# 5 month old wont eat breakfast



## sutton c. (Sep 20, 2013)

Hello everyone. I'm kind of curious what everyone has to say before I ask my vet. My 5 month old Ziva has been very finicky when it comes to her food every since we got her at 7 weeks. I've changed her dog food I don't know how many times now. Never all at once of course but we've tried all the 'recommended' brands and she just turns her nose up at them all. If I get a new dog food she'll eat it once with gusto and then she's over it. We're on Instinct now. The pet supply store I buy from (not petsmart or petco) recommended it since she's so picky. I always have to mix her dry with wet and that's usually the only way she'll even look at it. NOW she won't eat her breakfast. I keep the same dry dog food but unless I mix in a different flavor of wet she won't go near it. Is this common? Will she grow out of it at all? Do some people have to feed their gsd's ALL wet and never ay dry? My boyfriend is getting very frustrated and told me just to leave her food there and she'll eat it when she's hungry enough but she's like my baby. I can't just let her NOT eat and I want her to enjoy what she's eating. Any advice?? Thanks in advance!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I have found that MANY of our GSD's are just picky eaters. I refuse to let mealtime either become a battle (that I have to win) or a stress time (she just won't EAT!!!) and there are things I can do that get my pup eating.

Have you seen this yet? ---> http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/feeding-our-puppy/162644-pup-doesnt-want-eat-picky-eater.html


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## sutton c. (Sep 20, 2013)

Thank you again MaggieRoseLee! I'll try this. I have just been trying to stay completely away from human food. I don't want her to expect it or jump my bones every time im trying to eat something. I do however give her veggies as treats and she loves carrots in particular. When we got her from the breeder they were mixing calcium supplements such as a little milk or cottage cheese in the puppy food. they recommended that so the dogs wouldn't lose their calcium intake after being weaned but I read on here too much calcium is not good for gsd's and can be really bad for them so I stopped. She used to eat her food great when I mixed it with the cottage cheese though :/


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

There is NOTHING wrong with alot of human food. 

But getting human food from MY plate while I'm eating at the table is an issue. It's interesting when I feed my dogs in their bowl at their mealtime, it doesn't matter what I mix with their kibble that I just got out of the fridge. 

Our dogs are smart and can easily learn the difference. The cheese I cut up and use as training treats isn't given to my dogs when I'm munching on a grill cheese sandwich!


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Zoey was and Ranger still is a picky eater. Zoey out grew it and enjoys her meals, we feed her NV instinct as well. I dress it up with a couple spoonfuls of canned or whatever, but it isn't necessary anymore. I've read others switching between different products of the same brand, NV turkey > NV lamb> etc... Haven't tried it myself.


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## gmanshepherd (Nov 22, 2013)

it happened to me too when my gsd was around that age. he wouldn't eat dry food at all. I went to the vet and he preffered feeding him wet food(meat cans of chicken etc) with a mix of dry. but later on it can become costy as he grew. so I decided to not give him any treats or human food for 1 week and only give him his dry food. after a couple of days he ate the dry. and ever since then he has been eating the dry food as if it was wet food.
try it and tell me how it goes.

"A german shepherd is very smart to a stage when he is hungry he wont starve him self"


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

I have a picky eater as well. She eats RAW and also has sensitivities to some foods which limits her diet. I worry at times myself, but the reality is that unless there is a health issue causing the lack of appetite, they really won't starve themselves. My girl sometimes won't eat for a whole day or more then eats like she has never seen food in her life. She is healthy at 59 lbs.

Off topic...my girl is 8.5 months and her name is Ziva as well and we live in Newport News.


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## sutton c. (Sep 20, 2013)

MaggieRoseLee I just gave her about half a serving of her normal amount I usually give for breakfast and mixed a raw egg and some green beans in and she ate it all up! Thanks for the advice. I've always given my dogs human food but with this one I was trying to take a different route and feed her strictly dog food but I can see shes not going to let me do that haha! Gmanshepherd I have tried that actually. I've cut out all treats and all wet and she went for about 3 days of just nibbling and I couldn't stand it any longer so I caved :/ Springbrz do you love the show NCIS? That's where I got her name and also out of a book I read right before I got her. It just seemed like a perfect strong name for a gsd female!! I've thought about raw but I have to be able to afford to eat as well lol! She seems to have a little bit of a sensitivity to chicken. She get a reverse sneeze going when she consumes it so im trying to cut it out of her diet all together.


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

Yes...We love NCIS. It is a good strong name for a female GSD. Plus DH has a bit of a celebrity crush on Cote De Pablo. 
Our Ziva is sensitive to chicken and pork (skin rashes, itches). RAW isn't that expensive once you work out the sensitivities and know what you can feed. Some pre-mades are pricey but I like to have Honest Kitchen around for add in and travel. I use Blue Ridge Beef Raw. It is ground so I also give raw meaty bones and recreational bones often to keep the teeth clean and shiny. They have chicken, beef, venison, rabbit, duck, green tripe and a couple of blends,etc. I get it at Central Meats in Chesapeake. It was a bit expensive when she was eating about 2-2.5 lbs. of food a day. But now that she is getting older and not growing nearly as fast, she is down to about 21 oz a day. It runs a little over $2 a day/ $60-80 a month now. I'd be paying that for high end kibble. I'm still learning the ins and outs of raw feeding myself. And, trying to find the least expensive costs.
I'll admit raw is a quite a bit of work compared to the ease of kibble and it's just not practical for some owners. Should you decide to try RAW feeding there is a wealth of info in the health & wellness section.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

how much do you feed her? when do you feed her?
maybe she doesn't need or want breakfast. feed her
in the pm but don't over feed her trying to make up
for her not eating breakfast.


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## sutton c. (Sep 20, 2013)

Springbrz I might have to look into raw. Thanks for the info. She currently has an upper RI and we had to go to the vet on Saturday. doggiedag she eats breakfast if i change it up every day. she gets bored so easliy with food. thats one reason i have her on instinct because its formulated for rotation between flavors. soemtimes she just doesnt want it. shes weighed 45 lbs. for about a month now which is strange to me. i usually feed her 2 cups per meal twice a day. and 45 lbs for 21 weeks seems a little small to me anyway so i really i dont want her to lose any weight if she skips breakfast.


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