Rosie is 6 months old and not eating her kibble. She was spayed about a month ago and all other aspects if her life are fine. She plays, brats, loves treats, naps and is learning new skills everyday. Her potty trips are rather regular and her poop (cuz we judge poop) is normal. I try to keep her reward treats small to not interfere with meals. I have even added yummy stuff(bacon grease, gravy, moist dog food - never more than a tablespoon) to her kibble to keep her interested and it's working less and less. She loves her kong, treat balls and chewy treats so I'm not thinking it's her teeth either. Her kibble is Health4u for large breed puppies. Should I be worried or is she just being a picky eater.
I have had exactly this problem with Maisy now for 2 months, she is 9 months and when she was 7 months she started getting really picky. There is help on the labrador site for this and it worked to a point. The trick is to leave the food out for a while, take it away if not eaten and then put it down a few hours later, repeat until they eat. In reality for me it is quite hard to do this as I am not always at home with Maisy. I have added dog gravy (less salty), chicken meat, sardines (used to be just a piece, now a whole tin), raw egg (was 1, now 2), but now even when I add nice things to the kibble she turns her nose up at it. The trouble is that they want nice treats instead of boring kibble and are trying to hold out for the better stuff. It is making me anxious that she is not getting the correct nutrition for her growth but I hope that she will grow out of this phase. I also tried changing the kibble but no difference there, I have tried adding it to a kong, used to work but not now. As you say, adding nice things is getting less effective. One thing that works is sitting on the floor with her and hand feeding her while cooing how wonderful it is - ridiculous I know but as long as she eats something. Like Rosie, Maisy is normal in every other way - playful, bouncy, sleeps normally, alert, not losing weight, poo is a very normal 2 on the poop scale twice a day - don't know how she goes twice a day as yesterday she ate only about a third of her quota. Maybe some pups just don't need as much. Does anyone know if it is healthy for pups to eat less than they should?
Check the kibble hasn’t gone off. Get a small bag of the same and see if she’s the same. This has happened a few times to people I know.
Change her diet to raw meat and raw meaty bones? My dog eats a raw diet, which is very varied, always interesting and yummy to him. He loves chewing on a meaty bone and gets very excited for dirty tripe. He also loves raw and cooked veg, and gets raw carrots and cucumber etc every day. I know many people feed kibble, but personally I think it must be very boring to eat it day in and day out, not to mention how highly processed it is.
I found that my pups naturally gave up their midday meal, so not sure if you are still feeding 3 times a day? Going off food often means a dog isn't well, however, you say looks bright enough. Maybe you are feeding her too much food? My German Pointers ate more than twice the amount my Lab eats, he only has one and a half mugs of kibble a day! I do put a little tinned meat on top, but only a tablespoon. Vet thinks he is slightly overweight!!!!
Thanks for the tidbits. @Boogie I'm aware of this and thought it might be the case as she finished her last batch but even with the brand new bag she as no interest in 'dinner' @Shaz82 I seem to be doing the same things. Changing it up regularly. Last night I hand fed her from a ziplock bag, very much like treats and there were a few kibbles still in the bag this morning. She brought me the bag like 'mom lets play that game again' She has eaten 1/3 of her daily allowance playing the 'leave it' game. @MF I treat her with raw foods as well as Nips(I like that I can break them into small bits easily) - she'll get a carrot or such when she is resting calmly. @Stacia I'm hoping that's what she's up to, like I said over all she acts healthy and is very full of herself.
