# My boy eating inconsistently...



## shadowdsouza (Feb 7, 2012)

Hey there,
My shepherd is 1 year ten months old now. He has has suddenly become a picky eater. We give him 1.5 cups of Acana Ranchlands with a satin ball mixed into it once in the am and once in the pm. He seemed to enjoy it for a while. He then started to skip. Even though he would skip for example in the morning he would poop in evenings. His poop is good. No concerns there. 
Then we thought maybe he needs a break and gave him just plain kibble. He seems to be struggling with that too. Do I have to be concerned? I do not want him to start loosing weight. I am confused as he poops both times and there is no concern with his poop. 
I am lost.....any ideas? Do you think he needs to eat just once a day? 
Thanks in advance


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

satin balls are meant for very short term to get weight on quickly
i believe you are feeding your dog too much and he is probably done with the rapid growth they go through as puppies
dry kibble alone is sufficient and drop the satin balls
feed morning and night still but you dont need all those calories in those satin balls


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## shadowdsouza (Feb 7, 2012)

my boy diesel said:


> satin balls are meant for very short term to get weight on quickly
> i believe you are feeding your dog too much and he is probably done with the rapid growth they go through as puppies
> dry kibble alone is sufficient and drop the satin balls
> feed morning and night still but you dont need all those calories in those satin balls


I have stopped with the satin balls for now. I gave him plain kibble yesterday morning and he did not eat. He then ate last evening. But this morning he did not eat again. I have been giving him plain kibble.


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## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

Try adding some toppings to it.  Like wet food, treats, etc.

Sometimes even fish oil can add enough for a picky dog to eat it. 

My dog gets two meals a day. 1 cup in the am with wet food and 2 cups in the pm with wet food. That is all i can get into her usually. Sometimes i can add another cup in the pm. But the AM she is super anxious because she knows im leaving and needs me to sit right next to her and put the bowl on my bed in her face or she will not eat, and 1 cup is the most i can get in her in the AM! And if she doesn't eat and exercises at all that day, she usually vomits bile. So she has to eat, so i do whatever it takes  Even if the ratio from dry and wet is way off than normal. 

Zelda is a healthy weight i think, especially with have bad hips she is on the lean side, which is what i plan on keeping her. She was eating about 5 cups a day before, but her growth has slowed down, and so maybe she just needs less.

You can also buy a food with a high protein content and fat than the one you are now, so that you can feed less and still get the nutrients he needs. 

Perhaps your kiddo is done with most of the growing and needs less anyways, and his body is letting him know so he is not eating as much.


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## maxdog630 (Feb 22, 2014)

I too am interested to hear what other people suggest.. My dog is roughly the same age and is super picky. I definitely would not switch to once a day feedings for obvious reasons. I now just free feed Acana kibble but know I'll have to stop when the puppy arrives. She could care less what I add to her food so I stopped adding meat. Just basically grazes kibble when she's hungry. Am I creating a more picky eater by not sticking to a schedule? Apart from raw, how do others solve this problem?


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

going through the exact same thing with our Acana. She gets 1.5 cups in the morning and the evening, and lately she'll just let the morning food sit there all day and eat it some random time in the evening, sometimes she'll eat her second meal, etc. I'm thinking about trying a different flavor or maybe just feeding less. I thought after all the reduced eating she'd lose weight, but she actually put on weight last time I took her in, maybe it's just too much food. I dont know


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

adding toppings seems like a good idea to us but in reality it makes for a more picky eater
they know if they wait youll add something tasty to the bowl which has dry boring ol' kibble
if you offer only the food then pick the bowl up 15-20 min after you set it down they will soon learn if they dont eat it they get nothing 
their apptite will soon increase


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## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

Well i did think about that logic. So if you do agree with that logic than what you can do is "wean them off wet food."

Start out 50/50, wet to kibble. I bet your dog will chow it down like no tomorrow! Than slowly do 40/60, and still you will see a chowing down dog. Eventually you can probably bring it down to just kibble. This is what i did with my girl for a while. And eventually she LOVED her duck/potato dry just the way it was. (For a while i had more wet than dry in the bowl!) Than i switched to a turkey food, because the duck wasnt doing anything for her allergies it seemed. And now i have to add wet to her turkey, or she won't touch it. Even a table spoon of wet food.

My thought is.. So what if you have to add toppings for the rest of their life? It is a bit more expensive sure, but if it gets them to eat!  

Also make sure your dog gets enough exercise they obviously are more hungry after exercise i find!


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## HOBY (Aug 12, 2013)

Have you tried to rotate to other brands and flavors? Sounds like the dog might be bored with what he is getting. You can try smaller meals 3 times a day about 6 to 8 hrs apart if time will allow. A large once a day meal can be problematic, bloat, diarrhea. Nothing wrong with adding a high quality canned or freeze dried food. Supplements like Nupro are good taste satisfiers and offer nutrition. I see feeding like training, keep it interesting. You just have to keep it balanced. Exercise is one of the key factors to appetite.


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## Tim&Marth (Jul 11, 2013)

Having the same problems as the OP. Olivia just turned 11 months. Was on a regimented schedule of feeding 7am and 6pm. Up until a week ago, Olivia enthusiastically enjoyed meal time. Tail wagging, sitting patiently in her place while I prepped the bowl.

Fast forward to this week and complete lack of satisfaction, even changing kibble. That lasted all of one day before she went right back to turning her cheek. I guess this is the stage where she becomes a grazer.

Keep us posted on any updates.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

He looks good to me. Just let him skip if he wants to skip. Dont make him a fatty.


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

a healthy dog will not starve itself
a meal skipped here and there is not going to kill him
adding satin balls and other foods can lead to *increased pickiness* and imbalances with the satin balls for sure


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

I commented on this before...update after a few days. I will say that Lara's been doing this off and on for several weeks and she has a raging anal gland infection that didnt clear up with one round of antibiotics, so I am thinking it's partially to do with that. 

However I did go ahead and order a different flavor of Acana for her to try  it gets here today.

I think it's a combination of something medical here, not needing as much food intake (she's still gaining weight with eating much much less), and being sick of her food. I don't believe in toppings to entice her because she just picks the toppings out and I don't want her too spoiled  so maybe check for something medical too


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