I have a female lab that doesn't want to eat. She is full of energy, plays all day but she is getting skinny. The vet says she may not need too much food, but it is not right she doesn't even want to eat anything, not even a good stake or boiled chicken. She eats half cup of Dog's food every other day. What can I do? I'm disparted because she is getting too skinny.

rankrank55

Sounds like she is perfectly normal...just energetic. If you'd like it to gain weight, try giving her wet puppy food(has more protein and is really tasty to dogs). If it likes this you should start mixing the wet pup food with reg. dry food after a while. Try to give your dog praise after it eats...this will help to encourage it.

bushg

Get her dog food for highly active dogs, also is she spayed. just my personal opinion but I think that dogs who are intact burn more calories. Also I would get her the best quality dog food I could afford. I would go to the pet store and get a dog food that list deboned chicken, lamb, or beef, as one of the first ingredients. Try not to worry so much, if you pity her it is not good fro her security and I feel as though they can sense this and it makes them anxious.

labman

If your vet, that has seen the dog, isn't worried, you shouldn't be either. How skinny is skinny? Read through the ''My dog won't eat'' sticky at http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/in...tml#post254171 You have already had the vet examine it. The next step is to follow the link in the sticky to evaluating your dog. You may be comparing to dogs in general that are over fed and over weight. The half a cup every other day does sound very low. Are the ribs actually showing? It is actually healthier for a dog to have its ribs show a little than to be overweight, especially so with a growing puppy. One of the worst things you can do for ones joints, is to feed too much of a rich diet. It is typical of Shepherds to show a little rib while they are young.

Until your vet says you need to be doing more, I would feed a dry, concentrated, meat based small breed puppy chow. Nothing packs in more calories, and the dry food is better for the teeth and jaws. I know of nothing to support the suggestion of the more expensive chows being better, other than a belief that if it is more expensive, it must be better. Don't jump around with too many different things. The more protein sources a dog eats when young, the harder to work around it if it develops allergies later in life.

Years ago, I had a Lab that wouldn't eat enough of Purina to keep his ribs from showing. We switched to a meat based product, and he would eat enough of it the ribs hardly showed and we could take him out in public.

One more important issue. Are you sure none of you family or neighbors are slipping her food? Who knows what they could be giving her. Dogs need to be eating a complete and balanced diet. The only practical way for the average dog owner to give their dog what it needs is a commercial dog chow.

Don't let well meaning people pressure you into something your vet isn't saying the dog needs.

froggy7

Labman,

Is it normally for dogs to only eat every other day? That would concern me, if I were the owner. According to Judy, this dog is only eating a quarter cup of food a day. My two cats eat more than that, and they only weigh 16 lbs added together!

On the other hand, if the vet isn't concerned when they hear that, perhaps I shouldn't be either.

Still, it would be helpful to know how old this dog is, and whether it has always been like this or if this is something new.

labman

Good question Froggy. The typical Lab is a horrible glutton. This is an unusual case that seems hard to believe. That is why I brought up the possibility of an unknown source of food. There have been cases of neighbors throwing food scraps over the fence.

Yes, the age and how long the problem existed would help. Some times people apologize for writing long questions. The more details, the shorter and better answer I can give.

judy_lab

Thank you all for your answers. My lab is a female 2.4 years old. She has never being a big eater. Actually she has always being a problem. We tried all kind of food but she never liked any. She was doing some kind ok with a Puppy food (Royal Canine) but the vet said I have to switch to adults food and that's when everything started.
I'll try what you are advising about puppy food again. I have another Lab, a 4 months old male and he eats absolutely everything. It is hard to feed Priscilla because the little one always wants to jump on her dish. I'm not going to worry too much as you all said and change to puppy food. I guess I just love them too much.
Thanks

labman

The early switch to adult food is very important to a large breed developing puppy. Your vet is ahead of the curve on that issue. It is amazing how long it takes well documented things to become well known. If you are using crates, feeding the dogs in them works well. I once had a picky Shepherd and 2 young Labs as guests. Feeding the Labs in their crates made it much easier. At least one of them I was spreading the food out on the floor of the crate to slow him down.

Your other dog is an exception. I really feel somebody may be sneaking her richer food.

The only people loving their dogs too much are the ones overfeeding them.

bushg

how do dogs determine what is tastey or untastey, from smell? taste? or both?

labman

I am quite sure it is smell. Even in humans, we only can taste a handful of things, sweet, sour, salt, etc.

Hummmmm, I wonder if the makers of products such as Bitter Apple need to focus on the smell?