Not eating usual food?

[Maggie Mul]

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So our puppy vomited her breakfast 3 days in a row. She was super keen to eat it, maybe a bit too quickly and then vomited straight after. We did not believe she was ill as her behavior was the same, happy, active so when I went to work I left her with a kong as a 2nd breakfast so she wouldn’t be hungry. She is a real scavenger so we just assumed she had eaten something a bit dodgy when out walking. She seemed fine after each vomit. However, now she is turning her nose up at lunch!! She looks at it, then walks away. She LOVES her Kongs and jumps straight in her crate when I take one out of the freezer. I am wondering if she is preferring the Kongs to her usual kibble bfast/lunch and dinner. Also she has stopped being enticed by the kibble when training and I am now using chicken, cheese, turkey etc. I am not sure whether she is just protesting about the kibble over the other yummy things she likes to eat. Should I leave her lunch out or remove it. Replace it with the things she likes to eat? I donT want her to go hungry but also don’t want her to think she can refuse it and she will get something yummier!! Do dogs even think like that......

 

[JoanneF]

Is it just lunch she is refusing? If so it might just be a sign she is ready to go to two meals a day. And if she enjoys the activity of a Kong there are other Kong type toys that dispense kibble a piece at a time that she might enjoy. If you have a garden she might like hunting for it in the grass, or even scattered around the house. That's also a good way of slowing her down or you can get bowls designed to slow down dogs that inhale their food in one gulp.

Slow Feed Dog Bowl: Amazon.co.uk

 

[arealhuman]

I was also going to mention the bowls @JoanneF referred to, thinking maybe just eating too fast is the cause of the problem.

 

[Maggie Mul]

Thanks for your replies. I have been given her high value treats quite a bit recently when training, and I think she got quite used to it!! She then started to turn her nose up at kibble meals......I have left her food down for a bit longer incase she gets hungry or put it in pouch to give when out walking. I think she was hoping I would give in and replace regular meals with a kong of chicken, apple and cheese for every meal instead!!! Clever pup! She has been eating about half of her lunch at the moment and most of her breakfast and dinner, so I don't think it is a huge issue.....I hope!

 

[Maggie Mul]

Ok, so breakfast was not a hit today either.....and then I remembered something which may be affecting things. Our pup was waking up really early, around 5.30am. Someone suggested giving her a bedtime snack as we put her in a crate for bed. I started giving her just 1 or 2/8 of her kibble allowance at bed time. Since I have done this, her eating schedule has gone off track. As she became fussy, I then started to add a little chicken in her kibble to entice her to eat. Now, if there is no chicken in it, she is more fussy and doesn't often finish. I feel as though I have messed it all up!! She is on just over a cup of kibble per day (1 &1/8) and eats at 7:00am, 12:15 and 5:30 and then bedtime snack at 10:30/11pm. Should I be hung up on her eating food at these times specifically or just ensure she gets enough food for the day? Of course a regular schedule always means regular pooping schedule, which is also off track!!

 

[JoanneF]

Oh dear, it's annoying when the solution to one problem causes another. Although the fact she enjoys her chicken cheese and apple Kong but leaves the plain kibble does suggest she is just holding out for something better. To clarify; is it kibble breakfast at just under half her daily allowance (which she leaves or picks at), lunchime Kong with chicken etc (which she enjoys), teatime kibble at just under half daily allowance (which she leaves or picks at) then remainder of kibble allowance at bed time?

 

[Maggie Mul]

thanks for replying! It's confusing isn't it!! Yes, the late night kibble has resulted in her sleeping until past 6:30am, success!! Yay!! But I think that might be affecting b/fast appetite. She has kongs sometimes when we leave her in her crate, or when she needs to calm down and leave the children alone! They are never really given as her meal, although the kibble in it is from her allowance.
Breakfast at 7am is 3/8 cup, Lunch 3/8 cup, Dinner 3/8 cup - this is roughly the schedule. Kibble in kong and for walks is taken out of this allowance as well. Does that make sense? I think she is being fussy and refusing now to eat kibble without the chicken. I thought about changing the kibble from Royal Canin mini(green one) but the only other option I can buy here is Pedigree Puppy kibble. (Very limited options in Saudi. What do you think. Should I plug away a bit longer with the current food?

 

[JoanneF]

Personally I would. I wouldn't add anything to it that she can pick out, because that might keep her appetite just satisfied without having to eat the kibble. When I used to work full time Mr F was terrible for just putting in a little chicken or whatever to Timber's food because plain kibble looked so boring, and we had a terrible time for a while with him being fussy. If you do want to make her kibble more tempting, adding a little hot water and letting it soak for a minute or two helps release the aroma, or even a small spoonful of wet food that you can coat it with - but there is nothing to pick out so she can eat that and leave the boring stuff. We are lucky now though to have found something Timber really enjoys (Gentle, it is a cold pressed food and is quite different from normal kibble) but to make sure it never loses its value, he ALWAYS has to work for it at mealtimes, either doing tricks, training or finding it in his snuffle mat. You might find adding that perceived value helps too - if they have had to earn it, they feel they should get it, if that makes sense.

For outdoor training rewards I usually carry a minimum of two things and often three. Plain kibble is to continue to reward behaviours I expect, a higher value reward for a behaviour that is a little more challenging, and something higher value again for a behaviour that was really good.

 

[JoanneF]

Just another thought - try not to let her see if you are concerned, some dogs pick up on that anxiety and it puts them off. Try to just busy yourslf with something else at mealtimes.

 

[Maggie Mul]

For outdoor training rewards I usually carry a minimum of two things and often three. Plain kibble is to continue to reward behaviours I expect, a higher value reward for a behaviour that is a little more challenging, and something higher value again for a behaviour that was really good.

I love this idea. I normally just take a lot of the same thing but I like the fact that you can differentiate the level of treat! Today I made her work for her lunch whilst walking. Put some in the grass outside and she had to hunt for it and the rest for eye contact when walking (have a major issue with her level of anxiety when she sees other people, dogs etc when out) and the rest for some basic commands. It worked well. My daughter has a play date this afternoon so have left the rest of lunch for her kong mixed with some cheese for when her friend comes over. (She's not great with people in the house!) Poor thing has quite a list of issues!!!