Not Interested In Food!

[Fox Terrible]

We have a seven month old male Wire Haired Fox Terrier who, from day one, has been totally indifferent to food. We have an adult Smooth Fox Terrier bitch that wolfs her food down in a matter of seconds – much like any other dog I've owned.

We've tried separating them at feeding times in case there's some competition or anxiety issue. We've experimented with alternate (quality breeder/vet recommended) canned and dry foods, dishes, locations, feeding times etc. etc., but he still requires patience and twenty minutes per feed to eat even the smallest portion. On one occasion we left his food with him for a whole day and by nightfall he hadn't touched it. At six months old we cut his feeds from thrice daily to twice daily. In desperation, I even tried feeding him just the once per day to see if hunger would kick start the process with no success. If one of us doesn't sit with him offering encouragement and occasionally holding the bowl up for him, he will ignore his food and just trot off with his tail in the air. He now hasn't eaten more than two mouthfuls for 72 hours.

He's not eating anything else in between times; he's otherwise fit, happy and healthy. He was de-sexed recently and the vet says he's a good healthy dog. He weighs 9.2 kg.

[Atanquin]

Have you tried cooking him some mince with a a bit of gravox, rice or pasta ( just a small bit of gravox for flavor) we had a fussy gsd and that was all he would eat and it works out cheaper too.

[cassie]

Why eat from a bowl all by myself? If I wait long enough someone will sit with me and feed it to me!

Why eat this boring food? If I wait long enough they'll offer me something more tasty!

Fox Terrible I know it's difficult but you really have to be firm. You know the saying "Be cruel to be kind" well it applies in this situation. Continue to seperate your dogs when feeding them. Put pup's food down in a quiet spot where he has no other distractions. Give him ten minutes to eat, at the end of the ten minutes his bowl is taken away and he does not have the chance to eat again until his next meal. Repeat for each and every meal. He'll soon learn that when the food is down he is to eat it then and there. Offering several different types of food when he turns his nose up at something just makes for a fussy eater IMO. A healthy dog will NOT starve itslef

[Fox Terrible]

Thanks for the input. We eat a fair bit of rice and any leftovers are normally given to the dogs. The bitch loves it and growls while she eats hers, but the pup shows the same disdain as he does for other foods.

We've separated them at meal times before, but this morning I fed the bitch first and then fifteen minutes later, I brought the pup into the laundry and left him there with his food for half an hour while I had my breakfast. When I returned, he was curled up asleep and had only taken about a mouthful of his food.

Cassie, I've wanted to adopt this exact regime, but have met resistance from Herself. This evening, the pup's dinner will be presented to him for five minutes only. I'll report back in due course.

[sheena]

What are you offering him & what brand of kibble if any are you offering him?? Ask for a sample of Black Hawk & see if he will eat that, I've never met a dog yet that cant be tempted with that. My pup goes bolistic over it, but if I offer him a bit of Pro-Plan, he turns his nose up at it.

You can email for a sample of BH at

[email protected]

Edited June 25, 2011 by sheena

[Fox Terrible]

The pup is currently fed Pedigree Puppy Chicken and Rice with Advance Puppy Plus, but he's also been offered My Dog meat and Eukanuba Puppy Medium Breed Formula amongst others.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try him on that and see what happens.

[dasha]

I bought a dog at Christmas that had a very casual eating style. This doesn't fit in with my other dogs wolfing/inhaling their food. I'm sorry but I don't have patience to stand there and wait til she wants to finish her food and neither did the other dogs.

I feed them all at he same time. One of them I would feed a bit less to and then I would stand there with them for 3-4 mins to give her time to eat it. She would eat a few mouthfuls then not want to eat soas soon as she lost interest in eating, I would let the one I fed less to just go and finish her food. in front of her then pick bowl up and that was meal time over. Same next night, and so forth. If she was eating her food i would wait as she does chew hers too which slows her down but if she walked away it was fair game. She prob didn't get a proper meal for ages but now she eats her food just like the others. No time to muck around. And I don't want to create a fussy eater. They eat when it is given around here. Food cannot be left out as my others are food possessive so even if a kibble rolls under a bench or anything it has to be found or there will be fights over it.

My dogs get fed Advance active so they are on a premium kibble so I can't allow them to over eat or they get fat real quick.

Thats just what I did and some others may not do the same thing. It depends on what suits each household. Worked for me and now I have all dogs that eat food when presented.

[Online Pets]

Why eat from a bowl all by myself? If I wait long enough someone will sit with me and feed it to me!

Why eat this boring food? If I wait long enough they'll offer me something more tasty!

Fox Terrible I know it's difficult but you really have to be firm. You know the saying "Be cruel to be kind" well it applies in this situation. Continue to seperate your dogs when feeding them. Put pup's food down in a quiet spot where he has no other distractions. Give him ten minutes to eat, at the end of the ten minutes his bowl is taken away and he does not have the chance to eat again until his next meal. Repeat for each and every meal. He'll soon learn that when the food is down he is to eat it then and there. Offering several different types of food when he turns his nose up at something just makes for a fussy eater IMO. A healthy dog will NOT starve itslef

This 100%!

If they know that its that or nothing they will eat it. You just need to be more stubborn than your dog! You are the leader of the pack, he eats what you tell him to eat.

[Bow Wow]

I have a cavalier who from day dot was a terrible eater. I was so worried that she would starve to death, so I tried every tasty thing I could think off. I then fed her by hand and she would s l o w l y eat it. :rolleyes:

I tried every brand of kibble. She would eat it for the first day, then nothing.

She was always a good weight, not skinny, and definitely not fat.

So after nearly a year of worrying constantly, I just gave up.

I put her kibble down of a morning, and if she ate it good, if not, then she went without.

For tea i would alternate between, chicken necks, beef bones, hearts and liver. Again if she ate it good, if not, then again she went without.

I did not give her any treats on the days that she would not eat.

Georgea is nearly two and still not a big eater. But I have come to the realization that that is just her.

There are still days where she will just have one meal. But that is her choice. She is always offered two.

She is happy and healthy, so that is all that matters. :D

I have recently acquired another Cav puppy and let me say that she is the complete opposite of Georgea!!!! This little girl is a pig and will eat anything.

[WreckitWhippet]

Get his tonsils checked

[Danois]

My dog is an indifferent eater and trying a strict regime of bowl down for short time and then removed made no difference. He would not eat more at the next meal or sometimes, even eat the next meal and I ended up with a dog that got skinner and skinner.

As this is a one dog house he is now free fed. Majority of the time his breakfast is only partially eaten and he'll finish that at night. I add more mid-evening and he'll normally have a feed about 10pm and eats overnight. Some days he'll fast himself all day.

Free feeding does not work for many but I am happy to do this.

[dancinbcs]

Never offer a full meal to a fussy eater. Just offer a small amount and if he eats it offer a bit more. Don't leave the food down for longer than 10 minutes and don't let him leave the bowl during that 10 minutes. Make him stay next to the bowl so he thinks about the food. Try different foods like small balls of mince if he wont eat anything sloppy. Never offer another food at the same meal unless he first eats what is offered. Wait until the next meal to try something different.

Feed indoors in a quiet spot with no distractions, always in the same spot. Usually, it is better to feed next to another dog, stand between them and offer the other dog some of the food out of the fussy one's plate but never let the other dog just take food without it being offered by you.

Good luck!

[persephone]

has he been vet checked?

Does he chew bones ok?

When you got him.. you say he was like this? What did his breeder say?

I would definitely voice your concerns with your vet .

I would also be tempted to ditch the kibble .. and feed raw . ;)

From your description .. he should be bones ! if he is looking and feeling good - he must be eating enough .. so when does he eat it? have you actually measured how much he consumes in a day?

[Fox Terrible]

has he been vet checked?

Does he chew bones ok?

When you got him.. you say he was like this? What did his breeder say?

I would definitely voice your concerns with your vet .

I would also be tempted to ditch the kibble .. and feed raw . ;)

From your description .. he should be bones ! if he is looking and feeling good - he must be eating enough .. so when does he eat it? have you actually measured how much he consumes in a day?

He has had several checks by the vet. He chews cow hooves. To my eye he is thin, but the vet says he's OK. As I said earlier, he will eat, but only if we coax him. If left to himself (with or without the bitch, outdoors or in seclusion), he simply will not eat. Even spending fifteen minutes encouraging him at each mealtime, sometimes he won't eat more than a few mouthfuls.

I have had dozens of dogs in the past forty years and trained some to a very high standard, but this one has me stumped.

[Mags]

Don't give up we got a rescue at Christmas that we had great trouble getting to eat kibble or raw and he was in very poor body and coat condition so not eating was a big worry. As he had been some idiots handbag dog we assumed he was use to getting human food but even that was a problem as he only wanted food if someone was handfeeding him and even then would not eat enough. Very quickly crate trained him and at meal times put him and his food in the crate and left him. His crate is his personal space and no one else gets access to it. He now eats whatever we give him and dances around like a loon at meal time waiting for his food will even top up out of our grey's bowl if she leaves anything and she only ever leaves a few bits of kibble. He also asks to go in his crate if he wants some space away from the others.

[dancinbcs]

has he been vet checked?

Does he chew bones ok?

When you got him.. you say he was like this? What did his breeder say?

I would definitely voice your concerns with your vet .

I would also be tempted to ditch the kibble .. and feed raw . ;)

From your description .. he should be bones ! if he is looking and feeling good - he must be eating enough .. so when does he eat it? have you actually measured how much he consumes in a day?

He has had several checks by the vet. He chews cow hooves. To my eye he is thin, but the vet says he's OK. As I said earlier, he will eat, but only if we coax him. If left to himself (with or without the bitch, outdoors or in seclusion), he simply will not eat. Even spending fifteen minutes encouraging him at each mealtime, sometimes he won't eat more than a few mouthfuls.

I have had dozens of dogs in the past forty years and trained some to a very high standard, but this one has me stumped.

I have had a few BCs with light appetites as youngsters but one at about 6-8 months would eat practically nothing. On some days he would even turn his nose up at hand fed cooked chicken. I kept him going on Di-Vetelact made up thick like cream, that he was happy to lap and Nutripet. Eventually around 9 months he started to eat again but would only eat food he could pick up or lap, not anything he had to put his nose in like stew. I all seemed to be about texture of the food. He remained fussy until about 3 years when he just started to eat like all the others. Up until then if I gave him a bone he would bury it straight way and could never work out why it wasn't still there when he went back His mum would follow him around and dig it up and he never noticed.