Grazing

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I have a silly question for the DK world. Will puppies that prefer to graze still grow to their full potential? Our little Phin (18ish weeks old) has taken after his brother Yeti in the appetite department and doesnt particularly care to eat. He always eats at least a little but its clear that he will prefer the grazing lifestyle. I worry that he isnt going to grow to his full potential if he isnt eating as much as he should be (according to his food bag feeding guide)

[Lindsey Holt]

Oh how I wish we could get our doods to eat.

Jake never eats enough and would definitely prefer to graze.

 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I don’t see how it would be harmful since he’s not going to starve himself. A healthy dog with access to food will not starve. However, it can be changed if you’d like him to eat regularly. Put the food bowl down in the morning for 15 minutes. If he ignores it, pick it up and put it away. In the evening, put the food down and do the same thing. He may go a day without eating but he will learn that it’s not available at all times and will eat when he’s hungry. Imagine if you were given a bowl of cereal in the morning but you weren’t hungry and let it sit there all day. Eventually, you would get hungry and would eat that food even if it was no longer appealing. At this point, food is no longer something to look forward to. You are eating only to survive but it’s not palatable. That’s pretty much what is happening when the food is out all day and not fresh. It’s not exciting and doesn’t get their attention. You could put a bit of scrambled egg or a few bites of fruit or something else they like on top of the food when you start to entice them. That might be a bad habit though as they might start to expect some yummy topper.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is perfect advice. Thanks for posting it Lori. This discussion was originally posted just a few days after I lost JD and I didn't see it.