Her appetite has changed

A question about our dogs appetite. Our Golden is 2 going on 3. Lately she doesn’t always want to eat when presented with food. She has always been picky about treats and other food items, often turning away from them but up until now she would eat her morning and afternoon meal when presented.
On our hunting trip this weekend it was hard to get her to eat when she had to and she would not touch a treat laying in her kennel all day. I couldnt get her to finish her meal yesterday morning. She was too excited to go hunting.
She did the same thing last weekend on an out of town hunting trip.
The last few days we often need to supplement it to get her going by either adding some meat or water worked today. She’s rarely interested in dog treats. She seems the kind of dog that would eat when she wants with food always in the bowl but we cannot do that because our other dog is a food nut. Do you think we should change food? She has no health issues and is healthy and fit as can be. Just throwing it out there for feedback.

Just like humans, we get sick of eating the same thing all the time. Did you talk to her vet and see what they recommend?

My English setter is the same way. Picky about food, have to put something in it to get him to eat. If he’s excited about hunting, good luck even getting him to eat at all. We change foods every bag or two which helps but he holds out for you to put some grease or something in it. Also after hard early season hunts (when hes a bit out of shape) he sometimes won’t eat and I think it’s because he feels so sick in his body he doesn’t want to eat anything but grass not realizing he’s just sore.

suzuki, your dog is demonstrating the exact same behavior as my female golden does. Or I should say did. She is now 9 but she acted the exact same as yours did up until the last year or two. I don’t know if it was her older age or what but she now eats almost right away when I fill her dish.

She was never really interested in eating her food right away and would eat it on her own terms. Sometimes when I’d get home from work, her breakfast would still be in her dish. Hunting trips were even worse – she senses the excitement and I had to really coerce her to get her to take any food in before hunting in the AM. I started mixing in cooked ground beef and a little bit of water into her kibble and that helped her get some food into her system. I’ve also bought cans of wet dog food and mixed a few spoon fulls of that into her kibble which also increased her interest in the food. Nowadays I buy this dog food seasoning stuff I saw on sharktank that I sprinkle onto her food (like adding salt and pepper to human food) along with a little bit of water and she really loves that stuff.

I probably switched dog food somewhere around 10 times over the years (always high quality food) thinking she didn’t like her food. I talked to my vet and they said as long as her stools are normal consistency (i.e. not diarrhea), she is pooping regularly, and isn’t vomiting, its nothing to worry about. Some dogs just aren’t as crazy about food as others. Its funny because my buddies labs that I hunt with eat their food faster than anything I’ve ever seen before. I think the thing would eat a tire if you let him.

Simply put, some dogs are very food motivated. Mine on the other hand is primarily motivated by two things 1) upland birds and 2) pets/affection/snugs.

Sometimes when another dog is around (not hunting trips) my dog would eat her food right away when I gave it to her. I think the competition aspect helped and she had the notion that if she didn’t eat it now, the other dog would eat it and she’d miss out.

In the past I have mixed in some peanut butter with her food when my dog gets picky about eating. Maybe call the vet or switch up brands of food?

bigcrappie wrote:

Just like humans, we get sick of eating the same thing all the time.

My dog NEVER gets enough food. I’m fully convinced that’s all she thinks about lol. She’s a bottomless pit. She will literally eat until she kills herself. There is no control. I found her once with her head in the bag of kibble when she was younger with an enormous distended stomach and she was still wolfing it down as fast as she could.

My breeder just replied and said she is likely just not food motivated. She has seen it in her dogs before. She recommended feeding her once a day or just removing her food if she wont eat until later. She also said not being food motivate is not a bad thing and I agree. She rarely tries to pester us for food.
Once our older dog is gone we can just leave her daily amount in the dish and she can eat when she wants.

suzuki wrote:

She also said not being food motivate is not a bad thing and I agree. She rarely tries to pester us for food.

I would totally agree. I’d rather have a dog like this than the other way around. I can’t stand when dogs beg for table scraps, constantly dig in the garbage, or grab stuff off the counter. Even worse when they eat non-edible things and it turns into an expensive vet bill.

Consider yourself lucky

I would consult with a vet just to make sure nothing is wrong. As you said her feeding behavior has changed. Both my labs would eat forever but never pester people for food because they have never had people food. Let us know if you find out anything.

I recall hand feeding her once in a while when we got her because she wouldnt eat so Im not worried about her health yet. If that changes Ill be sure to update this thread for informational purposes. Sounds like I might be more lucky than anything. Too bad my old pointer is a freaking ranch hog! She’s not quite up to lab standards but not far behind!

suzuki wrote:

ranch hog!

Lol that’s pretty good

KP wrote:

In the past I have mixed in some peanut butter with her food when my dog gets picky about eating. Maybe call the vet or switch up brands of food?

i just laughed my butt off…….this post made me think of the chewy commercial

da peanut butter box is here!!!!!!!!

oh and i got that dog that eats everything……including stuff thats not food….fortunately so far i’ve found it cleaning up after him!!!!1

My labs have never wasted a single piece of kibble.
Every single bowl, twice a day, for over 6 years has been absolutely inhaled.

They don’t beg for food, dig in the garbage, or grab food off of the counter. Because I don’t feed them human food.

They do, however, nudge me constantly when we’re about 2 hours from feeding time.

My parents dog leaves her bowl full of food all day and usually eats it in the middle of the night.

If she’s always like that, I probably wouldn’t worry about it. If it was an abrupt change for no apparent reason, possibly worth a trip to the vet but I’ve done that and they’ll just want to prescribe a $120 20# bag of dog food in my experience. Teeth look ok? Could maybe try mixing in some soft food. Did have once where my lab quit eating and got lethargic and it ended up being a stomach ulcer – treated it and ended up ok though.

Opposite end of the age spectrum with my 11 year old Springer but he is now leaving food in the bowl in the morning. Also, loose stools. We started adding pumpking and hot water to the kibble and he eats it all. Stools are firming as well.

Thanks guys. After hashing it over with you and the breeder I’m sure she’s fine but just completely different than the other dog in the house. We’ll just have to adjust. I’m certain she won’t starve herself. My god did she enjoy some of her rooster tonight!

My dogs have always been less interested in food and water when they knew there was a hunt coming up.
If she isn’t skin and bones I wouldn’t worry about food. Water is a tougher issue.

Two thoughts here.
For an attractant sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the food. It is a cheap common flavorant that does a great job of triggering appetite.
Also, with a sudden change in appetite check your dog’s teeth and gums. Smell their breath. I had to have two abcessed teeth removed from my 9 year old Britt and the change in attitude and appetite was amazing.

Old post! I can tell you she is nothing like that now. She eats as fast as any dog I have ever seen. She is not food crazy but she takes her dinner very seriously. No problems at all on hunting trips this year.

My son has a husky and he is a picky eater too. I always tell him that he will not starve. He will eventually eat so not to worry about it. Dogs are weird sometimes.

Exercise. Then don’t waste a second worrying about it. They’ll eat what’s edible and nutritious when their body needs it.