5 month old Mastiff Puppy feeding (dislikes food)

[mrobleno]

We have a 5 month old mastiff puppy that dislikes all foods we have been putting in front of her. We started out on dry food (life's abundance with some chick broath) when she was a puppy. She has never seemed to like the food or eat it with any consistancy. We started to add some shredded cooked chicken to the mix and then she would eat out the shredded chicken to the best of her ability and then would leave the kibble. Recently last week I had to go out of the country and left her with my parents which said she ate well. The only problem is that they felt bad for her and were feeding her by hand until she finished her meals. I don't think thats right nor I should continue this as I would be devoting my time to feeding my puppy and nothing else. At 5 months and 1 week she weighed in at 75 lbs. I think that is right on par, maybe the low side but she's not skinny at all. She's very lazy but I feel that is part of the breed.

Overall she is an excellent dog. Loving and has picked up on training very quickly. The only hard part is that I feel like I am wasting money on food every meal cause she has no interest in it. Any ideas? Tips?

Picture of Daisy at around 4 months.

 

[mrobleno]

 

[mrobleno]

 

[mrobleno]

 

[Smart_Family]

Have you tried switching her food? Was it the same food that your parents were hand feeding her?

 

[mrobleno]

I gave my parents the food we feed her along with the cooked shredded chicken I add in with her kibble. Looking at the weight charts she is on par or above for what I see 5 months being at. Actually closer to the weight of a male. 5 months they say she should be at 65 lbs. and males at 80 lbs. I know her parents were big, her dad was 225+ and mom was right around 180.

I just want to make sure she is eating enough during her puppy days when eating is most important. We have also had two UTIs since we got her at 8 weeks.

 

[allformyk9s]

Do you have her on a schedule? Or just have it out all the time?

If shes not on a schedule I would recommend feeding her 2-3 times a day and put the food down x amount of time after that time if she's not eaten pick it up & offer again at her next scheduled time.

Never heard of that food, had to look it up - have you thought of feeding her straight raw? With cooking the food it looses nutrients. Raw is better for her not to mention a lot cheaper.

PS - she's beautiful

 

[seeknoxrun]

I second the idea of keeping her on a schedule. My boy (Knox, 8 month EM) isn't very interested in food, even now. When I first brought him home, I tended to keep his food out all the time thinking that he would pick at it when he was hungry. But I started working with a trainer that recommended that I only make his food available 3 times a day and only leave it down for 30 minutes. Knox held out for a day or so (and it KILLED me waiting for him to eat), but he eventually ate when I offered it to him. Even now, he doesn't always finish his meal and he still refuses a meal every now and then. Sometimes if he's looking a bit thin and still not interested in his food, I'll mix a raw egg, yogurt, or some canned food in for some enticing flavor. But he's growing steadily and he's healthy, so I'm happy.

Your girl sounds to be a very healthy weight (my boy didn't hit 75 pounds until he was almost 7 months old, she's way ahead of him!), so I wouldn't worry too much. Medical reasons aside, a hungry dog will eat.

 

[Xenawarriorprincess]

My 8 month old female is around 110 now, and she was never a big eater. She's lean, but tall. We recently switched her food to wellness core grain free ocean and what a difference! She runs to her dish when she hears it being filled -something she never did before. We feed twice a day, about 4.5 cups total (her old food called for around 7 a day). Oh, and she eats the entire bowl immediately. She used to take a full 30 minutes because she just wasn't that interested!

 

[mrobleno]

Yes she's on a schedule. Three times a day we put down food. She finishes about half or less majority of the time. I've seen a lot of people recommend the raw diet and looking to learn more about it. Do you feed using raw? If so what?

 

[allformyk9s]

Yes, raw meat/bone/organ. There are several threads in here on raw & quite a few of us who feed raw to help with any questions. Some feed fruits/veggies but I do not. Dogs cant digest it & it has no nutritional value for them.


In a quick nut shell you want to feed 2-3% of the dogs *ideal adult* weight.

General rule of thumb is to feed 80% meat, 10% bone & 10% organ (with 5% being liver & the other 5% from other organs such as kidney "organ" is considered any secreting organ like the liver, pancreas, kidney etc...) Beef heart (hearts in general) are "meat" as they are a muscle. This is over time, not every day - so not to make yourself crazy .. but over time. If you decide to switch to raw - you'll then use their 'poop' as a guide as to what they need - bone binds up & makes for firmer poops, more meat looser poops.

A lot of folks feed chicken as a primary protein due to cost, I do. Its best to begin w/ chicken & stick to just that 1 protein for a few weeks until the dogs system adjusts to the change. Then after that you want to add 1 new thing at a time & in small amounts at first.

I get 40 lb cases of chicken quarters for $.64/lb. I get whole chickens *via my grocery store* when they are on sale & that can be anywhere between $.89-.99/lb. My dogs also get pork (I get pork shoulders for $1.09-1.19/lb) they also get chicken liver & beef kidney.

I get the case of chicken quarters & pork shoulder from a local butcher I found. I have also scored some free venison via my ad on Craigslist. Have family save freezer burnt meat when cleaning out their freezers, dogs can eat it no problem as long as it was human edible at that time of freezing & isnt processed ie: no seasoning/smoking etc...

I would start off cold turkey - with chicken quarters and dont worry if your dog doesnt eat at first, my female CC didnt eat for 3 days & then took to it & has been fine with it since.

I supplement with fish oil as I dont have access to fish to give them once a week. So they get fish oil caps every day.


Read around in this forum and ask away if you have any questions.


If you stick with kibble Id try bumping her down to twice a day if she's only eating half at 3x's a day.

 

[mrobleno]

Thanks for all the information on all the posts.

 

[Smokeycat]

One simple trick I have found for my Irish Setter (notoriously finicky eaters as a breed) is to add hot water to his dry food. It only takes a tablespoon or so, you just want to enhance the aroma and make a small amount of gravy. It helps with puppy teething as well and at 5 months her mouth could simple be sore.