He Won't Eat

[Nicole5158]

Byron has not been eating much food at all lately, but he acts like he's starving and he will eat treats, so I'm not too worried about it. I've read through a bunch of old posts and the consensus seems to be that if he is acting normally, but not eating, that it's probably just a phase. I've continued to give him his supplements and we're training with pieces of his dog food instead of treats, but I wish the boy would eat! The problem is that I was instructed by the breeder to start phasing out the lunch time meal and feed him twice a day when he turned four months. He's now 4.5 months and I am still feeding him three times a day because I didn't want to switch his schedule until he got back to his normal feeding habits. I've emailed the breeder, but in the meantime I would love to get some NN opinions if anybody has run into the problem. Thank you!

 

[Giddyuppy]

Probably just a phase, but...one never really knows. Good for you, IMO, that yer usin' dog food instead of treats for his training.

Ahnzlo is one that scarfs his food down, so he will probably ALWAYS get fed 3 meals a day. He just turned 17 months. He never went thru a stage of not wanting to eat. In fact, I've NEVER had a dog that didn't wanna eat.

Glad to hear you've contacted the breeder!

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

How much are you feeding him? If he is getting too much, then he may not need the lunch meal. Or dividing what you are giving him now into two meals might work better. Are you giving him too many treats so that he is not hungry for meals? You may just have to experiment around and see what works.

 

[Nicole5158]

Thank you, Lynn. I haven't been giving him any treats since he stopped eating, I just use dog food as a treat, which seems to work. You might be on to something about the amount I'm feeding him. Per the breeder's request, I've been feeding him 1.5 cups of kibble per meal, which is 4.5 cups per day. But the breeder had him on Purina One, which he developed an allergy to. I've put him on Wellness, and since it's a richer food, maybe I should scale it down a little. But he only eats about a cup of the Wellness per day now, which can't be sufficient for him over a long period of time, he's a growin' boy!

 

[ardeagold]

We just switched to Wellness too...from another super premium, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul.

Perhaps he's going through the same thing ours are...they don't like the Wellness. It is a richer food, but none are eating as well...I can tell they don't want to eat it, but are hungry so they will. I've heard other people say their dogs don't like it either...so, perhaps that's it.

We're going back to the Chicken Soup as soon as the Wellness is gone.

You did a good thing by switching from the brand you did. You went to a much better food, but if he doesn't like it, perhaps you need to switch to something he will eat...but stay in the super-premium line!!

 

[Nicole5158]

Ardea, you may be right. He acts hungry all the time and when I'm making his dinner he gets so excited. Then I put it on the floor and he looks at it like "What? This again?" And just noses at it. Our breeder hadn't heard of Wellness and told us to try a different flavor of Purina One. I think that's weird. I'm sticking with a super premium food, even if it isn't Wellness.

 

[blackbear cove]

Does wellness have can food too? if so maybe if you tried a teaspoon of the moist mixed with the wellness dry he would like it.Just a thought,thats the only way mine will eat dry food.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Wellness does make canned food, but if it is added then the pup will never eat dry kibble so you will have to add canned food for the rest of the dogs life. Odd that your breeder never heard of Wellness as it is a very popular high end food. Many pups are raised for a few months on Pro Plan too. I have heard that pups don't do as well on Wellness. You are right though that the higher quality foods require less in amount.

 

[blackbear cove]

Why don't pups do well on wellness food??I have a 4 month old and am thinking about putting her on it will it not be good for her?

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Paula, I don't know the details but I had heard that it was a better food for older pups, so you should be ok.

 

[Blacknewfs]

I just posted a message to another thread about Wellness being used for pups... http://www.newf.net/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=000426

I would switch to a different brand for a pup. We like Eagle Pack.

As for Byron....4.5 cups of kibble doesn't seem like a lot of food given his age. Neptune, who is now 10 months was eating 6-7 c a day at that age...and currently eats 9-10 cups. Granted, he is from very slow growing lines and he gets tons of exercise. Every dog differs, and your breeder knows what is best for their lines. How is Byron's weight? Does he feel underweight when you do a standing rib test?

 

[Nicole5158]

Thanks again for your help, everybody. On my way home from work last night I stopped at a specialty dog food store and talked to the owner. Everybody has a different opinion, which makes this process tough. I got a small bag of Innova and Byron seems to like it much better than the Wellness. He picks the pieces of Innova out of the bowl. I was also considering Eagle Pack, but the closest carrier is really far away. I'll try it if this doesn't work. I know that Innova is supposed to be fantastic, but if anybody has a strong opinion about it one way or another, just let me know. Oh, and Byron's weight seems to be right on par. He's about 65 pounds at 4.5 months, but his weight gain has been very steady, which is important to me.

 

[ardeagold]

Just be careful when you switch foods. Make sure you start mostly with his old food and mix in the new gradually...adding a little more new each day. Otherwise you can have a real mess with diarrhea.

Innova is very, very rich...richer than Wellness. It's supposed to be very good, however, I've heard of many dogs who just can't tolerate the richness...and the owners end up having to switch again relatively soon.

I've never tried it, so I really don't know...

I hope it works for him!!!

 

[Starlight]

my Bailey ate Innova for the first 9 months of her life and did really well on it. Unfortunately, we had to drive a very long distance to purchase it and then they kept running out of it. She loved it and she had no problems on it.

 

[janices]

Looks like Natura Pet has a new addition in the Innova food called Innova Evo:

http://www.naturapet.com