Golden retriever- not eating well

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jtriebs

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We have a 3 YO golden retriever dog who is very "unusual" in his attitude to food- if he was a human I'd think he had some sort of low level annorexia! He eats his food well for a few days then just seems to stop for a couple of days.
He gets a good quality dry food mixed with a tin at the top end of the recommended amount for the dry food but is quite slim. He's a very energetic dog and loves running around/ bounding across the stubble fields at the moment etc. and seems happy in himself. The vet says he's in good condition (but I think he's just happy not to see another overweight one) but you can see his ribs sometimes and I personally feel he needs a bit more.
Any recommendations how to tempt him to eat more/ make the food he eats higher in calories? (was thinking of adding oil- would this be a good idea and if so what type?)
Also, we leave his bowl out until he finishes it- so he tends to pick at it during the day and then eat it over night. Maybe we should just present him with it at a set time and if he doesn't eat it take it away? But i'd feel terrible if he didn't get to eat for the first few days
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Sorry for so many questions- any help and advise appreciated!
 
i have a similiar prob with the great dane i have. some days she wolfs her food, other days she doesn't even look at it.
i def wouldn't leave the bowl down. give her time to eat or think about eating then take the bowl away if she hasn't. if you leave it down she will just pick.
i know exactly how you feel with the not eating. and to worry about them going for days when they can't afford the weight loss. it would be so easy if they were over weight.
i'll also be watching this thread for tips as i'm still having probs myself
 
My girl (lab) was a very poor eater when she staarted to eat propper meals (as in off pup food).
I personally think she is small for her lab, her litter sister is a right tank!
When I use to feed her with my other dog she would just sit down & watch my older dog eat, when she had finished she would go up pick up one biscuit wak away eat it then return for another one. She never ate all her meal.
She was on Hill science large puppy then when off puppy I went onto chudleys performance.
I use to put it down, it was left for 20minutes then taken up. That was it till next time.
I also got some green tripe, which is really god for poor doers & they love it (it stinks!). Which has alot of proteinin it.

I then spoke to an experienced friend who said to try some cobby dog food & she has a little of that with her feed & she is a right food hound now! She tells me when it is dinner time now!

The main thing is not to fuss them. Give them their food leave them to eat in peace, then return after 20min & remove what is left. Also don't chop & change food trying to entice them as this make them more picky.
Mine is like yours full of energy great coat condition & happy, so there can't be too much wrong!
Good luck with it though.

This is my girl, though she does weigh 25kg so is about right weight wise!?
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Thanks for that! Actually I think Harry looks very similar condition and built wise to your girl- just more hair
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- so there can't be too much wrong as you say. He is about 28/29kg but probably a bit taller than your girl.

Excuse my ignorance, what is cobby food? Is it a brand?

I think you're right, we've made too much fuss over it and spoil him to try and get him to eat.
 
I would personally try changing the brand of food, then go from there...
I do know how hard it can be, as one of my collies in particular is a difficult eater, and with her being a working dog, she can tend to get extremely thin at times.

I tend to try and get her to eat a lot of fatty foods whenever possible... Raw pork with lots of fat on it, or oily fish are 2 good ways on putting a little extra weight on her, especially if i know we will be out in the field for a good few hours, and don't want her weight to drop any more.
 
We've tried several different brands and he does eat better when put on a "new one" for a while then drops off again. I don't want him to get picky either so don't know whether to keep changing is a good idea either. We try and get the most concentrated/ high energy feed we can find in normal pet shops/feed stores but maybe need to do more digging for working dog feeds. Most pet foods seem to be designed with the opposite problem in mind!
I'm glad he's not the only one like that- everybody comments how unusual it is to see a non- greedy retriever
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Is he working at the moment?
If he isn't a working dog i wouldn't have him on anything high energy/protein..

I have 3 working dogs who are out in the field for hours and hours at a time....None of them are on a very high protein diet.
 
No, he's a (spoilt) pet
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although from working lines.
What I meant was I'm trying to find the feeds where the portion he needs is smallest to make sure he gets more calories in what he does eat. He just never puts on any weight.

What would be the problem with feeding him high energy feeds?
 
A lot of 'high energy foods' are just packed full of crap...Theres no need for a dog to have such high protein...Unless he's a youngster (as puppys need a higher protein content)
Ohhhh i just thought, have you tried feeding him his dried food in a treat-ball or a kong, with say some mashed meat in the kong..
Get him all excited and act as if the kong is a high treat. He'll be eating his daily allowence/meal without even knowing it.

This sometimes worked for my collie when she was very young. Chappie is quite good and very cheap. Dollop some into a kong...Or you can also freeze it... The dog thinks its getting an extra tasty treat and might surprise you by polishing it off
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No he's 3 coming up for 4 so not a youngster, although looks like one!
So why is too much protein a bad idea? I'd have thought that as meat is protein their digestion would be designed for it? Does it have an effect on dogs in terms of heart etc like humans?

Thanks for the "treat" idea- I think we have a kong thing somewhere.
 
If your dog isn't eating as much as it should ie just a few nuggets rather than a proper 'meal', and is losing weight/skinny, you can always try puppy food again. Just be aware that if the dog loves it, he can't have as much as he would of adult food - it's trial and error really, and using your eye to really assess condition. Puppy food will always pick up a poor doer!
 
Thanks for that, that's a good idea- wasn't sure whether they would contain ingredients that would be no good for adult dogs. He still looks very puppy-ish anyway
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Sure he'd like that.
 
I would not worry too much, he sounds like a healthy lad, dogs do notneed to consume half of what they do to survive, whilst hunting in the wild they would go days without food and could run and hunt on a very small amount of food
Also if he is a lone do in the household with no competittion at food time, there is no reason for him to polish his food off.
Agree with the other re lifting the food, then placing it back down for the same period then lifting it again, this way it's not always there for a nibble, he eats or it's gone.

As already suggested, I would not be chopping and changing food, this makes matters worse and not good for his digestive system or for the consistensy of this faeces
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Tripe is good for weight gain, maybe try adding some to his food.
Is he neutered? this can also keep a dog trim, but obs the flip side is neutering can pile the pounds on...lol
 
He's entire- hoping to have a baby Harry at some point in the future if/when we find the right girlfriend! And his breeder asked us to keep him entire (unless it was causing problems) as she might like to use him as a stud dog at some point.

And yes, he's an only dog- my friend's 2 bitches sometimes stay overnight with us if friends are going away and he eats differently then
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Better food discipline/ routine seems to be the answer then.
 
Please see above- the breeder (very respected one in the golden retriever world) asked that we kept him entire if possible to allow her to breed from him as and when his dad retires from stud duties. She would like to keep this line going. So, we would then get a puppy.

He's got a brilliant character, very good conformation and hip scores etc- that's why we'd like one of his offspring at some point. Can't see a problem with it myself
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ETA: have read the other thread and I can see where you were coming from there. But this one is KC registered/ pedigree known/ hipscored etc and a popular breed where puppies sell for decent amounts of money so would not be burdening a rescue centre. From our own experience when buying him we know that this breeder was very strict about who she sold the puppies to. Some dogs will have to be bred from otherwise there won't be any left
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It's good to know that your going the proper way about it and stuff
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I hope you didn't think i was aiming directly at you.. I just get so upset when tom dick and harry pet owners want to breed their 'pet type dogs'...When there are rescue dogs out there crying out for homes!
Breeding dogs who have had absolutely no health checks, no KC, never done a days proper work in their life and have absolutely nothing to contribute to the breed.
Anyway, hope things go well for you. He does sound lovely!
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Totally understand where you're coming from- same as in horses I suppose, only too many offspring to even guarantee to keep them all yourself.

He is lovely (well, I think so, obviously very bias)- now he'll just have to learn to eat properly
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If I can figure out this photobucket stuff I'll try and get a picture on here
 
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