jackpine Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Four month old Bucky does not like his food. He will eat a bit in the am and maybe a bit later in the day, but so little that I am starting to wonder if he is getting enough. I know intuitively that he will eat when he is hungry, bit I still worry because he seems to be eating nothing. Also, he will only eat under certain circumstances. If we are not looking at him, if we are out of the room entirely. lots of different circumstances. We go with this, but still, he eats so little. He is healthy, and has a good weight for his age. One day he will eat more, next day he will eat almost nothing. Granted, if I add gravy or something yummy to the mix, he will eat but I don't want to get into this MacDonalds kind of getting him to eat more than he needs, so won't do th8is. I feed him Natural Balance Ultra Premium Dog food for puppies and adult dogs. He probably eats about one cup and, if I'm lucky, a cup and a half, a day of this stuff. And another question. How often do you feed a pup. I feed three times a day, but Bucky is only interested, if at all in i maybe two times a day. And when do you try for just leaving the dry food out all day. This is what I did with my last BC (just left kibble available all day long from when he was a pup) this worked well for him. What do you guys do? What do you suggest? Is he ok eating this little? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg's mum Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Meg was a finicky eater. What am I saying! She still is! We finally found that she likes Natural Balance Chubs (Turkey ) and Natural Balance canned and also Evangers canned. We had her on kibble for the first four months and it was a constant battle trying to find the right set of circumstances to get her to eat. Every now and then when we run out of food we feed her a meal of cat kibble. Of course....she likes that! Meg eats three bowls of food a day now (has been since she was about four months old and is a very lean Border Collie. I add egg, treats, lightly cooked meat and fish oil over the course of a week. She's eats four times a day about half her bowl on rising, the rest after the first run. Lunch is always chub and its a ritual for her. She takes each peice to the stairs and eats it like a prize. Dinner is Evangers. It was a nightmare trying to find food that she wasn't allergic too and that she consistently liked. I worried too. She was and is sooooo thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 My dog didn't care about food until he was about 10 months old. Even now (17 months) there are days when he skips the morning 1/2 cup and eats it at dinner. Or the next day... I used to obsess over this, then I figured out he was getting enough for his body, and he's never been realy skinny. He's on the big side of BCs, hight and weight wise, but very svelt and has always had a ton of energy. As long as your pup is healthy, coat looks good, has a lot of energy, I wouldn't worry about how much food he's (not) eating. Find a topping that's paletable for him - for us shredded cheese is the miracle that makes the kibble eatable - took me more than 6 months to figure this one out. As far as the freqency of feeding, I found out that if I left a lot of kibble in his dish all day long, he would ignore it, so I started giving him just 1/2 cup in the morning, and if he wouldn't eat it in 30-60 minutes, I would take it away and give it to him at dinner. After a week or two of this regimen, he started cleaning up his plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna frankland (uk) Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 brighid has never been a food head, though she will work her socks off learning tricks to get a treat :s she was on 1 meal before 6 months. i used to get in a right tizz about it as i have always been told to feed 3 meals till x age then 2 meals till x then 1 meal when adult. i figured after a while that thats ok IF you can get the dog to eat it. since that revelation i simply offer her food at night and let her eat what she wants. some days she refuses others she will eat a whole chicken. i let her decide and dont worry anymore. she will eat me out of house and home just after her season though, so i think i will have to re assess after she is spayed cos i reckon she will turn into a blimp within a month of the op lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haleigh Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Try taking some raw chicken liver, or even dehydrated liver and put some of that in the kibble. Also cracking an egg and coating the kibble in the yolk and whites it's gods gift for picky eaters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted March 31, 2007 Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 I found that mixing a small amount of canned food into the dry food made it much more appetizing (to a dog!), and Daisy would snarf it down quickly rather than let it sit there all day. That makes it a lot easier to measure how much she is eating and prevented the cat eating it. Dog prefers cat's food, cat prefers dog's food -- grass is always greener, you know. For dry I use Natural Balance Duck & Potato formula, and for canned I use Whole Foods 365 Store Brand Lamb & Rice, which is cheap and has good ingredients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpine Posted March 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2007 Wow! I feel so much better now. Thanks everyone for your answers. Lots of good advice. I guess we just human moms naturally worry if our kids don't eat much. Makes me laugh when I remember my mother's frustration with my eating habits. My mom would exclaim to her friends, "She must live on air". Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Has your Bucked been checked for worms, or been wormed? Does he act sick? If he just recently cut down the amount he eats, his growth may have slowed down and this will make them consume less food. They grow in spurts- for awhile they eat tons and then will eat just a little for awhile. Then their appetite picks up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpine Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Has your Bucked been checked for worms, or been wormed? Does he act sick? If he just recently cut down the amount he eats, his growth may have slowed down and this will make them consume less food. They grow in spurts- for awhile they eat tons and then will eat just a little for awhile. Then their appetite picks up again. He is full of energy, and has been wormed. This morning, the time when he seems to be not interested in eating at all, I added an egg to his kibble and mixed it all in. After a couple of minutes of sniffing and then trying a bite, he thought this was a wonderful idea and ate it all up. I'm a bit concerned though that, knowing this little guy, he won't eat anything from now on without an addition of egg, or some other delicacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpine Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 He is full of energy, and has been wormed. This morning, the time when he seems to be not interested in eating at all, I added an egg to his kibble and mixed it all in. After a couple of minutes of sniffing and then trying a bite, he thought this was a wonderful idea and ate it all up. I'm a bit concerned though that, knowing this little guy, he won't eat anything from now on without an addition of egg, or some other delicacy. P.S.: I plan to travel with him quite a bit. Road trips, canoe, hiking, etc and I can't be adding fresh ingredients to his kibble all the time when I feed him on these trips. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 You could take some canned dog food on your trips... Or add something that you're eating on top of his dry food. But if he'll be exercising vigurously on these trips, he'll probably eat his kibble simple, without any toppings. That's how my dog is.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpine Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 You could take some canned dog food on your trips... Or add something that you're eating on top of his dry food. But if he'll be exercising vigurously on these trips, he'll probably eat his kibble simple, without any toppings. That's how my dog is.... Sounds good. And, you're right. I bet he won't be such a picky eater when he is really, really hungry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Maybe it is just the brand of food you are feeding that he doesn't like. Maybe you can try a little of another kind to see how he does? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpine Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Maybe it is just the brand of food you are feeding that he doesn't like. Maybe you can try a little of another kind to see how he does? I'm feeding him Natural Balance Ultra Premium. I tried a couple of other brands and mixes (all good quality). He liked all of them at first, even the NB I'm feeding now, but then he got board with it as he did with all of the others. Didn't have this problem with my other dogs. They just ate whatever I gave them, plain dry kibble with maybe a bit of warm water mixed in, but more often, just plain dry kibble. But always with a bowl of fresh water available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted April 2, 2007 Report Share Posted April 2, 2007 Hmmm.... have you tried to add water to it? Or maybe fish oil? Which is a great for their skin! I remember when mine when through a finicky stage too. Most times they come around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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