# Loss of appetite?



## Drewberry (May 13, 2008)

I already posted this on Feeding Our Puppy... but it seems more people mingle in this board.

Jager is 5 months old. He's been on Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food since the breeder's. In the last couple of weeks, he's been slow to eat his food... sometimes leaving quite a bit behind. When we first brought him home (9 weeks) he of course gobbled it too quickly. Eventually, he learned that he no longer had competition and slowed down, still eating everything in one sitting though.

Now sometimes he doesn't even take one bite and turns his nose up to it. But will later go back to his food and eat some here and there. Most times he will finally eat all of it after several trips. He gets fed twice a day, morning and evening. It concerns me especially when he won't even touch his food at first offer in the mornings, that's when he used to eat with the most enthusiasm. He gets 2 cups each feeding so 4 cups total... maybe that's too much? I'm going by the food bag's suggestion and even decreasing it.

Any thoughts?


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## Sherush (Jan 12, 2008)

This is the original post made (for reference)

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubb...true#Post904574

We fed Jesse 3 meals a day until he was 6 months old because pups tummies are not that big and can't handle big portions in one sitting.

Also it might be, a number of GSDs here on the board, have picky eaters and seems to want different food and flavours every few months. Jesse is one of those GSD, eats a bag or two up like it was the best food in the world then turns his nose up at it for days until we get him sometime new and then mix it in, and then he will pick out the new food and eat it and leaves the old food... 

I also agree with all the answers you got in the first post, also Jesse was put on adult food at 4 months.


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## j.t. (Dec 19, 2008)

The food you have chosen is absolute junk and you are slowly killing your dog. go buy "foods pets die for". a short book but very good.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: bear123The food you have chosen is absolute junk and you are slowly killing your dog. go buy "foods pets die for". a short book but very good.


Hello there, new member.

Welcome to the board. If you have not yet had a chance to read through our board rules, please do so.

While all opinions are welcome here, we do expect members to treat one another with respect and all opinions to be expressed in a thoughtful manner. 

If you do not care for the type of food someone uses, or the type of training they do, or anything else, you're welcome to say so and to state alternatives or give advice. However phrasing such as "you are killing your dog" is wholly disrespectful and insulting, and thus unacceptable on this board.


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## Drewberry (May 13, 2008)

I certainly appreciate you stepping in here Chris Wild. Bear123 - insensitive isn't a strong enough word to describe your reply. New to the boards or not, learn how to communicate maturely.

I didn't even think about him not being able to handle large portions. 

I'm curious though how it being "puppy" food and switching to adult food makes a difference. This could be pure ignorance on my part, but I was under the impression that the difference between the foods were supplements and more calories for growth in the puppy food. Please correct me if I'm wrong and there is some reason puppy food could be making him turn down his food.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

There are a lot of things that can make puppies not want to eat their food-from illnesses, to parasites, to infections, or simpler things even. 

I think 4 cups kind of sounds like a lot-depending on what kind of cup you are using. I fed adult food to foster puppies. 

Take a look at all the different food threads-you can see that we don't know, for real, what is the best thing to feed. But there are some good choices. 

You can try getting some dog food samples to see if there is anything that catches his taste buds. I did a whole taste test thing (like coke v pepsi but with more brands) of dog foods I had researched and would allow my dogs to eat. They had a blast. Which do you like...number one...or number two. Just like at the eye doctor! I also rotate every three months-new food-either by brand or by protein source. 

But keep in the back of your head, that sometimes it's not the food, it's the gut. Especially with GSDs. 

Good luck!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

My one GSD doesn't really care about food and will not eat for DAYS. I'm not even kidding. She'll skip for days cause her food (any kind) is (I think) just too boring and not worth eating.

Since she WILL still eat any scrap of people food I offer, cheese, meat, pizza............ it tells me she's not sick, just not interested.

So that's the way she is. Since I can't bear watching her not eat (and BTW, a HUGE bowl of food seems to really turn her off) I feed her twice a day. She only eats 1 cup for the am and 1 cup for the pm (that's with her being 65 pounds, and my 75 pound dog only eats 1.5 c in the am and 1.5 c in the pm). When she's in these 'I'm bored with my food' moods I do admit I cave to make myself feel better.

But I do it in a healthy way for her. Adding a very small amount of yummy 'treats' WITH water so it gravy's up and covers the normal amount of kibble works wonders for Elsa. So shaking parmesan cheese over it? Or cutting up 1/4 c of leftover almost ANY of my food (lasagne? pizza? any meat? etc.) adding the water and then the kibble. Yogert? 

Another easy thing I started doing was to purchase cheap, on sale canned cat food. The small cans (like tuna fish can size, the 6 oz ) work best cause you can also buy the plastic reuseable lids for them. They come in TONS of different flavors (variety helped my Elsa). And because cats really are so picky the stinky flavorful stuff that gets them going also worked for my dog.

BTW, don't worry about the Eukanuba killing your dog







I had one dog on it for years and she 'only' then lived to be 15 years old. For some reason many people have a 'religion of nutrition' on this site and if you don't agree, it's clearly death for your dog







And while there are some foods that may be better and some worse, what we know (and learn) and our budgets have to also be taken into consideration.

GOOD LUCK! You aren't alone either. This 'my puppy won't eat' comes up all the time on the site. And as long as the vet clears you for any medical issues, you'll just have to figure out what works best for you.


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