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Dog mamas
Alright - our pup is about 9 months old now. (Quick background - he is a full-bred, AKC registered dog - he is not neutered.)
He has shown no interest in his food bowl since Saturday night. He will take his treats, though (I got him to eat his dinner last night by sprinkling treats throughout the dish). His water intake is also down, but he is drinking enough that he's going to the bathroom.
Is this normal at this age/stage? My co-worker said that his dog will periodically do this and he'll just add a chicken broth or plain rice mixed in with his dog's food to get her to eat again.
Other things to note: We have not changed up his food - we got him at 9 weeks and he was on Beneful puppy food and now is on regular Beneful and has been for about 2-3 months.
No noticeable change in his bathroom habits; no getting sick, etc. I think he is going through puberty, though, as he has been really "excited" over the past 10 days.
Thoughts, please?
My three sons!
Re: Dog mamas
I personally would change his food to a large breed puppy or an all-stages of better quality. He will eat less and poop less. Large breeds need to grow slowly, it will prevent issues in the future. If you do switch, do it gradually over 2 weeks so you don't have tummy issues.
As for not eating, don't use the treats to lure him to eat. He will then only eat if you put treats in. If he isn't sick from either end, I would offer the food and he will eat when he is hungry. The only time I have added (I use wet) is as my dogs have gotten older. Our bulldog & our mix would go on hunger strikes, then they would start eating again, this was never an issue with the lab. The weather often has a lot to do with it, they don't tend to eat a lot when its hot, just like people don't like to eat a lot when it is hot.
Has he pooped, or is he just peeing? My brother's dog once stopped eating and wasn't drinking as much. I think he was still peeing but he wasn't pooping. He ended up having an intestinal blockage.
Sometimes our dogs get sick just like we do. One of ours just a week ago didn't eat a meal or two. We gave him some rice cooked in chicken broth, and he ate some of that eventually. By the next day he was fine.
Thank you for the feedback ladies! I will check Kodi's stomach tonight.
He was not his nosey self Saturday night and most of yesterday, but came back around last night - tail wagging, following us everywhere and seemed to be himself (minus eating his food) this morning. I'll have to ask DH if the dog pooped last night or this morning (DH left at 4am and took him out before he left). I fed him at 6am and took him out, but he only peed for me. I'm pretty sure he pooped last night, since he tends to do that within 15 minutes of eating his bowl.
Kris - what do you suggest for the food? He's on Beneful regular food now. I'll see if he eats it tonight and, if not, I'll make him the rice and broth. If he doesn't eat that, I'll definitely give the vet a call. (I agree with not wanting him to rely on the treats as food!)
My three sons!
We feed grain free, but that is mostly because it has helped tremendously with Bruce's gas issues and Murphy's allergies. We feed Taste of the Wild, which is $45/35 lb. Bruce gets 4 cups (2 in the AM 2 in the PM) Murphy gets 2 (2 AM, 1 PM) but Bruce has about 35 lbs on Murphy. A lot of vets don't agree with GF, but it works for us.
We used to feed them Nature's Domain from Costco which is GF and it is $30/30 lbs but they only carry the Salmon and Sweet Potato and Bruce doesn't like fish, so we switched to the Taste of the Wild.
I have also heard great reviews about Kirkland's from Costco. The most important things is to make sure that the protein source is the first ingredient, not corn. We have also fed Nutro's Lamb & Rice and they did well on that.
The most important thing with a large breed that is prone to hip issues is to keep them thin. It was the first thing the vet told us when we got Murphy. It prevents so many health (expensive) issues. Murphy is 13 and all though he has arthritis pretty severly at this point, he had no medical issues before age 12 except seasonal allergies. We strive for the same thing with Bruce, especially since he has torn his ACL and we are trying to avoid spendig $3000 on a surgery that may or may not work because of his size.
No advice on the not eating subject, because all of our no eating issues were combined with backend problems (ended up being food allergies that built up in his system over time).
But, we also feed grain free and have had great luck with California naturals. We use venison and pea, which is the only thing he can tolerate, but their food is great quality and the other varieties are less expensive than the venison and pea.
I hadn't heard this, but it does make sense!
Kodi is very fit - we take him for walks and keep him exercised in the backyard with either him and the boys chasing each other (Kodi likes to tease them and get them to try to get the ball from him) or with playing fetch. It makes sense that the bigger breed dogs are prone to hip issues, too.
Thanks for all of the feedback, ladies!
My three sons!
We were feeding ours one of Diamond Naturals' chicken versions. They didn't have it at Tractor Supply recently though, so DH bought one of these versions the last few times. Meat is the first ingredient in most of the flavors.
http://tsc.tractorsupply.com/search?p=Q&lbc=tractorsupply&uid=794254386&ts=custom&w=*&isort=globalpop&method=and&view=grid&stateid=s6B26A16B2mVWSP1dQ&modaf=a:brand:4health
Thanks so much for the sugegstions - it appears that Kodi is snubbing his food. I made the rice with chicken stock last night, mixed it all together with his food and he scarfed it down. Plain food this morning - wanted nothing to do with it.
Oh and pooped last night, so it's not that.
So, I'll give it another day and see what happens or else I guess it's time to change the food! Thank you, again!
My three sons!