Not certain that this belongs in the "Puppy" forum but it's the only food section I could find.
I have a 13-month old GSD named Jake. He currently weighs 84 pounds but is quite skinny back in his waist. Skinny enough that people comment on it when I take him to the park. Obviously he's tall and long since he weighs that much and is still quite skinny.
I feed him California Natural puppy food which is the only food I could find when he was younger that wouldn't upset his stomach. I haven't yet switched him to adult food because he's so skinny, I'm not sure whether or not that is the best thing to do. He currently gets 5 cups a day of the Chicken and Rice formula (2.5 in the morning and 2.5 in the evening).
Until about a month ago he was excited to be fed and stood and ate all of his food in one sitting. Then he started just looking at it and smelling it, maybe eating a few bites and then leaving it alone. Our first worry was that he was sick but then we put a little organic chicken broth on top and he CHOWED on his food like it was the best thing ever...for about a week. Then he started turning his nose up at that too. Meanwhile his behavior and energy are perfectly normal. He gets either 2 2-mile walks/day or 1 4-mile jog and he's been doing just fine. We've had to experiment with lots of things to get him interested in his dry food. Sometimes he'll love something one day and then not the next. We use some combination of the following things until he's interested: carrots, boiled eggs, wet food (sometimes mixed in warm water to make a gravy), canned chicken, canned salmon, canned tuna, and pumpkin. Even when we add some of that stuff he'll eat a little and then walk away and we have to bring him back and sometime feed him with a spoon to get him interested in it. Sometimes the cat will try to eat his food and Jake will run him off and then eat it.
At this point I've probably created a permanently picky eater since he's had all that good stuff, and that's okay with me except I don't want to have to "beg" him to eat his food. Even if I have to put extras on there to get him interested, I wouldn't mind if he would then just eat it.
I've also tried leaving his food out all day but he didn't eat it all day until I really made him by adding some extras and getting him interested in it.
One thing I'm considering is that I'm feeding him too much. I was feeding him so much because he was eating it and still skinny. But now that he's not interested I wonder if he's just not that hungry because he's eating so much?
What do you guys think?
PS_Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:
I have a 13-month old GSD named Jake. He currently weighs 84 pounds but is quite skinny back in his waist. Skinny enough that people comment on it when I take him to the park. Obviously he's tall and long since he weighs that much and is still quite skinny.
I feed him California Natural puppy food which is the only food I could find when he was younger that wouldn't upset his stomach. I haven't yet switched him to adult food because he's so skinny, I'm not sure whether or not that is the best thing to do. He currently gets 5 cups a day of the Chicken and Rice formula (2.5 in the morning and 2.5 in the evening).
Until about a month ago he was excited to be fed and stood and ate all of his food in one sitting. Then he started just looking at it and smelling it, maybe eating a few bites and then leaving it alone. Our first worry was that he was sick but then we put a little organic chicken broth on top and he CHOWED on his food like it was the best thing ever...for about a week. Then he started turning his nose up at that too. Meanwhile his behavior and energy are perfectly normal. He gets either 2 2-mile walks/day or 1 4-mile jog and he's been doing just fine. We've had to experiment with lots of things to get him interested in his dry food. Sometimes he'll love something one day and then not the next. We use some combination of the following things until he's interested: carrots, boiled eggs, wet food (sometimes mixed in warm water to make a gravy), canned chicken, canned salmon, canned tuna, and pumpkin. Even when we add some of that stuff he'll eat a little and then walk away and we have to bring him back and sometime feed him with a spoon to get him interested in it. Sometimes the cat will try to eat his food and Jake will run him off and then eat it.
At this point I've probably created a permanently picky eater since he's had all that good stuff, and that's okay with me except I don't want to have to "beg" him to eat his food. Even if I have to put extras on there to get him interested, I wouldn't mind if he would then just eat it.
I've also tried leaving his food out all day but he didn't eat it all day until I really made him by adding some extras and getting him interested in it.
One thing I'm considering is that I'm feeding him too much. I was feeding him so much because he was eating it and still skinny. But now that he's not interested I wonder if he's just not that hungry because he's eating so much?
What do you guys think?
PS_Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure: