Advice Needed

Betsy18

Hi Guys

I'm getting a little worried about my 6mth old shih tzu, she was always a good eater but the last few weeks she has developed an odd eating habit. she gets fed twice a day ( around 7.30am and her second feed is at 5pm). she is kept in a downstairs room at night and i let her out when i get up at 6.50. i then go to work around 7.45 and put her back into the room with her food whilst my husband is in bed and he then gets up with her around 9/10 ish. she used to be starving the mornings and would get so excited when she seen us getting her food but for the past few weeks now she isnt interested in her food. she wont go back into the room for me and i have to coax her with a treat to get her in! My husband has come down some mornings and found that her food hasnt been touched! we thought that it may be too hard so we put warm water into it to soften it but its no good.she mostly will eat her food in the evening time but has to be coaxed into eating it but some days even that is no good.

I dont want to have to change her food again as we bought her last large bag only a few weeks ago! is there anything we can do to help her or do u think there is something up with her?

Would she be coming into heat?

I'd appreciate any useful advice please!

Thanks!:)

TooManyDogs

What I noticed with my pups was that they naturally went off a meal when they were younger and fed 3 meals a day, and some of them again went off a meal when they were fed twice a day so ended up on one meal and were quite happy with that. It may be your dog just isn't hungry in the morning.

Another thing to keep an eye on is focusing too much attention and being anxious around mealtimes. If you're anxious and always watching her to see if she's eating it could easily make her anxious about eating.

My advise would be to put a few bits of something tasty and smelly into the bowl with her meal, put it down for her and walk out of the room. Go back in half an hour later and take up the bowl, even if sh'es not eaten anything. Repeat the same thing in the evening. That should take the pressure off her about eating and you should see an improvement.

Good luck

adser53

Hi Betsy,
First of all the feeding...i'm just guessing based on your post but do you leave the food out all the time if she doesnt eat it? Its best to put the bowl down for 15-20 mins and if she doesnt eat it, take it back up and give her nothing til the next feeding time. Dont try and coax her or add things like chicken as she'll come to expect that as the norm. She might not eat for a day or so when you start this but persevere and she'll soon realise that if she doesnt eat when given the chance, there wont be any food til the next meal time.
Secondly, about where she stays. Is she alone in that room all day? This could be why shes so reluctant to go back into it and if shes stressed it could be a contributing factor to her not eating. I understand of course that you and your husband have to work but a walk in the morning and some toys in the room would really help alleviate her boredom. If its a big treat youve been giving her, this could also put her off her food as shes expecting something tasty every morning and it could be filling her up.
I could be way off but based on your post alone my advice is simply, no treats, more excercise and stimulation to tire her out and food down for short intervals. Hope that helps
just edited to add i agree with toomanydogs above, feeding her once a day could help too.

Whispered

Firstly I'd say ensure she is not suffering a digestive complaint. Is she going to the toilet as normal? Is the waste solid? Could she have eaten something that could cause a blockage. I think your first port of call would be the vet - even just a phone call to see if she needs to be brought in.

Make sure she is drinking.


Once medical issues have been ruled out it's important to stop trying to coax her. If she is hungry she will eat (assuming she is healthy). If you start coaxing, adding gravy, mixing in meats etc you will end up with a fussy eater an you really don't want that. I know one 15 year old dog who eats only freshly cooked chicken breasts, liver and..... orange segments!!!I've seen her owner cook her up a pan of liver at 11pm because she refused to eat the chicken.

I find that coming into colder weather my fella eats a bit less too. He's more sedentary, asleep in front of the fire instead of playing in the garden. Could your dog be the same?

When you are leaving in the morning - put the food down for 15 mins only then take it up. If you feel really bad about that your husband can put it down for another few mins later in the morning before he leaves. Same in the evening. Don't leave the food down. You have a great routine - but the fact that the food is left down means the dog doesn't really. She will quickly learn that food isn't there all day and she needs to at at meal times.

Regarding coaxing her into her room - is she happy in the room? Does she have toys, a comfy bed etc? Could she be cold, bored etc. Just ensure there is nothing in the room that could scare her like a particularly loud washing machine etc.

Have you cheated and brought her up to your husband once or twice so she could be on the bed with him They develop habits so easily. And start to demand what they want.

mymo

Both of my dogs went through phases as puppies of not being very hungry, the girl never for more than a few days, the boy lost a lot of weight and got very thin. Even the vet commented, but recommended some extra home cooked food.
Both are fine now, in fact I have the girl on a diet now as she's almost 18months and getting a little round.
Unless she gets very thin I would just try cutting the amount of food in the meals, it may make her hungrier, or just waiting it out. Pups have growth spurts and need more food, maybe she's slowing down at the moment.
Try the advice above about taking up the food.

I know its hard to judge with a hairy dog(both mine are very hairy), you should be able to feel the dogs ribs, and she should have a waist.

boxerly

I wouldnt feed any dog just once a day,even an overweight dog.Id measure their food for the day and split it in two.Id go to the vet.She may be sick.My older boxer is allergic to wheat and if he eats it he will have a very very bad tummy with blood:(

moving_home

same thing happened with my puppy - she was a great eater so I was so worried when she went off her food - turned out she was in heat at around 5.5mths (most stressful 3wks of my life - she is now spayed ) She went off her food about 1.5 wks before the main signs of heat started to show. have dogs been paying extra attention to her on walks?

Betsy18

adser53 wrote: »

Hi Betsy,
First of all the feeding...i'm just guessing based on your post but do you leave the food out all the time if she doesnt eat it? Its best to put the bowl down for 15-20 mins and if she doesnt eat it, take it back up and give her nothing til the next feeding time. Dont try and coax her or add things like chicken as she'll come to expect that as the norm. She might not eat for a day or so when you start this but persevere and she'll soon realise that if she doesnt eat when given the chance, there wont be any food til the next meal time.
Secondly, about where she stays. Is she alone in that room all day? This could be why shes so reluctant to go back into it and if shes stressed it could be a contributing factor to her not eating. I understand of course that you and your husband have to work but a walk in the morning and some toys in the room would really help alleviate her boredom. If its a big treat youve been giving her, this could also put her off her food as shes expecting something tasty every morning and it could be filling her up.
I could be way off but based on your post alone my advice is simply, no treats, more excercise and stimulation to tire her out and food down for short intervals. Hope that helps
just edited to add i agree with toomanydogs above, feeding her once a day could help too.

Hi

No her food isnt left down all day, the morning time alright it would be left with her for an hour or 2 but in the evening if she doesnt eat it we lift it after about 15 mins. My husband is with her all day during the week and i am with her at weekends. the only time she is put into her room is when i leave for work in the morning and at night. I have made the room comfy for her with a lovely bed, water, teddy, and sometimes a hot water bottle and i will put the radio on for her. so she has a lot of comfort in there. she is also near a radiator so is warm enough. i know she is a spoilt puppy but we are trying to keep her from getting too spoiled!

She gets small little training treats and only really gets these after she has gone to the toilet outside, she has got a little smart to this tho and sometimes pretends that she is going and runs to where the treats is then!!:pac:

Thanks again for the advice!!

Betsy18

moving_home wrote: »

same thing happened with my puppy - she was a great eater so I was so worried when she went off her food - turned out she was in heat at around 5.5mths (most stressful 3wks of my life - she is now spayed ) She went off her food about 1.5 wks before the main signs of heat started to show. have dogs been paying extra attention to her on walks?

i havent really noticed them sniffing around her much but they do pay attention to her as she goes mad barking once she sees a dog!

1c1a

hi there,

This happened my little shih tzu when she was about that age and it literally tormented me for months. I brought her to the vet to see if there was anything actually wrong with her(there wasn't), he simply said it happens with some dogs that shes just not hungry and that she would eat when she was but he did say to me to make sure not to leave down food for more than 10-15 mins at a time, also advised me not to change her food because she would just stop eating that too. I noticed this a few weeks before she came into heat so that may be it she normally goes off her food around this time she just picks at food, hopefully your little one will go back to normal soon mine did but if she doesn't maybe bring her to the vet and see if there is anything you can do for her, keep an eye on her and see if she is drinking normally if she isn't this might indicate that there is something wrong with her.

adser53

Betsy18 wrote: »

Hi

No her food isnt left down all day, the morning time alright it would be left with her for an hour or 2 but in the evening if she doesnt eat it we lift it after about 15 mins. My husband is with her all day during the week and i am with her at weekends. the only time she is put into her room is when i leave for work in the morning and at night. I have made the room comfy for her with a lovely bed, water, teddy, and sometimes a hot water bottle and i will put the radio on for her. so she has a lot of comfort in there. she is also near a radiator so is warm enough. i know she is a spoilt puppy but we are trying to keep her from getting too spoiled!

She gets small little training treats and only really gets these after she has gone to the toilet outside, she has got a little smart to this tho and sometimes pretends that she is going and runs to where the treats is then!!:pac:

Thanks again for the advice!!

You've one lucky dog there Betsy, You're doing everything right IMO If it persists to the point shes losing weight then definitely bring her to the vet but she could just be off her food due to the weather (it does happen and this is her first winter) or she might be coming into heat as other posters have said (not my area of expertise. Thats if i have one )

Whispered

Betsy18 wrote: »

She gets small little training treats and only really gets these after she has gone to the toilet outside, she has got a little smart to this tho and sometimes pretends that she is going and runs to where the treats is then!!:pac:

Brilliant - My fella used to do the same!! He'd even squat.

dvet

mymo wrote: »

I know its hard to judge with a hairy dog(both mine are very hairy), you should be able to feel the dogs ribs, and she should have a waist.

I'd like to also add that, you should be able to feel your dog's ribs, but not see them! (for dogs with shorter coats). Also, feeling the backbone is useful - if you can feel the bumps of your dog's spine, it's underweight. If you can't feel the ribs with some light pressure, then it's probably overweight.

It's a good thing to keep an eye on time as if your dog ever gets sick, you can tell the vet if they've been losing or gaining weight recently - and it can be hard to tell by just looking, especially when you're seeing your dog day in, day out!

Betsy18

1c1a wrote: »

hi there,

This happened my little shih tzu when she was about that age and it literally tormented me for months. I brought her to the vet to see if there was anything actually wrong with her(there wasn't), he simply said it happens with some dogs that shes just not hungry and that she would eat when she was but he did say to me to make sure not to leave down food for more than 10-15 mins at a time, also advised me not to change her food because she would just stop eating that too. I noticed this a few weeks before she came into heat so that may be it she normally goes off her food around this time she just picks at food, hopefully your little one will go back to normal soon mine did but if she doesn't maybe bring her to the vet and see if there is anything you can do for her, keep an eye on her and see if she is drinking normally if she isn't this might indicate that there is something wrong with her.

Hi

I spoke to the vet yesterday and they think it may be a silent Heat that she is in. i have to take her in for a check up next tuesday and they will weigh her etc.... but she didnt seem too worried about it! so glad!

She definately dosent seem to have lost any weight so i'm not really worried that she is underweight!