# 11 Month Golden Retriever Will Not Eat His Food



## cdcruze (May 14, 2017)

I have a 11-month-old male puppy who recently stopped eating his food. We feed him Dry food from Royale Canin, he was fine eating it before but now he stopped. He will smell it have few bites and then stop eating. He will eat his treats and will try to eat our food (of course we do not give him any of our food). I am a little worried about him not wanting to eat, I have made an appointment with the Vet to have him checked out but also here to see if anyone had a similar issue and could give me an idea of what it could be or if he is just being a picky eater.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

This is probably the #1 thing that comes up, if you do a forum search you will find lots of good advice. 
How much are you feeding him? It's the age where they generally slow WAY down on their eating, and owners become worried.
If he's getting more than 1 cup, twice per day, chances are you are just overfeeding him. A vet check is always a good idea, of course.
Picky eating is learned behavior.


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## cdcruze (May 14, 2017)

Thank you so much for the response. He used to eat 1 and half a cup twice a day. Today in the morning he didn't even take one bite of his food and in the evening he took about two small bites from his evening meal and then walked away. However, when he sees us eating, he comes near us thinking we will give him some of our meal. He also knows his treats closet so if we walk near there he runs towards the closet thinking he is getting a treat.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Ask your vet. When I have a problem it sometimes is due to a bitch in heat in the neighborhood.


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## davmar77 (May 5, 2017)

Amber will be 1 next week. She's hardly eating in the morning and ok in the evening but not as much a before. From the sounds of it, pups start eating less around this time but it doesn't stop us from being concerned. She's not underweight by any means. With the winter weather I know she's not getting as much excercise as she should be getting so that may contribute to this. Obviously we are keeping an eye on this.


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## Michigold (Jan 13, 2018)

Mine does something similar. I have been mixing a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt or kefir and it has renewed her interest. We also now feed only 1 cup, twice a day.


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## SpikeSmileDog (May 29, 2018)

Mine is 11 months old and he does the same thing recently. We took him to the vet but everything is ok. We thought the food might be the reason, because we have fed him Blue Wilderness large breed puppy since we brought him home. We switch to other brand and flavor, we also cook homemade dog food for him. But it doesn't improve the situation. Now he only eats about 1 1/2 cups per day (we fed him 3 1/2 cups per day before). Does anyone know when this behavior will stop?


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

SpikeSmileDog said:


> Mine is 11 months old and he does the same thing recently. We took him to the vet but everything is ok. We thought the food might be the reason, because we have fed him Blue Wilderness large breed puppy since we brought him home. We switch to other brand and flavor, we also cook homemade dog food for him. But it doesn't improve the situation. Now he only eats about 1 1/2 cups per day (we fed him 3 1/2 cups per day before). Does anyone know when this behavior will stop?


He has cut himself back on intake because he doesn't need as much food right now. He has slowed down growing right now, but that will change and he will start eating again. Offer him his serving of food, give him 10-15 minutes to eat, pick up what he doesn't eat and only offer it again at the next feeding time. He will eat what he needs to eat, and probably start eating full servings again soon.


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## Soumya Laxminarayan (Feb 26, 2021)

Mine is 11 months old and he does the same thing recently. m feeding royal cannin golden retriever dry food.. tht food is not interesting him .. but tht did not make any difference in his over active behavior... kindly help me with this


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## Ontariodogsitter (Feb 23, 2020)

I know it's somewhat disconcerting when your pup stops goblins up meal after meal, but I have seen over and over, out 8 month old eats 3.5 cups a day divided in to 3 meals, treats included total of 4 cups.
Our 12 year old eats 1, 1/2 cup a day divided in to two meals, occasionally scaled back, when he gets a bit porky.
Sure they will accept special treats when they can get them, who wouldn't?


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## MintChip (Feb 26, 2021)

Almost 10 mo old and my pup is the same. It is worrying bc they inhaled their food bowls as puppies! Also changed his food brand to Purina Pro Plan so always curious maybe he hates it. He takes a whiff and is "meh." He will eat his treats though and the food if mixed with yogurt or pumpkin.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

MintChip said:


> Almost 10 mo old and my pup is the same. It is worrying bc they inhaled their food bowls as puppies! Also changed his food brand to Purina Pro Plan so always curious maybe he hates it. He takes a whiff and is "meh." He will eat his treats though and the food if mixed with yogurt or pumpkin.


This could be b/c he is being overfed or you could have developed a picky eater by catering to the toppings. If one of my dogs turns up their nose at food, all the extras go away. Food is put down for 15 minutes and the dog is crated with the food. If it's not eaten by then, it's picked up and we try again at dinner. If he doesn't eat after 2 days, it's time for a vet visit. Dogs will not starve themselves. The only time I catered to my dog's failing appetite was when he was sick and I was more concerned with getting calories in him then bad habits.


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## MintChip (Feb 26, 2021)

Brave said:


> This could be b/c he is being overfed or you could have developed a picky eater by catering to the toppings. If one of my dogs turns up their nose at food, all the extras go away. Food is put down for 15 minutes and the dog is crated with the food. If it's not eaten by then, it's picked up and we try again at dinner. If he doesn't eat after 2 days, it's time for a vet visit. Dogs will not starve themselves. The only time I catered to my dog's failing appetite was when he was sick and I was more concerned with getting calories in him then bad habits.


hopefully I just created a picky eater and it's not something more serious. I fed based on weight so 3 1/4 c a day-divided betw am and pm. I will try your method. Thanks!


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## smilou (3 mo ago)

Lucy is 1 years old. Stopped eating dry food (if mixed with Greek yogurt she eats all of her food. She was doing the same behaviour some months ago and I followed the procedure 15 mins, no food, next feeding time etc...after 24 hours she started eating. This time though is different...I put the dry food with nothing else together in the morning, she smells and goes away. Next feeding time in the night...same thing. She was starving but she did not want to eat dry food. She vomit 2 times because she was hungry. I mixed the food with greek yoghurt, she ate it all... what shall I do?


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

smilou said:


> Lucy is 1 years old. Stopped eating dry food (if mixed with Greek yogurt she eats all of her food. She was doing the same behaviour some months ago and I followed the procedure 15 mins, no food, next feeding time etc...after 24 hours she started eating. This time though is different...I put the dry food with nothing else together in the morning, she smells and goes away. Next feeding time in the night...same thing. She was starving but she did not want to eat dry food. She vomit 2 times because she was hungry. I mixed the food with greek yoghurt, she ate it all... what shall I do?


If you don't mind mixing her food with greek yogurt for the rest of her life, which is totally up to you - and it isn't upsetting her stomach - continue to mix in a tablespoon or two. Just make sure it doesn't have a ton of sugar. As she gets older, extra calories will matter. As always, if you have a concern, make a vet appointment. Has she been to her one year old check up yet??


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