# Bentley losing interest in his food



## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

Bentley was eating Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy food, as recommended by his breeder (Dichi). He has always had a great appetite. I also used Natural Balance rolls as training treats. Because he liked it so much, I started grating the natural balance into his food just to add flavor. After a while I decided I didn't want to do that anymore, and now he doesn't want to eat his food. 

He seems completely healthy and active. 

He also turned 1, so we switched to Eukanuba Large Breed Adult food. He doesn't seem interested in that either. 

My wife hated seeing him not eat (our cancer ordeal with our last Golden started when we noticed he stopped eating, so it's very hard for her to sit by when Bentley doesn't eat.). So she started adding chicken broth to his food, then peanut butter, then cheese, which he happily gobbles up. 

I fear that we have ruined his appetite for his regular food.

We have stopped all flavor enhancements and are just feeding kibble, but as of noon today he has not touched his breakfast.

Any thoughts on how we should proceed.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Healthy dogs will not starve themselves to death  It took 3 days, but the 6 month old I just got back on Monday, finally ate this morning. He is a little overweight and more than a little spoiled-he is used to getting a handful of animal crackers, charlee bear treats and 2 or 3 milkbones mixed in with his food. Not anymore 

At first I was giving him treats but then I stopped that as well, since I feared he was not getting really hungry if I was still giving him treats for tricks. He finally ate all of his dog food within 24 hours of me stopping the treats as well.

I do give my dogs "special treats", like left over chicken, veggies or fruit, but I never mix it in with their food. I always give it separately, so they don't grow to expect their food to be enhanced.


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## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

Bentley is still not eating like we think he should. He doesn't want to eat unless he gets hand fed or feeding is part of some kind of game. I can't see any other indicator of health issues. He is quite active and happy. 

One idea I had was to put his food down in the morning and give him 30 minutes. If he doesn't eat, take the food away and try again at lunch, again with a 30 minute limit. Eventually he will realize that if he wants to eat, he needs to take the meals he is given. 

Is that a reasonable approach?


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

While we have never had a problem getting Max to eat his food, a few months ago we decided that we wanted to change him to a grain free, more healthy food than the Costco brand he had been eating.

We went to a local specialty pet store. The owner gave us 6 samples, including Acana, Fromm, Nutresca, and a few others. We came home and did a "taste test." We put 6 plates down on the kitchen floor with a sample on each plate. We brought Max into the room, and he checked them, took a couple of bites, and gobbled up the Acana Wild Prairie. We thought he would just eat them all. But his clear favorite was the WP. 

He has been eating Wild Prairie now for several months. His coat looks better and he is doing really well. On the other hand, leaving the food out for a limited time is a good idea. A healthy dog will eventually get the idea, and eat.

By the way, we fed Max Eukanuba Large Breed Puppy until about 15 months. We switched to the Retriever adult version, and it did not agree with him. We then went to the Kirkland (Costco) and next the Acana.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I had a dog that was always really thin, would not eat much food. I even took him in to run every blood test inaginable. Finally, after trying about more than 6 different brands of food, I found one that he loved, and he started gaining weight. I ended up going with an all natural, high quality brand.

By the way, we started on Eukanuba, too, and he didn't like it.


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

We just went through this same thing. We had been putting stuff in and eventually they all got boring and she stopped wanting anything, especially plain kibble. Over one weekend we put her food down for 30 min, didnt eat breakfast, took it up. Put it back down at dinner for a while, she ate a few bites, up it went. agian the next morning for breakfast, ate most of it, took the rest up, by dinner she ate the whole thing.

We started limiting the number of treats she gets (she was getting quite a bit) and if we are giving her a bully stick or kong any given night we will feed her 1/4 cup less of food that night for dinner. 

Now she eats it all within a half hour. She isn't a food hound like she used to be but as long as she is eating I am happy!!

Is Bentley still drinking water and accepting treats willingly!?


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## baumgartml16 (Jun 19, 2011)

We also switched her to pro plan shredded chicken blend and she really likes it now! 

I second what Tahnee GR said - no treats in the bowl anymore - always seperate!


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## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

Thanks for the responses. Bentley is drinking plenty of water and is always up for a tasty treat (though he gets very few of those). 

I don't want to think about switching foods yet. Our breeder has used Eukanuba large breed puppy and adult foods for years and years and swears by it. 

I think I will try time-limiting his meals.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

I don't have issues with Rusty getting bored, because I started using canned foods as a topper. Also, I use about 3 brands of canned foods and Rusty goes crazy every meal. Before when it was just dry food, he would eat everything in no time. But once I started with the topper, he now only eats if I add the wet food etc. Maybe if you use wet food as a topper, Bentley will eat his food like no tomorrow

Which is ok because that's what I was planning on doing anyway. Rusty will be switching to a different dry food soon. I'm going to buy Fromm Large Breed Puppy food.


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## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

We are still having issues with Bentley's eating. We've stayed with the Eukanuba Large Breed Adult food. We have gotten to eat his full daily rations, but he usually finishes breakfast around 3PM and dinner by 10PM. He generally only eats if we make it fun...he'll take the food as rewards for training or if we play with the food , like tossing it on the floor. It makes feeding a very time consuming ordeal! But I wonder if that means that the problem isn't that he doesn't like the food - because he will eat it if we entertain him. 

I have thought about switching foods, but I wonder if switching form a chicken based food to another chicken based food will matter. Maybe I should look at something like a From duck or beef based food?


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## desi.n.nutro (Mar 18, 2011)

Mr. Bojangles said:


> One idea I had was to put his food down in the morning and give him 30 minutes. If he doesn't eat, take the food away and try again at lunch, again with a 30 minute limit. Eventually he will realize that if he wants to eat, he needs to take the meals he is given.
> Is that a reasonable approach?


That seems perfectly reasonable. In fact I have heard of this approach from more than one Trainer and a Behaviorist friend of mine. I would also want to add that you could do it twice a day?


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## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

Our vet suggested adding a bit of canned food to his meals. I bought some Blue Buffalo Duck and Chicken Grill canned food and mixed it with his dry food. He wolfed it down last night and this morning. Hopefully he won't get bored with this new combo. 

Bentley used to get 2.5 cups of dry food for breakfast and 2 cups for dinner. Now he gets 2 cups for breakfast plus 1/3 can of the Blue Buffalo. FOr dinner it's 1.5 cups + 1/3 can. 

I arrived at this because BB says to give 1 can for every 20lbs of bodyweight per day. Bentley is 70 pounds so that is 3.5 cans per day. He was getting 4.5 cups of dry food per day. The math works out so that replacing 1 cup of dry food with 2/3 can of food is pretty close.

BB says it is a high protein food, but the analysis says crude protein is min 10%, whereas his Eukanuba dry food is min 23 or 24%. Do I need to give him a little extra to make sure he's getting enough protein?


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## Wagners Mom2 (Mar 20, 2012)

Mr. Bojangles said:


> Our vet suggested adding a bit of canned food to his meals. I bought some Blue Buffalo Duck and Chicken Grill canned food and mixed it with his dry food. He wolfed it down last night and this morning. Hopefully he won't get bored with this new combo.
> 
> Bentley used to get 2.5 cups of dry food for breakfast and 2 cups for dinner. Now he gets 2 cups for breakfast plus 1/3 can of the Blue Buffalo. FOr dinner it's 1.5 cups + 1/3 can.
> 
> ...


How is his weight? Seems like a lot of food to me, personally--so it may be that now that he is growing up, he doesn't need quite as much. My 80 lb golden gets 2 cups of kibble a day--and a tablespoon of wet food--and/or a healthy topper like chicken/steak/etc. He will eat plain kibble though--chowhound he is.  

I never go by the bag/can feeding recommendations--if I did, Wagner would be waddling. I feel his ribs and adjust up or down as needed. 

Also, if I were you, I would personally consider the Eukanuba Maintenance verses the Large Breed. The protein/fat is a little higher in it and it has chicken and chicken by product meal as #1 and 2, whereas the lg breed has chicken and then cornmeal in it, making the meat content less than in the maintenance. Couldn't hurt to see if that little change makes any difference...my dogs Loved the Maintenance--even my picky little dog would even eat it dry. 

Good luck...it's a pain having a picky eater.


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## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

His weight is fine. He's right around 70-72 pounds, has a nice waist and great muscle tone. I keep a good eye on his weight. I think he is just pretty active and has a good metabolism. If I need to, I can cut back his food in the future.


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## Mr. Bojangles (Sep 15, 2011)

Just an update. We've continued adding Blue Buffalo Wilderness Duck and Checken canned food to Bentley's kibble and he is loving his meals. I think our problem is solved.


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