Grey Eating Less

[Guest fitzdawg]

So we've had Hops for 3 weeks now, and at first he was eating like a champ. However, the last two days he's only been eating about half of his food in the morning and evenings. While we haven't changed his food in that time, the last time we bought food the store only had the mini-bites instead of the larger kibble (still the same stuff, just smaller bites). His behavior hasn't changed at all, pooping fine, no vomiting or anything like that. He's still enthusiastically eating the bananas that we've been giving him as a semi-treat, and he gobbles up the cheese that my wife uses as treats when she's working on obedience training with him. Is it possible that he just doesn't like that food anymore, or that he's simply not hungry? Has anybody had a grey that preferred a specific kibble size? For reference purposes, we've been feeding him the Authority grain free chicken and potato, and giving him 4 cups a day (two in the morning, and two at night). Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[a_daerr]

He's still enthusiastically eating the bananas that we've been giving him as a semi-treat, and he gobbles up the cheese that my wife uses as treats when she's working on obedience training with him. Is it possible that he just doesn't like that food anymore, or that he's simply not hungry?

 

It sounds like he's holding out hope that if he waits, he'll get something better. For picky eaters, I'd just put the bowl down for 15 minutes and pick it back up if he doesn't eat it all. That's it. Don't try to coax him or entice him by adding in mix-ins or changing to a different food. Those are surefire ways to make a picky dog pickier. Reserve the high value treats for your training sessions only.

[GeorgeofNE]

My guess is you're feeding him too much.

[Guest fitzdawg]

My guess is you're feeding him too much.

 

I've wondered about that too. It's not like he's just not eating, he seems to be eating his fill and then won't eat again until the next meal time.

 

Is it possible that he hoover-ed everything up when he was brand new with us (especially since he didn't know the schedule yet), and now that he's comfortable he's only eating until he's full?

[TheFullHouse]

That could be it or now that he's comfortable, he may be waiting to see if you're going to offer him something better. lol These guys are smart. Unless he starts losing weight I wouldn't worry about it. Keep him on schedule, if he doesn't finish his meal, pick it up and don't offer it again until the next feeding time. If he is just holding out, he'll soon learn that he eats at meal time or has to wait until the next meal time. Some of these guys coming straight from the track prefer only being fed once a day because that's the way they're fed at the track.

[Guest fitzdawg]

Some of these guys coming straight from the track prefer only being fed once a day because that's the way they're fed at the track.

 

Yeah, we adopted him two days after he arrived at the rescue from the track.

[Guest fitzdawg]

Well, our problem looks like it has been solved, it looks like Hops is scared of his stainless steel bowl. I was getting his food ready last night and he ran away from me when I picked up his empty food bowl. Apparently he knocked his bowl over 3 days ago (my wife was the only one home with him), and the noise startled him a bit. Ever since then he's abandoned his food bowl whenever anyone made a noise or moved while he was eating. After realizing that I used a clean Pyrex bowl (with my wife's blessing ) and he's devoured both his dinner last night and his breakfast this morning. Now the trick is finding a permanent bowl solution that Hops isn't terrified of.