My dog won't eat much.

[Anonymous]

I have an 18 month old Airedale completely healthy, had a check-up two weeks ago, shows no sign of listlessness, eyes clear, etc., and lately she just won't eat more than a few morsels of wet food at each meal (morning and night). This has been going on for @ 4 days. I feed her Solid Gold- Oceanfish, Barley and Carrots. It is good food and pricey ($40 a case) and I've just been throwing away half eaten cases. Yesterday she had a non-stop day of going to the dog park running around for 3 hours with the kids un the back yard, trotting through the house up and down our three story house, swimming in her little plastic pool--just super high activity. She finally ate about ¾ of what she usually eats. This morning she was back down to ?. She still is her old self. Her stools are somewhat soft--she drank a huge amount of water yesterday. Should I be worried? I have had to switch out her food flavor once before about 8 months ago--she went off her food when we were on vacation.

[Anonymous]

Did you try giving her some cooked chicken or treats? She may be bored with her food. Just try giving her different type of food. We feed our dog Blue. If she just isn't eating any food then call the vet.

[Anonymous]

I made my own dog food. Once I started doing that our dog went from barely eating even when hand-fed, to jumping all around in anticipation of mealtime.

I'd try that.

[Anonymous]

But is it realistic for me to bake chicken or whatever for a dog everyday? I have three kids and they don't even get a cooked meal everyday!

[Anonymous]

OP here: We gave her Blue in the past and it gave her the runs--it's very rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But is it realistic for me to bake chicken or whatever for a dog everyday? I have three kids and they don't even get a cooked meal everyday!

I cook my dog's food in bulk and portion it out into little ziplock baggies. They go in the freezer and I always have three in the fridge. She gets half a baggie's worth of food (plus a dollop of cottage cheese) at each meal.

[Anonymous]

Her belly may be a little upset. For the next few days, feed her some plain white rice mixed in with plain hamburger or chicken (I boil the meat). Gradually add her food back with the rice mixture a little at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Her belly may be a little upset. For the next few days, feed her some plain white rice mixed in with plain hamburger or chicken (I boil the meat). Gradually add her food back with the rice mixture a little at a time.

OP here--this, I could do! Thanks, I'll report back how it goes.

[Anonymous]

It may be the heat.

[Anonymous]

My dog eats less in heat, I always think there is something wrong at the beginning of each summer and an 18 month old would have been a puppy last summer, so totally different now. That being said, check her teeth and make sure there is nothing going on. It is supposed to be cooler this week, if it doesn;t go back to normal when cooler I would take to the vet.

[Anonymous]

My dog did this when she disliked the flavor of the food we were giving her. It was salmon flavored and once we switched to beef, she became a typical hound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I made my own dog food. Once I started doing that our dog went from barely eating even when hand-fed, to jumping all around in anticipation of mealtime.

I'd try that.

Do you have recipes you can share? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I second the rice and chicken idea. Our vet recommended this when our dog displayed the same behavior and it worked. Also, rather than throwing away uneaten cases of food, try calling your local animal rescue to see if they can make use of it. Some food pantries for humans may also want it as some of their clients have pets to feed. Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

It could be the heat/humidity. My dogs generally eat less when it's suddenly humid/hot and they haven't had an opportunity to adjust.

Is the dog drinking enough water? I think trying something bland is a good idea, but even if that doesn't work, it could be the heat.

When it's hot and they have to pant so much, it makes it sort of difficult to eat and cool off at the same time. try feeding the dog after plenty of time has passed to cool off/calm down.

[Anonymous]

When I would dogsit in college, I watched a little yappy dog and was amazed when they showed me her food. We always fed our dogs typical dog food growing up - the white rice, ground beef and green been mixture (that I had to heat up for nine seconds!) actually smelled good.