Breakfast? What breakfast?!

[Jen & Ember]

So, Ember has recently been going on a breakfast strike. It happened periodically before but now it is all the time.  When I'm home on the weekends or have a late start to my day, she grazes and eventually does eat it, but on days when I leave in  the morning or she goes to daycare... What should I do? dinner is never a problem, always eats it right up. 

Anyone else have doods that refuse breakfast? I worry about her getting enough nutrition. 

[Carolyn and Ruby]

My dood never refuses food.  I almost WISH that I had a picky eater.  Ruby will eat anything.  She thinks her monthly heartwork pill is a treat. 

[Tasia Lung]

Maggie is nearly two and just started going on frequent hunger strikes as well.  Only she won't just skip breakfast, she'll skip days without eating. She's always been a very picky eater and is not motivated by treats whatsoever, so mealtime has never been easy, but for awhile, it was working only because we had to cave in and give her food she liked but was not a good brand per the vets recommendation.  After her coat starting dulling and she still wasn't gaining weight, we've gone back to the good for her food and she just will not eat it.  I cry almost everyday because I feel terrible and the vets suggestions (and I really do love our vet) don't solve the problem to me.  He said we can either commit to giving her people food, like an egg or veggies mixed in with her kibble, go back to the palatable though less nutritious food, or leave her because she'll eat when she gets hungry enough.  I'm not a fan of any of those ideas except for the supplementing with people food, but my boyfriend is afraid she'll start begging with that solution.  Anyway, we're facing a similar problem.  One thing we don't do is leave her food out for extended amounts of time.  If she doesn't eat or act interested within an hour then we remove the bowl. For her it hasn't solved anything, but maybe Ember will take meal time more seriously if he realizes he may miss the boat.  Good Luck!

[Katie and Sophie]

My sophie has been doing this too! She has done it every once in a while in the past, but not she is consistantly not eating her whole breakfast! She will eat around 1/4-1/2 of it then she is done. She always eats her whole dinner without a problem though. And i know she loves the food shes on too! I worry about her not getting the nutrition she needs too. What is going on?!

[Adina P]

You can move her to one meal a day, it's kind of like with kids ... (save for a major medical condition) they won't starve themselves.  And breakfast is a 'human' thing, dogs don't necessarily need the same '3 meals a day' philosophy.

[Meridith and Lola]

Lola isn't always hungry in the morning either but will eventually eat her breakfast if I leave it down. I also worried on days she goes to daycare so I usually bring a baggie of her food and they will give it to her a little after she settles.

Do you add anything to kibble - one of the best things I found to entice her to eat are Stella and Chewys Freeze Dried Dinners for Dogs.  They come in patties.  I give her half and crumple it in her food.  She loves it and once her head is down in the bowl - she usually finishes most of her food!!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Riley has been doing this recently too. It doesn't matter what toppers are included.  I notice that on days when I leave early he doesn't eat a thing until I get home even though he's with his Dad and goes for a long walk at lunch time.   I'm going to try and not worry about it too much, I think if he was hungry he would eat.  He actually eat two meals today and I must admit I'm a bit happier.  I think as he is nearly 11 months maybe his growing has slowed and he doesn't need as much.  

[Heather Martinez]

Teddy does this as well. He gobbled up his food until he was 7 months old. I thought there would never be a time when he could sit quietly and wait for his food without barking from excitement. I trained him to stay until I gave him the command to eat and he would wiggle around and dive for the food when I released him! He went from that to not much caring about the food (but always finishing his breakfast by the time I came home from work and dinner by the next morning), to going a whole day without eating. Now he won't eat unless I mix peanut butter with his food. I am sure he would eat when he got hungry enough, but I don't want him to skip meals and when he refuses to eat he spills his food all over the ground and picks up pieces and chews them and spits them out, making a huge mess! I am wondering if it is okay to give him a tablespoon of peanut butter twice a day? Note, Teddy is 14 months now and he hasn't gained weight since about 10 months.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

my doods don't like to eat early either. I leave their food out for them in the morning before I leave and there is often some still left when i get home from work. They are both grazers. They usually goblle up dinner though so I'm not worried. Not sure what to say but maybe try canned food mixed in. That usually works with mine.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

My two Doodles only eat at night, too. I leave food out and they never touch it until the evenings.

[Jena ~ Dublin]

Hi Jen, I haven't had a picky eater until recently.  We feed Acana and Dublin loved it.  Then all the sudden he got bored with it.  He didn't eat very well so I went to the dog store and picked up some Stella & Chewy's dried patties.  I crumbled that up in his food and it solved the problem.  I just feed a little less kibble each meal (2x a day) and he started eating again.  He LOVES the patties and they truly are good solid ingredients.  You also could use them as treats later down the road if you ever take them out of Embers food. 

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Zoe is getting very picky with her food too!  SHe's 7 months old and has ALWAYS scarfed up all her breakfast and dinner.  Now, she will nibble 1/3 of her breakfast and ignore her dinner unless I leave it down.  Then she will eat it so late if it's still there.  We used to feed her Avoderm puppy formula but she no longer would eat that so I switched to another flavor in the Avoderm selection.  She ate it for maybe two days.  So now I got her Acana and she eats it every so often.  I have 3 big bags of food and she is sick of all of them.  

Heather-I am thinking maybe it is the peanut butter.  I give Zoe her daily vitamin with peanut butter on it (very minimal) but maybe she likes the flavor so much and the dog food tastes bland?  I'm not sure.

I will try the Stella & CHewy patties as well.  Good Luck everyone!!!

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I give them food in the morning and they don't always eat it, it could be a phase. I just leave it out and eventually they eat. I don't want to "force" them to eat when they are hungry, they will eat.