Inconsistent food apetite

[jaykimsue]

Hi everyone
I know every Dane is different when it comes to feeding, some eat well, and some are more finicky, but what I have noticed with Jonah , since we first bought him home, is he goes through stages of eating everything you put in front of him ,and a month or so later he gets finicky, and doesnt eat with the same passion so to speak, he is always happy and well with as much energy at these times , then he starts to eat really well again a few weeks later, when he is going through these fussy stages I have to coax him into eating at times, should I just walk away and let him eat if he wants to , as I know by reading on this board that I shoudnt pander to him, if he doesnt eat it after a certain time limit to just pick it up and not offer him anything else until his next meal, I know he wont starve himself, he is looking good, no fat, he is a very muscular Dane , his coat is very shiny with no flakey skin underneath etc, so he is a bundle of health, so I was just wondering if any of you have the same thing at times with your Danes, and how you handle the situation.
Thanks everyone
Susan and Jonah
Jonah is a year old on the 5th of June

[rachel]

Hi Susan
Could it be to do with his growth spurts? When it changes is he also sleeping a lot?
Rachel

[SixstarDanes]

Our two 13 mo old pups (on a raw diet)
will have days here and there where they aren't very hungry
then other days when they are extremely hungry.

As long as they are healthy and are normally active
(including the sleepies when growing) I don't worry about it.
It's normal.

Even people have days like that.

Rachel C.
www.6stardanes.com

[MP]

I pander to mine still at 2 years because his appetite changes still seem growth related and I'd rather have him eat a fairly consistent amount. He's not at all picky when his appetite is hearty, so I don't worry about being the "breakfast cheerleader" every once in a while.

mp

[jaykimsue]

Thanks everyone
It could be growth related Rachal, sometimes he does sleep alot more than he normally does, he was eating really well for a good few weeks ,and then all of a sudden in the last few days he got really fussy again, he ate his breakfast yesterday morning, but come to last night he didnt want his dinner, he just sort of picked it up in his mouth and spat it back out again, I tryed to help him along abit, but he wasnt interested, so I got a small piece of cooked bacon out of the fridge to see if he was in fact just being fussy, as soon as he got a sniff of that bacon, he sat straight down like a soilder at attention, staring up at me with his eyes bright as a button, tail wagging, it was down the hatch in no time at all.So after about 20 minutes of leaving his food out and him not touching it, I picked it up and threw it away, I thought ok, Im not going to worry myself sick about it, my common sense side told me that he was just trying it on, and he is not going to win, but it is alot easier than done, I worried about him all night, so this morning I woke up to Jonah in bed with me as he always hops in as soon as my husband goes to work, and he was nuzzling my neck to wake me up, he loves to play around with peoples ears, I got up and he went straight outside looking for something, he found what he was looking for , an old raw dog bone that he must have buried at least a week ago, as I give him a raw bone 2 times a week, and I always pick up his bones after he has chewed them for a couple of hours, but this was obvisuoly the bone I couldnt find last week, I thought at the time he might have buried it somewhere, he had buried it in the bark, so he pulled the bone out and started to chew on it, I thought yuk,so I quickly got it off him much to his disgust, he was hungrey, so I got his breakfast ready and he was very interested in what I was doing, I put his bowl down and he ate the lot, after missing dinner last night he must have been pretty hungrey, so he is just doing what alot of other dogs do at times, but I must say it would be so much easier if you had a dog that was an out right guts, the Boxer we had years ago was the most gutsy dog we have ever had, he would eat anything you put down in front of him, but I suppose they are all different, anyway thanks very much ,
Susan and Jonah

[rachel]

Susan, Mia used to be really fussy until we changed her food. The one we're feeding her smells a lot more food-like if you know what I mean (not like cardboard/ash!) and feels oilier. She won't miss out on any of it. I don't even need training treats now, one piece of her normal kibble and she goes berserk.

But missing the occasional meal won't do him any harm.

[Mom x 2]

I think this is probably one of the most common reasons people get in the habit of adding "goodies" to their dogs food. The usual outcome - porky pups! (Gee, can you guess how my spaniel got the nick name easter ham?)

Most dogs (and people) go through the "It just doesn't look good to me today" phase. Who can blame them?

If he's doing good in all the other departments, I'd just let him skip the meal. Just keep track of how many meals are missed.

Cindy
(And if you think I'm eating macaroni and cheese for dinner AGAIN you're wrong!)

[jaykimsue]

Thanks Rachal and Cindy,
Well I burst out laughing when you said that your Spaniel had the nick name Easter ham, my husband use to say to his mother that it looked like her dog had swallowed a loaf of bread, he is a only a little dog, and he is terribly over weight, little head ,big body look to him, and he has a heart condition, but she insists on feeding food that he is not allowed ,because he wont eat his normal weight reducing kibble, so she is really killing him with kindness, you can tell her until you are blue in the face, but she wont listen,
But Rachel, if you dont mind me asking what are you feeding Mia at the moment, I know that we cant get certain American brand kibble here, but you being in NZ, and me being in OZ, it might be avalible here, , but Im just curious, what is that old saying, leave no stone unturned,
Thanks very much
Susan and Jonah

[rachel]

I don't mind at all - we are feeding her Hills Large Breed Puppy Growth. Before anyone panics at the words 'large breed puppy' in relation to food, this particular one is okay, it has medium protein but little fat and the calcium etc. is okay. It has less calcium and fat than the adult maintenance.

Susan you're right, being in a different country does make a difference to food availability. This particular brand was the only one I could find that we are happy with. It's better than the Pedigree puppy food she was on, anyway.

[jaykimsue]

Thanks Rachel
I have seen Hills around, and from what I have heard and read it is an excellent brand, at least if for any reason I ever have to change his food, it will give me another option, at the moment we are feeding Jonah Adult Supercoat,it is what his breeder feeds all his dogs, and it is recommended by Harry of Harrys vets practice, im pretty sure you will know who I mean, but he ate all his dinner again tonight, with no problems, the little ratbag, so far so good, until next time,
thanks again
Susan and Jonah

[rachel]

Hmm, Harry - nope, don't know who you mean. But if you're happy with what Jonah's eating and he's not getting thin or ill from refusing to eat then I wouldn't worry too much about him. As someones else said above, we all have off days when we just don't feel like it.

I wish Mia would, she's eating me out of house and home! LOL.

[jaykimsue]

LOL, sorry about that Rachel, I thought you might have heard of Harry, the vet, you must have thought , what a crack pot!!but he is a well known vet here in Australia, he lives in Tasmania, he does alot of TV shows here etc, I use to watch him when we were in NZ on TV but that was a few years ago, he is abit like Mr Marshall, in NZ,who is on the kids show What Now, he use to be our vet in Christchurch, we miss him as he is terrific, he use to fly out and look after all the Huskys every 6 months or so,but im rambling on now, so anyway, you are right ,he is fine in every other way,I am just going to have to put up with a fussy eater from time to time,
Thanks again
Susan and Jonah

[rachel]

Susan, the last thing I think of you as is a crackpot :)

[jaykimsue]

LOL, Thanks Rachel, I would post a smiley face, but thet never work for me
Susan and Jonah