Graycie's eating schedule is getting all out of whack!!

[gigi d]

In the past week and half, I've noticed that Graycie does not eat her breakfast 1st thing like she used to.When she does finally show interest in her bowl, she never finishes it.  I take it up and try to give it back 30 min later.  I feel like I'm begging her to eat!!!  She's basically moved back to 3-4 meals a day again by the time she eats breakfast.  Dinner is the same routine...she eats a little, walks away and then we have to try and get her to finish around 8/830pm!  She always seems to have room for treats and sniffing around for crumbs while we eat!  LOL

She eats Orijen...I prepare 1 1/3 c for the day.  (She's 6.5 months old and 17 lbs)

Any suggestions?  Thanks in advance as always!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I also want to emphasize that most dogs eat better when they are not alone. After all, until your pup came home to your house, all of his meals were a group affair. Too many people put the dog's food in the bowl and then walk out of the room. 

Many people who do free feed have noticed that their dogs don't touch their food when nobody is home, and that they run to the food bowl and start eating as soon as somebody returns. There's a reason for that. :) 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I believe that. Our dogs run to drink water when we get home. I don't think they drink when we are gone.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Mine do the same thing! They would die of thirst before they left their post by the door waiting on me to return...Lol

[Lois Maturo]

My three were really finicky.  What worked for me was cutting their food down to half of what I was feeding at each meal. After a few days they were all eating every meal.  I slowly added food back.  I never got back to what I was feeding them. ( I now feed them to the lower side of what the dog food bag suggests) They do not get table food and very few treats. I also switched to smaller bags of food.  The bag of food last two weeks now.  Very rarely do any of them miss a meal.

[Sherry Butler]

I noticed someone said "if it's kibbles and nothing else" Should I be feeding Reggie something in addition to his puppy Orijen? I'm a new Doddle mom & haven't had a dog at all in over 20 years. I didn't know I should have stopped the breeder food until I found this website. I love having all this info handy! I've started going to Hollywood Feed to get his food and purchased some dried sweet potatoe strips they recommended for treats. Are these ok?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The statement about kibble and nothing else was made because several people here mentioned adding eggs, chicken, etc to their dogs' meals to try to get them to eat. That's really not recommended, so the answer to your question about whether you should be feeding something in addition to your pup's Orijen is NO. 

Regarding treats, we have a list here of recommended treat brands. Dehydrated sweet potatoes are fine as long as they are coming from a reliable source, and you really cannot take the store's word for that. What brand are they? 

[gigi d]

UPDATE for tonite: at 5pm she ate 1/2 of her dinner portion....at least its something.  let's see what tomorrow brings with my tough love on no grazing all day!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Keep up the good work. I predict that by the weekend, she'll be eating most if not all of both her meals within her allotted 10 minutes. 

[Erin]

Otto is 21 pounds and I give him 2 cups per day. I hope I'm not over feeding him? I thought I read the chart correctly...maybe he gets more because his expected adult weight is bigger...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Feeding amounts depend on the calorie content of the particular food (kibbles can vary by more than 100 calories per cup), the age and activity level of the dog (puppies need as much as double the amount of calories per lb of body weight as adult dogs), and the size or expected size of the dog at maturity (small breeds require more calories per lb of body weight than large dogs). So what exact formula of food are your feeding (not just the brand), how old is Otto, and what is his expected adult weight? 

[gigi d]

UPDATE #2:

So after much reading...especially stumbling across a lot of your old posts karen, I decided (along with tough love!) to try a small bag of new Orijen food to see if maybe her existing food was "old" or had the "storage mites" thing going on.  I bought the bag a little over a month ago....well, let's just say, this morning she GOBBLED up her entire morning portion of the fresh bag!!!! I've now put the food in ziploc bags and realize from now (at least for a while) I have to buy the smaller bags and NOT the big 25lb bag.  So happy and relieved to see her eat again!!!  So now, I will continue on this new note to be tougher about keeping to a schedule and not letting her graze.  

:)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm so glad! I think between the fresher food and the schedule, Miss Graycie will be eating her meals when they're served, and you'll both be happier. :) 

Once she's older and can eat the adult formulas, you can rotate them to keep her interested.