11 month GSD poor appitite

[johnxjsc1985]

Booby is now 11 months and its a bugger to get him to eat. We had him on Royal Canin mixed with a bit of Dog meat but over the last 6 weeks or so he went off that and always looked to finish of the Girls which is Dr johns cheap and cheerful. We tried him on a mix of the two but he will not eat in the morning and cant eat enough of a night to sustain him. we have cut back on treats which he always eats so as to keep him hungry but the little sod is a stubborn bugger. At this age he really needs to be eating well i wondered if anyone has had similar problems.

[bexVN]

He looks good, some dogs self regulate their own feeding well, at 11months he may be having a bit of a slow down in growth before another spurt.

Try not to worry too much unless he starts to lose condition or weight.

You will have quite a few advising raw feeding.

If this is not a route you are keen on I would suggest makes such as Barking Heads or top range which is Lily's Kitchen, Orijen, Applaws

Also he is old enough to miss a meal, adopt 10 minute rule and don't replace with treats

Edited by bexVN on Thursday 13th August 12:06

Edited by bexVN on Thursday 13th August 12:06

[johnxjsc1985]

thanks Bex i won't go to Raw feeding so I will try one of the ones you suggest.Thanks again.

[FailHere]

Not sure if you have tried it (and can stand the smell) but when I first had my GSD years ago she was a stray/rescue with a very delicate stomach and poor appetite at first. I was advised to try her on tripe and it did seem to agree with her. I did manage to wean her off it onto more normal, less foul smelling, food after a few months.

[HTP99]

Daisy our Frenchie was first on Wainwright's, then we moved her to Lily's kitchen and with both, the bowl would remain full for most of the day, she just wasn't interested and due to her starting to guard her food it was moved away from her after about 20 minutes and we'd try again in the evening and she would reluctantly eat it, sometimes she would go a whole day without eating.

6m or so ago we introduced raw in a pre-prepared form; Natural Instinct, she now gets up earlier in the morning and hounds me until I serve it up and it is gone in seconds, she is literally excited about getting her breakfast and evening meal, as is our other dog; he didn't have an issue though with eating.

[CAPP0]

Our GSD is about 14 months now and he went through exactly this at the same age. He's eating well again now although we've upped the meat content and cut the kibble back accordingly. He's mostly on Chum with gravy, not jelly, and James Wellbeloved junior large breed. Will put him on adult soon. He's definitely got a waistline, but he's not skinny. Better that way for the long term for all sorts of reasons, not least the back end. I'll try and get a pic over the weekend showing how he is.

Edited by CAPP0 on Friday 14th August 22:11

[bexVN]

Actually the above post has reminded me about the 'fussy phase' and I was going to say, don't be tempted to chop and change too frequently.

[CAPP0]

Here's our Otis, 14 months. He can still be a fussy eater at times, he gets a lot of exercise and he's definitely not as stocky as some but I think he's fine at this weight (I actually need to get him weighed, it's been a few months). You can just bout make out the definition between his ribs and his waist in the picture. Although this picture makes him look small, he's not - he's about 26-27" at the withers which is the top end of the breed standard.

Difficult to get hm to stand still for 5 seconds though!

ETA|: if anything he looks thinner than yours John? He looks fine, I wouldn't worry as long as he's getting something into him.

Edited by CAPP0 on Sunday 16th August 16:02

[SGirl]

Our GSD underwent a fussy phase at about 10-11 months of age, too. He's been on a BARF diet since he came to live with us, and he had a phase of a couple of months where he just wouldn't eat. I got round it by sitting on the floor with him and spoonfeeding him! He'd always accept treats, biscuits, etc. - he just wouldn't eat from his bowl. But since he grew out of it, he's been fine and eats everything he's given. If he doesn't, it's taken away and not put back down. (Not that our lurcher will allow anything to be left...)

Maybe it's a breed thing?

[medieval]

I think it is a breed thing - GSDs from my experience have never been great eaters

Harvey is now eight years old, still very slim and a fussy eater but a s fit as a fiddle and as strong as an ox and the vet is happy with him.

Angus , our last one was huge in comparison being much larger boned but not as tall and he was a particular eater aswell.

Probably a daft question but are your food bowls raised off the ground?

Kind regards

[Martin_M]

I have to say that our GSD who is approaching 4 years old will devour most things we put in front of her! Her particular favourite is carrots and celery lol

Your dog looks very similar to ours in terms of weight so as others have said, I wouldn't worry too much unless other worrying signs present themselves.

[johnxjsc1985]

I think part of the problem is he just likes to be outdoors playing rather than having to eat. He came to us so under weight and poorly we had to make sure he ate all his food. Now he is doing fine maybe start taking his food away once the girls have finished eating. He tends to mess about during his breakfast rather than his evening meal. I think he is just an awkward sod but lovely with it.
thanks for the replies its reassuring to have other peoples experiences

[Martin_M]

There's a man up the road from me who only feeds his GSD in the morning - I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but the dog looks great and spends hours with him out walking and playing with a ball.