Lowe=Jenni banging head on wall

[ShilohsGirlJen]

Ok so here goes.

When we came up here(Wisconsin) Lowe had an upset system/tummy. I put her on boiled chix and rice for 1 week. Then I re introduced her to her raw.

We went with Chix for 2 weeks and then was planning to add back in the other stuff. I was giving her her liver during the 2 weeks with sam oil. The first 2 days she would not eat it unless I chopped it up. Then she would only eat it frozen. She seemed to love it that way. Now she eats maybe half - 3/4 of each portion.

Then we were planning to go half and half with kibble and raw. She loved the kibble when I introduced her to it now she will eat it but not when it is in her bowl. Then again she ate all of it from her bowl last night. Tonight she totally refused it.

She is acting normal and is playing and swimming and running around. She was super interested in her nose work and playing hide and seek last night. She may be slightly more tired than normal but she has been playing just about 24/7

Does she have my number or is she confused?

Also my brothers family was here for a week and she really looked scared to eat while they were here even when I took her dowstairs.

What now. Do I drop the kibble and give her the raw and say eat it or don't and pick it up and wait until the next meal.

[RockyMountainDobies]

I feel for you Jenni, I have two picky eaters, so some nights they go hungry. I stopped trying to cater to them, basically we have gotten to the point where if we put it down in front of them and they dont eat it, it gets picked it up and they go hungry.

[krb0471]

Basja would go through phases of eating some of her meals or not at all. I think the heat or stress affected her a lot as well and caused her to not eat. I ended up just giving more treats on the days she skipped and forced myself not to cater to her skipped meals.

[SapheraGirl]

Saphera isn't a great eater either. I feed her a cup and a half of kibble 2 times a day. Some days her breakfast goes untouched. I don't take the bowl away though because I'm afraid she may want it later...which she sometimes does. The only thing I do differently on the days she doesn't eat is offer her some snacks ( though I do make her work for them ). And the only reason I do that is so he doesn't get sick to her stomach...sometimes she throws up if her tummy is empty.

[Hounds_N_Leo]

does she generally eat less in Summer? Is it hot where you are? Do you free feed? Cleo is a grazer so, really she eats when she wants...perhaps that is what you should do, at least with the kibble portion. Cleo is always "watching" over the kids so she eats THE MOST when they go to bed, and she is alone in the dark and "off duty" LOL. Maybe that is what's up? Just brainstorming.

[ShilohsGirlJen]

Nope no free feed. Freedom has a food that could give Lowe itchies so we put it down and take it up. I guess this might just be summer slow down. It has been hotter than normal. I will give her more time. She gets her raw in the morning and then the kinnle at night. Trying to figure out if she can eat this kibble long term with no itchies.

[Hounds_N_Leo]

can she eat in a crate where she's not distracted? Sully is a busy boy and tho a Beagle, not all that interested in food. He is crated overnight anyways...so his food goes in there with him. In the morning he is let out and his food is all gone. Some dogs just need a quiet place to eat where they can focus and not worry or get distracted. In a multidog household oftentimes the Omega is nervous about eating when any higher ranking members are in viewing distance...just again, brainstorming.

[Lora]

Rufus is the only one that even looks twice at his bowl and that's usually to wait and see if Im going to put something else on it like yogurt or meat. When hes sufficiently satisfied I'm not, he will eat with out any further hesitation. Saints and Labs are notorious seefood eaters so I have just the opposite problem. I cant leave anything around or it will be eaten.

Sorry I dont have any suggestions for you other than add some yogurt and see if its enticing.

[Delynnr]

Our old dog (a sheltie) did not want to eat all in one setting either, he was a grazer as well. Maybe you could try setting down lowe's food in a separate room and letting her take her time in the room alone? That is what we had to do with Arrow when my parents got the yapper.

Here at my house my two are such gluttons that they learned how to unscrew the lid of these to feed themselves! Also - if it is left with in 2' of the edge of the counter Caza will steal whatever bread product she can nab. She is so good at it now that at my parents house last week we were there for 10 minutes. I THOUGHT I was supervising her the entire time. Nope, she managed to nab a bag of buns, haul it outside and chow down. It could not have taken more than 20 seconds. So, as tough as picky eaters are, it could be just as bad in the other direction!

[ShilohsGirlJen]

i am going to give her several hours. I would assume kibble would give her full feeling sooner than raw.

[Swissy Mom]

Cash is not a big eater. He will often skip a meal here and there...or sometimes several meals over a few day period. It used to freak me out. Now, I've decided it's just who he is. He is healthy and his weight is good so I don't stress it anymore. If he eats, he eats. If not, we'll try again at the next meal time. The only time I do cave a little is when he decides to skip more than a day's meals. After the 3rd skipped meal in a row I usually scramble an egg or something, but he always seems fine.

[ToBScholarly]

Same here. MAxine has been missing all kinds of meals lately. So we just pick it up and try again at the next mealtime.
God knows she is a fatty anyway.

[HovawartMom]

My Leo males use to lose 10 pds,in the summer cos of the heat so not totally,abnormal.
Maybe hose them down,an hr or so before offering food,I know it helped a lot,with my 3 boys.

[Itsapyr]

Jasper would never eat when I fed him in the morning. He would just guard it and get nasty. I switched his feeding to 5PM and now he eats it right up. Where Janey wants fed in the morning he just wasnt hungry at that time. I figure he was one of those "people" that just didn't like breakfast very much :-)

Changing his feeding time was one of the things Pat Miller recommended.