Dog Refusing Food

[Maddy]

Hi all, I am desperate for help regarding my 11-month-old female Goldendoodle! My Goldendoodle has never been particularly food driven, but is now refusing to eat entirely. She has been on and off food for a couple of months, since around her first season in April. We have been to the vet, who checked her over and confirmed that there is nothing physically wrong with her, though she has lost a little bit of weight since her last check-up and will now be required to go for regular weight checks. For the first few months we had her, she ate kibble without complaint. When she first started to go off this, it wasn't a big deal, we just added some warm water and she would clean the bowl. Since then, however, she has only worsened, eating a particular food for a few days before she turns away and refuses to eat it again. We tried the method of withholding food - putting it down, leaving it for fifteen minutes, before taking it away to offer it again at her next mealtime. She seemed reluctant to crack though - we had a conversation with a worker at the pet store who said they had encountered this before and Poodle mixes are particularly difficult in this situation, often going days and days without food.

For about a month or so, our Goldendoodle seemed content on frozen raw, but now will not touch it. She now leaves the room as soon as we pick up her dinner bowl. When she can be coaxed out, she seems to want to eat, but can't bring herself to. The vet has given us Mirtazapine as a temporary solution to stimulate her appetite, (though we're still waiting to see if this has any effect.) She even refused raw beef today, so we're really at a loss of what to do. We can openly admit that we've exacerbated this issue ourselves by changing her diet, but we have just grown desperate. (We also cannot leave food down as we have a Labrador who will eat just about anything.) It feels as though it is less of an issue about the food and more a behavioural issue now.

Any advice on where to go now would be greatly appreciated! Is it a case of just waiting it out until she finally gives in?

 

[JoanneF]

My sympathies, dogs refusing food are really worrying.

Sorry to start with this, but it’s very possible your own anxiety about about this is contributing. If the vet has given her a clean bill of health, there are two main options. One is the tough love approach (put food down, lift after 10 minutes, a healthy dog won’t starve herself). The other is to keep trying to find a food she likes. You have done both, so I’d start looking now at what you are doing. For example, if you are worrying about whether she is going to eat, she might be picking up on that so I’d suggest putting the food down and leaving her alone in the room with it. Take the other dog out too, he might be adding to the dynamic.

Another suggestion is to change her bowl. And its position. Some dogs don’t like certain textures, or if her name tag touches it, or if it is in a corner where her peripheral vision is compromised.

Or, make her work for her food. One of my “sort of but not really” training errors was to reward my dog for good things, it backfired because he now expects to have to do something to earn his food. So, if she will take food as a reward for obedience, use that to your advantage.

 

[Hemlock]

As well as previous good advice - has she had blood tests to rule out any organ issues eg liver or pancreas? Inappetance isn't about being awkward but about a problem around food or with the act of eating. Has the vet checked her mouth? Very common for a splinter or similar to hide inside and made eating painful, or a tooth that needs attention. Maybe something actually in her throat. She needs a really good top-to-toes check to eliminate these possibilities.

You are quite right not to leave food down. Even without another dog about it would still add to stress.

Good luck and I hope you have better news for us soo.

 

[Ken Thomas]

where do you put her bowl, I used to put my dog bowl in a corner and he stopped eating put it in the middle of the floor and he started eating again.

 

[Summer Morse]

Have just read your post I don’t know if you have tried white fish or tined sardines both my basset hounds are food driven but when one was ill all he would eat was white fish and I had to hand feed him bit of a mess but you just get on and do it. I found sitting on the floor with the dog in a quiet room hand feeding worked for us. Hope things sort out for you soon

 

[Robins mum]

As well as previous good advice - has she had blood tests to rule out any organ issues eg liver or pancreas? Inappetance isn't about being awkward but about a problem around food or with the act of eating. Has the vet checked her mouth? Very common for a splinter or similar to hide inside and made eating painful, or a tooth that needs attention. Maybe something actually in her throat. She needs a really good top-to-toes check to eliminate these possibilities.

You are quite right not to leave food down. Even without another dog about it would still add to stress.

Good luck and I hope you have better news for us soo.

I agree totally I have similar issues with Robin at times and it is dreadfully worrying! Dogs don't lie! If they are hungry and do not eat WORRY! Try politely getting another vet practice to give a second opinion, always remember ONE or TWO people can NEVER know everything!

 

[excuseme]

Now that she has reached 11 months, she will have done with growing and will only need maintenance rations. One feed a day would be absolutely fine !
Are you trying to offer her too much daily food, I have seen dogs that will turn away from over full dishes. Are you giving any training treats ?
Have you tried a flat dish or one that makes no noise! Feed her on the floor with no bowl.
Keep her meals very small so that she is always looking for the next feed time, and don't try to offer her more than she needs. It is healthy for our dogs to want more (but don't give in).
Your Raw feeding is ideal, let the meat adjust to room temperature before offering it.
Have you tried a quick flash fry just to change the meat a little, remember to leave it very rare inside.

Some dogs automatically slow down their food consumption at this age. If your vet says there is nothing wrong, then this could be what she is doing.

 

[Maddy]

Thank you all so much for your replies! As of today, she does seem to still be largely reluctant to eat the dinner we have offered. She is, however, actively begging for treats, biscuits and chews, essentially 'junk food'. So we are feeling slightly reassured that she isn't refusing everything, it seems that she just wants to fill up on anything but her dinner. She doesn't generally beg at all, so she's certainly hungry, but is still mostly skirting around her dinner, perhaps thinking that if she holds out she will get something else instead. She is also very quick to clear up any cat food that falls on the floor. There is definite interest being shown in her dinner. With some coaxing, she did eat part of a boiled egg and a tiny bit of Canagan this morning and seems to be just fine. She is full of energy and playing with our other dog and we can only imagine that she's feeling better after finally getting some sustenance, even only a little bit. We're going to continue closely monitoring her and might revisit the vet this coming week if we don't see an improvement.

We are definitely feeling more positive now we have a little bit of confirmation that the issue is probably her being finicky and us having given in far too easily when this problem first arose. So, I think we're now in the process of undoing our own mistakes and trying to build her weight back up.

 

[Ken Thomas]

what are you feeding her

 

[Robins mum]

I get very saddened when humans put human emotions on animals! They simply do not think the same!

In certain circumstances an animal will (same as humans!) go for the junk food, but for an animal (especially a prey one!) to go hungry and to the extent of loosing weight! That just does not seem right to me! They need to be big and strong and ready to fight!

For me, if any animal does something unusual, I will always look for their being a problem! Vets do not know everything! I would never take the advise of one person on a serious issue like this, and most certainly would look well outside that box!

 

[Cath S]

I am having the same problem with my border collie/poodle cross. The problem is he is on a very specific diet and cannot have anything else and no treats. Full health check at vets including blood work done. Certainly is worrying!

 

[Mayblossom]

When our Lily was grieving after losing her best mate we couldn’t get her to eat hardly anything, tried so many different foods but nothing worked, gave up on dog food and decided to try a little scrambled egg ….success ! She loved it added a little ham every so often which she loved and still does we kept her on this, with a few treats , until we eventually managed to get her to eat some Lily’s kitchen dog food , took a while but had no ill effects with her ham and eggs! 3 years on and at 13 she’s doing well . Definitely worth a try to tempt your girlie

 

[Robins mum]

Hi all, I am desperate for help regarding my 11-month-old female Goldendoodle! My Goldendoodle has never been particularly food driven, but is now refusing to eat entirely. She has been on and off food for a couple of months, since around her first season in April. We have been to the vet, who checked her over and confirmed that there is nothing physically wrong with her, though she has lost a little bit of weight since her last check-up and will now be required to go for regular weight checks. For the first few months we had her, she ate kibble without complaint. When she first started to go off this, it wasn't a big deal, we just added some warm water and she would clean the bowl. Since then, however, she has only worsened, eating a particular food for a few days before she turns away and refuses to eat it again. We tried the method of withholding food - putting it down, leaving it for fifteen minutes, before taking it away to offer it again at her next mealtime. She seemed reluctant to crack though - we had a conversation with a worker at the pet store who said they had encountered this before and Poodle mixes are particularly difficult in this situation, often going days and days without food.

For about a month or so, our Goldendoodle seemed content on frozen raw, but now will not touch it. She now leaves the room as soon as we pick up her dinner bowl. When she can be coaxed out, she seems to want to eat, but can't bring herself to. The vet has given us Mirtazapine as a temporary solution to stimulate her appetite, (though we're still waiting to see if this has any effect.) She even refused raw beef today, so we're really at a loss of what to do. We can openly admit that we've exacerbated this issue ourselves by changing her diet, but we have just grown desperate. (We also cannot leave food down as we have a Labrador who will eat just about anything.) It feels as though it is less of an issue about the food and more a behavioural issue now.

Any advice on where to go now would be greatly appreciated! Is it a case of just waiting it out until she finally gives in?

Hi, I am sorry I have just come in on this discussion, so have not read any of the responses ATM - however! I feel for you! My dog is a VERY fussy eater IMHO, but of course, I don't have the skills of his senses! However, one of the things I have noted with Robin is that with the frozen food, it can be variable in quality of course, but also!!!!! has it been effectively defrosted! It has suprised me that despite most of it being defrosted, it is still possible to have missed a few pieces that are still frozen and can cause pain on contact for the dogs gums. I do hope you will resolve this problem they can go on for a very long time and I know with Robin I sometimes fear he will starve to death! End up panicking and buying him anything I can to cook at home for him to tempt him to eat! All the best anyway!