not hungry puppy lab?

Hi Everyone,

Wow, I haven't been on here is so long! I joined auspet probably back in 2004 when I got our first dog Milo. Milo is a 2 year old shih-poo. Since then we have added to our family with a black lab. His name is coal and is almost 7 months now. He was purchased from a well known breeder in Hanover, Ontario. Coal has been a great dog, checked out at the vet and was all fine, very lovable and energetic and loves to play. We have been taking him to the dog park at least twice a week for a good hour each time so he can get some exercise and so socialization from outside our house. We have been doing this now for about 3 months. Well the problem is that for the past 3 days now he has not really been himself when it comes to dinner time. First off I feed coal (and Milo) twice a day, 6 am and 6pm. His attitude towards dinner time is everyone out of my way, there is food and I need to eat in. (for lack of a better expression) Coal gets about 2 1/2 cups of Purina one each time. I kept him on Purina one as that was what the breeder recommended. I have never switched his food and he has not eaten anything else other then that. Well I guess that my situation is that the last few days Coal has been very non challant *I think that's how it is spelled* towards dinner time. He doesn't run towards his food and actually looks kind of bored with it. Almost like he is looking at me like "This... again????" He doesn't even finish his dish sometimes. And I noticed this morning after he ate his food, he didn't even want to go and "be good boys" If you know what I mean. Anyways, he has been acting very strange and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as what could be going on. Is his metabolism slowing down at 6 months? Any thoughts?

Starving for answers :roll:

 

Are there any other symptoms besides the attitude toward food? Is he still excited about going to the park, going for walks, playing, etc? Any other changes recently?

How often are you feeding him? Is he still eating puppy food?

Puppies will start eating less as they mature. Then again, Labs are sort of like goats usually, and will eat anything.

If he doesn't snap out of it soon, I would take him to the vet for a check up, just in case.

 

Hi Jamiya, Thanks for getting back so quickly, Well coal gets fed twice a day, 6 am and 6pm. he has been on the routine since we got him. He is still on puppy food, we feed him twice a day at 6am and 6pm, and has been on the same food ever since we got him. Normally I would brush this off as he probably just realized that no one is going to take his food and decided to calm down when it came to eating but everyone keeps telling me that this behaviour for a lab is odd. Other then the whole eating thing he is the same old coal, goes crazy at the dog park. I can't even say the word "walk" in my house without something getting knocked over. My husband and I talk in code wanna go for a "W" "A" "L" "K" ? lol. I am considering taking him to the vet, but I was just kind of hopping that he would get out of it. If it doesn't change soon I will have no choice but to go. He does end up eating his feed, but for a 6 1/2 month old lab it shouldn't take him 5 minutes to eat 2 1/2 cups of food. "a little odd" Does anyone thing it could have anything to do with the recent weather change. I live in Canada and we have been getting some pretty hot and humid weather.

Any thoughts??

 

How much does he weigh now? From my long time experience with Labs, if a Lab isn't interested in food then something is indeed wrong. You are aware, I am sure, that Labs will eat a lot of things that aren't food. Maybe he did ingest something that he shouldn't. I would have your Vet get him a through exam and maybe even xray his digestive tract just to be sure there isn't something causing a blockage.

 

Hi Dukesdad,

Last time I checked his weight was in April when we were getting him ready for his heart worm and he weighed 55 pounds. The vet gave us heart worm medication for a 60 pound dog figuring by the time june came he woud be at that weight. Coal does like to chew on everything but as soon as we catch him in the act we scold him and tell him no. I would have to say that Coal is anywhere from 60 - 65 lbs as of right now.

I think i should go and get him checked out at the vet as he has been chewing on alot of blankets and stuffed toys from the pet store. Once i see that he is demolishing it i will take it away from him and throw it in the garbage.

 

Milo,
Check with your Vet for sure but I believe you can wean him off the high calorie puppy chow and start him on an adult food. My bet is that he did eat something thats aggravating his digestive system and it should come out one end or the other within a day or so. I do though recommend having the Vet do an xray just in case it might be an obstruction.
Let us know what your Vet has to say.

 

Hi Dukes Dad,

Thanks for the reply, I am deffinetly going to take Coal to the Vet. I made an appointment for Saturday. Do you think I can change his food already? I was planning on waiting untill he was 1 like I did with my other dog. To tell you the truth it would be better to switch him now as then they will both be on the same food, but i don't want to jump the gun as of yet.

 

Milo,
One other symptom to look, or smell, for. Has Coal been passing any bad gas lately? :mrgreen:
Thats one sign they have eaten something besides food.

 

Coal usually lets gas go, but I would have to say not more than normal. He hasn't passed gas (in front of me) for atleast 2 weeks.

 

Switching to a good quality food will also cut down on that gas problem. I feed my boys Eukanuba real Lamb and Rice. Duke wieghs about 75 pounds and he only needs a total of 2 1/2 cups a day. The better quality foods may seem to cost more but compare the amount you have to feed. The quality foods are more digestible therefore require less bulk and you will notice a decrease in both gas emmisions and stool quantity.
Watch Coal carefully this week if you can't get to the Vet until Saturday. If he isn't interested in food by tomorrow I would get him to the Vet sooner.

 

Hi Dukes Dad,

Really you only feed your dog 2 1/2 cups a day. My husband and I were thinking about changing his food to Eukanuba when he turns a year old but figured that the cost would burn a whole in our bank accounts due to the fact of how much coal eats. Wow, and to think some people at the dog park feed their dogs 6 - 7 cups a day, if not more.

If I see Coal eating hesitantly tonight I am going to bring the vets appointment closer. Its so hard to find a good vet and we did, problem is that we moved since then and don't want to switch vets because both dogs love him and I have been using him since I was a little girl. *Sigh* he is over a half hours drive now. (Don't take that as I don't want to take coal to the vet)

 

Duke is an inside dog (read couch potato) who really only gets a lot of exercise on the weekends when I take them to the dog park Saturday and Sunday for a good romp and swim. That may be why he requires a lighter diet.
Here in Houston a half hours drive is considered "in the neighborhood". :lol: :lol:

 

I had this problem with my Lab x she used to be an excellent eater and if it was edible she wanted it, Well she went funny not really eating much of her food and gave me the same look.

Well i changed her over from puppy to juniour ( sp) food and she was doing great on that, Now she is 1yr old and eating adult food and eats from morning to night....

When you take milo to the vets try and take a stool sample and have him checked for worms i know he may not have any and people may think a dog with worms is more hungry well this is not actually the case, If there is a heavy worm burden this will make the dog feel full and will only pick at food...

If everything is fine and the vets then i would suggest changing him over to the next stage of food which is juniour (sp) see how he goes on that, Whatever you do do not make the mistake some people do and think well he not eating so i will try him on this and that as this makes a fussy eater and thats when real problems start...

If you prefer him to stay on the puppy food a little longer use the tried and tested method of getting them to eat and that is if they dont eat there food after 10minutes pick it up and wait until next feed time again if dont eat pick it up, A dog can safely go a few days without eating aslong as they have access to water and as anyone will tell you a dog will not starve itself so you may find he starts eating again when he realises your not having him be like this..

Sorry cant be of much more help..

mike

 

Hi Dukes Dad,

Your right a half hour isn't that far of a drive, especially if it means the well being of my nat king COAL.

Hi Charmedagain,

Thanks for the reply. We are big believers that if its not all gone within 5 minutes, its outta there, the only thing is that we never had that problem with Coal. (emphasize the word never, because really, NEVER) We always had the problem with our other dog Milo, He actually went a week without eating when we were trying to get him back on dog food (long story, lived with my parents, he ate everything and anything other than dog food, now happy to say its all dog food)

Coal did have worms when we first got him (does anyone know, is this common in puppys both my dogs had them when i first got them) anyways treated coal for them brought in a stool sample after the medication and vet said he was good to go. About 3 months after thought he actually threw up in my truck and out came a worm. (EWWWWW!) Vet gave me medication and said not to worry about bringing in another stool sample as he would be going on the heart med so if they wern't killed they would be after that.

Anyways, this is a long message, bye

 

Have you tried giving him something "special", like a hot dog or something like that, and seeing his reaction?

My dog Indy did this sort of. He used to be crazed at dinner time but now he acts like it is a chore or something. It didn't happen overnight though. It was gradual. But he still gets crazy over treats.

It could also be the heat. My dogs are St. Bernards so everything slows during the summer. They definately eat less.

 

Sorry i did mean coal not milo i do apologise

When a dog throws up a worm this indicates a tape worm, One of my mums dogs had one years ago and worming meds didnt get rid of the thing so my mum was speaking to her neighbour who used to be a vet and he suggested starving her for 24 hours and then with someone holding her dog and someone infront of her with a chocolate bar or something that you could smell the sugar and glucose in but not allowing the dog to eat it and after a couple of minutes the dog will start to wrech and the worm will come up but you have to move away from the dogs face and be very carful that it does not break as it will retract back into the body and regrow a head...

Meds these days are alot better so you wouldnt have to worry about this...

It is normal for some pups to have worms when you first get the home this is because the mother had them and passed them on to her unborn litter and this was made worse when the pups were feeding from her the eggs were passed through her milk, This is why i made sure my girls were wormed prior to breeding, then 2weeks before she whelped then again when the pups were 2 weeks old and every 2 weeks after that until the litter was 12 weeks old then its every 3-6months, If a pup went before 12 weeks the new owner was told to carry on the routine, So i never had any probs with worms, Well not until i got a labrador cross rottweiler and she was really heavily burdened with worms and took months to get rid of them completley now she is great and all gone and never had a problem since...

Also if there is a high flea population in your area when your dogs go for walks they can get fleas and again these cause internal parasites...

I agree with what everyone has said especially eliza about trying a hot dog or something like that see how he acts with that..

Let us know how he gets on

Mike

 

Hi Everyone Thanks so much for all the replys, Okay where to start.

Well i said earlier that Coal didn't want to do "good boys" this morning so i tried again before i left for work and nothing. I put him in his cage and left for work figuring that he'll go when i got home. Nothing, still... is this strange? I think so. Especially for Coal, he is always on a routine, we used to joke that it would be 5 minutes from end to end. Anyways regarding the treats, nope he still loves em, thats atleast one thing he hadn't stopped doing. When I got home from work today i got coal to do some commands and gave him his treat. ( Which he was so eager for) so everything is fine in that department, even now while i am on the computer he is chewing on a bone (one of the big bull ones from the pet store, not a chicken bone) I had given him that bone quite a while ago and he just chews on it now. As for the worms, i Believe the vet said it was a round worm, i actually brought in the worm so the vet could inspect it and know exactly what it was, it was really gross i saw it and it was all coiled up and started to chrivel up and die, nasty gross worm, GET OUT OF MY DOG. Everything else in coal seems to be the same, he still goes crazy when i get home from work and still likes to fight with his older (but smaller) brother.


*anyone else wonder why dogs have it so good?

 

Ranger and Snickers for the past several months have been less excited about food. We leave it out until they eat it, and they often get hungry enough that they eat it. We feed them both breakfast and dinner, although sometimes only breakfast, if they haven't finished that by dinner time. They are excited if we switch teh flavor of teh food, but that only lasts for about a week. This started after we went on vacation for a weekend and just left them extra food out. I think that they think they have to save it. Anyway, if health issues are ruled out, maybe try a differnet flavor of the same food, or buy a small bag of a different flavor and mix it with the food you already have, it may help to renew his interest.

 

Well the update for today is this. I put Coals food out yesterday and he was very unamused by it. I put some of his food in my hand and fed it to him and he ate it all up. I did however try to mix it with some hot dogs. After I did that he went and ate his whole dish up in a matter of seconds. Oh and yes, finally he went good boys. I looked at it and it was more greenish then normally. It was still brown but looked more green. While I was picking it up I did notice something Hard it it. It looked alot like a pit from a peach or something like that, but my husband and I don't eat really any peaches. Not sure what he got into but it was definetly something. Anyone have any suggestions?

I don't want to try changing his food as of yet, Last thing I want is for him to get into the habbit of not eating his food because he doesn't like it and I have to go through the process of switching his food. Also, how could he not like his food if that is the only thing he has ever eaten? Even his older brothers food is the same type (just adult version). Coal has snuck in a few bites of his food when we arn't looking but we stop him right away.

 

Well, the reason we switch food is because these animals get one kind of food their entire life (many of them). It would be like you eating Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches all the time, with maybe a few pieces of candy or something (treats). Eventually you would get tired of the PB&J and lose your appetite for it.