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Dylan is off his food, I need advice please.

*Pauline*

*Pauline*

Well-known member
Dylan seems to be turning his nose up at his food. I don't think he is feeling ill as he has energy but I might be wrong. He is refusing to eat his breakfast even when I add a little something like grated cheese or fish. I know I shouldn't add things after he has refused to eat it as I'm teaching him to be fussy and wait for a "better offer" but when it goes on for days you get worried don't you.

Well this has been going on a for about a week. By tea time, 5pm, he is pretty hungry and has been eating his food but last night he didn't want that either. He just picked a little.

I wormed him this morning and went out. When i got home he had vomited. He is enjoying his first bully stick right now. I'm trying to make his food interesting. When I first got him, he was fussy too. I used to mix in a teaspoon of Nature Diet (soft food) then weened him onto just dried.

Should I take him to the vet?
 
Hi Pauline - sorry to hear that Dylan isn't well. :( *HUGZ* to him!

Could he be teething right now? Faith is going crazy teething and is having a hard time eating kibble. I have her on a mostly barf diet right now because she's having such a hard time eating. He could also have just finished a growth spurt too??

Could you try giving him boiled chicken and rice and then adding his kibble back slowly? I know it's a pain. Kosmo goes days without eating sometimes too. Truth be told I usually end up taking a bit of dinner and mixing it around with his kibble. Then he has to eat the kibble in order to get at whatever I put in there.

Good luck and i hope you get it all figured out :) *HUGZ*! :hug:
 
Thanks Sara for your quick reply I think he has just been through a growth spurt. He's looking all in proportion for an adult dog but in a mini 12lb size. That's a rough guide to his weight as I weighed myself then me holding him to get his weight. Don't know how good my weighing scales are.

I'm doing the same with his food, mixing things with it.
 
Hi Pauline.....I think that Lily is just a few weeks older than Dylan, and she started doing the same thing over night, about 3 weeks ago. She did not want her breakfast and was barely eating her dinner. This lasted about a week with no signs of her being sick. I bought some gravy that comes in a bottle at the pet store and statred putting it on her dinner. She is eating now, but still not that excited about breakfast, which I don't put the gravy on. It may be something they go through at this age. I am thinking about trying to feed her just once a day now with some snacks in between. Let us know how it goes with Dylan.
 
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Pauline

IMHO I would not give into him, I have gone through this many a time with Dudley and he will hold out for days and days without food.

I had recently changed the food from EVO to Timberwolf but found that the Timberwolf was upsetting Dudley's tummy.

They are both now back on EVO
ex: Dudley did not eat on Sunday, Monday, he would not eat his breakfast
yesterday but by dinner time he ate his food.
This morning neither one of them ate breakfast, believe me I have been
through tons especially with Dudley.
I truly believe I made him into a fussy eater by giving into him so much
when he was younger.
I would not make a fuss over it, and I would not give Dylan a Bully Stick
either until he is back to eating his kibble.

The pick up on our emotions, if he is not sick then you really don't need to give him Chicken & Rice.
 
I just asked my breeder about it and she said they do this in summer sometimes and not to add things to his food. Then she told me Dylan's brother had been sold and I was thinkin gabout getting him so now, even if Dylan feels ok, I feel sick! I'm getting no sympathy from the kids who thought it was a bad idea anyway!!
 
Hey Pauline, neither of my Cavaliers are breckie dogs, so I dropped breakfast from their diets. I just give them both a dog biscuit & that keeps them happy until their next meal. Even my puppy, Beau went off his breakfast really early, but he is growing nicely so I don't worry about it.

Re the fussy eating. Yeah I definitely would not be messing around with his food, trying to get him to eat, as this will only escalate the problem. Just put down what you want him to eat, then walk away for 15 - 20 minutes. If he hasn't eaten it, take it up and do not offer him anything to eat until his next scheduled meal. Then offer him the same thing again, not something else that you think might tempt him.

Also, when you feed him don't stand around looking at him eating. In the dog world, this is a challenge for the food and can make a dog anxious about eating. Take yourself off somewhere & read, or come here & chat with us on the forum.
 
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Very good advice all, thank you. I took Dylan's bully stick and chews off him after Linda suggested this. He got hungry and ate dinner, all be it at 10pm. I think maybe his raw hide chews are taking away his appetite. He has always had free access to these and he takes days to get the smallest bit off them but given the choice of nothing or Jame Welbeloved, he ate. I'll let you know what happens in the morning. :)
 
Good that he ate his dinner :cool:

*Pauline* said:
He got hungry and ate dinner, all be it at 10pm.
Click to expand...

Be careful with the late hour feeding as he is more likely to start waking you up in the night to go poo. I feed mine at about 5:00pm or as soon as I get home from work & then do not offer any other food after that. If they don't eat at 5 then they don't eat. I am such a bitch!

Other than that, well done :D
 
Yes I agree, it is late but I was worried. When I first got Dylan, he did this for a week and he lost quite a bit of weight. I'll stick to my usual 8:30am and 5pm feeds now. :D
 
*Pauline* said:
Very good advice all, thank you. I took Dylan's bully stick and chews off him after Linda suggested this. He got hungry and ate dinner, all be it at 10pm. I think maybe his raw hide chews are taking away his appetite. He has always had free access to these and he takes days to get the smallest bit off them but given the choice of nothing or Jame Welbeloved, he ate. I'll let you know what happens in the morning. :)
Click to expand...


Glad to hear he ate Pauline, just continue but like Caroline said earlier or you will be conditioning him to poop in the middle of the night.:yikes :shock:

Those Bully Sticks will fill him up, I stopped giving them to my boys so much. I buy those Merricks Texas Toothpicks they love them.(y)

So happy for you, believe me I went through h#ll with Dudley not eating.
Don't set yourself up to go down that road, it is'nt fun.
 
Dylan doesn't actually get anything off the bully stick so that can't be filling him up. He hasn't eaten again and it's 2:21pm
 
Sorry to hear that Pauline. :( It sounds like maybe he's just done with a growth spurt or something. I am sure you know what to look for to see if he is sick or not.. lethargy, not wanting to play, etc..

If you're concerned about him, take him to the vet. All the vets I have seen probably have "psychopathic dog owner" pasted across the top of my file. Oh well, at least I have piece of mind they are fine after we've either spoken or seen the vet! :)

Good luck to you and I hope Dylan eats. I know your breeder recommended against it but like I said before, sometimes the only way I can get Kos to eat is by mixing other things in. I don't do it regularly, but it's sure better than worrying. :)
 
Yes, I might mix something in his food if it goes on too long. You can go off your food for what ever reason. :confused:
 
I really hope he is ok!! I just love sweet Dylan!

Have you checked his teeth at all? Zoey and Cody had horrible times teething, and I got really concerned because Zoey will NEVER turn down food but did when her mouth hurt. Poor little thing, she was just miserable!

He could just be spoiled rotten and prefering his chewies! Good luck! I really hope it is just a phase!
 
Pauline

I would not panic, please trust me.:flwr:
I know how you feel I went through it and he will pick up on your feelings.

Unless he has not eaten for 3 to 4 days I would not worry yourself about it, he will not starve himself. I used to drive myself mad with worry when Dudley behaved this way, he was manipulating me and I was letting him.:eek:

I would not doctor up his food you are going to end up with a very very fussy eater. This all happened to me with Dudley, if you want to add anything to his food then add Veggies.;)

This is just my opinion, I have been down that road now if Dudley does not eat then I just lift his food and he has to wait until his next scheduled meal. It sounds tough and it is called tough love.:hug:
 
I should have read the last few posts 5 minutes ago. I just put 6 tiny slices of dry sausage in his food as his tummy has been gurgling for the past two hours. I've left the room so he can get on with it. He might just eat the sausage but I'll look later.
 
Linda, I should have listened to you dear :sl*p: he only ate the sausage. Ok, will try your plan from now. icon_blshing
 
def stick to your guns. jadan still misses a feed now and again but he doesnt get anything for not eating, until his next meal time. and no adding a meal time either....just because he missed breakfast doesnt mean he should get it at mid day because i am eating my lunch and he looks starved!! he gobbles it up all the quicker at tea having had to wait!! and if not then he gets it for breakfast and so on. i used to mix but now he has it plain and any extras are given after so he cant pick them out. he ate it plain before and did for a while till i thought he would miss out but he just got fussy so back to boring plain i am afraid. funny how he will eat a whole bowl plain but when it was mixed he never finished it off...maybe waiting for more of the yummy bits!! good luck and believe me there a soooo many threads on this site all with the same concerns. i know.... i either read them or wrote them. hee hee hee (not got the hang of these smileys yet so made my own up!!:) :) :) )
 
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