta unless it has a bit of sauce on it also sardines as they pack on the pounds but not the calories and is good for them.

To answer your quiery re vacination's all mine have there yearly booster and it includes parvo so I would assume yours will too

[chesnelay]

Hi Londoneye - sometimes it is not the food that is the problen but how the food is fed - for example, dogs need to feel safe before they can feed, if you stay with her, is she more likely to feed than if you put the food down and walk away?  Does she have collar tags that 'clang' everytime she puts her head to the food bowl? when you offer spag bol, do you put it in her bowl or do you feed off a plate/hand?

Just a few questions that may give you cause to think.  Dogs don't intentionally starve themselves and a slim dog is generally more healthy than an overweight one if everything else appears normal.  Best of luck.

[Nettie]

Personally I wouldn't feed cat food long term, higher in salt than dog food. 

Mine eat a raw diet, its easy to introduce new meats and they don't seem to have a problem tucking into it.

Londoneye, if you're interested in looking at this way of feeding then please feel free to pm me, I'll help in anyway I can, can also put you in touch with an email list which will give you a wealth of information.

good luck

[hoverfrog]

some dogs live to eat, others eat to live.

I had a very skinny dog once that wouldn't eat, so I mixed cat-food with the dog food. This was acceptable, so over several months I gradually reduced the amount of cat-food in the mix and eventually replaced it with tinned dog-food.

If the dog is used to eating very little then don't expect it to eat a lot all at once as it will not be used to quantities.

Some dogs like to eat in the morning, some at lunchtime, and some in the evening - and some all of them!

[Pommier]

When we first had our dogs, both of them were very picky and fussy about their food. We were feeding them a premium puppy food so we knew that was good for them, so what we did was to put the food down for ten minutes only - what wasn't eaten was thrown away and they got nothing else until the next meal. After a few days they demolished every scrap as soon as it was put down!

[Bugsy]

I make no claim to have a great knowledge on this subject but has he been wormed recently. ?

[Georgina]

Our dog does not go two days, but will literally pick out the  bits of her dinner she is not keen on and put them outside her dish.  Whatever we eat however is much more interesting to her. I think she is just waiting for something better to come along.[:)]

Georgina

[londoneye]

Hmm nice to know I am not alone ; yup, I can put 100 dog biscuits in and one different biscuit and she will turf out 99 in a lovely display around the bowl and eat the one; needless to say a bowl of same next day is sneered at !

She is regularly wormed, so not that.   True enough she won't eat at all if we are not there (cat is the same), so I know I have more chance of getting her to eat when we sit with her.   I have tried the 'put food down and take away after 20 minutes if not eaten' scenario.   But she just looks at me as if to say, 'so what, I didn't want it anyway' - so thats a waste of time.  Also, she has always been more likely to eat at night, than morning, although I do still try to feed her twice a day, perhaps I should give up on that.   Is it ok to feed once a day ?  If we give her our food it is always in her bowl, and always mixed with her own food.  If mixed thoroughly enough she will eat everything, if not, out her own biscuits go !

To be honest its driving me insane, I just want her to eat like a normal dog; she was a rescue puppy, and is a cross breed, no idea of what, although most people suggest something along lines of saluki cross.   She is about the height of a tall greyhound, very leggy and weighs in at 25 kilo currently (although this can go up and down depending on her mood).

I really want to stick to dog food to be honest, rather than fresh food .....   now I am just whittering; but thanks for all suggestions and thoughts anyway, looks like i might just be stuck with this problem as well as the ears - perhaps i have just got a difficult (albeit lovely) dog !

[Frank]

Hi Londoneye,

We too have a 'piccy eater' in out dog!!  She to can go days without eating dog food, but I try and sustitute her non eating habits by conning her!! When out on a walk, I reward with the complete food biscuits like Frolic, and always have a bowl of similar complete biscuits that I change regularly to keep fresh in case she wants to nibble them, admittedly, I throw out more than she eats, but at least they are there.  I aslo put down dog food every day and then throw out the same more often than not!  Whilst not ideal, at least with the dog walks and other titbits she is obviously getting what she needs.  I also give in on occasion and she has what we have, chicken, turkey, pork chops etc, she will also eat salads, rice, pasta and veggies!!  I have found that she will not eat her 'wet' dinners from a bowl, but from a plate (she has her own!) yet will lie down and nibble the complete food when the fancy takes her from a bowl!  She is also an avid fan of lizards and for an old dog, catches quite a few!  Now I too am rambling, but you are not alone, her eating habits have been the same since we got her at five weeks old and she is now nearly 14, she is a cross bread,  and even when we had our labrador (who ate anything and everything) she was exactly the same. I used to worry, but now I don't worry at all.  I know that she won't starve herself and she is healthy, if not a tad spoilt[:D]

Jetlag

[Chrissie]

I think you have to be firm.  Dogs must eat to survive - does your dog have access to "food" elsewhere (I mean neighbours' cat food, rabbits in the garden, slugs, bird food, sheep poo etc etc....)  If you only provide a good quality dog food once a day, with very few treats, you can monitor how much is really being eaten.  If it is not a quantity which you and your vet think adequate, then there may be something wrong, whether teeth, internal stomach problems or whatever.  BUT: If your dog will wolf down large-ish quantities of macaroni cheese or spag bol then it's just faddiness!

Hope you get it sorted

Chrissie (81)

[londoneye]

Chrissie

It's fadiness; she will eat anything we eat, given the opportunity, and in massive, and I do mean massive quantities (last barcbecue my neighbour 'confessed' to having given her 6 sausages god forbid, and she was still looking for more).    Problem is that we really don't spoil her, she rarely gets treats (one a day on her walk); she gets an 'artificial' (if ytou know what i mean !) bone, about once or twice a week, and if we have spag bol or meat balls (her favourite) then she gets one spoon of sauce mixed with her food and some pasta or rice (which she loves).

I suppose its my fault, I should never (actually I didn't come to think of it, OH did), have started giving her anything of ours, I guess the upshot is that she is 'waiting for something better' as another resoponder has probably very accurately put it.

Question; if I decide to hold out and give her nothing but dog biscuits, how long can I reasonably leave her to not eat, before I cave in ??? Any thoughts anyone ?

Or, should I stop worrying and just bung a bit of 'human food' in her dish with her biscuits and be done with it ?

[Nettie]

Personally if she were mine I'd stick a bit of human food on the kibble, I can understand why it would be boring.  Tinned oily fish like pilchards or tuna will probably tickle her fancy and are also very good for her; omega oils for her coat and joints.  Not a lot, just enough to coat her kibble/croquettes in or whatever you've got in the fridge from last night's meal.  I'm sure she'll appreciate it and you can stop worrying if she's eating.

[Chrissie]

It's really hard, but I think I would make it clear that "human" food (i.e. stuff you are cooking/eating and she can identify as "yours") is not for her.  And make visitors understand they must go along with this, and they are not being kind to feed her, but only increasing her problems.  But then of course you can put something attractive on top of her kibble, trying to ensure it smells nothing like your food.  So if you're eating sausages that night, she gets something clearly fishy.  Warm food smells more tempting than cold food.  Ideally you could choose something that none of you would ever eat!  Andouillettes?[+o(]!  And then gradually reduce the amount if you can. 

On the psychological front, do you make the food tempting by making her sit and wait for her food to be put down?  And then allow her to "rush" towards it?  If she doesn't like what she sees/smells on arrival at the bowl, and leaves it, then lift the food up and don't give it to her again.  Just bin it.  By the following evening she should be hungry.  By the NEXT evening she should really have got the message.  I know some dogs can be extraordinarily stubborn though - it's what cats do all the time, but a cat is perfectly capable of starving itself rather than eat food that doesn't meet it's expectations, whereas a dog tends to have less willpower.

Good luck!

Chrissie (81)

[Joy1]

Our dog frequently goes 2 or 3 days without eating his dried food. He is just fussy and hoping we will take pity on him and give him something nicer (like leftovers from our dinner!) Unfortunately he has taken to eating the leftover dried cat food - which he loves! I say unfortunately because he went for his annual vaccinations last week, and the vet weighed him only to discover that he has gained 1/3 of his body weigh in the last year (since we got two kittens!) He is now on a diet and needs to loose 2 kilos (he should only weigh 7 kilos- he's a Bichon) He is slowly getting better at eating his own food now he has no treats no scraps and no cat food. He will eat his own food once he gets really hungry, I don't think he'd starve himself to death by leaving his food! Being tough is the key, fussy eaters will eat dog food eventually. Joy

[mossie]

Hi There,

Sounds like you have had a lot of good advice here.  Picky hounds are nothing new.  They can also be pretty crafty, I have a deerhound who has tried similar stunts.  I also know how stressful it is worrying that they are losing weight.  However I think the best advice is to be firm with the dog.  She is almost definitely waiting for something better once she has rejected her own food, and wishing not to see our dogs lose weight and go hungry, we often give in.   They quickly learn that this is a strategy that works.  I have a friend with a cat who does the same thing.  I had been warned of this with my deerhound, so, when he was picky, I would simply take the food away and give it to the pointer who had no such qualms.  However, particularly with a hound, I would strongly advise two meals a day even if very small ones, in fact small meals can encourage them to eat as they can sometimes be overawed with a large bowl of food.  I don't think there is anything wrong with putting something in to make it tasty, but not your own food.  I always keep our food and the dogs food very separate.  Also, don't make too much of a fuss about it, hounds are very sensitive and pick up on things very quickly.  Although I wouldn't change my deerhound's food because he was being given good quality stuff, I still had to sit with it on my lap or else he wouldn't touch it, and then he would walk away and had to be coaxed back to the bowl.  However all this changed when we moved to France and I simply don't know why.  Now he actually gets off his bed and hassles me for the food when it is put down and licks the bowl clean.  The only thing that has changed is our environment.  I can only assume that he was not happy in our last house, or picked up that I wasn't happy.  Really though, I don't know but it is a very welcome change and he is seven now.  I have spent all the previous years struggling with his pickiness.  I hope you are having a little more luck with your.  Most of all though, don't worry about it, it only makes things worse and other people are right, the dog won't starve herself to death and hounds are supposed to be slim.  It is also better for the long term health of a dog to be a little on the slim side.  Good luck!