Lack of interest in eating
 George is now nine months and a big boy! He's is now free of infection and seems physically healthy. Now, he used to wolf down his food without chewing it, loved his treats (before we had to take them away as part of figuring out his stomach issues) We thought he had food allergies and all that so we took treats away and switched food, then switched to sensitive. anyway, he's off treats and on the sensitive, and he's doing good. Took us a while but we found out he had campylobacter and took us another while but he's been given the all clear. We do think he has a sensitive stomach so we're erring on the side of caution re: food and treats. ANYWAY - he now doesn't seem very bothered about eating. He's not "off" his food as such, he'll graze at it, but he could take it or leave it. he gets excited when I put it down but mostly ignores it, he'll eat some if I go and stand behind the bowl or hand feed him. As I said it's not an issue because he does eat but just not very much. Could it be he is one of those who isn't fussed about eating, and when he was ill he overate because he wasn't absorbing enough nutrients? He's growing just fine but never really put any weight on, he put a bit on when he got better but I think he's lost it again. He does a lot of exercise so lots of opportunities to burn it off... Or could he be "bored" of the food? I heard a select few do get bored but generally they don't tend to? Any ideas, oh knowledgeable sheepie owners?  We're calling the vet soon to update him anyway, so we can ask him, but any ideas in the meantime? Sorry this is long. I can't keep it short and sweet!!! |
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| Not time to panic. All dogs.....well most......go through periods where they'd rather not eat. Could be too hot. I wouldn't give into him yet, give small portions, if he eats he gets more. If not, less to throw away. Nine months is still a bit too early for the food slow down. Adults usually eat less than pups, their growth is done......he's not. I remind people I had a Great Pyr who was a terrible eater. She was slim but happy and healthy. |
| Bailey wouldn't ever eat all of her food at once until we switched her to the blue buffalo grain free. |
| Dougal was like that,daughter switched him to duck and veg-there is no stopping him now!! He has a "sensitive tum so they had a few trials and errors before the duck and veg by Trophy.x |
| yeah, could be you aren't on the right food yet.....keep trying. Grain free, soy free may be necessary. For years MO has been on duck and potato, duck and vegetables or fish and potato. |
KaylesK wrote: Or could he be "bored" of the food? I heard a select few do get bored but generally they don't tend to? Young males(especially) can go through a stage when they don't eat much - it generally lasts as long as you are trying to show them <g> That said, he sounds bored or, more likely, food doesn't truly agree with him: Excited to see food, checks it out and then eats very little. Just because a food doesn't cause obvious gastric upset doesn't mean he hasn't learned to associate it with something unpleasant. If you don't know for sure that he has a sensitive stomach, and if whatever issues he had before are completely settled down, why not carefully try some other food? Or at least that's what I would do. Kristine |
| As Kristine mentioned - that was Chewie. His case sounds different than George though. He ate, just small amounts. He rarely finished a bowl...just seemed to be full. There was no stomach upset or anything. Of course now he eats just fine. I still would never call him a big eater though - and he's a dog I can leave in the car with my groceries, dog treats, etc., and they are safe.  After reading through the posts again, I had a thought. I am an RN, and in human children, there is something called oral aversion. It comes from a number of reasons, but the end result is they learn to dislike the sensation of having food (or anything) in their mouth. Maybe they were sick a lot, some it's from needing to take bad tasting medicine, etc. I don't see why a puppy would be any different. If George had lots of stomach and gastric troubles, plus was on meds, I can see it happening. The whole eating process probably doesn't have good memories associated with it for him. With kids, you basically retrain the whole eating process. Yummy small treats (meals), make mealtimes as stress free as possible ( no pressure from you to eat, etc), celebrate and praise eating. Just a thought?? |
| I remember writing on this forum a little over five years ago because Simon quit eating...literally. He went from eating healthy to a few bites a day. He was drinking and had plenty of energy but he did not eat but a few bites a day. Many Vet visits and ten pounds less later, I was at the end of my rope. The last Vet visit, the vet said if he didn't start eating soon he would have to force feed him  .I came home and made a couple soft boiled eggs and he ate that. Made two more and he ate that too  . Next I went to the store and found the stinkyest food I could find and gave him that for dinner and he ate that. Over the next week I started to mix in his regular food and he continued to eat. About one month later he was back on his regular food and was eating healthy.No reason was ever found why he quit eating. As I stated above, we had many Vet visits and he was tested for everything under the sun and he came out healthy. |
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