• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

Maybe Food Allergy? Suggestions?

Donna27

Well-known member
Hey all,
I'm going to take Fiona into the vet just to check up, but I though I'd get everyone's opinion first...she really hasnt been eating much, like maybe once a day, but a few days a week she will barely eat anything. She seems very uninterested in her food and like most dogs, whatevers not in her bowl is much more exciting to eat :) She's also been scratching her legs and bottom a lot (like the gnawing/chewing type scratching) and I was thinking this might be food allergy related? She's 8 and a half months now, and she was started on Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Food, so we kept her on it until now, and maybe it's time to change. Any food suggestions? Other possibilities of what the scratching might be? She's not scratching her head/ears at all, it's almost all legs and bottom....hmmm...
 
Hi Donna,

I am going through this with my one year old now too. We have been seeing a veterinarian dermatologist and try different food trials.

Below are some of the ones we have tried, the pain with food trials is they can have nothing else to eat but their food, no greenies, no treats, no rawhides-anything! I give mine a few pieces of his kibble as a "treat" and he doesn't even notice. You have to try the diet for 4-6 weeks before you see improvement, you can also get your vet to give you steriods for a 5 day treatment to see if it is environmental allergies. Best of luck, you can always PM me if you have questions I have been dealing with this since January so I can pretty much tell you the ins and outs. Hope this helps!

- Royal Canin IVD Venison and Potato (have to get at vets)
- Pinnacle Trout and Sweet Potoato (what we are on now, seems to be working)
 
Sounds like it may well be allergies/intolerances... though if she is eating what's not in her bowl, it also sounds like she is just holding out as a bit of a game and to see what comes next -- and also in hopes that you will turn feeding time into social time by paying attention to her. They learn very quickly that if they hold out on food, it gets their owner worried, who then starts talking to them, tempting them, trying bits of different food, new plates... in other words, lots and lots of rewarding activity. Well worth ignoring the food for!

Many breeders say this is common in this breed and especially for singleton dogs as they have no competition for their meal and a person who is really noticing what they do or don't do. So it is important to break any bad habits associated with feeding time or it does become an ongoing headache.

As for allergies: I would maybe try a food without any poultry or beef as a starting point. Fish or venison are generally good; a lot of people think duck is a good non-allergenic food too but I was recently reading something that says this is often not the case. Sometimes switching to a prepared raw diet solves allergy problems. Or a home cooked diet. As noted above you need to try an elimination diet for many weeks to see if it will be successful -- a week or two isn't long enough.

I'd be very firm on sticking with the food and not feeding treats at all, and totally ignoring your dog during the 15 minutes she gets to eat, to break any connections between feeding and social time with you. Also, many dogs only want to eat once a day by 8 months -- this is totally normal. I only fed mine once a day from about 8-9 months onward. So don;t worry that she only wants one meal a day -- I'd shift her to that permanently and just feed her full daily amount at that time. :)

In the Library section there's a bunch of info on allergies.

Keep in mind dogs can have dust mite allergies, flea allergies -- could be a lot of things bsides food. The best thing to do is work with your vet if you don't see any change from altering food.
 
Thank you Karlin! I also didnt mention that she went from 13 back down to 12 pounds recently...it might not have been a full pound since we measure her weight by holding her on a scale then subtracting our own, but she hasd definitely lost a little bit.
 
Oh BTW keep in mind it could even be a type of treat causing problems. People often think about changing the main food but then are feeding treats that are chicken based or have something like wheat or corn that a dog might be allergic to.
 
Allergies

Natural home cooking! I changed my babies diets and have NO more problems. She used to itch uncontrollably, eye infections, a bit over weight...anyway we use chefk9 and havent been healthier. It turns out she was allergic to all the bad stuff in the so called "good for her kibble"
 
Oh BTW keep in mind it could even be a type of treat causing problems. People often think about changing the main food but then are feeding treats that are chicken based or have something like wheat or corn that a dog might be allergic to.


I call treats chemical sticks...
 
Back
Top