# Puppy has suddenly started grazing?



## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Pretty pup!

So questions... how much do your feed, what do you feed, snacks / how often, routine, how much exercise & training? What do you use for training, kibble or snacks? This needs to be figured in when you calculate amount fed.

You need to let the breeder know testicals have not dropped, this is hereditary. Follow the vets advice on this but really doubt this condition has anything to do with eating. Most healthy pups self regulate food intake and when they don't eat it's because they aren't hungry. Adding chicken or anything else to the kibble is encouraging the pup to eat more than needed is not good 

By the way, leaving food down all the time encourages them to graze and over eat. Measure out the food, leave it down 10-15 min. then take it up and offer at the next schedule meal time.


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## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

puddles everywhere said:


> Pretty pup!
> 
> So questions... how much do your feed, what do you feed, snacks / how often, routine, how much exercise & training? What do you use for training, kibble or snacks? This needs to be figured in when you calculate amount fed.
> 
> ...


Thank you 

Currently it's 4 times a day. 3 times it's just kibble, the 4th time we mix in a little bit of dog meat just for taste, but we stopped doing that now, so all kibble. We have a small bowl that we had since he was 8 weeks, and we kinda half fill that. I'd say it's like 1/4-1/2 a cup for each meal. 
The timing has always been the same: 9.30am, 1.30pm, 5.30pm, 9.30pm

Haven't used training treats in a long time because of his diarrhea. As per vet's instructions, we boiled chicken and just used that as treats. We only treated when he went potty, or to reinforce recall.. but tbh we don't do that anymore and haven't for about 3 weeks because he's good with it and we are lazy. The only time he's ever had boiled chicken is when I'm making chicken and rice for myself (I boil the chicken first with just water to create a natural stock, and then do everything else. I've given him like a handful whenever I've done this, which is like 1-2 times a week..). I've never mixed in chicken with his meals.

Because he is usually so ravenous, we've been used to actually being strict with food so he doesn't get fat. Which is why we are so shocked now that even with his just minimum food and no treats, he's not really that interested. We used to give a rawhide bone every now and then when we were gonna go out for a couple hours. That was maybe once or twice a week. 

He gets a good hour walk every single day. The park/lake is right in front of my house so he gets a run off-leash everyday. When he comes home he's tired and sleeps for hours. I usually know when he needs a walk because he starts getting restless. He has only ever done this once a day (in morning/afternoon time). The rest of the day he's quite lazy and doesn't care about going out. We have to coax him to go out for potty lol.

So, for a while his food has been very clean. He doesn't get human food, or our 'left overs' or nothing like that. He used to get a bit of apple and other healthy snacks but that was before his diarrhea started. When he got weighed a few weeks ago at the vet he was the perfect weight.

The only difference is he's suddenly not ravenous for his food anymore. Today I just happened to be cooking chicken so he wanted some, but it's not a usual thing.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Is he losing his baby teeth right now?


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## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

cwag said:


> Is he losing his baby teeth right now?


Nope, he has his full adult set now. No more biting (thank god)


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

He's getting to be a big boy, cut back the meals to am & pm. 1 hr walk... walking at consistently at your pace, is really hard on the young joints. The off leash play is good. Maybe teach a fetch to get him good and tired?

At six months the puppy growth starts to slow down, they will usually have another spurt before 9 months but it only last a couple of weeks. He will let you know when he's hungry and you can increase the intake until he again begins to not want the entire amount.

Might want to get him a larger bowl, Dollar Tree or Dollar General type stores usually have nice metal bowls for about a dollar.

I use boiled chicken when I train young puppies too, good choice for a pup with a sensitive tummy. Most adult golden's are happy with 2 or 3 cups of kibble a day but it's good to measure and check his weight monthly for the 1st year. Petsmart usually has a scale available to the public or ask you vet ... they shouldn't charge you anything just to weigh him.

He looks to be a very happy boy and sounds like you guys are enjoying him, doesn't get any better than this. Good luck with the surgery, hope it all goes well.


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## nancie (Aug 4, 2018)

puddles everywhere said:


> He's getting to be a big boy, cut back the meals to am & pm. 1 hr walk... walking at consistently at your pace, is really hard on the young joints. The off leash play is good. Maybe teach a fetch to get him good and tired?
> 
> At six months the puppy growth starts to slow down, they will usually have another spurt before 9 months but it only last a couple of weeks. He will let you know when he's hungry and you can increase the intake until he again begins to not want the entire amount.
> 
> ...


Thanks very much!!


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## ms_sinn (Jan 8, 2019)

Did you ask your family what they fed him and how often while you were away? Maybe he got used to grazing and/or maybe they were giving him treats so his regular food is less interesting?


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

nancie said:


> Nope, he has his full adult set now. No more biting (thank god)



At 5 months he's nowhere near done with his teeth. The back molars probably have not come out yet or the new ones are just starting to come in. Most dogs aren't finished teething till 7-9 months. Just because you can see all th eteeth they will be looking to chew hard stuff to help "set" the teeth in the gum line. So they seem to teethe for about 2 months or so after all the teeth seem to be in. 

So up to about 10 months is usually when it's a good time to consider the teething period over. That's also a time you should know if he was a teething monster or if he's actually going to be a heavy chewer.


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## BeesleBug (May 16, 2018)

I'm going through the same thing with my girl who is also 5.5 month old.

She was eating 3 meals a day and was eating it so fast that I actually considered getting a slow feeder. We went on vacation over the holidays and ever since we got back, she's not the same! She used to be that dog that would bark at you if you didn't get her meals to her fast enough and now she hardly cares. I can dump it in her bowl and she just watches. She's just a slow eater now.. maybe it's due to growing? I've also noticed that she isn't that crazy energetic puppy anymore but more laid back. She isn't teething as badly anymore although I'm sure there are a few more baby teeth in there. I know she's lost all the fronts, the canines and 2 premolars at least. 

Curious to see what others say.


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## Golden9 (Jun 13, 2016)

Is he getting some veggies for fiber to help prevent diarrhea? 

I found that if I just fed meat and rice, there can be diarrhea. 

All my goldens would have soft poop or diarrhea from rice, so I don't feed rice at all. Rice seems hard to digest for dogs and frequently causes diarrhea and or soft poop.

I use instead a handful of frozen or defrosted GREEN BEANS in the food. Lots of fiber and firm poop. NO canned green beans, as the pasteurization and high salt causes diarrhea.
Mix in a teaspoon of CHIA SEEDS, good fiber and firm poop. 

A lot of Goldens and dogs get diarrhea from processed pet food and processed pet treats. 

For dry treats, I use OnlyNaturalPet .com freeze dried RAW NIBS with meat, veggies and fruit. Tiny pellets so they don't get fat, but a healthy treat. 
Also use apple slices, dried apple slices, banana slices and dried banana slices.

I always feed healthy leftovers from our food too as a change of pace, and they love it. Never an issue, just make sure to add Green Beans for fiber for firm poop.


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