If dogs don’t eat

If dogs don’t eat

My dog doesn’t want to eat – do I have to worry? The loss of appetite of a dog is scaring many dog owners and should be carefully watched as an alert.

From time to time even healthy dogs show a low interest in their food. This for example could occur in the following situations:

  • Hormonally caused when bitches are in heat or if male dogs are close to bitches in heat.
  • During hot summer days it happens that dogs just eat in the cooler periods of the day – in the early mornings and evenings.
  • In stress situations, in habit or environmental changes.
  • The dog doesn’t like the smell or taste of the Food.
  • While toothing: affected are puppies between three and five months.
  • Saturation caused by supplementary feeding from other family members.

This behavior can also occur, if the dog is testing its borders. Especially between eight and twelve months, they use power games to reach the top of the pack. By refusing the food, the dog gets the wanted attention from the owners and therefore is able to determine a change of food.

If your dog is healthy and lively but refuses the bowl content after a distinct while again and again, the taste of the food doesn’t seem to be the problem. If you are changing the dog food as a consequence of the food strike, the dog learns that refusing leads to other food options. And with this, the dog is determining the content of the bowl and the owner is on a constant (and desperate) search for new brands.

We highly recommend you to arrange fixed meals. Let your dog wait until you’ve put the bowl down. Then give the permission to eat. The bowl is available for about 15 minutes and the dog is allowed to eat only in this time frame. After that, the bowl gets removed. It is important not to offer your dog treats etc. whilst this period. This means that all family members need to act in concert.

If you don’t establish yourself as the “top dog”, the difficulty with food probably stays for the dog’s lifetime. This is not only a problem for educative but also for medical reasons. If the dog will need medicine, it is important to have a secured food intake.

A frequent mistake is to transfer human needs and nourishment (for example varieties, social aspects, etc.) to dogs lives. The dog doesn’t need a big variety of food.

In general, feeding is a natural and given process, so don’t offer your dog too much attention. Don’t compliment its bad eating behavior with praise or stroke. With this, you avoid educating your dog to only eat while the presence of the owner.

But there are helpful tricks to make nutrition more interesting to the dog:

  • Gentle warming of the food with warm water enhances its the smell.
  • Dry dog food can get more attractive if some PLATINUM MENU wet dog food is mixed in.
  • If the dog generally likes fruit or vegetables – just cut little pieces into the food! (But be careful: not every fruit and vegetable is appropriate). Even cottage cheese or curd could be added to the food.
  • Some dogs love to work for their food, for example with food balls, brain games, seek games, etc.

But keep in mind: If the loss of appetite is coming along with other symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, temperature, a hardened or swollen belly, laggardness or continuing denial of food, a vet should be visited to rule out serious health problems. The physical causes can be diverse: from organic diseases or foreign bodies in the muzzle to toothache, caused by dental calculus or gingivitis.

If a dog has suffered from sickness and vomiting, it is possible that it won’t eat the food that was given while this period in the future. Dogs link the illness and the food and, as a consequence, avoid it. This kind of aversion isn’t easy to cancel and unavoidable leads to a change of food.

It is absolutely important that the pet owner is aware of choosing the right nutrition with good sense and care. Dogs must rely on their owners. They are responsible for a wholesome nutrition.

PLATINUM offers a complete well-balanced dog food that makes any food supplements superfluous.