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Dex is going backwards in the p-training & feedingtime department...help! and a PIP!
Going on our 3rd week with our little bugger who surprises me with something he learns/figures out everyday lol. Love him to pieces.
He has morning potty time down pat. I put on my coat, grab him from the crate and he goes both almost immediately outside...it is after breakfast and dinner where he is struggling a bit. He was SO good last week with eating his whole bowl of food during both of his meal times and then going out about 10 min later and doing his business. The last 3 days, he is completely uninterested in his food (wellness puppy with some water to soften). I even tried to reincorporate a spoon of wet food into his kibble to get him back into it. No dice.
He will eat a few pieces and I'll bring him out where he won't go #2 even after about 30 min.
Go back inside, run laps around the house and without fail, will find the small amounts of carpet and poop on there. Like in a blink..literally. We watch him like a hawk when he is running around the house because we've learned.
I don't want him to go backwards because he has been SO great and he gets so excited once we praise him!
Any advice for me? Should I try to feed him some carrots or something if he doesn't want his food? I worry my little guy isn't eating enough!
***Sept 2013 Jan. Siggy Challange - Bouquet Inspiration!***
Re: Dex is going backwards in the p-training & feedingtime department...help! and a PIP!
I think that you ave 2 options with his not eating. 1.) Just continue feeding him the same kind of food and give it to him for a set amount of time, and what he heats in that time frame is all he gets.(he will learn to eat when he is given food) or 2.)try changing his food to see if he eats better.
What food are you feeding him now?
That's what people have suggested, but I am so worried he will just not be getting enough, but I suppose he is smart enough to figure out food is food and if I don't eat it, I'm SOL lol.
He is currently on Wellness: Just for Puppy.
***Sept 2013 Jan. Siggy Challange - Bouquet Inspiration!***
THIS is exactly true. Dogs, unlike cats, will not starve themselves to the point of harm. A dog can go several days without eating with no serious adverse effects (other than a rumbly tummy and some serious begging for anything YOU might be eating). Tough love is perfectly acceptable.
If you were enticing him before, he might think he can continue getting away with turning his nose up at something in the hopes you'll cave and end up giving him something else. My cats weren't terribly interested in eating the first bag of Chicken Soup I brought home for them, because it was a healthy weight (aka diet) formula, but they still didn't turn their noses up completely. Just be strong about setting down his food, and whatever he eats, he eats. No cajolling, begging, sweetening the deal with extras. See how he does after several days of this. I'd only start to worry if he starts losing significant weight or really shows no sign of being hungry while eating so little.
And use his puppy kibble as his treats when training; that way he doesn't think he can get something else out of you when he doesn't eat his food.
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
Such good advice...I didn't think of that...thank you!
***Sept 2013 Jan. Siggy Challange - Bouquet Inspiration!***
As for not going potty outside and then going inside, I think you are spending too long outside and then giving him too much freedom inside. I know he is older, but you want to go outside (preferably on a leash so that it's all business), walk to get things moving, if he doesn't go in x amount of time (usually people keep this short because they want to teach the dog to go quickly - like 5 or 10 minutes). If he goes, have a party, treat, reward and then allow play time so that you are sure he has gone before you have the play. If he doesn't go, then you want to confine him to a small area (some people crate, some tether, some use an ex pen but make sure you are watching so he can't have the opportunity to go and don't let him run all around the house) and limit fun time until you go outside again and repeat.