fussy eater?

[mirela]

i feed my puppy the same puppy food from begainning, gave her 3 meals per day. but since last week, sunddenly she didnt eat them. sometimes she had a tiny bit, then left them there for few hours, maybe back eat a bit more after, but never finish them all. im not sure the reason, because last few month, she seems ok with her food. this morning same again, usually she had her breakfast before 7, but half 9 now, her food still in the bowl and she seems not interest at all!!!

[jules77]

How old is she? Generally puppies go down to two meals at six months. If she is leaving it, I would take it up, and leave her until next meal time. What are you feeding her?

[cuddleMe]

shes prob bored of what you are feeding her.

would u like to be fed with the same foood every single day?? i would have done the same not eat... she prob wants something new??

xx

[gelda]

Dogs don't think that way Cuddleme. they may dislike a certain food but if a dog is healthy he just eats it because it's food, many dogs are fussy eaters but that is down to the owners thinking that the dog is bored with it so they start adding bits of human food thus spoiling the dog, most dogs if started on a decent food will eat it all the time if they are hungry. I aggree with Jules, take the food away if she won't eat it but if she goes off her food having allways eaten it before get her to the vet.

[mirela]

hi jules, she is 5 months old now. i feed her the purita beta puppy food, never changed. the only thing i could think is last week, we went to puppy class, the trainer told us we could feed her some potato, then she will be less excited. so i still fed her normal in the morning, lunch and dinner i mixed half cooked potato. but the potato story doesnt help her calm down at all, so we didnt continue for few days. im wandering if possible because of that. she still not eating her food properly, i left it on the floor, she probly eat a bit, then leave it, after a while back again have a bit more, the bowl of food could last for few hours. so shall i take it up or just leave it if she not eating? thanks

[mirela]

gelda, dont feel she got any eating problems, because she is still begging food and search for food everywhere like a huvor! she seems just not interested her own food.

cuddle, she is a dog, so has difference thinking with human.

[LoftyLottie]

I am surprised you were advised by a trainer to feed potato. I was informed by a vet that potato should not be fed to dogs at all.

http://www.dfordog.com/food.htm

[kita1]

This is copied from a dog training site and is by Gill White (ttlntl):
Many owners give their dogs treats during the course of the day and when it comes to offering a main meal the dog is very often full and so refuses the food. So, until the problem is rectified, all treats between meals should be stopped. The dog also learns that it worries the owners if it refuses to eat its daily food and gets offered an awful lot of attention for doing so, along with more and more human food in an attempt to entice the dog to eat. This in itself can sustain the dog's behaviour to refuse a lot of the food that is offered. We must also make sure the dog is not getting food from another resource, as this will also lead to it refusing its food when offered.
This always reminds me of the day I was in the middle of a counselling. I came to the question about food and the owner expressed a great deal of concern, saying her dog wouldn't eat anything no matter what they had tried, and had gone without food for over two days recently. I looked at the dog, an English Spaniel, and it looked right back at me and I swear I saw it wink! It was enormous, no way was this dog going without food. I then asked the owners if they had any cats and was told they had six. The story unfolded that the dog was getting the cats food and wouldn't eat its own food when offered. So this is something else we need to watch out for!
Providing the dog looks healthy and normal, then we need to find a well balanced diet, in the form of a complete food, which offers the dog all the daily requirements. You can add some stock or gravy to enhance the flavour if wished, but this must be the only food the dog is offered twice a day. Place the food down for the dog and at the end of 10 minutes if the dog has walked away and left some, pick up the uneaten food and do not offer anything else at all until the next mealtime.

[kita1]

You must stick to this rigidly and most dogs will eat much more readily by day 5. If the dog refuses every meal that is offered, do not worry, it will not harm him. If he has not touched any food for three days, then take him to your Vet immediately.


Must say I have never heard of feeding potato to calm a dog down!!!

If you feed a balanced food (as you are doing) you should not add anything to it - let alone anything like potato with no nutrients. Your pup needs all the vitamins etc. from food to enable her to grow properly.

[mirela]

yeah, we think the trainer talking bullsh~t regarding to jakect patoto to calm our pupp down. thanks kita1, i will try and see.

[gelda]

Very good advice Kita

[kaztuz]

Our dog went through this phase for a few weeks and then she came in to season and she went back to normal.

We have always been told not to leave food down if the dog refuses to eat it.

[mirela]

the pupp still couldnt finish all the food i gave her for breakfast, but i didnt leave the food on the floor anymore, she is eating normal for lunch and dinner now. thank you for all the advise.

[kelikool]

My dog used to do the same thing, so we talked to an expert, and they said that a dog, just like human beings, begin to dislike the food they are given, so we tried a different type of food, and now she eats it all. I hope this helped you in some way.