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Tuscany · Mar 5, 2007, 09:54 AM

I have a doxie puppy who is 7 months old. Lately he has not been eating his breakfast in the morning. If I leave it there he will eventually eat it, (by about 7:30), but not when he is fed at 6. But, he is full of energy, still wants his walk, plays well, and begs for treats (and will eat them when they are offered). I was worried that maybe his neck was sore, but he will eat a treat that is in his bowl, but not his food. At night time he eats his food well (not fast like he used too, but all of it). He gets a 1/4 C morning and night of Iams puppy small bites food. He is acting completely fine otherwise, still pooping and peeing, not acting like he is in pain.

Is this normal? Should I be taking him to the vet? He is my baby, and I am losing sleep over this... it started Friday

tickle · Mar 5, 2007, 10:25 AM

It could be your puppy is maturing beyond the constant 'baby' feedings and this why he is not interested in his 'breakfast'. If he is not abandoning his regular activities I wouldn't worry too much. Just don't offer as much food, he is regulating himself. Remember you don't want a chubby puppy.

labman · Mar 5, 2007, 10:46 AM

I am not going to repeat what is in the ''My dog won't eat sticky'', https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post254171

At 7 months, he is largely done growing and may require less food. You can also cut back to 1 meal a day if you want. Do so gradually over a week. So check his body condition using the link in the sticky, and cut back a little if you need to. If he isn't doing better by the end of the week, maybe then get him to the vet before the weekend. The vet should be able to confirm your judgment of his body condition.

kattygirl · Mar 5, 2007, 02:05 PM

When I first got my pup Zeus he would eat whenever I put food out for him. Now he only eats if he is hungry. We fill his bowl in the morning and he will go and eat from it throughout the day. I think it just means he is not hungry and he feels confident the food will still be there later.

labman · Mar 5, 2007, 02:37 PM

If he isn't hungry when you feed him, he may be overweight, one of the most common health problems for dogs. Evaluate him as in http://www.puppychow.com/products/po...condition.aspx If he is overweight, cut back on what you feed.

Tuscany · Mar 6, 2007, 05:38 AM

Tuscany is not overweight. That is something that I watch very carefully because of the back problems that go along with his breed. He did not eat his breakfast yesterday morning, but started begging for food when I came home from work. I made him wait until 5:30 for dinner. Which he ate all of.

I am beginning to think that maybe he is a one meal a day dog. I am going to see how this week goes... and I have a vet appointment on Friday afternoon.

Dogsareme · Mar 9, 2007, 01:18 AM

If you are offering treats in his food dish during the day he might just be being picky in the morning thinking he might get something better then his bland old yucky food. I have seen this happen with many dogs, though in most cases it was with owner feeding wet food. What happened is the owners would give the wet food a little to often and the dog would come to expect it, so when dry food was placed in front of him he would not eat. The dog is thinking 'yuck, I want the good stuff, I'll hold out' so the owner goes and worries 'my gosh, my dog is not eating this is bad' and then rewards the dog for not eating by feeding the wet food so it becomes a habit.

I read labmans sticky and I also suggest leaving the food down for an allotted amount of time then picking it up if he doesn't eat it. That way he will learn to eat it if he wants it.