Our 7 month old has some eating issues

[FirstTimeGSD]

I'll give you the long and short of it:

The short: Basically, Jackson has shown very little interest in eating the food we put in front of him the past week or so (I noticed it x mas day).

The long: Ok, so when we go to work, we leave Jackson with my GF mom. She feeds her dogs purina pro plan with some boiled chicken and shredded cheese and Jackson eats Natural Balance (various flavors) so we keep a bag of NB at her house as well so he can be fed if necessary. Probably within the past month she has started adding a little boiled chicken and shredded cheese to Jackson's kibble which he absolutely devours. I have no problem with this, but have noticed when we feed him just his kibble or kibble with egg or a spoonful of canned NB...he pretty much won't go near it. I tried taking him off the chicken and cheese altogether but he still wouldn't eat. He has no symptoms of being sick, and will still happily chomp down on one of his treats. When I gave in and started putting "the good stuff" back in his kibble, he'd go through and eat it right up (but only until the chicken/cheese was gone, then he'd stop and leave the rest of the kibble). I think since X mas day he's only eaten a bowl of just plain kibble once or twice. He's been on NB his whole life, and I just find it bizarre that he would suddenly lose interest in the food he's always been fed. Has anyone gone through this? Should we start the exhausting process of trial and error with other brands of kibble?

A couple things to add: Jackson has never been a big eater. He rarely eats breakfast first thing in the morning, preferring to just kind of graze for a few hours. His evening meal usually goes much faster (until the past week or so). Also, I mentioned we buy various flavors of NB...he was eating the duck and potato formula (probably two large bags worth) before we decided to try the alpha lines. He did seem slightly less interested in the alpha flavors but still ate it, so the most recent bag we went back to the LID (rabbit and potato) and obviously he still isn't really eating it.

I'm really sorry this was so long, I really tried to avoid all the words....thanks in advance!

[Capone22]

Personally I would put the food down and after 20 mins I would pick it up, regardless of how much is left. After a night or two of this he's going to eat. He's not going to starve himself to death.


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[Capone22]

Oh and no treats until he starts eating his regular meals again.


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[Jax08]

Did the time he stopped eating correlate with the time you took the toppings away? If so, I would follow Capone22's advice, and think your mom for creating a picky eater.

If not, then keep an eye on him for any further symptoms of illness.

[FirstTimeGSD]

No, I hadn't taken the toppings away yet. I spent most of xmas day and the day after with family over at my parents, and he flat out refused to eat the kibble I gave him those times..I didn't decide to take away the chicken and cheese until after that.

[skew12]

Originally Posted by Capone22

Personally I would put the food down and after 20 mins I would pick it up, regardless of how much is left. After a night or two of this he's going to eat. He's not going to starve himself to death.


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Originally Posted by Capone22

Oh and no treats until he starts eating his regular meals again.


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This worked very well for me.

[billsharp]

Liesl does this. They prefer the chicken and cheese, and will eat just enough to stop the hunger, and leave the kibble, holding out for more chicken and cheese.

1. Stop all food and treats except the kibble. Put it out for 20 minutes, pick it up. No matter how many days this takes, keep at it. It is IMPOSSIBLE for your dog to starve itself if you are putting out edible kibble. This is just a contest of wills.

2. Once your dog starts eating the kibble again, be sure that you don't treat or give those special little table scraps until AFTER he has eaten his kibble, and then only sparingly.

[FirstTimeGSD]

Feedback seems pretty consistent...thanks guys! I will continue to fight the good fight

I went ahead and got a new bag of the old staple (duck and potato) today so hopefully that helps as well. As always, appreciate the help.

[BowWowMeow]

I have a different philosophy. Adding things to your dog's food is not a bad thing. It can actually be very good for them. I wouldn't use cheese but high quality canned food, fresh meat or poultry, eggs, non-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, canned pumpkin or cooked sweet potato--these are all things are good for your dog and add variety to her/his diet which is not a bad thing.

I do not currently feed kibble but when I did I also rotated proteins so that my dog would not be eating the same thing all of the time.

And just a side note: I have known quite a few dogs (almost all german shepherds) who would stop eating for days and whose ribs were sticking out. In many of these cases the dog ended up having some sort of digestive issue and their food really wasn't agreeing with them. One of these dogs was my first dog, Massie.

[FirstTimeGSD]

Originally Posted by BowWowMeow

I have a different philosophy. Adding things to your dog's food is not a bad thing. It can actually be very good for them. I wouldn't use cheese but high quality canned food, fresh meat or poultry, eggs, non-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, canned pumpkin or cooked sweet potato--these are all things are good for your dog and add variety to her/his diet which is not a bad thing.

I do not currently feed kibble but when I did I also rotated proteins so that my dog would not be eating the same thing all of the time.

And just a side note: I have known quite a few dogs (almost all german shepherds) who would stop eating for days and whose ribs were sticking out. In many of these cases the dog ended up having some sort of digestive issue and their food really wasn't agreeing with them. One of these dogs was my first dog, Massie.

Well if he stops willingly eating "the good stuff" chicken/cheese toppings, treats, cut up hot dogs etc...then I'll start worrying about him having a digestive issue. And just to clarify, I didn't/don't have a problem with adding to his food. Once he starts eating his kibble again (and I procure a new food processor) I will start reintroducing quality additions to his meals such as beef hearts, ground beef, chicken...etc. Right now I am just focused on getting him to eat his kibble.