Bogey won't eat his kibble

[Gail & Bogey]

This has been coming on gradually but he pretty much is totally refusing to eat his kibble. I've had him on Acana, the regional flavors and rotate the beefy one, chicken one and salmon. He was eating less and less. At first I thought he was just going from puppy eating to adult eating. He is now 16 months. I've tried a topper of cheese in the morning and at night I also give him 1/4 C. Of Wellness no grain. He eats the cheese off the top and usually the canned Wellness. Lately he isn't even eating the canned. He acts fine, eats treats and begs for human food. We very rarely feed him human food. Occasionally he will share an apple with my husband. I did try to change his kibble by mixing in some Fromm. The first night he ate that right away but now doesn't want that either. My husband says he'll eat when he's hungry but I worry, he pretty much hasn't eaten now for two days. He does act fine, chewing on toys and playing with them.

[Gail and Bailey]

Bogey is a cutie!  He will eat when he is hungry (to quote your husband).  You could try leaving his kibble out all the time so he can nibble when he wants to.  I free feed my doodle (Acana Grasslands) and she usually eats while we are sleeping.... as well as some during the day.  I think I would probably stop giving him people food and treats.  Use his kibble as treats...put some dry kibble in a Kong or do some training and use kibble as rewards.  He really will not starve himself.  Hang in there and don't give in, Mom!  

[Tracey & Spike]

Spike is the exact same. He isn't a big eater. There is no way I can get him to eat the suggested serving. I have learned that he is a grazer. So we leave food down all the time for him. If he is outside all day with us we take a bowl outside with us.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Enzo is exactly the same way. Not a big eater at all. We free feed and she grazes when she feels like it. She get no table scraps at all.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Hurley has always been a fussy eater and I tried just about every food on the LBD approved list.   When his fellow LBDs have a play day or stay over I feed all three them the same food and Hurley still doesn't care that much about eating.   He is 2 1/2 yrs old now and still a finicky eater.  I occasionally give him treats and he is even fussy about what treats he will eat.  Stella's Chews are about it.    Finally I just decided to let him graze.   I feed him SOJO freeze dried food with his dry food (Solid Gold.   Following the directions on the SOJO packaging I moisten his serving and either let it sit in the refrigerator over night or on the counter for at least 15 minutes before adding it to his dry food.  He does seem to like that but still only eats when he feels like eating.  

[Abigail *George & Juno*]

George is a grazer. We follow the "she'll eat when she's hungry" logic. Until the last vet visit when he told me she should be gaining a bit more. Now we put some canidae pure canned food on top of her orijen 6 fish just in the mornings so that I can assure she's getting at least 1 cup each day. After that she eats what she feels like. She's gaining steadily now. She just doesn't seem to be a morning eater so we entice her a little. At 16 months I say he'll eat when he's ready.
:)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree that he will eat when he's hungry, a normal healthy dog will not starve himself. However, if you want him to eat, free-feeding is the wrong thing to do. It teaches the dog that food is always available and actually encourages picky eating. If you don;t care, then there is no harm in it, but sometimes people need to have the dog eat at a certain time, and it can be a real pain if you ever have another dog in the house. 

I would stop the toppings and I would stop trying new foods. Give him one of the Acana formulas,. leave the bowl down for 20 minutes, then pick it up and do not offer food again until the next regular mealtime. He will learn to eat when he has the chance or wait until the next meal. 

My very favorite discussion about picky eaters; you will laugh, but you might also learn something, lol. Enjoy!

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

[Julie and Charlie]

Charlie goes through occasional periods of not eating (maybe a day or so). He's usually a very quick eater (active 2 year old), so if he doesn't eat, I just leave the bowl out- if he's hungry, he'll go to it. He doesn't make it a habit, so it doesn't bother me.  I prefer to avoid yellow bile vomit in the bed :)

[Gail & Bogey]

Thanks for all your replies. I threw out the food last night and put new in his dish, he ate it! Guess he doesn't like old food (it was only one day old!). Hasn't eaten yet today. I'm probably just a worry wart, he's my only baby!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I notice that JD always seems more interested in eating when I open a fresh bag of food. 

I would always give fresh food at each meal, or at least bag it after 20 minutes if the dog doesn't eat it. One more reason not to free-feed.

And to cut down on storage mites (a very common allergen for both humans and dogs), guidelines from JD's dermatologist are never to buy more kibble than you will use in 30 days, unless you can freeze it.