Dog Community

Not eating in the morning. Help!

Posted : 6/13/2006 10:22:57 AM

My guy has never been the greatest “morning” eater but as of late its getting worse. I am recently in the middle of switching from Innova adult kibble to Canidae all life stages kibble as he was having soft stools while on Innova and I guess his system was able to handle such rich food. Anyways as of late he won#%92t eat in the morning. Many of times I used to microwave the food for 10 secs and that would entice him…not anymore. I would put a nice treat mixed in with his food as well to get him to eat. When he starts eating, he will eat the whole bowl. But I only have about 30-45mins with him out in the morning as I#%92m getting ready for work and have to put him in his crate until I come back from work. Everything else seems normal, playing, interaction, bowel movements. To me it just seems that he#%92s still “grawgy” in the morning and just doesn#%92t have an appetite to eat at 730am. The last 3 mornings I#%92ve put his food down, no microwave, no treat and nothing, so I picked up the food and he#%92s gone without eating in the morning for these past 3 days. He#%92s a 10 mth old cockapoo. Is this just a stage he#%92s going through or should I be more concerned? Thanks

shamrockmommy

Posted : 6/13/2006 12:56:35 PM

Maybe he doesn't like the new food?

I would also stop adding extras and such to stop enticing him- it might be making him a picky eater and he'll hold out to see what yummies you'll mix in next.

And some dogs do just fine with eating once a day.
Good luck.

Paulo

Posted : 6/13/2006 1:00:41 PM

From what i've read on this board and other places, it's said that feeding once a day is not good for the dog and there's tendency for bloating and such. My guy gets between 1.5 to 2 cups a day (split into morning and afternoon meals). Would feeding him 2 cups just the one time in the afternoon be okay?

shamrockmommy

Posted : 6/13/2006 4:57:08 PM

You could put 2 cups in his bowl for him and just leave it down for him all day.

2 cups seems like an awful lot of food for a cockapoo. How much does he weigh?
My 23 lb bichon (big girl, lean, just big) only gets 1 cup per day total.

papillon806

Posted : 6/13/2006 6:03:16 PM

My dog will not eat dry in the morning no matter what; some dogs are just like that. Instead, I give him a little canned in the morning which seems to work great....have you tried that?

Edie

Posted : 6/13/2006 8:20:13 PM

My dogs wont even look at their food bowls till after lunch time[8|] I dont think they'de eat at 7;30 am no matter if it was their fave thing in the world in their bowl.

You say you have to put him in his crate,why is this? I would have suggested leaving his bowl out so he can eat when HE feels hungry,not when you want him to be [sm=happy.gif]

You could try giving him a cup when you get home from work,and then the other cup before bed.

tiffy

Posted : 6/13/2006 8:43:55 PM

I feed all three of mine in the morning and sometimes, but not always some canned mackeral in the evening and their fine. No bloat or anythinng like that.

tiffy

Posted : 6/13/2006 8:45:57 PM

Also, what is your guys target weight when hes full grown? My corgi is exactly 20 lbs. and she only gets 1 cup a day, she is a perfect weight.

willowchow

Posted : 6/13/2006 8:51:17 PM

Wow, I guess a lot of dogs don't like to eat early. Willow also usually won't eat until at least 10 or 11am. And, even then sometimes she doesn't want anything.

There was a period of time when if she wouldn't eat, I'd just leave her with a snack or something just to put in her stomach and not worry about the meal until later. What can you do really, if he won't eat, he won't eat.

I also agree don't add too much in or it will never be good enough. We got to a point and had to stop. It was to the point where we'd put steak in her bowl and she'd sniff and walk away looking at the fridge. So, cut down on that before you make it even worse for yourself. It's really, really aggravating when they start the fussy stuff.

Paulo

Posted : 6/14/2006 7:47:43 AM

Thanks for all the replies. Here's some answers to some of the questions asked to me.
He's currently between 35 to 40lbs and his target weight will be around 40lbs. The feeding guideline for Canidae is about 1.5 cups per day for his weight.
I haven't tried canned food and really want to stay away from that. Just kibble food for him and his usual treats.
I have to put him in his crate when I go to work cause he's still a pup and can't be trusted to have the rule of the house all day by himself. I also don't want to get in the habit of leaving his food out all day and for him to free feed. I want to keep him on some sort of feeding schedule.
Maybe I should just start feeding once a day when I come home from work and give him a treat in the Kong before I go to work. That might help.

Pam

Posted : 6/14/2006 8:05:54 AM

My boy refused to eat his food too, plus he had runny stools. I started to doctor his Innova up with homecooked white rice, special broth that I slaved away making on Sundays, cooked meat, even some Heinz gravy. He got pickier, picking out the meat and I would stand there and push the Innova kibble to the center and beg him to eat. I don't think he liked getting his nose dirty in the big bowl. He always left some food. Long story short, I got tired of making rice every 3 days so I bought him the Nature Variety frozen meat patties (thawed) and he gobbles it ALL down in 2 seconds flat now and comes back to me beggin for more. It is well worth it to me to pay the $3 per pound for this wonderful food that is completly balanced.

mudpuppy

Posted : 6/14/2006 8:23:22 AM

small dogs very rarely bloat. But you need to stop worrying and fussing. Picky eaters are created by owners who care too much. You decide what you want to feed, and when you want to feed your dog, you offer the food, if he doesn't eat it within 15 minutes take it away. And DO NOT increase the amount of food at next feeding, or add enticing extras (unless you would have anyway). Dogs will not starve themselves to death. It's very possible you are feeding too much. Dog food packages usually suggest feeding a lot more food than most dogs really need.

Paulo

Posted : 6/14/2006 8:47:35 AM

Well for the past 4 days I'll take up his morning food (which is only 3/4 cup of kibble) and I'll put it down around 5pm. I do not add extra food to it, it's still the same 3/4 cup. Now 3/4 cup a day of Canidae All Life Stages kibble for a 35-40lbs dog seem quite low to me. Maybe I should just feed him 1.5 cups once a day at 5pm. I'm getting sick and tired of waiting in the morning and telling him to go eat and he just lays there or walks around chewing his toys.

Elizabeth

Posted : 6/14/2006 9:52:47 AM

My 6 month old puppy won't eat in the morning either. She's just totally not interested. For a few mornings, I tried mixing a little canned food in with her dry kibble, but she would just pick up a kibble, suck the wet food off, and drop the damp kibble on the kitchen floor. [

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Now, I put food down at 7:30 - if she's having a hungry morning, she can eat what she wants until 8:15, when I pick it up. She gets treats, peanut butter, etc in her Kong when she goes in her crate at 8:30, and I put the same food down that evening for her dinner. I'd prefer it if she would eat in the morning, but she's obviously not starving and I don't want to make her spoiled by trying excessive measures to get her to eat. The breeder had 3 dogs that were spoon/hand fed all the time because they got spoiled.

Paulo

Posted : 6/14/2006 9:57:11 AM

Vetrik - when your puppy wouldn't eat in the morning would you add additional food for when you feed her inthe afternoon? And if she did eat in the morning would you put the same amount out for the afternoon?