Luka Not Eating

[Birtles]

Luka has been on james wellbeloved puppy food but we noticed that on Saturday he started to leave some and even moreso yesterday and this morning wouldnt really touch it, had a sniff and one mouth full and left it.  We are giving the lowest daily recommended amount....... so not overfeeding. Is it the food hes gone off or the heat affecting him or does he want what we are eating?  we have noticed a change in his behaviour too, gone quite alot quieter, seems to want to lay in his bed quite a bit or just lay in the room where we are whereas the last few weeks he was off his head with excitement........ could it be that hes just settled now?
When he goes out for walks hes still lively and loves it.......
If he has a little of one of our sausages he'll eat that and wait for more...... so maybe hes just gone off the JWB?....
any ideas, or experiences like this, maybe just an off few days and he'll pick up......
is it the heat, does it slow them down alot?
getting a little worried.......

[Colin]

People that I know that have rehomed dogs say there is usually a honeymoon period when the dog is on it's best behaviour, the naughty bits start to show after a week or two. Maybe you have struck lucky and Luka is a well behaved boy that is now feeling secure in his new home.

If he is being fussy over his food I wouldn't indulge him with treats like sausages though, I and many others have found to our cost that this can just make the problem worse. They will just turn their noses up at their usual food hoping for it to be replaced by something more tasty.

My Jimmy is a lazy lump at the best of times but he has been really lethargic the last couple of days, even by his standards. Like Luka he's been his usual bouncy self on walks so it could be down to the heat.

As you haven't had time to get to know Luka's behaviour patterns fully yet, it's probably best to keep an eye on him just in case though.

[Birtles]

thanks Colin, I will just keep an eye on him and wont give him any other foods then he may realise that hes not getting anything else.
Maybe Luka is just being lethargic like Jimmy and thats all it is........ just so unlike him from what Ive seen anyway in the last 2 weeks...... suppose with their coats they must be pretty hot.
BTW loved the photos in your gallery, what gorgeous cockers!!! makes us want more when you see them in a group.    

[Louie]

Hi Birtles, i think some puppies do go through stages like this, because the weather is to warm or maybe you have been spoiling him a little bit or maybe because he is just not going to be a big eater. Three of my Cockers would eat until they burst (given the chance) but my Alfie who did eat very well up until about 6 months old. Alfie will eat just enough and sometimes refuses his food altogether. I do put a little bit of mince or tripe in his food to encourage him to eat it, but i think it is best to avoid doing this if you can. We show Alfie and so need him really to maintain a good body condition. I think you will find that as long as you don,t give in to him with giving him sausages etc. his appetite will soon pick up.  

[Birtles]

Hi louie, i don't give into him its the others, honest  
how long do you leave the food down for if hes not eating it, I've heard that you should pick it up after 10mins or so because hes obviously had enough, but this morning he wouldn't eat at all so I just left it down while i went out......

****a honeymoon period when the dog is on it's best behaviour, the naughty bits start to show after a week or two.****

i had the honeymoon period, remember it vividly..... and then it all changed after a week   but now its like hes gone back to that lovely period, just so calm and quiet, Im just not expecting that, im waiting for the madness to kick in again  

Jayne

[Louie]

Hi Birtles, i don,t leave Alfies down any longer than about 10 mins. He,s not a fast eater and i feed him in a crate because if i didn,t one of the others would eat it as they eat theirs so fast that i don,t think they even taste it . Alfie picks his food up and chews every mouthful. If he doesn,t want it he looks then sniffs at it, looks at me in disgust and barks at me then he moves as far towards the back of the crate as possible away from his food bowl.  I let him out and take his food away but he usually eats it all next time   . If you do leave it down to long he will probably get into the habit of just going back and forward to eat little bits so it is probably best to get him used to his food being taken away if he does,nt eat it within ten mins or so. I know it can be a worry when they don,t eat but as long as he seems well in himself  try not to worry    i,m sure if you follow this routine he will improve in time. Good luck!.

[PennyB]

My foster dog wouldn't eat any of the food that he came with and so as it was wet food I just removed it after 10 min and just kept on with doing that and eventually he did start to eat and now can't wait for his food and bounces around like the others just before he gets it.

I felt awful but I refused to give him anything special as he wasn't ill so a few less feeds wouldn't harm him.
 

[Birtles]

hmmmm just been reading another post..... and wonder if it could be something stuck, bothering him because he has been eating raw hide pigs ears for the last few days, ive left them about because he loves them, maybe its something to do with them, he cant fill himself on them can he because they are more for chewing then feeding    

[Louie]

Hi Birtles, yes i think you were reading a reply that i had made to a post. I,m sorry i didn,t mean to alarm you and it was probably a very rare thing to happen my friend was lucky as she managed to get the hide chew out from the back of her dogs throat. I think if your boy had anything stuck in his throat you should know about it as he would be coughing and wretching. But if you are feeding pigs ears this could be why he isn,t eating his other food well    now and again as a treat would be best. I do feed mine the occasional pigs ear, i was just put off the raw hide chews because of what had happened to my friend and her dog. The reason for it happening was probably because her dog is very greedy and eating to fast.

[Cob-Web]

I got myself all worked up as Molo will ravaneously eat everything offered one day, and the next he will ignore everything in his bowl - although he never refuses his sliced sausage or jerky rewards though  

I decided to treat it in the same way as I treat my toddler daughters fussy eating    - as long as he has access to water, is pooing and weeing, and generally has lots of energy, then I don't worry too much anymore.

He does seem to go through phases of one day eating, the other not so much, but I guess it balances out. He also seems to have 'quieter' days; although this is a relative term in his case; he can still tear around like an maniac when he wants to!