Hunger Strike
Arrow is just about 8 months old and this week has decided he isn't eating kibble anymore. He got some but not many human scraps before but since his hunger strike hasnt gotten any. I had just switched his food to a different protein, he had been on the bison puppy taste of the wild, I switched to the salmon puppy taste of the wild, did it slowly. Thought maybe that was it, tried the old kibble again which he has never had issues with in hailing, still picky. Tried a whole other kind of kibble from a sample, a little more interested but just picked at it. I'm down with a dog that free feeds, but he's not eating enough. Tried adding some pumpkin to food incase he was having some issues digesting something, no change. He eats some and poops every day, just less than I want him to, only eating 1/2 to a full cup a day right now. When I made him a meal of boiled chicken etc he ate it no problem. So I am assuming he has just decided he doesnt eat kibble now?
Any advice?
I cant afford to feed him a raw/human food diet.
I dont mind doing it for a few days but I don't want him to win this battle and never eat his kibble again.
Today I put down the day's full portion of kibble in the morning, and havent touched his food situation yet, he only nibbled. Thinking I maybe wont give him any food at all until he eats what I put down today?
How many days do I let the hunger strike go on? He has good energy, healthy poops, but just isnt eating as much.
He's already pretty lean, I was planning on neutering him next week but not if he isnt eating. Secondly, are there downsides for waiting to neuter him till he is almost 9 months? With my schedule I either have to do it the first week or last week of june.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Judith Andre on
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He's not going to starve to death if he's eating that much..especially puppy food which is generally higher calorie. Most recommend not leaving them on puppy food very long. Murray is older, but gets less than a cup a day of light kibble. My last 2 puppies have been picky .. after they were a year or two changed into piglets. I wouldn't give in and give him too much people food. Maybe you could try mixing in a little of something he likes? I don't neuter my dogs until they are a year or so old so they get hormones while they're doing most of their growing. There have been discussions on here about age of neutering you can look up.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Generally breeders do not recommend puppy food. However during the first year puppies get their adult teeth at different times. This will cause some difficulty with eating kibble. Just add a little warm water and you may see that he will happily eat his food. Also, salmon is a completely different flavor so that may have thrown him off a little.
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Permalink Reply by Julie and Scooter on
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Scooter did the same thing as a baby I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on her food. Not much just a smidge. As someone else mentioned by the time she was a year old I had to buy her one of those bowls with nobs in it to keep her from eating too fast.
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Permalink Reply by Becky Focht on
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I've never had a problem with Foxy eating her kibble, she's also on TOTW bison. She went off puppy food at about 9 months. She only gets 1/3 cup twice a day and is pretty lean too. She's petite and only weighs 23 lbs. at 18 months. I do occasionally mix in pumpkin also or a dab of cottage cheese or plain yogurt. Maybe that will encourage him to eat or maybe it's just a phase that he will grow out of. I'd say if he's eating a cup a day I wouldn't be overly concerned.
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Permalink Reply by Caitlin Randolph on
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I've left him on puppy food because he is a tiny dude, very long and lean. Figured he could use the protein and fat and extra calories. If I mix it with something he likes he essentially rolls the kibble around, gets the flavor off, and drops the kibble all over the floor.
I've always added warm water to his food. In my trial and error he seems more willing to eat the food that soaked and sat in the water not the food thats dry.
He is willing to eat when its out of one of his toys like the kong or the treat ball, but still with nibbles from the bowl and from the treats he is getting about 1/2 cup a day. I want him to at least eat a full cup. I'm monitoring his energy.
I think I may take away all the treat toys that dispense kibble or taste good. No excuses not to eat out of his bowl then? I think after tomorrow night when we go to bed if he hasnt finished the food i put down yesterday (about a cup and a half) then I am going to pick it up and only put food down at the proper times for 30 minutes, then take it away. Realistically, if he doesnt start eating well the next few days I will probably try wet food, or chicken/pumpkin/egg/yogurt/rice etc him for a full day or two, get his stomach to stretch again, and then try the dog food again, maybe adult food. I cant stand the thought of him eating what he usually eats in a day over the span of a week. It just seems so sudden and random! I really dont think its a health issue, but just a doggy diva.
Also, definitely not in a hurry to neuter him, I'll rethink it at the end of the month when I have time. Im starting to get finger wags from people for not having him fixed yet but thats not really a good reason to hurry it up.
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A photo of Arrow, so you can see I'm not the girl fattening up her corgi. He's super tall and long, and undocked! He looks big because of his proportions but is pretty tiny.
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image.jpg, 1.6 MB
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@arrowthecorgi
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image.jpg, 788 KB
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Permalink Reply by Katy on
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I think you have the right idea in putting it down for 30 minutes (even 15 would be plenty of time) then taking it away and leaving him no food until you feed him what he did, or did not eat later. On your schedule.
Everyone has such different opinions on puppy vs adult food. Do what works for your dog. He is not going to puff up and be obese over night. I had my boy on puppy food to a year old and he also didn't get neutered until 2.5 years. My circumstances may be different but my dog is healthy and happy. Always has been.
He went thro a phase of not wanting to eat his kibble so I made a game out of it and rolled it across the floor or made him learn tricks/commands in order to get his food. Not sure what it was but it worked and after a few times he was fine with his kibble.
I would not give wet food. Or people food. When he is hungry, he will eat. And better to put him on your schedule, and not his. Wet food is horrible for dog teeth!
I've actually heard this about people having problems with dogs not eating the salmon food of TOTW. Can I ask why you changed the protein? Just to switch it up on him or was something going on?
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I had switched his protein because I don't want him to have a super sensitive stomach. He came home to me eating TOTW Bison and always had. I had tried switching him to blue wilderness chicken a few months ago and he did not do well if I went over 50%of the blue and his bison TOTW he would get sick. I wanted to switch the protein and thought maybe staying within the brand would be a good indicator if its a bad with other proteins issue, bad with chicken, or bad with blue wilderness. I think it's just the blue wilderness because the 2 days he was eating the new salmon food his body did great with it! Even better than he was doing on the bison TOTW.
I thought we had the hunger strike beat 2 days ago. My sister had been gifted a bag of chicken, grain free, science diet adult food. He happily ate this for the past two days in reasonable adult portions, a little over a cup a day (with no bad reaction to the protein or the new food all of a sudden) Then today he ignored his food again all day, thought I would see what happened when i put down some old salmon TOTW again instead of him rejecting the science diet for another meal (I think I loose points every time he rejects a meal). He ate this a lot more willingly. Ugh.
All my testing to see whats wrong has got me with 3 open bags of kibble the Salmon TOTW, Bison TOTW I bought to see if he would eat his old food, and the free bag of Science Diet. And has left me with a doggy diva who has totally outsmarted me.
So now my thoughts are - we had just been out of town and the behavior started when we got back. I know he managed to scarf down some food of 2 different dogs while we were at their homes. I'm thinking his horizons were suddenly broadened and he wants different kibbles always. And I am a pushover, and he is smart, he is winning the kibble battle currently.
tough luck now, pup. I serve only 2 kinds of dinner now, take it or leave it.
I've decided its a phase, he is loosing a little weight but not a serious amount. Winning the kibble battle is more important currently.
My debate now is if I take away all food toys like frozen kibble in his kong, puzzle ball, etc so he learns food comes from the bowl. OR do I just try to get him to eat one meal a day from his bowl and the second meal can come from food toys.
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Permalink Reply by Beverly Butler Redford & Tucker on
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He may just get bored with the taste of one food. I have had to keep two bags of food and alternate because sometimes Butler just seems to get bored (particularly as we get to the bottom of the bag).
Right now, Butler & Tucker aren't eating as much because it has hit 100 degrees-their appetites always drop off in the heat. Has it gotten really hot in your neck of the woods?
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Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on
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Both of our boys basically stopped eating around 9 months. Getting any food down them was a chore. Then around a year they remembered they were corgi's and started eating everything they could find. They are 10 months apart in age so this happened at different times. We still think it is weird.
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