[Adjunct Satyr]

My 16 month old female is 32kg. She is more or less her adult weight now and has never been really food orientated.

Over the past month, she has become really picky. We feed her a mixed wet and dry diet and she likes her food. If we can get her to eat it, she wolf's it down but she NEVER gets excited about mealtimes.

At the moment, she will eat some dry occasionally but her wet food, she will only eat it if my wife coaxes her by spooning it!

We have tried leaving her but she will literally not eat. Some days, she will barely eat 600cals at the minute. We're in a sticky position - does my wife continue to spoon-feed her (I know it's a no) or do we do something else? She isn't losing weight yet but if we leave her, she will. We have changed her food and she prefers to food she is on now. She had a similar thing a few months ago (in terms of leaving food most meals). Thoughts?

 

[Sunflowers]

Let her eat what she needs.
Please, no spoon feeding a dog.
If she is at a decent weight, then she is eating all she should eat.

Also, if you ask me, I wouldn’t feed dry at all. Wet is so much better for them.
Add some real meat, and watch her gobble everything.

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

I'm going to put my foot down with my wife lol! It's coming from a good place but I feel it's creating a rod for our own back.

Would you advise weighing her more regularly? If she starts to lose, what would you recommend? Vets?

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

Bump for anymore ideas?

 

[3ymum]

No expert here, just spitballing what could it be. How many times did you change her food? And when did you change it? I mean , did you change it after couple of days that she left her food? How is her stool?

Definitely not spoon feeding her tho.

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

Only changed a few times in her life. Obviously I'm in the UK and she used to be on Ava (Pets at Home) as a baby. Moved her onto Harrington's dry and wet and now she is on Butchers joint and coat wet and Lily's Kitchen dry.

No spoon feeding today and actually we have stopped fussing. She has eaten about 700g of wet and about 100g of dry. The most she has had in ages! I wonder if we've just been worrying and our anxiety is flowing into her...

That said, it's one day haha!

 

[Sunflowers]

700 wet plus 100 dry actually sounds like a lot.
According to my calculations and the calorie counts of the foods you give her, that is about 1013 calories.
Your female is 32 Kg.
A female GSD should weigh between 22 to 32 Kg.
I think perhaps you are expecting her to eat too much.

 

[3ymum]

Our weather has been quite warm lately, it also could affect her appetite. If she leaves her food, and then you change it soon after, she learns she can get something 'better' by not eating. Not saying this is your case, just possibility. If her stool is quite soft, she may be have some intolerance of the food, so she only eats the bare minimum.

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

700 wet plus 100 dry actually sounds like a lot.
According to my calculations and the calorie counts of the foods you give her, that is about 1013 calories.
Your female is 32 Kg.
A female GSD should weigh between 22 to 32 Kg.
I think perhaps you are expecting her to eat too much.

View attachment 590514

That actually makes a lot of sense. I've tried to use the sides of packets rather than a more exact...

Thank you for this.

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

Our weather has been quite warm lately, it also could affect her appetite. If she leaves her food, and then you change it soon after, she learns she can get something 'better' by not eating. Not saying this is your case, just possibility. If her stool is quite soft, she may be have some intolerance of the food, so she only eats the bare minimum.

That's why we've avoided giving her different food (ie mince, egg etc) which she loves because we don't want her to shun her food for these! We don't mind substituting some things when she is eating well but you are absolutely right.

 

[Sunflowers]

IMO, adding good, nutritious toppings varies nutrition and prolongs their lives.
All good breeders with whom I have spoken have advised that it’s a good idea to add meat, egg, fish, etc to dog food. None of them feed only dog food.

5 Steps to Enhancing Your Dog's Store-Bought Dog Food - Whole Dog Journal

Adding fresh foods like eggs and carrots to a kibble or canned dog food diet can greatly improve your dog's health!

www.whole-dog-journal.com

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

We give her a really balanced diet usually with meats, fruits and vegetables added but when she has gone like this, she would turn her nose at her food and simply eat the toppings!

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

After what's posted above, and doing some more reading, we're definitely expecting her to eat too much!

Thanks all

 

[Sunflowers]

We give her a really balanced diet usually with meats, fruits and vegetables added but when she has gone like this, she would turn her nose at her food and simply eat the toppings!

How about mixing them into the wet food?

 

[Adjunct Satyr]

How about mixing them into the wet food?

Some things work better than others. If it's neat, she will eat that and leave the wet food so we tend to give that on its own. Egg, cheese and fish mix and she eats it all.

Veg she tends to eat as snacks.

Second day of eating better now we've stopped stressing!