# Recent Change in Eating Habits/Can't get him to eat on his own



## Blitz1203 (Feb 9, 2010)

Blitz has recently been getting harder and harder to feed. We went down to two times a day (8 and 530ish) and he'd eat it all quickly and we had no problems. Lately, it seems like I have to stand over him and make him eat. If I'm not around, he'll eat late and then not want to eat at his next designated time. It seems like the only time he wants to eat is late at night and well no one wants to take him out at 2 am heh. He is nearing 8 months so I'm considering beginning the switch to adult food, but as he has a sensitive stomach I'm a bit wary of this. The other folks in my household think he is to the point where he can just eat once a day/freefeed, but I've heard bad things about doing that here (bloating and so on) so I'm also wary of that plus it seems like way too much food to eat at once. 

SO then anyone have any advice they can offer?


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

How much is he eating? Around 8 months or so they've stopped their major growth spurts and no longer need as much food as they were eating when they were puppies. At the height of growing my puppies usually ate around 4 cups...all my adult dogs eat much closer to 2 cups- that's half the food even though they are almost double the size. If he's not eating and is otherwise acting fine...he's probably just not that hungry. I would always keep him on 2 meals a day since that's better for big dogs...and what he doesn't eat in 10 minutes...pick up his bowl and take it away. And then offer him a regular meal (not larger) at the next feeding time. Eventually you'll get a feel for how much he really needs to be eating and then you can split it between the 2 meals.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

when it's hot my dog slows up on
eating.

maybe your dog doesn't like what your feeding.
my dog stopped eating his food twice. i switched 
brands and he ate.

now i feed him a variety of kibble and can food.
i always mix something in his food. chicken, beef,
fish, chicken broth (fresh), organic yogurt,
different oils.


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## Blitz1203 (Feb 9, 2010)

He was eating about 5 cups a day as was recommended by his food - Wellness Complete Health® Super5Mix® Large Breed - Puppy Health

I hadn't considered trying to feed him less.. I was kind of thinking if anything he'd be wanting more soon, but if he shows no interest at all it seems like it may be because of something different. 

As for changing his food.. at this point I'd think going to an Adult food would be the best bet since he is so close to where you generally begin making the switch, but like I said he has a sensitive stomach so that is going to be a pain. It seems like if I give him anything aside from his current food he gets loose stools. So the less switches the better..


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Yeah...Tag eats Wellness LBP. He's 6 months old and probably 55-60lbs. He only eats 3 cups a day right now. Unless Blitz has a very high metabolism he probably doesn't need that much. 

If you decide to switch him I would just go to the Wellness Large Breed Adult.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Funny you should write this tonight, I was just talking to my husband about the same thing. Now that Stosh is 7 mos old, he's not eager to eat unless I stand there and tell him how good he is for cleaning his bowl. He does the same as Blitz- I hear him eating late after we've gone to bed. I do think the heat has a lot to do with it. He seems to eat late when he's relaxed and is eating because he wants to not because I'm cheering him on. Right now he's done to about 3 1/2 cups of dry and a 1/2 lb raw chicken patty a day. He's only eaten Nature's Variety, never a puppy food. He's 72 lbs and looks pretty good for his big frame.


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## Blitz1203 (Feb 9, 2010)

Hrm, glad to know I'm not alone. I'll try not to force him to eat as much and if he doesn't want to eat as much I certainly won't mind. Blitz is pretty fit. He doesn't have any excess fat, but is pretty muscular looking. He started on Orijen LBP, but it was too rich for him. He liked Wellness which worked out as a few stores here carry it (is kind of expensive though) and his stomach doesn't mind it. When it comes to switching to adult food.. I'm debating looking at other options since there are a lot more adult dog foods than puppy foods. I want a good food for him that he and his stomach likes, but it'd be nice if it wasn't $60 a bag heh. At 5 cups a day it goes pretty fast.


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## Miss Molly May (Feb 19, 2010)

We had Molly on wellness lbp from 8weeks to about 8mths then she did the same and was getting very picky. We recently change her to orijen lbp and she likes it but only eats 2 cups at most a day.


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