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