Advice for inconsistent eating?

[Me_2]

I adopted Peanut about a week and a half ago. She's a female mastiff, estimated to be 18-24 months old. She was from a rescue, and was in foster care for about 2 months before I adopted her. In her foster home, she was eating 3 cups of Taste of The Wild (bison formula) twice a day. I've kept her on this same food, but she rarely eats a whole meal. Sometimes it's a few bites, and sometimes it's up to half of what's in her bowl. Also, she will sometimes come back to it after a few minutes and have a few more bites (but usually still not finish it, or even come close)

She has been to the vet, and has no health problems. The vet suggested I consider switching food, but I'm a little reluctant to do that since she apparently was fine with this food before. I also don't want to deal with potential stomach upset, on top of picky eating. Should I maybe try another formula within the same brand?

If I mix in a little canned food with the dry, she is more likely to eat it, but still very inconsistent. She does not get table scraps, ever. I have been giving her a few treats throughout the day while we work on training, but in very small amounts (very small treats, and only a few a day). Another thing I have tried is using a different bowl, which doesn't seem to make a difference.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks much!

 

[marke]

do you exercise her ? sometimes that helps ........did they check her mouth and teeth ?

 

[Me_2]

do you exercise her ? sometimes that helps ........did they check her mouth and teeth ?

They did check her mouth and teeth, said her teeth look good. I take her for a walk once a day.
She's also allowed in my backyard whenever she wants throughout the day - I spend time with her out there, but she doesn't play real energetically. If you throw something, she ignores it. She'd rather play a very gentle game of tug-of-war with me. So she's not burning a lot of energy in daily play

 

[Boxergirl]

She's still adjusting to your home and your routine. I would not change food yet and I would not add any toppers. Are you free feeding her? I would put her measured portion of food down for a specific amount of time (I usually allow 20 minutes) and then I would pick it up and she has to wait until the next feeding time. They usually figure out pretty quickly that they should eat when it's there. Also watch how many treats she gets during the day and count them as a portion of her food allowance. That's what I've done with my fosters anyway. Welcome, btw, and we'd love to see pictures.

 

[marke]

some dogs are just not good eaters and i've never understood it .... i never liked it , as silly as it may sound i've actually chosen a dog to use(breed) over another based on the fact one wasn't a good eater ......... i've had dogs i've had to pretty much cook for for their entire lives ........ she also may still be depressed because of the changing situation , try to get her excited about stuff , from my experience the poor eaters were dogs that really weren't excitable ......jmo

 

[Me_2]

She's still adjusting to your home and your routine. I would not change food yet and I would not add any toppers. Are you free feeding her? I would put her measured portion of food down for a specific amount of time (I usually allow 20 minutes) and then I would pick it up and she has to wait until the next feeding time. They usually figure out pretty quickly that they should eat when it's there. Also watch how many treats she gets during the day and count them as a portion of her food allowance. That's what I've done with my fosters anyway. Welcome, btw, and we'd love to see pictures.

Thanks I have her picture as my profile picture, but apparently it's not showing up by my posts for some reason.
I have been feeding her twice a day, but leaving the food out for sometimes several hours in the hopes that she would eat more. I'll try picking it up after 20 minutes or so, see if that motivates her.
She doesn't seem very food-motivated in general - she will eat treats, but she never seems particularly excited about them. I've been considering leaving them out of her training, and focusing more on praise than treats. I've been using the treats with training because that's what they're having us do in her obedience classes.

 

[tmricciuto]

She is so pretty. I agree with the others. She has gone through a lot of adjustments in the past 3 months and this could just be her getting used to her new environment. I would put the food down for a specific amount of time at specific times of the day and what she doesn't eat she doesn't eat until next time. Also, I've read on the forums that as they get more mature and toward their adult weight they start to eat less as they aren't burning so many calories in 'puppy play' so that might be what you are experiencing.

 

[Hector]

She may still adjusting. She may not like the food. You may be giving her too much food. I only feed my full grown (120 lb ish) mastiff 2 cups a day on TOTW, but 2.5 cups on fromm grain free. My little dog is picky. He will eat his kibble, but he's not crazy for it so he'll walk away from his food bowl but won't have the chance to eat anymore from it because it will all be eaten by another dog. He has to wait until the next meal and he's usually more interested. I also noticed it helps if I fed him smaller amounts multiple times a day. Try 1 cup multiple times a day and see how that goes.

 

[karennj]

Bear is the same way with his food. If it is hot I really have to push him to eat his meals. He also is a shadow dog so if I sit in the kitchen he will eat but if I walk away he stops eating to follow me. So now I put Bears food down and I sit at the counter or clean up while he eats. If I am in the room and he doesn't eat I give him 10min then pick it up and try again later in the day. The dog may have been a free feeder so this would be a big adjustment.

 

[DDSK]

I would put the food down and give her 10 minutes to eat, what she doesn't eat is taken up and she doesn't eat until next feeding time, continue this and she will eventually get the idea that if she wants to eat she will need to get busy.
Welcome to the forum, pretty pup.

 

[7121548]

When I brought my dog home from the shelter, it probably took about 3 weeks for him to adjust to his new home and feeding schedule. For the first few days, he wasn't too interested in food (even treats), then he slowly began eating more and more until he was licking the bowl clean. Like everyone else said, having that feeding window of opportunity will help her get used to the routine. She's a cutie pie.

 

[season]

I feed my two year old CC once a day. I'd say stick with the TOTW, don't add stuff to it and your dog will eat sooner or later. It won't starve itself. But if you decide to keep changing thing and adjusting to your dog then your dog is training you.

 

[Me_2]

Thanks for all the advice, and the compliments on my sweet girl!
I will try leaving her food out for a limited time, and see how that goes.

 

[Lisa P]

She is adorable and still adjusting to her new home.Do you stay within sight while she's eating? Norman went through a phase where he wouldn't eat unless I sat at the kitchen table while he ate, kind of like I had his back so he could relax and eat.

 

[DennasMom]

I'd keep putting out breakfast and let her graze as she wants over the day (assuming you don't have other pets that would eat it for her). As long as she's not losing weight, I don't see not eating as a major problem.

She's probably still trying to figure out the routine in her new home.
Keep things low-stress and relaxing.
Get out for some leisurely walks so she can learn the new 'hood and work up some appetite.

She may be missing her foster home, so it will just take some love and understanding to help her re-adjust to her new home.

You could also start doing some obedience practice, and use her kibble as 'treats' - be VERY generous for any command she follows and/or treat randomly for things you see her do as she does them (like laying down on her rug/place). Then she's at least getting some nutrition, even if she's not feeling comfortable enough to eat a full meal.

Lisa P may be on to something with the dinner time companionship, too... she might want you there where she can see you, or she might want no one there watching her eat. You could try both ways and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks for rescuing! Keep us posted and please share more pictures!

 

[Yamizuma]

At the foster, did they time feedings or free feed? When I have free feed dogs, I found it's really common for them to eat only when I was around, sort of a social thing. I think it's unlikely the food type needs to be changed.


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[Me_2]

So she ate dinner last night, but no breakfast yesterday or today. I don't know how worried I should be I know she's still getting settled into her new home and routine, but if she was eating 6 cups of food a day before, and now she's eating 3 or less, that just seems like it can't possibly be good for her. I'm hoping that after a few more days of "you're out of luck if you don't eat what I put down in 15 minutes" she'll start eating more consistently.

 

[marke]

your dog is almost surely disoriented with the transitions she faced recently , some dogs are real sensitive to changes. she is eating , that would be somewhat of a good sign to me ...... with that said , from my experiences a dog that doesn't eat is something to be very concerned about ... not to cause you further worry , but i could not remember all the dogs i've known and heard about that unexpectedly were found dead with the owners saying the dog had only not eaten for a couple days .......... your dog is eating , i assume no vomiting , drinking normally , no fever ...... i would be inclined to think she is just stressed .......

 

[BAMCB]

Welcome! And she is a beautiful girl thank you for rescuing her We recently welcomed an older gal into our home and I get your worrying. Chica would not eat either. She was being treated by the vet but her lack of eating was really scary. It took her over a month to begin to eat and not regularly until the last few weeks. I really panicked when she started to lose weight. But fast forward 10 weeks since her arrival and she now does the whole circling and miss wiggly butt dance at meal time I still notice her draw back at times but I think she is mostly warming up to her new pack. Mastiffs seem to take a very long time to adjust. My girl came 20-30# underweight and from living under a trailer. I could not possibly understand why she was withdrawn now that she was finally eating regularly, sleeping in air conditioning on a memory foam bed but she just needed that time and space to adjust. But a mastiff's love and devotion is worth waiting unlimited amounts of time forshe is lucky to have you as well as your are lucky to have her.

 

[Me_2]

Just thought I would post an update on Peanut. Since posting about this last week, I had started leaving her meals out for a limited time and taking them away even if she didn't eat. She pretty quickly started consistently eating all of her dinner, but not eating any breakfast. Less than what I was hoping for, but at least I knew she was getting one full meal. Then this morning, she actually ate all her breakfast! So hopefully, this is a start to her eating 2 meals regularly. Of course, she might just be messing with me, and planning to switch it up and eat breakfast only! We'll have to see how the next few meals go.
Thank you all for your advice and support!