Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, as some of you know, I have had Obie for three weeks now as of tomorrow. He has been a wonderful dog, but getting him to eat is an ordeal.
He finally eats around 9pm. I offer him food throughout the day when I feed my kitties but he doesn't eat it.
If I offer him things that are not his food, such as a treat or fruit or vegetable, he will eat it no problem. Just not his food.
9pm, he tears it up. I know his previous owner was gone a lot which is why he gained the weight he did, and I wonder if maybe he is used to not eating all day and then eating at the end of the day when someone got home for him. I have no idea.
I worry about him because we are active throughout the day walking and sometimes hiking. He is burning calories but not bringing any in.
What is your take on this?
I am sure he wil eat if he gets hungry, I just worry.
We rescued a gsd when she was 1. She is now 3 and sounds like your pooch.
She won't eat until we are all together.
Morning food is served at 8 but she won't eat it until we are all around the dinner table.
I can't explain it... Maybe the dogs feel more secure when we are around.
She is always "0n" a great protector....maybe they feel they can relax when the whole family is around?
I'm probably just grasping at straws but I hear ya.
She isn't skinny at all...she just prefers one meal of 3 cups of food a day.
Hope you find a solution
Ah. Our beagle mix is super picky like that. She normally won't eat if she hasn't pooped yet in the morning. She also won't eat if you accidentally startle her, if she didn't sleep well, if she just doesn't feel like it.
Things I have found that work well for her are; mixing in a spoonful of canned food with hot water each meal. Letting her choose her "spot" (sometimes its the kitchen, the couch, the stair landing, the bedroom) sometimes I will fake get on to her and then call her back to do all her tricks, which she is so eager to do, and then she will eat. Oh, sometimes I put the bowl on the stove and pretend to "cook" her food(stir it around, make a big deal out of it)
Also we scatter dry food around the house sometimes, instead of in the bowl. We call it "nimbley time" and while she would never touch dry only food in a bowl, she loves "foraging" for her food.
She also self regulates I've noticed. Sometimes she will leave several bite in the bowl, sometimes she eats it all.
Now the hound...he will eat a entire bag if you let him lol
If your vet has given him a clean bill of health, if his energy level is good, if he is drinking water, and if you are feeding a good quality food, then I wouldn't worry too much.
Barring health issues, dogs do fine eating just once a day. Just be careful to make sure he then gets an hour + of quiet time, no hard playing or running afterward in order to avoid bloat.
If you are now free-feeding (leaving food out all day for him) then I would stop doing that; offer him food in the morning if you like, but if he doesn't want it, pick it up after 1/2 an hour. Hopefully he can't access your cats' food.
Dogs are creatures of habit- if he only wants food 1x day at night that is fine; that may have been his schedule in his original home. Give him a snack, but don't try to compensate for his not eating in the morning by loading him up with snacks throughout the day. His preference for eating once a day may change too down the road once he settles in to your lifestyle.
Our First Dog would only eat once a day, in the evening when we were all together. We made the mistake when she was a puppy of putting her food out for her in the morning (so she'd be distracted ) and then sneak out to go to work. Since that first day she associated breakfast with being abandoned! Nothing we did for the rest of her 13 years could change that. So who knows what kind of associations Obie comes pre-equipped with. One meal a day is fine.
Our First Dog would only eat once a day, in the evening when we were all together. We made the mistake when she was a puppy of putting her food out for her in the morning (so she'd be distracted ) and then sneak out to go to work. Since that first day she associated breakfast with being abandoned! Nothing we did for the rest of her 13 years could change that. So who knows what kind of associations Obie comes pre-equipped with. One meal a day is fine.
I never thought about this....thank you
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
