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Sadie is smarter than me. We've been having trouble getting Sadie to eat the "recommended" amount of food for a while now. We even switched to a more potent smell food (from Bil-jac to Purina One) and at first that seemed to work, but shes become disinterested again. Shes 42 lbs and we feed her 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening as per the bag instructions. She might eat 3 of the 4 cups on a good day, sometimes only 2 of the 4 cups if she feels like "whatever" (She is a slim dog, but not unhealthy as you cannot physically see ribs or anything unless shes stretching)
So heres the funny part. I'm like "ahhhh-haaaa I'll trick her" so I take a couple soft smelly training treats that she loves and show them to her and then bury them in her food. So I'm like this will do the trick she has to eat now. Well she starts eating then its like a lightbulb goes off in her head. She starts pickin up food, and when she realizes theres no treat she spits it out on the side and keeps looking for the treat until she gets and eats the treats then walks away!! As if I didnt feel stupid already when she got all of the peanut butter out of her kong in 5 minutes and when she gets every treat I put in her kong out in 1 minute. Maybe IIIIII need to go back and get my Masters, then I'll show her
I free choice , but have you tried the gravy's or a wet food mix?
She may just going to be a smaller dog,I know ex has german shepard cannot keep weight on no matter what grade food eats and so picky not eat eggs either for extra protien that is raw fried or boiled.
I got one dog picks his food and drops other pieces on floor and will not eat em so talk picky.
Good luck on getting her to eat better. Maybe she at home watching shows on super models and thinks supposed to be super thin!
Don't necessarily believe the bags recommendations. If your dog is a healthy weight, don't try to get her to eat more than she feels she needs. Recommendations are good guidelines, but it is much more common to have over weight dogs that overeat. Four cups a day seems like a lot...what kind of dog is she? I have two Goldens that weigh about 75 pounds each, they get 3 cups a day and one small treat at night. My older guy would eat until he popped if allowed, so feel fortunate that you don't have that problem. My younger one often skips breakfast and lunch and then gets a bit little bigger dinner, but never more than 2 cups because I do worry about bloat (yes we feed 1 cup 3 times a day...a practice that was in place before I met my husband and I really wish we could change, but bigger dog thinks we are trying to starve him if he doesn't get fed on his normal schedule. We joke, but I really think something in his brain {is it the hypothalamus that regulates when we feel full?} is missing or out of tune!) So I wouldn't worry if she's not eating everything you offer her as long as she is maintaining her weight, she's fine...if she starts to lose, then it's time to get concerned and take her to the vet.
Good post Turtle!
We have an 85lb boxer/lab mix that could care less about food in the summer but acts like she is starving in the winter. She is up at 6:30am waiting by her bowl and starts pacing at 3:30 for dinner. She gets 3 1/2 cups a day and a couple of low calorie treats, the occasional bit of PB, egg, etc. When we give her these items, she digs through her food with her snout to find them first. Every now and then she will do the snout thing just to make sure there isn't anything special hiding in there. There is no fooling some...
I think a dog that knows when she is full is a good thing and agree that as long as there are no health issues to let her eat at will.
With some dogs if they are inside and not very active, they dont require very much. The more calories they burn the more they will eat. One of my goldens is very active and eats a little bit several times a day. My other eats maybe 2 cups in the evening if that as she lays around the house. I free feed and neither is overweight.
Sadie is smarter than me. We've been having trouble getting Sadie to eat the "recommended" amount of food for a while now. We even switched to a more potent smell food (from Bil-jac to Purina One) and at first that seemed to work, but shes become disinterested again. Shes 42 lbs and we feed her 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening as per the bag instructions. She might eat 3 of the 4 cups on a good day, sometimes only 2 of the 4 cups if she feels like "whatever" (She is a slim dog, but not unhealthy as you cannot physically see ribs or anything unless shes stretching)
So heres the funny part. I'm like "ahhhh-haaaa I'll trick her" so I take a couple soft smelly training treats that she loves and show them to her and then bury them in her food. So I'm like this will do the trick she has to eat now. Well she starts eating then its like a lightbulb goes off in her head. She starts pickin up food, and when she realizes theres no treat she spits it out on the side and keeps looking for the treat until she gets and eats the treats then walks away!! As if I didnt feel stupid already when she got all of the peanut butter out of her kong in 5 minutes and when she gets every treat I put in her kong out in 1 minute. Maybe IIIIII need to go back and get my Masters, then I'll show her
You're feeding her 2 cups twice a day and she's ONLY 42lbs! I feed my 110lb dog and my 85lb dog just barely 1.5 cups twice a day. You might want to think about feeding her a better quality food. She'll eat less but retain more nutrients. try putting a little chicken broth (low sodium) in her food.
You're feeding her 2 cups twice a day and she's ONLY 42lbs! I feed my 110lb dog and my 85lb dog just barely 1.5 cups twice a day. You might want to think about feeding her a better quality food. She'll eat less but retain more nutrients. try putting a little chicken broth (low sodium) in her food.
Well she is extremely active, hence she is as thin as she is. I refuse to let any of my pets ever get overweight, its huge pet peeve of my own seeing people who let their dogs and cats get obese. My mother did it with my old dog and I was so mad. My dog gets 2 hours of exercise a day, and the bag says 4 cups a day so thats what I went by, I'm just surprised she seems so disinterested in food all together. As long as she looks healthy then I dont have a problem.
Well she is extremely active, hence she is as thin as she is. I refuse to let any of my pets ever get overweight, its huge pet peeve of my own seeing people who let their dogs and cats get obese. My mother did it with my old dog and I was so mad. My dog gets 2 hours of exercise a day, and the bag says 4 cups a day so thats what I went by, I'm just surprised she seems so disinterested in food all together. As long as she looks healthy then I dont have a problem.
even better reason to feed her a better quality food especially if she is extremely active. you'll feed her less but she'll retain more "good for her body nutrients". Even though better quality food is more expensive you actually use less so it lasts longer. I buy 15lb bag of solid gold every 3 weeks for my two. i wouldn't worry too much about her not being interested in eating. parker (my 110lb dog) doesn't eat every single day. i free feed both mine but sometimes parker will go 2/3 days without eating his food.
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As if I didnt feel stupid already when she got all of the peanut butter out of her kong in 5 minutes and when she gets every treat I put in her kong out in 1 minute. Maybe IIIIII need to go back and get my Masters, then I'll show her 
