[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;6572164]
Didnt ask this the first time around, but when he is at home, does he have other dogs that eat well?
Sometimes a little “competition” is great for picky eaters. I finally have a picky poodle, and I finally figured out how to get her to eat well. The other dog eats right beside her. She knows that if she walks away, the other dog will eat it, so instead of picking at it, she eats is all up.
How much are you feeding him? How much does he weigh and is that his ideal weight? Is he maintaining weight on his current diet, or is he losing?
Have you tried once a day feeding?
Personally I dont like free feeding, it creates picky eaters.
Mirtazipine works ok in dogs, but if he IS already eating it probably wont change much.[/QUOTE]
I covered this in super depth in a previous post that I can attach tomorrow but a quick summary.
Parents home: two 6 yr old littermate wheatens. Male is alpha, female is Dexter’s playmate. Parents free-feed. Dex will graze and once or twice a day goes to town and eats 1/4-1/2 cup in one sitting. Does not seem to be tied to when the other dogs eat.
My place: two shepherds. Female is definitely alpha, male is Dexter’s playmate/punching bag. They inhale their food twice a day. Both are respectful of boundaries so I can put the male in a down near Dex for “competitive pressure” but everyone in the room knows there is no chance of his food getting eaten by another dog. If I reach into Dex’s bowl and feed another dog it occasionally encourages him to finish his food. Or he’ll just shrug and walk away.
He maintained his weight at 15.2 for months but since his GI scare he has dropped down to 14.8. Ideal performance weight is 15.2-15.6 but ideal show weight is 17-17.5 (guessing since I’ve never seen him that size).
Calorically he needs 1.25 cups to maintain weight and 1.5 cups to gain anything. Most days it is a battle to get a solid 3/4 cup. Despite his activity level his muscling is minimal because his body doesn’t have enough reserve to put on muscle.
I have tried everything. literally. He ate 3 times a day between 4-6 months. We then went to twice a day and then once a day (around 4 pm). None of these impacted his appetite. He’s just as likely to walk away from a meal once a day as he is three times a day.
Wet food, dry food, raw, raw nibblets, none of it keeps his interest for more than 7-14 days (if I’m lucky). “Starving him out” and not “indulging him” means he will either (a) go 72 hours without eating (b) pick at 1/4 cup a day for a week but still run around like crazy so he starts dropping weight fast.
Treats he likes one day are ditched the next. He will snub anything (including dehydrated liver, beef, bacon, etc.) if he is stressed or distracted. No matter how hungry he is, he will always leave his food if there is anything distraction but isolating him in a crate to eat results in a flipped bowl and a stressed dog on the other half of the cage.
