odd / annoying dog behavior

[lmh2402]

it seems there are good number of dog owners here, so perhaps someone else has experienced this

my dog has started refusing to eat. at this point he is refusing only breakfast

it started slowly. about two months ago, he began taking a long time to eat - i'd put the food down and he would look at it. look at me. back and forth. then slowly eat

then he started walking away and would come back 30 min later and eat

i took him to the vet for his one year appt about a week after it started and he checked out with a clean bill of health except they didn't do blood work b/c the vet said to hold off on the blood until june when he gets his teeth cleaned

but i discussed the eating thing and based on the fact that he will eat any and every treat offered. and that he will eat dinner. and that he will eat breakfast at my mom's house. the vet said he was pretty sure it wasn't a physical issue. he said H was standing his ground about something, but who knows what

well now, it's a month later. and he has gone from reluctantly eating. to flat out refusing breakfast. i have changed bowls. changed locations. tried to hand feed him. he will not eat.

so it seems to me he has decided he no longer likes his food.

is this common? have others had dogs start refusing their food?

he actually did this one before about 3 years ago. and we were with a different vet at the time. that vet told me i should start cooking for the dog. which i did for a while. but then we found a new vet and a new food that seemed well made.

but anyway, now what? i have another call into the vet. i don't know if i should press for blood work now? should i just switch his food? it took us a long time to find this food b/c H has a bit of a weight problem - for his frame he should only weigh 9ish pounds. but he's close to 11 and the vet wants him to slim down.

anyone have a food they really like for their dogs? we've done the raw diet before and that worked well for a while, but he developed elevated liver enzymes and the vet said no more raw.

very annoying. thanks

[JoyNChrist]

Are you sure it's not just a control thing? I know you've mentioned in other threads that you're having issues with your son and the dog, so maybe this is just the dog's way of controlling his environment?

I wouldn't leave the food out for thirty minutes or longer so that he can choose when to eat. Food is very much a control/dominance thing for dogs. Our Great Dane eats twice a day, and he gets 20 minutes to do so. I set the bowl down at 9am, and I pick it up at 9:20. Same thing in the evenings. It took a few days right at first, but now he knows that when it's time to eat, he better eat, because the food won't hang around and wait on him. This also helped immensely with house training.

I would implement a system like this, and also cut out all treats. For a few days it may feel like you're starving him, but he'll quickly get the idea that he has to eat when food is offered. If he doesn't start eating again after a few days to a week, then I would worry that it's a bigger issue and you may need to look into blood work or changing his diet. But since he's still eating treats and eating at your mom's house, I would assume it's a control thing.

ETA - Also, how old is the dog? He may be to the point where he only needs to eat once a day. We started out at 3 times a day with Derby, moved to twice a day around 10 months, and we'll be moving to once a day when he's finished growing (usually around 18 months).

[lmh2402]

thanks! i really do think it's a control thing and not something physically wrong (i should i really hope that'st he case!) and perhaps it has something to do with the baby, but since he's done it before...i'm not sure

i do worry about him starving...

we already do feed him twice a day. food is not down all day long. he gets offered breakfast and dinner. and normally, he eats it within 1 min of it being put down

so lately we've been playing this game of put it down. he walks away. we pick it up. then put it back down. walks away. we pick it back up. over and over. and then there's me & DH on our hands and knees trying to hand feed him his food. and for a few days he would it it this way, out of our hand. but now he is turning his head away.

so do we just stand our ground indefinitely? would you switch food?

[JoyNChrist]

so lately we've been playing this game of put it down. he walks away. we pick it up. then put it back down. walks away. we pick it back up. over and over. and then there's me & DH on our hands and knees trying to hand feed him his food. and for a few days he would it it this way, out of our hand. but now he is turning his head away.

Put it down and walk away. Come back 15 minutes later and remove it, regardless of whether he's even looked at it. That evening, do the same thing. Don't give him any extra attention or encouragement.

Try it for a week. If he's still refusing to eat, then I'd look into it being another issue. But right now, it sounds like he's just figured out that he has control in the situation (to the point that he has you and DH down on your knees hand feeding him ).

[egoldber]

Since it's only the morning, I'm wondering if it is something in particular about the morning? Is it a stressful time? Is there a lot of commotion?

And your dog is 11? I wonder if maybe it's a little arthrits and he is feeling stiff and sore and in pain in the morning, but loosens up as the day goes on? I would eliminate all snacks to encourage the eating.

Our dog was a ravenous eater, so when she stopped eating, it was a sign of serious issues. But she stopped eating all food, not just one meal. That makes it a bit more mysterious.

My brother had a dog that is incredibly picky and not a good eater. If she is stressed at all, she won't eat. But then again, it is all meals, not just one. That is what makes me think there is something in particular about that time of day.

[lmh2402]

no he's only 4. he'll be 5 in oct.

i discussed issues of joint pain with vet - there don't seem to be any issues. i was also thinking maybe something with his eye sight - so i changed from a bowl to a light colored dish.

no dice

i will try eliminating all snacks

it's just hard. today is the first day where he has literally eaten absolutely nothing at this point. not one morsel. and i guess it will stay that way until dinner

[SkyrMommy]

If physical issues have been ruled out, don't worry about it... our dog will skip her breakfast on odd days, it sits there waiting for her. And if she doesn't eat it by dinner, it gets cleaned out with new food for dinner - this she usually eats because by now she's hungry. And if she hasn't eaten her breakfast, NO TREATS... and she's 12 so she knows what's up!

Don't worry about the dog starving, at least not right away, if days and days go by with no food then reevaluate with your vet. Your dog is probably just using food to tell you that he's not happy at the moment & could use more time with you. Hard to do I know, but that might be the root of it.

[Kymberley]

He'll be fine, and I bet he eats dinner tonight. If not, then breakfast tomorrow will look really nice! I agree with everything JoyNChrist said. If he goes a couple of days with no food, though, I'd go to the vet for a check. When our boxer misses 2 meals, we know to take him because of his history of obstructions. That dog will eat anything!

[wendibird22]

Our springer only eats dinner. We leave his food available for him all day (I know that's a no no but it works for us/him). We put 2cups of food in the bowl in the morning and he eats when he's hungry. Sometimes he'll eat in the a.m. but mostly it's just at dinner time...usually after we've all finished dinner and he's given up hope that DD1 will drop something! If he scarfs it down we'll add another 1C of food.

[twowhat?]

Put the food down twice a day for 15 min. If he doesn't eat, he doesn't eat -pick up the bowl. He won't starve. If you are worried and he doesn't eat breakfast, put down his entire day's worth of food in his dinner bowl. Some dogs are perfectly happy eating just once a day, and if it works to feed your dog only at dinnertime, that's fine!

Dogs don't really "play games" like this to torture you. He simply doesn't want to eat in the morning!