Normally ravenous needs urging to eat

[shellyk]

Our girl Ziva is 1 year old this week. Normally when I make her food in the morning she jumps up and down in anticipation. The last couple of days we have had to invite her to eat. She normally comes running when the treat jar is opened but now she smells them first and doesn't seem that excited about them. We haven't noticed any other problems - poop fine, energy level fine. We did change routines this week as my DH a part time school bus drive had to go back to work. Today at rally class she just shut down - at one point I was pulling on her leash and the collar came right off her neck. I had three different treats and she wasn't interested in any of them. Could our change in routine upset her?

 

[nowhavethreebears]

Maybe, if she's a "daddy's girl".
Or she could be coming into heat. They sometimes go off their feed and get out of sorts around that time. Especially if it's a first heat cycle.

 

[shellyk]

She had her first heat in June could she be having another one so soon?

 

[OodlesOfNoodles]

Our guy is just under 11 months old and a food hound; a week or 2 ago he stopped eating all of his breakfast (would take a couple of bites then leave it), when usually it would be inhaled in a matter of seconds. We'd had no immediately recent changes in routines and he seemed fine otherwise. We took his food away from him after 20 minutes, regardless of how little he'd eaten, then he wouldn't get any other food until his normal dinner time. I'd say after a week of this, he started eating his breakfast in full again, with no hesitation. It could just be a phase they go through?

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

How much food is she getting a day? Maybe it is too much and she is cutting herself back a bit.

 

[nowhavethreebears]

If it's not heat may be just what Lynn said. At some point their growth slows and they don't want as much. May just be self regulating.
Also, is it really warm where you are? Mine tend to cut themselves back in the summer heat also.

 

[shellyk]

How much food is she getting a day? Maybe it is too much and she is cutting herself back a bit.

She gets 1 cup of kibble with about 4-6 oz canned fish and about a 1/3 cup green beans, and some pumpkin twice a day. Maybe she doesn't need the green beans.

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

Why the green beans? They usually are used for overweight dogs.

 

[shellyk]

Our 4 year old Lab is a chow hound. He gets the beans to keep him from getting fat. She wants what he has. She's not on a diet. This morning I only gave her a few beans just to look like she had beans. We have a routine where the lab gets his bowl first - he has to sit look up and then we allow him to eat. We do the same for her. When she was ravenous she would rush to her spot sit and wait. Now she watches him - has to be told to sit then when released to eat she then has to be encouraged. She eats all her food and still licks her bowl clean so I think it must be a teenage thing.

 

[Cat]

Is Ziva back on her feed ?

Samson has always kept himself at fighting weight all by himself. It is different, but the same every day. We can't picture him ever being overweight. Temperature, how much exercise, or not, it's all part of the big picture for them and us. Sam I Am is more toy driven than food. We got used to feeding him one tablespoon at a time out of his bowl from the very beginning. Some meals he will eat by himself, some meals he wants Mom to hold the bowl for him, some meals he gets Dad as the tablespoon cheerleader. We are hoping it was just the schedule change for Mom and Dad that caused Ziva's deviation...
P.S. Samson's 12 year old Lab sister has always been a chow hound too. She'll eat Sam's if we are not vigilant during meal time.

 

[shellyk]

Oh it's definitely the schedule change! Now she has started tearing up stuff she never bothered with. She ate my glasses the other day. She is punishing my husband for going back to work.