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I have a German Spitz, 16 months old who is unlike any other dog I know. Most dogs start eating before the bowls gone down. Mine sniffs the food then walks away.
I tried most dry food and most meaty food. He just seems completely disinterested in food. Even when he does eat he will take a one peice of meat, then walk away and eat it and then come back again and again repeating same ritual. Although, most of time he will only eat one or two bits of meat and will then walk off.
He does seem to like dog biscuites, ie the shapes biscuits. But surley it not good for dogs to mostly eat biscuits???
I walk my dog for 2- 3 hours a day, everyday and with this amount of exercise I am struggling to understand why he does not have more of an appertite.
How often do you feed him? Do you free-feed (food left down all day)?
What food are you feeding him specifically? What brand and how much? You didn't mention if he's Giant, Standard, or Mini.
If you feed him dry food, try soaking the kibble in chicken stock for 30 minutes so it's nice and moist, maybe add some real bits of chicken, then put the bowl down. Pick it up after 20 minutes whether he's done or not.
I'm not a nutritionist so take my 2 cents with a grain of salt. Just giving you some options in case you hadn't thought of these yet.
My dog isn't finicky but he's had some skin conditions so we're careful about what we feed him. We've never fed him just dry kibble. He's always had stuff added to it, sometimes it's a little canned food mixed in, sometimes it's soaked in chicken stock or the water left over from boiling veggies like broccoli, sometimes we put some of our leftovers in there (ah, I admit it - they're not leftovers so much as food that I specifically set aside on my plate so he can have some!), and sometimes I crack a raw egg on top of his kibble.
There are lots of food experts here who will also add their thoughts I'm sure. Best of luck!
Also 2-3 hours may be too much for him at his age. Most recommend 5 minutes for every month of the dog's life, so for you no more than 80 minutes. Do mind games (see the sticky on the exercise forum) to tire him out if he still has lots of energy after 80 minutes.
Some dogs are bored with the standard, "come to your bowl and eat" routine. They need mealtimes to be fun and interesting, even challenging, to help them feel as if they are "working" for their food. After measuring out what he needs to have, divide it up into various interesting ways and places: stuff some into hollow toys, hide some into a little box that he has to work to get the bits out, scatter some in various corners and hiding places in the house, etc. Be creative. You can still leave a portion of his ration in the bowl-- sometimes they just want a little game to play as an "appetizer," and then they are content to eat the rest out of the bowl. I have a dog that is exceptionally intelligent, and she gets bored with same old routine, so these types of games are what I have to do sometimes to keep things stimulating for her.
Also make sure you're not overfeeding him. You didn't mention specifically what food you're feeding so I hope we've given you enough info. Best of luck and come back and let us know how it goes.
All the above suggestions are great, one other is you might try, some B vitiman supplements to stimulate his appetite, also at least with older dogs, warming the food (if using dry pour a little warm water on it) seems to make them a little more willing to eat.
Dogs are not normally fed three times a day unless recommended by a vet for a particular reason. How much food are you giving him, and what kind of food? kibble?canned? both? It simply sounds like you are overfeeding and/or he might not like the food you are giving him. tell us more.
He has frolic meaty dry (look like hoops) and Butchers canned meat dog food and pedigree meat pouches.
Saying that we had pasta (shell ones)and bolognese last night and we all gave him our left overs which was about half a plate full and he ate it all quite quickly (even though his dog food Butchers - meat, was still sat in his bowl uneaten)
Pasta is fine - in fact if you had mixed it with his dry kibble he probably would have eaten everything!
If you're going to give him human food, make sure you avoid the toxic ones - onions and garlic in large quantities, mushrooms, chocolate, caffiene, alcohol, and others - and also make sure you measure so that you don't overfeed.
If I were you I'd try a different kibble/canned food. You can get samples of many kinds if you call the co you are interested in for ex Taste of the Wild & Chicken soup for the dog's Soul are both made by Diamond. You can go to their website get the ph # & request samples. Many othe companies will do this as well or send coupons. Or you can go to a store that sells the brand you might want to try & sometimes they will have the samples. Blue Buffalo is another decent brand sold at petsmart.
pedigree is a very poor quality of food. Look at the Diet threads for other ideas. Again I would reconsider feeding him 3x a day. It really does sound like overfeeding.
It is quite all right to add a little human food to his bowl. Variety is the spice of life.
While everything the previous posters are saying is absolutely true, I would just like to be absolutely sure that it is clear, that there are certain human foods which can be lethal to a dog. PLEASE be sure you know what they are, and if they are in the dinner left overs. ALSO please be aware of pancreatitis, which can be triggered by giving a dog fat trimmings off meat, greasy fried foods etc. My own dogs of course get green beans, plain pasta, a little cheese etc. they love it, and I love watching them enjoy it, just be sure it is safe, healthy food.
Just to add - a dog with health issues needs an owner who is careful with leftovers, as josie says, but healthy dogs are designed to metabolise energy from fat rather than from carbohydrates (which is why cereal-rich dog food has to be cooked, extruded etc. and still doesn't do them much good) so fat from meat and healthy vegetable oils like olive or sunflower oil are fine. Keep away from mixed oils which are likely to have maize and rapeseed oil in them, similarly avoid soya, coconut oils and ground nut oil.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog
Nettle wrote:Just to add - a dog with health issues needs an owner who is careful with leftovers, as josie says, but healthy dogs are designed to metabolise energy from fat rather than from carbohydrates (which is why cereal-rich dog food has to be cooked, extruded etc. and still doesn't do them much good) so fat from meat and healthy vegetable oils like olive or sunflower oil are fine. Keep away from mixed oils which are likely to have maize and rapeseed oil in them, similarly avoid soya, coconut oils and ground nut oil.
Thank you - good to know. I was starting to worry about those raw chicken legs I gave Murphy because there was some fat on them. Whew.
