# Dog is eating half his food?



## Cathyk (May 27, 2021)

Benny is about 14 months old now. He recently has been leaving half his food (sometimes more) in the bowl. By recently I’d say the past 2-3 weeks or so. I tried switching his food brand but it didn’t work. Sometimes when I put his bowl of food down and say DINNER time or BREAKFAST time he doesn’t even come right away like he used to anymore. He’s been acting the same in terms of mood and energy levels, etc. Anyone else have this issue?? I have also tried putting yogurt and peanut butter on his food as a topper and it hasn’t really helped. He’s currently eating Acana Grasslands brand (lamb protein based) as he has allergies to salmon. Any advice?!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

How much are you feeding him and what is the total of training treats he gets during the day?


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## Cathyk (May 27, 2021)

nolefan said:


> How much are you feeding him and what is the total of training treats he gets during the day?


I feed him 2 cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening. He’s a big boy at almost 95 pounds. I tried reducing to 1 and 1/2 and 1 and 3/4 cups to see if maybe I was feeding him too much, but it’s been the same thing.
Treats he gets about 5-8 per day depending (no grain, low fat). Not many! And he gets a dental treat in the morning.


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## SRW (Dec 21, 2018)

He isn't hungry.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I agree he’s not hungry. I would cut back to one cup in the morning and one in the evening. 

On another note, 95 lbs is really big for a Golden. My largest Golden to date has been 83 lbs. That was at the height of his hunting career, full of muscle, prime condition. That same boy now weighs 72 lbs. (He’s old and retired).

My youngest is conformation bred and in hunt training. He’s got tons of bone, fully muscled up and is 75 lbs.

My field bred will never be over 62 lbs. All are intact males.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

You've received some good feedback here from experienced people. You are overfeeding him. Dogs are like people, they are generally better off being a little bit too lean than a little bit too heavy. I will bet you money that if you pull back the treats (put a small portion into a baggy and then you know how much he gets for the day) and dial his food back to one cup for breakfast and one cup for dinner - ZERO toppers - you will have a dog eating his food within a couple of days.  Give him 15 minutes uninterrupted time to eat his meal, if he doesn't - pick it up and cover it and offer it to him again at the next meal. No healthy dog yet has ever starved himself. 

If you wet your dog down and take a couple of photos from straight on sideview and looking down at his back so we can see his waist line, he should have a defined waist line. My guess is that at the weight you gave us, he won't have much of one. How tall is he at the shoulder?


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## Dunmar (Apr 15, 2020)

He is self regulating. He isnt hungry


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