brandon Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 I have 2 10 month old dogs. One is a Female black lab and the other is a male BC. The have been getting along famously; however, the BC is now exhibiting some new behavior that has me concerned about his health. Each morning I give them their 1st of 2 meals a day. When they were very young, they used to race to see who could finish first-quite a scary site. The border collie has long since slowed to a much more civilized pace(a few minutes vs. a few seconds). As of tuesday evening(it is now friday morning so 6 episodes), he has begun ignoring his food for several minutes before begining to eat. He takes a few bites, then waits, checks to see where the lab is, stares at her, then finally gets around to taking a few more bites. His meal now takes upwards of a half hour. He has always been definsive (only to the other dog) about his food and she has learned to stay clear. All other behavior seems normal. I know some dogs like to free feed, but this is sudden, so I don't know if it is normal. Do you think he is sick, with no other outward symptoms? Is it a doggie midlife crisis? Does any one have any suggestions? I am posting in the general section too. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan's Mom Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Brandon, I'm not sure if others think that the change may be a health issue but my BC sometimes ignores his food. When we first got him, he would leave his food set around for 30 or more minutes and the cat would end up eating some of it. Even when we puppy sit his lab friend, his lab friend scarfs down his food and Keegan could truly care less about his. We feed him twice a day and have started to space them out so that when feeding time does come, he sits down for the whole meal. We usually feed around 7 am and 7 pm. But if we train with a meal's worth of food then we skip one of his meals. Keep us posted. Rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 By any chance is this towards the end of the bag of food or at least been open for a little bit. I have a dog that was terrible when it came to eating. She would leave it and not eat for a couple days. I realized that this happened once the bag had been open for awhile. Even now we keep the food in a steel container and after about 1-2 weeks, she does not eat like she used to. It could just be that your dog likes her food to be more fresh. Your dog could also just being a pain. I would start taking the food up after 15-20 minutes and not feed again until the next meal. All my dogs know to eat when the food is down otherwise they will have to wait until the next meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot me not Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 I was recently doing some internet research on Equine ulcers because wouldn't you know it, I have a horse that has them. Zantac in a horse sized dose is NOT fun to give twice a day! Anyway, while I was fishing around the net I read a couple of articles on Dog ulcers. Seems they show pretty much the same symptoms that horses do. Those symptoms are typically what your dog is doing now, all of a sudden having a change in eating habits without obvious cause (like worms or a virus). If this persists you might want to check with your vet and ask about gastric ulcers in dogs. In the meantime you can do a search on the internet and come up with some interesting articles. Good luck with your dog. Lydia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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