Not eating dry food...

Hi guys, wasn't sure whether to post this in this group or the behaviour group.

Our choc lab Charlie (1.7 years old) has recently decided he doesn't want to eat his dry food. He'll gobble up any treats or human food, but for some reason, he won't eat his dry food. The other day he didn't eat his breakfast until after 6pm.

He is due to have his worming/flea treatment this month, could he have worms that might be causing this?

He's been eating Harrington's adult dry food for the past 8-10 months and until now we've never had a problem, last night we bought some different dry food and last night he ate it all but it took him an hour or so to do it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Hi there,

Sometimes I read posts from owners experiencing similar.If your dog seem otherwise ok no other behaviour changes ,or dips in energy and is drinking ,here's a couple of things to consider ....

- The bag has become spoiled in some way and the food has become musty/unpalatable to the dog ( yeah I know! We've got labradors ! What exists that's unpalatable?!)
- The dog may be experiencing some mouth / tooth discomfort and dry food is uncomfortable to eat .A check over at the vet might be a good idea to rule that one out.
- The dog is being given too many treats /human food/ leftovers.....that can be filling them up ( yep back to the first point,a Labrador ,I know ,they are ALWAYS hungry) but food other than kibble can be much more appealing and they are clever things these dogs of ours ,they can start holding out if they think something better might come along ....

Any other change to meal routines you can think of? If you are satisfied the food isn't spoiled in any way ,I would put his meal down and give him ten minutes are so then lift the food up and then try him again at his next meal time...
Hope that might help a bit? I can't comment at all on your questions about the worms....although I thought worms would make them more hungry?

 

Oh, I was going to say we had this when Libby's teeth hurt her but at 1.7 years that's not the likely reason. I read something about them getting bored with their own food and you should put it down for 10 minutes. Take uneaten food away and offer nothing else until the next mealtime. Same process repeated until they eat it again.

 

Dexter was writing a much more comprehensive response at the same time! (He's a clever boy )

 

Thanks for the replies.

- His food was brand new from the shop so we can rule that one out hah.
- I will check his mouth/teeth when I get home from work, but last night he was chewing on his antler and showed no signs of discomfort
- He doesn't get too many human leftovers, he gets treats when we're on a walk for training purposes and a chew stick when we're going out and leaving him at home
- Nothing else has changed that I can think of, breakfast and dinner at the same time, walked twice a day

I will remove his food bowl this evening if he doesn't eat it, see how it goes.

 

One thing that has changed that I forgot to mention; my work schedule has changed. I'm on now what my boss calls 'flexitime' meaning I can start and finish whenever I like as long I cover 10am-4pm and work a minimum of 7 hours.

So this week I've been starting at 7:30am every day, meaning that myself and Charlie have been getting up an hour earlier than normal for our morning walk.

BUT... his breakfast is only 45 minutes earlier than it used to be, and his dinner is still given to him between 5pm and 6pm.

 

Sometimes you just get a bad bag, even from the shop. Maybe worth buying a new small bag and seeing if he'll eat that.

 

Hi! We've bought him a different brand of dog food, and as mentioned in my first post, he ate this but very slowly. This morning he didn't eat anything. Very strange!

 

Will he eat the kibble if fed by hand? Or is he still reluctant.

 

Not tried that yet, but I will when I get home from work later today. His mood hasn't changed, still a bouncy dog loving attention etc.

 

Hi again,
Maybe try soaking it with a little water? It's still kibble but it's magically different and might be more interesting? .....let us know how you get on x

 

Cooper did this about six months ago.....I had bought a bag of Fromm Adult Duck and poured it into a plastic bin.....kibble is not supposed to be put into a plastic anything...so that may be one thing. I thought he might have got "tired" of the same food. I did wet the kibble. After that I added chicken stock to the kibble instead of water. Then I bought a small bag of Orijen 6 Fish and he DEVOURED IT! Try a kibble with fish. You mention your brand of kibble but not what is in it (chicken, beef, lamb, etc). I do not feed Cooper anything with chicken simply because, on this Forum,many members have had their pups get allergic reactions to it.
It is troubling because Labs are ALWAYS hungry. Still, am sure they may get bored with the same food day in and day out, as we would. Oh, someone also told me to add grated cheese to the kibble.
By the way,after trying the Orijen (double the expense of his regular food) he got hooked on it and I mixed half of the Orijen with half of the Fromm. Now he is on half Blue Buffalo Wilderness Salmon and/or Blue Buffalo Wilderness Duck and he looooooves them both.
Good luck and let us know how you make out please?

 

Hi again guys.

My partner is at home with Charlie now, she tried hand feeding him some food and wouldn't take any, so tried adding some water and he still didn't want any of it. Bizarrre.

 

Thanks for the info. I've forgotten what flavour of food he has but i"ll find out when I get home. Will update you on any changes =)

 

Morning!

So last night we fed Charlie a bowl of his new dry food, he tried putting it off I think but after 10-15 minutes he had eaten at least a half of his bowl.

What is a bit worrying is he was sick twice during the night, not sure if this is because of his new food or something else. If he is sick again today I will take him to the vets on Saturday.

 

If you check with the vet and he is not unwell. You could try what I do with Fred. Sometimes Fred won't eat his dinner, so I put a spoonful of Butchers Tripe on top and mix it into his dry food. He eats it every time then.

 

It does sound like he doesn't like it...if he was sick because of it well they may be linked maybe not. Worth a chat with the vet to rule out anything medical.

There are lots of good quality kibble you can buy on line, especially for sensitive tums, most offer reasonably priced sample packs you could try. If you call them you might get them for free

 

This happened to us, it was a new bag Hattie wouldn't eat it at all. Got a new bag of the same kibble she ate it. x

 

Not eating is usually a sign that a dog is not well, though it could also be due to a dog who has had too much food and isn't hungry or a dog who is very fussy. If he has been sick then I would take him to the vet.

 

I agree with Stacia....a visit to the vet seems to be in order. Fact that a dog does not want to eat AND gets sick.....I would go to the vet ASAP.