Hi, Our Lab Bailey (5 1/2 mths) has became very fussy about his food (Burns Dry Food) he used to eat it as soon as it was put down but now leaves it and eventually finishes it later on, he still eats his treats eg Gravy Bones, Markies etc and would eat what we're eating giving half a chance, he's still very lively and enjoys his run outs etc. Any Advice ?
Re: Not Eating as Before I would cut out all his treats , just using very tiny pieces of cheese or sausage as training treats( thumb nail size ) but not offer him anything else and no snacks Is he on three or two meals a day now ? if he still seems unenthusiasic about his Burns , maybe try adding a very small ammount of gravy to it or even just hot water to soften as he may be teething and the hard kibble could be tough for him at the moment ?
Re: Not Eating as Before There is an article here: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/my-labrador-wont-eat-his-food-any-more/ How are his teeth doing? He must be teething, I guess, at that age. I've never heard of a dog having problem with kibble while teething, only larger things, but it might be worth a check over.
Re: Not Eating as Before It's possible he's painful from teething, but I would expect him to be off his treats too if that's the case. Maybe try adding a splash of hot water to his kibble and allowing it to soak for a couple of minutes - this will soften the biscs and make them more smelly and appetising. In my opinion Burns kibble is really dry, more o than others I've seen so it's possible he's finding it a bit boring? If he is still on 3 meals a day I would cut this down to two as maybe he's just not hungry with getting that much food. My mum has a fussy dog who very rarely eats well. The best thing she was told was to put the dogs meal down and if there's any left after 20 minutes take it away and don't give them anything at all until the next meal time. Do this every time the dog is fed and the dog will soon catch on that it gets taken away if they don't eat it. My mums dog is one of the fussiest I've ever seen and after only two days of this she was eating all her portion straight away.
Re: Not Eating as Before My first Lab, Tammy, was like that. She would leave some of her meal for later on. We could put down a bowl of treats and she'd eat them throughout the day. There was nothing medically wrong with her, she just didn't hoover her food like a normal Lab.
Re: Not Eating as Before Riley is a bit like that......and certainly was when he was younger. I tried taking his food up and it didn't make much difference. I only gave him small treats for training. Now I don't worry too much, I leave his food down generally but if we have to go out and he hasn't eaten - tough! He doesn't go hungry It took me a while to get my head round the fact not all labs are walking eating machines! As long as there's nothing medically wrong and his weight doesn't suffer try not to worry about it too much
Re: Not Eating as Before Hi Thanks for the replies, I'm sure he's going through the 'I want what you are eating' phase, but I'll keep my eye on him just in case. Cheers
