Well I have not written in a while...been so busy with work and now I am expecting so I have been too sick!!

My problem is Max (7months) is not eating. He has all his energy, plays fine, is active but he has no interest in his food. We did not change his food. He will pick at it a little but that is all. This has been going on for 5 days now. He does not look any thinner yet but we are concerned.

Any advice or ideas as to why he is not eating?

He will eat a treat, no problem, and he has all his adult teeth so I do not think it is that.

Helpl!!!!

First, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Hope you feel better. "Morning" sickness is a heck of a thing.

I understand what you're going through with Max. I went through it for 5 years with Drum (my greyhound) from the time he was a puppy. He just didn't want to eat his food. Even if I put "good stuff" like eggs or something in it, he just wanted the egg, not the kibble.

I really couldn't take his refusal to eat, it scared me to death. He'd literally go days refusing food and none of the usual "training" tips, like removing his food, never seemed to work with him. I began to believe that it was not him being "picky" or "finicky" but rather that something in his food(s) didn't agree with him, making him reluctant to eat.

That went on for 5 years (and many different foods) until finally last year we found a food he adores and does well on (as does Grip). I also give them both 1/2 a can of premium canned food with their meals, the extra meat is good for them and they LOVE it. Drum now begs for his meals, and has for the past 4 months since I found a diet that works for him. It's a huge relief not to have that daily anxiety of wondering why he won't eat.

You have a couple of options. What kind of food is he eating now? We can look at the ingredients and see if there are any common allergens in it that might be bothering him. If that looks like the case, perhaps you could consider changing him to a food with different ingredients. You could add a good quality canned food to increase the amount of meat in his diet, they are also very aromatic and dogs love them.

How does that sound?

We are feeding him Iams large breed puppy formula which is what the breeder had him on. His bowel movements are normal and he show no signs of allergies (itching, loss of fur). He is going in Wednesday to be neutered so we will ask the vet. We are hesitant to change his food and we are not sure what brand to use. Any suggestions?? I do not want to introduce more than one new type of food in case he does have an allergy so I would prefer to start with a dry food.

If he has no other problems and you're reluctant to change, I think adding a good simple canned food would make a world of difference.

I use Old Mother Hubbard canned Chicken dinner (I get it at Petco). It's basically just chicken (no by-products, no fillers), and your Iams is using chicken, so you won't be introducing any new potentially allergenic foods into his diet, just increasing the proportion of meat and the taste of his food.

Old Mother Hubbard Chicken (canned):
chicken, chicken broth, guar gum, carrageenan gum, hickory smoke flavoring, potassium chloride, choline chloride, ferrous sulfate, manganous oxide, vitamin E supplement, zinc oxide, copper oxide, magnesium oxide, niacin supplement, vitamin A accetate, d-activated animal sterol (source of vitamin D3), thiamine mononitrate (B1), vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), riboflavin supplement (B2), calcium pantothenae, ethylenediamine dihydriodide (source of iodine), biotin, folic acid, sodium selenite.

Iams Large Breed Puppy Ingredients:Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Fish Meal (source of fish oil), Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of vitamin E, and Citric Acid), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Rosemary Extract, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamine B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Folic Acid, Cobalt Carbonat.

Thank you for the advice. We are going to check with the vet on Wednesday when we take him in to be neutered just to be safe but I will tell him your suggestion.

I will keep you posted!

I've got the same problem, at an earlier stage. Did this work for you? Brady has been taking longer and longer to eat over the last week until this morning, when he was barely interested in his food. He's lost 3 or 4 baby teeth in the last couple weeks, so I chalked it up to that.

If mixing in wet food worked for you, maybe I'll give it a shot.

We add 1 tablespoon of wet puppy food to the same dry food we have been giving him and Max absolutely loves it! We are concerned about wet food and his teeth so the vet suggested only 1 tablespoon to the 2 3/4 cups of food we give him twice a day. We use Iams large breed dry puppy food and we bought Iams large breed wet puppy food. They both contain the same ingredients. We were concerned about him getting an allergy to a new food so this way we know he will be okay.

Good luck!

There's always hope! He is now (and has been for the almost 5 months since we changed foods) a VERY enthusiastic eater. He loves his food (Natural Balance Duck & Potato), but he especially loves the addition of 1/2 can of moist food added to each meal, and I feel better knowing he's getting the additional meat.

My concern now is a food allergy. I ran a search on "not eating" and found another thread which mentions symptoms: itching, goopy eyes, head shaking. Brady has started to develop what I call eye boogers. They're small, but I clean them as soon as I see them. He's itching his front paws quite a bit, and he shakes his head now and then. I thought that itching was from the demodectic mange we are treating him for, but now I think I may be wrong.

What food does Mac eat?

What food does Mac eat?

Brady = dog, Mac = "owner" (and that's in quotes for a reason) :)

Anyway, Brady's on ProPlan Large Breed Puppy Food.

LOL, sorry Mac. We do see a lot of dogs on here who don't tolerate corn and/or wheat very well. ProPlan contains both. I personally don't like unnamed animal sources in my dog food either. You might try Brady on a food with rice as the carbohydrate to see if that helps. You'll need to read the label though, because often foods called "Chicken & Rice" or "Lamb & Rice" also contain corn. I think its a reasonable place to start & see if he improves.

Purina ProPlan Lg Breed Puppy Ingredients:
Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal (natural source of glucosamine), whole grain corn, whole grain wheat, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), pea fiber, fish meal (natural source of glucosamine), animal digest, dicalcium phosphate, egg product, fish oil, salt, potassium chloride, potassium *******, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite. E-4457

I'll definitely give it a shot, thank you! Any suggestions on a brand? Also, would I still change the food gradually, or would I switch him straight over because of the situation?

Nevermind, I'm slow. I just saw the sticky at the top of the forum.

When I read "No corn, wheat, soy, eggs, dairy, or sunflower oil. These items, suspect of causing allergic reactions such as hair loss, scratching, hives, tail biting, chewing feet, and ear infections, are not used." off of the Natural Balance site, I was sold. Brady is a HUGE tail biter, sheds more than any other dog I've known (including my old golden), and scratches and bites his feet.

I'm picking up a small bag to start after work.

I think going with the canned is a great idea too! (and I've been REALLY happy with Natural Balance :D ) :tup2: Mac. Brady's gonna love this.

Well, I started him on Natural Balance Allergy Formula Duck and Potato last night, mixed in with the same formula wet. He took right to it, but only finishes about a cup and a half of the two cups I give him. He's lost two more baby teeth in the last 24 hours, so I'm sure the poor boy is sore. He LOVES some ice cubes after a tooth comes out.

Thanks for the tip. If this stops his tail biting, excessive shedding, and paw chewing, I'll keep spending the extra money on the food.

Anyone know where we can get deals on this brand, by the way? $27 / 17 lbs + $1.59 / can is pretty steep, isn't it?

By far the best deal I've found on it is at Petco (and I've checked around because its a bit of a hike for me to get there). I get the 3olb bag for $41.99 (I've seen it for up to $10 more a bag) and $1.39/can. If you call Natural Balance, they will send you coupons and a frequent buyer card. Send in the receipts for 10 bags and/or 10 cases of the canned and you get the 11th free. I'm on my 10th bag now. Once my boys settled down and lots all their symptoms (ear infections, chewing/licking, bad smell, lack of appetite) I switched from the D&P canned to OMH canned chicken at $.95/can to save some money and keep the extra meat in their diet. The typical time to stay on an elimination diet (that's strictly the Duck & potato canned and kibble, no other treats - though they do make D&P treats) is two months, and after that you can start adding foods in one at a time so you can see if they react to them.

So D&P treats are ok, right? I picked them up as well with the thought that they're a HECK of a lot better for him than the pupperoni type chewy nuggets we were giving him.