Collie not Eating

[Bexxybex123]

We have a 3 year old Border Collie, and she's never been particularly food orientated, although we could train her using treats. Now she rarely eats out of her bowl, only eating if one other particular dog is around or if a human is around. I have been feeding her a little by hand every day to try and get her weight up, but I obviously don't want her to become dependant on this. I also don't want to have to buy more expensive/tasty foods, or cook anything special as she used to eat this food fine. At the moment all dogs are getting mixed biscuits with a little bit of meat to give it some taste.

Has anyone got any suggestions to get her more excited about food? Is there any chance it could just be a phase and she'll grow out of it?

[lozzzz]

my dog is a 2yr old collie X  and has never shown much interest in his dinner either although like yours he was trainable with treats.i tried all brands and some times hed go days without eating. this is what i did.dinner is in the evening after we have eaten no matter what time,he has a bowl of wagg dry dog food mixed with a small amount of whatever we had if it was suitable(if not pretend,i make a big thing of preparing his dinner its not so much the food as what im doing)put it down shut him in the kitchen with me while im clearing up(this stops him forgetting why hes there) sometimes he will stand and stare at it for a while if its not gone by the time ive finished i take it away,after 6months he got the idea although he is a painfully slow eater. although my dog is stick thin he has loads of energy and the vet thinks his weight is ok you should check you dog doesnt have an underlying problem. try sprikle some grated parmesan in with it this means he has difficuty piking out the good bit.hope this of some help

[callisto]

lozzzzz great advice given , my standard poodle hasalways been underweight due to not caring for or wanting anything (inc top brands) . on vets advice we were told not to worry about her weight keep feeding her what we wanted her diet to be but grate parmesan on top to tempt it really worked . If you have had dog checked out for any underlying cause to not eating then i wouldnt worry to much maybe with being so active the dog burns up all the goodness in the food he does eat anyhow its when they are lethargic you need to worry. good luck and try not to worry oh and put parmesan on weekly shopping list !

[Emily Ball]

My dog , believe it or not, has three meals a day and would eat more if he could! Having said that, each meal consists of 3-4ozs. of dry food (Hypo Allergenic kibble) and plenty of water. Absolutely no snacks in between except the same brand snack biscuits(3 or 4 a day). The reason he has 3 small instead of one large meal is because for the first few months of his life he used to get awful hiccups after eating and he is a deep-chested sporty dog. His digestion is excellent now(he was 2 the other day) , he's very fit,tremendously strong ,weighs about 32kgs. and is always ready to play. If your collie has become less interested in food than she used to be there may be an underlying cause such as a  bad tooth/gum infection . Hopefully nothing more sinister than that. . Have a good look at her teeth and gums, particularly the back teeth.  If she won't eat unless you feed her by hand, then you really need to get her  checked out by your vet, especially if she is losing weight as well.