not really eating well

[tracyaesaert]

Hi peeps,

been a while since I have been here... been busy in live, work and dogloving

Got a question, since a few days our GSD is not eating really well. She does not want to eat her food. We have tried giving her different foods, but the only thing she will eat is food that comes from our table (we finish first and she gets the leftovers, although I have more than once said to my BF that that is not really good!). She will eat her biscuits, but only when we are around and are giving it to her.

She is now getting really attached to my BF, she will NOT play with me, she will not wag her tail for me, she will not eat or play with her Kong if HE (her master) is not around. This is really annoying, cause he is away from home quite a long time in a day and in the week he hardly has time for anything else but sleep and work (he gets up a 2am and usually gets home around 8pm).

Can somebody give me some advice ?? Or is she just being stubborn?

Greets,

Tracy

[tracyaesaert]

Guess nobody can help us... oh well, I'll give it a try tonight with some chicken and rice and hope that will help... otherwise it will be the vet tomorrow :-(

[MaggieRoseLee]

Sorry no one jumped in with suggestions....

How old is your dog?

If she won't eat, you do need to get to the vets..

If she's eat fine, but only table scraps, it may just be she's a picky eater. I've had one of those and she never changed and would lose weight if I only gave dog food. So I learned to find a balance between the nutrition she needed and the food she'd eat. Great info on (click this ---> Pup doesn't want to eat (picky eater?) )

If she is healthy and back to eating, you may just have to work on being more 'fun' with your pup! Way more playing, fun training (click this --> Intro to Clicker Training (perfect for puppies!) ) and (click this ---> Engagement - Key to Training )

Toys, tugging, fun training and great exercise outside the home should all help.

[mysweetkaos]

Could be 3 things....
You mention she is super attached to your BF, is he there when she won't eat? My Kaos will only eat if I'm home, when I've had to leave before he's been known to go almost 3 days before giving in and eating (no fun for anyone)
The other thing is depending on her age....Kaos has become super picky, he will only eat if I mix a spoonful of wet food and some warm water in his food, otherwise he doesn't even touch it.
Third...I would check with the vet if this is a new or worsening issue. Just to rule out any problems.
Best of luck. Keep us updated!

[msvette2u]

Walk her often. It sounds like she's just depressed because he's gone, and that's not good, you need to get her to bond with you, too.

[Good_Karma]

I hope the vet visit went okay!

I found that my bond with Niko was strengthened immensely when we had special activities that only he and I did together. For us it was jogging, and that lasted a few months until my husband started running with him, lol! Later we began taking a really fun class with a trainer who let us play on all the agility equipment and we tried out nose work and soccer too. He really loved these classes and he was always super excited to come with me on the days we had class.

When you get her tummy figured out, do you think she might let you hand feed her? Super yummy stuff like beef cubes or mini meatballs or chicken.

Good luck!

[Rott-n-GSDs]

It sounds like you might be free feeding (leaving her bowl out at all times) which can actually lead to eating problems. Since the dog's food is always available, she realizes that it isn't urgent for her to eat it.

If you put her on a schedule, that might help. Since she likes to eat when you're present, feeding her on a schedule might work really well.