Doggie Hunger Questions?

[Hannah & Pepper]

Hi All,

So I have some questions about dogs being hungry and weird eating patterns, etc.

Background: When Pepper was a puppy she would eat her food so fast that she would sometimes throw up, so we started getting a slow bowl and one of those bobble food dispensers, and that really helped her slow her eating.  She stopped eating so quickly so we reverted back to a normal bowl and she would normally eat her food pretty quickly in the am and evening.  

She just turned one year old, and her eating patterns seem to have changed a lot---she seems much more "picky" or "discerning".  We often put breakfast or dinner down and she hardly touches it.  Other times, she will come home from daycare famished and scarf it down.  But other times she comes home from day care and she is too wiped out and just sleeps, skipping dinner entirely.  

Is this normal behavior?  Should we be concerned about her eating patterns, or consider changing the food?

She was previously on Orijen and we switched her to Acana Meadowlands because she was have diarrhea issues, and switching foods seemed to have entirely cleared that up.  I am hesitant to switch her to another food, because this one really seems to agree with her.

I am now trying to implement the 30 minute food rule and see if that encourages her to eat more at meal times, and we do often give her treats for doing tricks or a chicken stick when we leave her in her crate, and for now I think we will stop all treats until we figure this out.  She also loves things like yogurt and egg yolk, but I am stopping myself from mixing that with her kibble so that she will eat it, even though I know that would work and she'd gobble it up.

I don't think she is sick because she is acting normal, playful, etc, but if this continues much more I think we will have to take her in to the vet.

Any thoughts or advice?

Thank you!!!

[Jon Rascon]

Sounds like our Chewy and Mojo - but in our case, I know it's because they got used to the little add-ins with the kibble (eggs or green beans). Initially I did the green beans because Mojo was gaining weight eating the recommended amount and still hungry, so I added green beans to help her feel more full. But that led to her now wanting green beans with her kibble in any meal that doesn't have eggs in it. 

Not sure what Karen would recommend, but another thing I noticed is that my dogs seem to like the other flavor better - we are on the Acana Regionals formula - they wolfed down the fish version, and while they initially liked the beef and catfish version, that hasn't lasted. 

[Hannah & Pepper]

We are on acana meadowlands.  Yeah thats what im wondering if we should be looking at changing the flavor? hmm

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Since Luna switched to Acana Regionals (I think she was about a year or two old?) we rotate between different flavors of regionals, minus the chicken one since she never did super well on chicken.

The 30 lb. bag takes us about 2 months to get through and she gets a bit tired of it by the end of the bag.  

Her favorite has always been Pacifica (the fish one) though.  There's a reason one of her nicknames is "Tuna" ;)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's best not to buy a bag larger than your dog can finish in a month unless you can freeze some of it. :) 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Because of freshness issues?  

The 30 lb. bag fits perfectly into an airtight container we bought a while back.  

I imagine cost-wise the smaller bags are more expensive proportionally like they are with human food?

Thanks, something to keep in mind for new pup.  I could potentially just freeze half though we have a big standalone freezer.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Because of the freshness issue and because of storage mites. The longer the food sits after being opened, the greater the risk of storage mites, even in an airtight container. 
This is what veterinary dermatologists recommend, that's where I learned it, lol.
You also really really never want to keep it in the original bags. 
And yes, I suppose the cost is greater over time if you buy smaller bags, so if that's a concern, maybe freezing it would work for you.  If you're going to toss the bag anyway, putting a portion of the food into a ziplock freezer bag probably wouldn;t be much extra work.
I used to buy 10 lb bags of JD's kibble and I still debagged it into ziplock bags and then those went into his storage container. 

[Hannah & Pepper]

Thanks Karen-- we used to go through the food faster, but now that she's become much more of a grazer, we are going through it much more slowly so I think I'll have to buy smaller bags going forward.  

What are your thoughts on me rotating Pepper through the Acana regionals line? Is it worth trying or should I stick to just meadowlands.  Also if I've had this food for over a month should I toss it? Could that be why she's not as interested in it? 

Thanks as always!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I do think that the food being more than a month old could contribute to her being less interested in it. I know JD was always much more interested in his food when it was from a newly opened bag. :)
I answered your other questions below. 

[Hannah & Pepper]

Thanks Karen!! I think I need to buy smaller bags from now on.  The food at the bottom of her bin is definitely older than a month old.  Do you think if I’m going to go buy a smaller new bag of food tomorrow, should I buy acana meadowlands, or do you think I should mix it up and try another flavor in the same line? If I buy another flavor in the same line, do I need to do a food transition?  Thanks so much! I really think you’re on to something with the old food thing so I want to buy a new smaller bag ASAP. Thanks! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think it would be fine to try a different formula within the Regionals line. And if you stay with that line, you don't have to transition at all. Just feed her the new food. 
I think a smaller bag to start with is a good idea. Please let us know how she likes it. 

[Hannah & Pepper]

Ok! I have an update! We threw out peppers old food and bought a small size of her same  food and she scarfed it down!  We decided to try the same food first just as an experiment to see if she would eat it. We may try varying up the line in the future but for now we know the freshness was definitely the issue. Thank you so much for all of the suggestions and advice!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad you found the reason and that Pepper enjoyed her food again!