mike
Newbie
Posts: 1
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Post by mike on Apr 1, 2013 14:08:46 GMT
I have a 6 month old Border Collie puppy from a rescue centre and we have only had her for three weeks and so far she has hardly eaten at all. She is a very slim bitch, with very little puppy fat on her. I have checked her mouth and there doesn't seem to be any problems with teeth or gums and she pees and defecates normally. I have tried all sorts of foods and she just picks at it but doesn't eat a full meal and at the moment is only eating about half the recommended food intake for her age. She seems very healthy and has a very good glossy coat and she is full of energy as you would expect for a 6 month old Collie. She has a good level of balanced exercise including free-running off the lead, I also stimulate her with play and training. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to encourage her to eat. I have had dogs since 1975 and I am a BIPDT dog trainer, but this is the first dog that I have ever owned who hasn't got a good appetite. Many thanks.
Mike
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Post by orpheous87 on Apr 1, 2013 14:20:30 GMT
Hi Mike, welcome to the forum. What kind of food are you feeding your pup on? When we brought our younger dog home from the rescue centre, she was on Arden Grange Junior, however, she was much more interested in our older dog's food than her own! Now she'll eat whatever is put down in front of her and, if the older dog isn't quick enough, she'll eat hers too. My older dog has always been a bit fussy and at one point, she wouldn't eat anything at all unless I fed her it by hand (which I didn't really want to encourage). At that time, we were feeding Arden Grange mixed with Applaws wet food. Do you feed dry, wet or a mixture? I am currently feeding a mixture of Applaws dry with Lily's Kitchen wet food and I have to say, both of my dogs now sit by my feet while I'm putting their tea out. I found that it was the Lily's Kitchen that made a difference as they both love it, but if I try and feed my older dog dry food on it's own, she's not as interested. I expect you've tried putting her food down and then removing it 15/20 minutes later? I daresay that there will be others who can help more than me with this issue, but I thought I'd post my experience of a fussy eater anyway. Good luck!
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Post by AnnaAmber on Apr 1, 2013 15:14:48 GMT
Amber is a fussy eater and at one stage when we just had her on dry food, it didn't matter what brand or flavour, she just refused to eat it - one time she went a whole week without eating anything, so I switched her kibble to lots of different brands - James Wellbeloved, Royal Canin etc! Now she will eat the Applaws kibble if we put some Lily's Kitchen wet topper on it. She's still as fussy as ever though and will refuse some dog treats! I would suggest putting her food down, leaving it for about 10 minutes, then removing it again for the next meal. Maybe try a brand with a higher meat content, such as Applaws or Acana? Also a wet topper may help? If you have only had her three weeks, maybe she's still just settling in and given time she may begin to get an appetite? I know Amber as a puppy didn't eat until she settled in, although that was only a few days. I read before though that sometimes it's to do with the sort of bowl they are fed in. At a rescue centre where they use stainless steel bowls, feeding times may have been very noisy and if she can see her reflection in it she may not like that? Also, where do you feed her? Is it in a quiet room or are there distractions such as other dogs which may be making her feel insecure? Amber won't eat if there are any distractions like squeaky balls! Some dogs don't need to eat the full recommended daily feeding amount as the pet food companies tend to tell you to feed them more than they need, I know my own dogs get under the daily feeding amounts they suggest yet they are perfectly happy on that. Anyway I hope that helps
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Post by smokeybear on Apr 1, 2013 15:28:07 GMT
Attitudes are contagious and thus if you are anxious about food, your dog will be.
If the vet has given the dog the all clear, then halve the amount of the daily ration, divide it into two meals and put down and leave her alone to eat, pick up any remainder after 15 mins max and either throw or save until next meal and give NOTHING until the next meal.
Alternatively you could only hand feed her, there is no real reason to give a dog two free meals a day when she can work for her food and this helps relationship building.
It may be that her background has shaped her curent attitude around food and she may have been punished around food situations. If you have any other dogs or cats in the household, you may need to ensure they are segregated during mealtimes.
It is early doors yet, if she is full of confidence and energy I would not worry too much.
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Post by caz2golden on Apr 1, 2013 17:47:27 GMT
Has she been spayed? Crazy question but my last little girl got funny with her food and in hindsight it was probably hormonal related. Since spaying (between 1st and 2nd season) I have not had the problem.
I think everyone else has given all the other sorts of things I would have posted.
Good luck.
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 2, 2013 8:52:40 GMT
Hi Mike, welcome to the forum.
My 3 year old Border Terrier male Earl gulps any food on offer. I consider us lucky that he is a good eater, however, not long ago he was put on a diet. There was quite a big topic on that on the old forum.
Anyway, the question I must ask before advice is given is, what food do you feed her now?
If she is skinny anyway that's more of a concern if she's not eating.
How many times do you try to feed her per day?
Have you tried hand feeding her? It might encourage her to eat herself more.
Have you spoken to your vet or breeder? Your breeder could give you some facts on how she ate before you brought her home. Either the last of her mother's milk or the start of her solid food.
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Post by charlottte on Apr 2, 2013 9:14:23 GMT
I have a 7 year old Poodle who is very fussy with his food. We've tried all sorts but have found that he struggles to crunch dry food. Is it possible that she's just settling in still? We regimes Jasper at 5 and he didn't eat properly for the first week and a half or so. Collies are quite sensitive to change so it could be just taking her a little more time to adjust? We currently have Jasper on Dave and Barney kibble and we mix up a little bit of chicken stock and pour it over the food to make it more inviting. As SmokeyBear said, we also do some training at tea time or put bits of food in a certain area of the room and encourage him to 'go find' When we had him on Arden Grange we would heat it up in the microwave for 20 seconds or so and it would make it smell more appealing (to him, to us it smelled awful) and he seemed to prefer it warm. We also use a treat ball if we don't have time to train. He loves his treat ball and it makes him work, keeping him occupied. I don't mix wet and dry as Jasper will pick out the wet and leave the dry. I also found that if we did a lot of training during the day then he wouldn't be hungry so we cut out training until he was eating properly. He isn't fed on a morning as he just turns his nose up and we were wasting a lot of food. We now train on a morning or after his tea, so I know he has a good meal in him. Out of interest, how long have you been a member of the BIPDT? I'm on my first year if a Canine Behaviour Foundation Degree and am starting to look into organisations I can join
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 2, 2013 9:20:12 GMT
That's a good idea - pouring something healthy but tastily inviting over the normal food to encourage eating.
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Post by charlottte on Apr 2, 2013 9:49:16 GMT
We would have used gravy but guess what...
HE DOESN'T LIKE GRAVY! He's such a pain to feed its unbelievable.
Mike, I should also state that I went from having a Labrador that would eat a bowl of sticks and leaves if he was given it, to a Poodle that dislikes everything apart from meat pasta and cheese lol!
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Post by charlottte on Apr 2, 2013 9:52:05 GMT
Also, also Mike. What time do you feed her? Is it possible that she's just not quite hungry then?
Jasper's given his tea around 6 as he starts looking for food. He'll then only usually eat half of it or so, so we'll take it up. Then he will start looking again at around 9-10pm. So we'll reorder the food and he usually polishes it off.
Just trying to think of things we've done with Jasper and things just keep popping back up lol!
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 2, 2013 21:07:03 GMT
Earl is given his tea at around 5 - that's later than he starts looking for food but I don't give in and give it him early because that would simply be too early!
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Post by CollieSlave on Apr 3, 2013 13:22:39 GMT
When we had our Nell she was weird about food. She was a Border Collie, rescue, about a year old. Initially she would not eat until we put down her food, left her in the kitchen, and shut the door, leaving her alone. After a while she would then eat her food but not while we were present! She would, reluctantly, take dog chocolate drops from our fingers but we felt she only did this to be polite! Subsequently this all changed and she would not eat her meals UNLESS we were IN the kitchen with her. After, I think, about six weeks she settled down and ate normally, whether or not we were in the room.
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Post by BorderTerrier on Apr 8, 2013 17:54:55 GMT
That was quite funny behaviour Nell was showing there CS.
Earl doesn't mind if I go near his food - I'm not daft enough to rudely desturb him whilst he's eating his meals, but he's happy for me to reach down and pick up his water bowl to freshen it which always sits next to his food bowl. He sometimes just moves a little.
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Post by BorderTerrier on Jun 16, 2013 10:50:56 GMT
Earl is given his tea at around 5 - that's later than he starts looking for food but I don't give in and give it him early because that would simply be too early! -He is given his breakfast around 6am on weekdays and around 8am on weekend days (lie ins).
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Post by Avansa on Jun 16, 2013 11:12:10 GMT
Welcome to the forum Mike. My mum recently rescued a Staffie x Whippet and was worried because she didn't eat for a while (and being a whippet cross, was very slim). In this case, it was just a matter of time letting her settle in properly, and she started eating of her own accord. As smokeybear said, if you worry about her eating at mealtimes, she is likely to pick up on it - so just try to relax. She won't let herself starve. Try not to make a big deal about food/mealtimes. Put it down, and if she eats it, she eats it. If not - try again later. I know how worrying it is when you have an underweight dog who isn't really interested in food. When Finn (Irish Setter) was a puppy, he was ill and very underweight. We ended up having to hand-feed him sometimes just to get food into him. Now he'll eat, but he's still very fussy until he gets started - then he'll finish it all. Border Collies are quite fussy, so as annoying as it is, you might have to keep trying different foods until you find something that she enjoys. What kinds of food are you feeding her? E.g. kibble, wet food, raw food? Naturediet is quite good to add to food because it's quite smelly and most dogs seem to love it. Being an owner of a fussy dog myself, I can highly recommend a raw diet (not preaching!) as most dogs seem to love it. I currently feed Natural Instinct - www.naturalinstinct.com/Good luck!
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