Our 7 month old is not agressively eating anymore

[dave lockwood]

Our 7 month old female medium approx. 27 lb labdoodle has been eating orijen puppy with a little water added in since 8 weeks old. She had always had a very healthy appetite and 3 meals a day - bowl always licked clean. Meal size based on recommendations on origen bag. We upped her portion from 2 cups (2/3-2/3-2/3) to 2 and 2/3 cups (1-2/3-1) per day a little while back based on weight and shortly thereafter she started to not eat as "agressively." 

She used to be ready and on the spot when her bowl went down and dug in fast and furious. Now she is much more passive about her meals, sometimes waiting awhile after the bowl hits the floor befor coming over to dine. She also now even leaves some leftover at times. We started to mix in a scoop of wellness core wet as a topper treat which seems to help get her interested, but she still lacks the excitment she used to have for her meals just a short time ago. She eats no people food and gets an occasional beef bone, texas toothpick or bully spring as treats (which she still "agressively" loves.)

As first time dog owners, we suspect her change in eating behavior may be normal or nothing to worry about as this is the only behavior that seems to have changed but we are not sure. She seems to be and is heathy and active in all other respects. She pees and poops regulary and normally.

Could the upping of  the daily portion have triggered this? Could she have lost interest in the origen puppy brand food? Is she ready to go to 2 meals a day? Should we revert back to 2 cups per day?

 

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

      

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

She's getting too much food, and you're feeding her too often. That's most likely why she isn't as interested in eating.

The Orijen feeding guidelines go by weight and age; for her weight and age, the recommended amount is 2 to 2.5 cups per day: http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/products/puppyFeeding.aspx

Most puppies are switched to 2 feedings a day way before they hit 7 months, usually between 4-6 months, and the smaller the expected adult size, the earlier you cut them back, because the growth period is much shorter in small dogs than in larger dogs. When they aren't growing rapidly, they don't need as many calories.

Also, based on her age and weight, she's pretty close to skeletal maturity, so she doesn't need a puppy formula any more.

I would cut back to two feedings per day, and give her one to one and a quarter cups at each meal. Once she's adjusted to that, I'd switch her to the Orijen adult formula.  

 

[Anne G.]

I agree that she is eating less because her growing has slowed. Our nearly 2 year old dog is 40 pounds and eats about 1 cup of food twice a day. That is less than what is recommended but the vet said her weight is good and she has plenty of energy so I'm not worried. We feed her Lotus grain free and I think I read somewhere here that portions can be slightly smaller with grain free.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In general, you do feed less with grain free foods, but that depends on the calorie content of the food. Some grain frees are lower in calories than others. However, Orijen Puppy is very calorie dense, with a whopping 480 k/cal per cup.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My doodle is 27 pounds and hasn't changed since he was about 8 months old.  By 7 months his appetite had changed and he did not eat as much.  He would adore eating treats, but is not that interested in food and while we offer it twice a day, he mostly eats only once (he likes his privacy so mostly eats at night when he is by himself).  I put his food down and do NOT give him fancy stuff to encourage eating - we do not want a fat dog which is what you will end up with if he eats more than his body needs.  We were feeding our dogs TOTW and recently changed to Orijen.  He is an adult on adult dog food but as a guide for you, he ate about 1 to 1/4 cups of TOTW daily and eats about 2/3 - to 1 cup of Orijen.

[dave lockwood]

Thank you all for your replies - got a good education from them -  and will follow KJs advice