# 8 month old not eating as much, losing weight



## jbgsd (Aug 24, 2012)

Hey Well my Axel is a 8 month old male and he is not eating as much as he usually did. His diet consist of 2 cups of eagle pack large breed puppy dry food and 1/4 of a can of eagle pack large breed wet food. He seems to not want to eat his dry food as much anymore. Hes always been fed like this though and always ate it all up until the last month id say. Im pretty sure the last time i weighed him he was 5 or 6 pounds heavier. But i do the standing on a scale while i hold him kind of weighing haha. Anybody have any suggestions on how i could get him to eat more. he was always a big puppy.also ive been walking him every day for about 2 miles and play with him in my yard. Ball tug of war etc.
any ideas?


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

2 cups total, per day?
That's not much...Eagle Pack has a lot of corn, as well.

Do you have a vet clinic you can weigh him at? It would be more accurate, probably, than doing it the way you describe.

How are his stools?


----------



## jbgsd (Aug 24, 2012)

im sorry i meant to say twice a day.


----------



## GusGus (Oct 24, 2012)

Does he have an issue with opening his mouth at all? Does he whine about it or not want to do it at all? 

It could be his food. Gus stopped eating his food so I had to switch. I was feeding iams.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I'd look at switching to something without corn, wheat, soy, or by-products.
Blue Buffalo foods have gained a lot of recognition, we also like (here in rescue) Kirkland from Costco, or Diamond Naturals, Wellness, etc.


----------



## jbgsd (Aug 24, 2012)

what would you say qould be the top three foods. Price isnt really a problem..yet haha


----------



## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

jbgsd said:


> what would you say qould be the top three foods. Price isnt really a problem..yet haha


Eagle Pak is a great food. I had my dogs on it for years and years and they did fine. The only reason I switched is because the store that carried it was closing and I was in a panic mode Have you thought about switching to the adult food? The food is of such quality that large breed dogs can have the adult formula at as early as 6 months. Mine got the purple bag(Lamb Meal and Rice). Eagle Pack is a 4 star food that is in the same price/quality category of lots of other foods that would be recommended. I don't think that the food is a problem, but I do think that the dog should get a vet check(if you are that concerned). You also have to remember that at 8 months, he is growing tall wise, putting on some weight, then growing upwards again...etc. Once he stops growing upwards, his weight will be easier to maintain.


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

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

My GSD also lost at least 5 pounds before I started following those tips.

Make sure it's not a medical issue though. I found my dog was still loving treats and delicious food, just not mealtimes so my vet confirmed she was medically fine.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I've heard good things about Eagle pack but IMO, any food that uses corn in any form should be avoided. This is because corn is unusable by the body unless ground very finely and even then it doesn't have the nutrients a dog would need.
I like to see a lot of meat in dog foods.
What works for my dogs, though, may not work for yours, and vise-versa. The best thing to do is look at your own dog and if you're satisfied with how he looks, how he smells, if he eats, and how his poops are, then don't change foods. 
If any of the above are off, then do something different.

Pay attention to labels.

Our 1st GSD used to get very soft stools when using Nutro which had a lot of corn in it, too.


----------



## Phoebes (Jul 14, 2012)

What helped me keep my pup eating were mixing the canned food into the kibble. I wouldn't just put it on as a topper, I'd mix it in all the way. It also helped me to keep a schedule and take the food away after 30 minutes.

One thing that worked for my friend to get her picky Aussie eating is that she took away the food, put the Aussie in the kennel and set the food plate right outside and brought over her Weimaraner to eat the food off the Aussie's plate. Now whenever the Aussie seems sluggish with her food she tells her that the Weimie is gonna eat it and it works like a charm. 

And whenever we have any dog that isn't putting on weight I check for parasites, that's been the issue with some of our rescues.


----------

