Dog not interested in food

[MH1 1,878]

Dog's coming up to 2 but has never been interested in food, getting him to eat anything is an absolute chore.

At the moment he's eating tripe mince mixed with dry but just picking around the dry - so only eating the tripe really, but not very enthusiastically at that.

I've tried chicken and lamb complete minces and he'll sniff it and walk away without touching it.

Tried dry foods but same reaction as above.

Had him to the vets as a precaution but nothing wrong after blood tests.

I've put the food down for 30 mins and taken it away but he went days without eating fck all.

I've read that having his balls off will get him interested in food but I'd rather not go down that road as he's a bit nervy as it is.

Has anyone got any suggestions/advice?

In all honesty it's doing my head in, I'd much rather a greedy dog than having to battle every day to get him to eat.

Cheers

[MH1 1,878]

Just now, W. Katchum said:

Get another dog

Haha not in the position for another at the moment but the thought has crossed my mind to add some competition.

Unfortunately he's got a nice temp apart from the above so won't be going anwhere

[mushroom 13,160]

What he's saying is create competition mate 

Put the food down. If it doesn't eat it, take it away and put it out of reach. Next day give it the same bowl (for biscuits) for raw pop it in the fridge when the dog ain't looking.

Edited October 11, 2019 by mushroom

[MH1 1,878]

23 hours ago, mushroom said:

What he's saying is create competition mate 

Put the food down. If it doesn't eat it, take it away and put it out of reach. Next day give it the same bowl (for biscuits) for raw pop it in the fridge when the dog ain't looking.

Been doing this but he's a stubborn fcker! Goes a few days without, stuffs his face then goes back to picking the next day.

He's not in bad shape as far as I can tell and good energy levels. All other dogs I've had experience with have been greedy but this picking at food fcks me off no end lol.

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by MH1

[Casso 1,261]

Hand feed the f****r everything, 

get to the stage where he’s pushing in on  your left hand to get the food in your right   Won’t happen overnight but what it does is , it give the dog a feeling of overcoming you/something and reduces fear overall 

He won’t f***ing  starve himself, pushing for food builds confidence and gives the dog a sense of achievement, I mechanically use it to speed up bonding in a pup with its owner, it has to tune in to you, to apply physical force   If ya get my drift bud

[gnipper 6,503]

On 12/10/2019 at 00:30, MH1 said:

Been doing this but he's a stubborn fcker! Goes a few days without, stuffs his face then goes back to picking the next day.

He's not in bad shape as far as I can tell and good energy levels. All other dogs I've had experience with have been greedy but this picking at food fcks me off no end lol.

 

When you say he stuffs his face how much do you let him eat? Maybe only give him a bit until he is eating daily and then gradually up the amounts?  

[MH1 1,878]

12 hours ago, Casso said:

Hand feed the f****r everything, 

get to the stage where he’s pushing in on  your left hand to get the food in your right   Won’t happen overnight but what it does is , it give the dog a feeling of overcoming you/something and reduces fear overall 

He won’t f***ing  starve himself, pushing for food builds confidence and gives the dog a sense of achievement, I mechanically use it to speed up bonding in a pup with its owner, it has to tune in to you, to apply physical force   If ya get my drift bud

Went through a stage where he would only eat out of my hand if we were playing tug/flirt pole, if we weren't playing that he wasn't interested lol. I've tried when we were out and about but he'd sniff it then turn his head away.

He's a strange one, seems like the more I do to get him on board the more he resists and the less I do the more he wants to be part of the team, so to speak.

[MH1 1,878]

11 hours ago, gnipper said:

When you say he stuffs his face how much do you let him eat? Maybe only give him a bit until he is eating daily and then gradually up the amounts?  

Was just a days worth mate, he's not getting over fed at all.

[gnipper 6,503]

Give him half a days worth and then he might eat another half the next day etc.

[Casso 1,261]

1 hour ago, MH1 said:

Went through a stage where he would only eat out of my hand if we were playing tug/flirt pole, if we weren't playing that he wasn't interested lol. I've tried when we were out and about but he'd sniff it then turn his head away.

He's a strange one, seems like the more I do to get him on board the more he resists and the less I do the more he wants to be part of the team, so to speak.

Your on to something there , the state of mind and the urge to eat are connected in the dog so things have to be moving in it’s environment, it included 

high vibrating dog doesn’t like static situations like a bowl , food can make a dog feel vulnerable makes it feel a little panicky,little fearful ,

 get contact to eat , it would also work on the down but only by  luring, then feeding in the down , gives the dog something to do with its energy and that build up gives the dog a focus for it  when you whisk your hand in with a mouthful of food , 

It’s a pain in the ass issue but a lot of these issues don’t just stand on their own it’s in the rest of the behaviour as well , if ya get me 

[Candle 27]

If dogs fit and healthy there's probably a little to much going in the food pan.

[MH1 1,878]

11 hours ago, gnipper said:

Give him half a days worth and then he might eat another half the next day etc.

 

9 hours ago, Candle said:

If dogs fit and healthy there's probably a little to much going in the food pan.

Good points, cheers, physically he's fine so maybe just doesn't have a big appetite 

[MH1 1,878]

9 hours ago, Casso said:

Your on to something there , the state of mind and the urge to eat are connected in the dog so things have to be moving in it’s environment, it included 

high vibrating dog doesn’t like static situations like a bowl , food can make a dog feel vulnerable makes it feel a little panicky,little fearful ,

 get contact to eat , it would also work on the down but only by  luring, then feeding in the down , gives the dog something to do with its energy and that build up gives the dog a focus for it  when you whisk your hand in with a mouthful of food , 

It’s a pain in the ass issue but a lot of these issues don’t just stand on their own it’s in the rest of the behaviour as well , if ya get me 

100% agree, if he's been in a situation where I know he's been stressed it's a nightmare to get him to do anything.

Thanks for the other points, I'll try and get him to take more food when we're out mooching about 

[Meece 1,958]

If the beast is in good condition why the worry.  most dogs wolf the grub down but Some dogs are picky and graze when they will. When I had two spaniel they were eating through a sack of biscuits and suddenly neither of them would eat them. I could find nothing like contamination or anything wrong with the biscuits.  I gave the remnant of the sack away and his dog eat it no problem at all. Now I only have the one spaniel,  I mix biscuits and meat and the dog goes to the bowl sniffs and walks away.  I now put the meat on one side and the biscuits on the other. After an hour or so the dog has another look and might pick about at the meat.   Generaĺy overnight it will eat the rest.  Now there was part of my dinner  left and that was put down for the dog. There was no hesitation on that score so it could be that the dog is saying ... please dad can I not be served up this cold greasy shit that calls itself dog food. I'd rather have cod and chips today and perhaps sausage mash and gravy tomorrow.   Other the dog could have a tooth problem or worms.

[MH1 1,878]

25 minutes ago, Meece said:

If the beast is in good condition why the worry.  most dogs wolf the grub down but Some dogs are picky and graze when they will. When I had two spaniel they were eating through a sack of biscuits and suddenly neither of them would eat them. I could find nothing like contamination or anything wrong with the biscuits.  I gave the remnant of the sack away and his dog eat it no problem at all. Now I only have the one spaniel,  I mix biscuits and meat and the dog goes to the bowl sniffs and walks away.  I now put the meat on one side and the biscuits on the other. After an hour or so the dog has another look and might pick about at the meat.   Generaĺy overnight it will eat the rest.  Now there was part of my dinner  left and that was put down for the dog. There was no hesitation on that score so it could be that the dog is saying ... please dad can I not be served up this cold greasy shit that calls itself dog food. I'd rather have cod and chips today and perhaps sausage mash and gravy tomorrow.   Other the dog could have a tooth problem or worms.

Fair enough mate, I probably am worrying about nothing. Vet looked at his teeth and no problems and gets wormed regularly.

You're right mate because if I put my plate on the floor the fcker would probably clear it