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Picky eater????

luckybeemer

Notable member
Hi all, just curious if anyone else has ever had this problem. Although Remi and I have had many ups and downs, I really thought we had settled on a decent diet. I have wanted to feed raw from day 1, but after many bumps in that road, (me attempting to prep all raw, to Victor Nutra pro to Orijen kibble to Darwin's frozen raw to primal freeze dried) she is just walking away from her food. Other than adding a raw egg or sardines I didn't add anything to her meals, however, my husband who was responsible for feeding her lunch and sometimes dinner began tossing in almost anything meat he chose (raw deer burger, raw deer steak, cheese, etc). She occasionally had days where she wouldnt eat all od the food or would skip lunch. But yesterday we skipped lunch as we were traveling but she would not eat dinner and this am she would not eat breakfast, although I thought she would be starving. I still have Darwin's in the freeze from when she stopped eating that and now 14 bags of Primal (chicken, duck, quail, and pork). Considered trying the victor nutra pro again recommended by the breeded. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
 
I can't remember how old Remi is, but after 6 months I think you can easily go to 2 meals a day, many adult dogs just do one feeding per day - maybe that would help? Is her weight good? A normal healthy dog with a good appetite wouldn't be turning up her nose at a regular meal. If she's carrying plenty of weight, could it be she's just not hungry? I'm sure others will chime in soon, I'm just guessing here. What I would do to have your freezer load for my pup!
 
She is now 10 months and finally 64 pounds. I usually dont stress over the number of feedings per day knowing that soon she should be at 2 feedings per day and she gets treats while training. Guess I'm just stressing like I always do. Beating myself up daily feeling I have have failed her by not engaging her enough per my husband's words although he couldn't tell me what I should be doing.
Thank you for your reply
 
I've heard other owners say that Dobermans can become picky when you add special toppers to kibble. While we give Kaiser a lot of variety (raw diet), he's not picky. I wonder if she is starting her heats? I believe Rubie tends to skip meals so it's not a big deal @LifeofRubie but she is also spayed.
 
Out of curiosity, how many cups per meal are you feeding?

I wouldn’t worry too much unless she is losing weight or has other symptoms.
 
I do feel the "toppers" my husband and even I am guilty of adding have created this with her. I was feeding approximately 6 cups of primal freeze dried nuggets (rehydrated of course) total per day pretty much 20 cubes at breakfast, lunch and dinner. She has started back eating normal even while we were camping, after I panicked bought the Victor ALS ACTIVE DOG AND PUPPY, which She only ate about 1 cup. I do rotate thru chicken, duck, quail, and rabbit. Then I realized rabbit was not complete for med to large size breeds/ pups. So I have taken rabbit out of my rotation. I stopped the beef before because it was hard to break into smaller pieces for rehydration, but I have ordered beef and pork to replace the rabbit in rotation. She is still peeing and pooping, I don't think she has lost any weight. Didn't get to weigh her as I normally do on Saturday am since we were camping. But I will do today. However, she did have what looked like yellowish discharge this am. I noticed it before she peed. After she pees, there is usually a drop that is on the few hairs there but this was different. I've been watching for any signs of bleeding or swelling as I am nervous about her 1st heat cycle.
 
Sadly, she lost 1.2 pounds. She had finally got to 64 pounds on 3/22 and then just a few minutes ago she is at 62.8. 10 months 5 days old
 
@Kaiser2016 is right; my Dobe went through many periods of eating everything in her bowl and some where she had barely a mouthful a day. It was VERY frustrating but I knew she was fine health-wise.

She actually just seems to be really good as self-regulating. If she's not hungry, she doesn't eat. If we go on a hike or run or do something physically exerting, she's definitely more apt to finish her food with gusto. Do you notice if she eats more on days with more activity? I don't specifically remember if Rubie going in to heat affected her appetite (she had 2-3 cycles before she was spayed at 18 months).

I tried ALL the foods under the sun because I thought she just didn't care for this kibble or that topper but it was just her preference for how much she eats when.

I will say that since we've got Moose, about two years ago, she will eat all of her food by the end of the day BECAUSE she's more active with him around. Usually breakfast sits in her bowl until lunch time or sometimes even 3p but she will finish that before dinner at around 5:30 and then she will finish that in her own time. So sometimes 2 meals within a 3 hour window and sometimes a 12 hour window.

How tall is she? Rubie is around 67 pounds and she's 4 years old, a smidge over 24" tall so definitely on the petite side but does not look unhealthy.

She currently gets 1.5C Fromm Adult Classic with Yogurt, bone broth, Vit C, and a Ligaplex II supplement in the AM and then 1C Fromm Adult Classic and 110g of NomNomNow (a cooked food which I bought by mistake) but that will become BARF patties when it's gone.
 
Remi is 26 at the withers. I've been feeding only twice a day about 4 cups rehydrated primal freeze dried raw and she has been eating it all at each meal. Doesn't seem to have any swelling of her privates so we will just keep monitoring her. I am sure
I just overreacted. This is her after
Brushing, nail dremmel, and a bath.
 

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My guy can be very picky too and I feed victor. He is 21 months and many mornings he will throw up bile because he refuses to eat. I feed twice a day and some mornings I have to hand feed him to get him to eat at least a couple bites. I even started to switch back to the victor ocean fish which he liked before and am getting the same results. I hope you get yours figured out!
 

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