My Doodle Won't Eat His Breakfast

[Stella]

My 17 month old LD had always been a great eater (it is the labrador in him!!). He is fed 3 1/2 cups/day Royal Canin Large Breed Adult ,split into two meals, and has always done well on it and been a keen eater.

Lately he has been a bit slow to eat his breakfast, we put it down for him and he sniffs it a bit, walks around a bit, and then eats it. Even if it has taken a few minutes, he has always eaten it in the end. In the evening, when we put his dinner down he has always eaten it right up. The last three days he completely turned away from his breakfast and just wasn't interested. We tried waiting a couple of hours and putting it down again, he still didn't want it. I eventually got him to eat it by hand feeding it to him, but obviously we don't want this to become a habit. Today, he would not eat his breakfast at all, and last night he did eat his dinner but it took some persuading.

His poops have been good, although he didn't go last night or this morning (?not enough food in his system?), and he is drinking normally. But he is definitely a bit lethargic, I am wondering if this is just because he hasn't been eating as much as usual or if there is something else going on.

We are probably going to end up taking him to the vet, but I just wondered if any of you guys had any ideas.

[Kate and Maci]

I don't really have any great suggestions, but I used to feed Maci two meals a day and eventually she started turning her nose up at the dinner meal. My vet suggested to only feed her once a day but to compensate for the missing meal. She still isn't a great eater - alot of times she will only nibble her breakfast and I'm not one to pick it up (but now I have to because we put Abbey (our cat) on a diet and if Maci doesn't finish her breakfast, fat cat is into it (LOL). Some people say you should leave it down for 10-15 minutes and if they don't eat, pick it up and don't put it back down until their next meal - they will learn that they need to eat in a certain amount of time. He may just be feeling a little off for some reason. I know I wasn't of any help but please let us know how you make out.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I don't pick up Yankee's food. He eats when he feels like eating. He rarely eats anything in the morning and usually waits until dinnertime to nibble at it. He's always been that way.

Does he have a fever or is the food OK? Will he eat something else other than the kibble? That would tell you if he's sick or if it's the food.

[Jackie]

Beckett has started doing the same thing. He doesn't eat breakfast when I put it down most mornings. He will eventually eat but it sometimes takes awhile. I do usually leave it down. He always eats his supper right when I put it down. He's fine though. Peeing and pooping OK, not lethargic playing, etc. I'm not too worried though...hope I shouldn't be! ..He seems fine. Maybe as they get older they don't need to eat as much. It's nice to hear other people have dogs that do the same thing.

[Stella]

Thanks guys.

As you might have realised by now I am a bit of an over anxious mother!! I am wondering if it is maybe related to the fact that the weather here has suddenly picked up and has got pretty hot really quickly, or if he just doesn't need as much food anymore now that he is done growing. He did eat his dinner tonight (I added some chicken to it!!), so we will see what happens tomorrow morning. I can't leave his food down as we have a new, and very greedy, puppy in the house who would eat it within seconds!

I am still waiting for todays poop though!!

[Sandy]

It IS very warm here. Toby has been laying on the ceramic tiles a lot today, and wasn't really interested in his walk. He's been eating though. Let us know how Hartley does.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Maybe the heat, maybe he is bored with the food. I have to get her a new bag today (Fromm's) and I am going to get a different 'flavor'.
HIs 'twin' doesn't eat her breakfast - at home. But at work, she gives me 'feed me groan' around 11am.
Keep us posted on how he's doing.

[Stella]

Well, he did eat his breakfast today - with the help of some chicken to make it tastier!! And he was a bit livelier this morning.... still no poop though. But, I felt his tummy and it didn't seem to be sore or swollen at all. So, we will watch and wait!!

[Sandy]

Isn't that lovely? Spending your day watching and waiting for poop. :) Hope he continues to improve!

[Stella]

I know!! The things we do for these boys!

[Mommy2Max]

Max has always been a difficult eater. He will only eat Royal Canin and he never ate more than twice a day and I've had him since 7.5 weeks old. I did the whole put the food down and give him 20 minutes to eat "thing" but, he wasn't having it. After trying at least 15 no grain foods and constantly worrying over whether he would eat or not - I gave up. I put 1/2 his meal (RC) in the bowl in the morning and then the other half in his bowl in the evening. Guess what! He now eats everything without a problem. Apparently, it's a rule he was adament about not following - LOL.

I think it's smart to be precautious and take him to the vet since it isn't his normal behavior but, it might just be that he doesn't feel the urgency to eat the minute the food goes down. If the latter is the case, I've learned not to sweat it.

[Stella]

Well hello Royal Canin friend!! Hartley has been on that since he was a puppy and has always eaten it right up. That is why his behaviour over the last few days has me a bit worried. I don't really want to change his food as he gets an upset stomach if he eats liver, and Royal Canin is one of the only kibbles without liver in it that I have found so far. So, we will watch him for a couple more days and see what happens.