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You have a dog that's not interested in food and not eating?

zoofreak1

zoofreak1

Zooville Settler
As a canine behaviorist I have a pretty good understanding of their behavior, and habits. But one thing I just can't understand, why won't a young and healthy dog eat his food???

I've had this problem with my dog since I got her as a puppy. She just generally isn't interested in food. At least dog food. I have tried many types of kibbles, wet food, raw, cooked... I've tried to feed her outside, inside, from her bowl, from the ground and so on.
Sometimes she eats everything, sometimes she don't eat for 48-72 hours.
I mean, I just can't understand the logic behind it, as I always have learned that a healthy dog won't starve himself in from of a full bowl of food. But she has to be damn hungry after not eating for days
 
Ive had the same issue with one of my dogs. He turns his nose up to dog food, bones, cooked & raw meat, etc. Some breeds have a reputation for having anorexic tendancies.

Hes had full veterinary screens completed, all which come back normal. Try keeping a food log of what type of food, time feed at, how much left and take it with you next vet visit. My boy was prescibed medication targetting anorexia and it has made a major difference, hes now weaned off it but has continued to eat positively 90% of the time.

Also ensuring youre feeding as higher quality food as possible to get as much nurients in out of the mouthful or two they will eat. Meal toppers can help to add flavour & nutrients without the bulk.
 
zoofreak1 said:
As a canine behaviorist I have a pretty good understanding of their behavior, and habits. But one thing I just can't understand, why won't a young and healthy dog eat his food???
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Unless there is some health issue I have never seen a dog starve to death next to a full bowl.
My dog is quite picky and will try whatever he can to get his food spiced up with something more tasty, but if that is not available, he will eat what there is.

She does not want to eat cooked meat?
 
I had a dog like this. Very picky about eating. I tried several brands including putting a little plain cooked chicken or a little bacon mixed in. Finally found a flavor he liked and he started eating more regularly. I used to just leave it down for him. He'd eat it eventually. Mostly when I wasn't in the room. Not sure what that was about. Sometimes it takes time.
 
nia_5712 said:
Also ensuring youre feeding as higher quality food as possible to get as much nurients in out of the mouthful or two they will eat. Meal toppers can help to add flavour & nutrients without the bulk.
Click to expand...
I only buy high quality food with the right amount of protein and fat from fish, mainly raw but also kibbles from local manufacturers without grain.

pes said:
Unless there is some health issue I have never seen a dog starve to death next to a full bowl.
My dog is quite picky and will try whatever he can to get his food spiced up with something more tasty, but if that is not available, he will eat what there is.

She does not want to eat cooked meat?
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She eats cooked meat sometimes. But I can't afford to feed her only that. Meat is expensive here.
I think the problem is partially because I have been offering her different kinds of food and always something better if she didn't want to eat the first thing. But as she was a puppy I thought that it is very important to make her eat something! Just that she gets enough nutrition. Adult dogs can go without food for many days, but puppies have to eat often to grow
 
I think you should try being tough and just give out the food and if it is not eaten take it away and try again on the next meal time. Do not let it sit around and get dry or stale either, cover it or put it in the fridge depending on what it is.

If she is too picky, she needs to get the idea that nothing better is available. Obviously do not starve her, but since there does not seem to be a physical cause, it might just be her mind.
The toughest thing here is to not give up. But as long as she is just picky, she is not going to starve herself.
 
pes said:
I think you should try being tough and just give out the food and if it is not eaten take it away and try again on the next meal time. Do not let it sit around and get dry or stale either, cover it or put it in the fridge depending on what it is.

If she is too picky, she needs to get the idea that nothing better is available. Obviously do not starve her, but since there does not seem to be a physical cause, it might just be her mind.
The toughest thing here is to not give up. But as long as she is just picky, she is not going to starve herself.
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Just what I am thinking too. At least now that she's done growing.
But she's small compared to other females of her breed ? I think it might be due to her low appetite when growing up
 
Your best option is hand feeding.
A) when she learns to eat from your hand you become mom....strong bond.
B) She'll pay more attention to you and to your hands....which will make hand signals easier to teach. Unless shes a breed that uses command voice as with retrievers and sheepdogs, silent signals are not a bad thing to teach. If shes watching you, shes staying out of trouble.
 
zoofreak1 said:
Done that to. Works sometimes.
But now I have stopped experimenting and she only get one kind of food. If she don't eat it in 1 minute I put it away and the next chance she gets is at the next mealtime.
It works, her appetite is better
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Im not sure how much youre feeding her each meal and im assuming that its your gordon setter that you're referring too. But please be careful with bloat. Youre only giving her a short timeframe which enourages quick eating, this can trigger bloat. If you havent already, read up on bloat prevention techniques & signs.
 
nia_5712 said:
Im not sure how much youre feeding her each meal and im assuming that its your gordon setter that you're referring too. But please be careful with bloat. Youre only giving her a short timeframe which enourages quick eating, this can trigger bloat. If you havent already, read up on bloat prevention techniques & signs.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. As for now she's eating very slowly. She have never been greedy around food. But I'll watch her
 
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