Hello,

I have read an earlier email about dogs not eating; however, I feel that my situation is a little different.

We got our rescue flat back retriever x lab x collie-type (about 1.5 years old) 4 weeks ago. For the first 3 weeks, she ate her food as I would expect any dog to do so, then last week, she started to leave some of her food.

We have been trying to work out how much to feed her because she is an active dog and is walked 3x a day (2x for at least 30 mins). Therefore, we weighed her, calculated the amount as suggested on the pedigree chum bag (dried food) and added a 25% more.

So, when she left some of her food we took this as a sign of overfeeding, so cut down her food to the recommended amount. But she is now leaving most of her food.

We currently feed her pedigree chum Chicken and rice dried food. I was also giving her 2 or 3 dried dog biscuits during the day as a treat. However, I have completely stopped this now. I have heard that some picky eater dogs eat better if the flavour (smell) of the food is changed every few weeks - is this just pandering to ones dog or is this a good idea?

Perhaps of note, she was anxious for the first 3 weeks after we brought her home - she wanted to be in the same room as us, wanted lots of attention and wanted to play. Last week, probably just before she started not eating all of her food, her behaviour changed: She seemed more relaxed and would take her self off to her bed when she felt like it. She is still playful, although less so and loves attention, but is less demanding. Oh yes, she still loves going on walks as much as she did before!

Am I just worrying for nothing?

Thank you and sorry for the repetitive nature of the email.

Rachel

with our dog we tried mixing dry food with wet food & problem solved =)

The suggested amounts on a dog food bag are just that, and often too high. There is a link to a reliable guide in the My dog won't eat sticky at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post254171 Yes there are all sorts of suggestions on getting a dog to eat including the above post. Doing so is nearly always the wrong thing to do. If a dog isn't eating, it is usually sick or over fed, with the heat perhaps being a problem this time of year. If a dog isn't doing much except laying around sleeping, tempting it with different food is a big mistake.

Rachel, thank you so much for choosing to adopt a dog rather than buy one. You were not being repetitive in your post. The more information we have, the better for us to figure out what exactly is going on.

It does sound like your dog is happily adjusting to her new life. As labman stated, most of the directions for feeding on the bags have a tendency to suggest too much food. Without knowing how large your dog is or how much she weighs, along with how much you are feeding her, it is hard to figure out if something is wrong or if she is being overfed. General rule of thumb for large dogs is two cups of kibble per day. So, that being said, does it appear that your dog has gained or lost weight since you have had her? Again, as labman states, the weather can be a factor here as well. The warmer it is outside, the tendency is for dogs to eat less. I would recommend sticking with the kibble you have her on, and not tempting her with moist food or different food. You may want to give her one cup of kibble in the morning and one cup in the evening. She may not want to eat much in the morning and after a day of exercise, she will be more inclined to eat at night. Bringing a new dog into the home is always a trial and error time. Have you brought her in to your vet for a general health check yet? Do you have her on heartworm and tick/flea protection?

Please let us know how she is doing and give us any additional information you can if our answers haven't resolved your problem.

Hello

Thank you everyone for your answers to my questions.
Kaia is a medium sized dog, who weighs 24kg (about 53lLbs). We weighed her on day of her arrival to her new home and again this week. She has not changed an gram! And, according to the guidelines (and to our vet) she is a picture of health! So, clearly we are feeding her the correct amount for the moment, but we will continue to monitor this every month.

As for the weather, I live in scotland and although the weather is warmer this time of the year, it is only in the 60oF range of temperatures!

After reading the link provided by Labman, I became concerned about Kaia's grass-eating habit and popped her down to the vets. As I said, the vet commented on her health and mentioned that her faddy eating may be down to hormones. She came out of season a month ago and has not yet been neutered (due in september). I will continue to monitor her, feed her original food and not fuss.

I have to say that her behaviour changed back yesterday evening to the more hyper Kaia that we first knew! Perhaps hormones does explain it in this case.

Thank you again for all your comments.
Rachel