is it usual for dog to stop eating? (Bitch in season)

hi just thought i would see if anyone else has had this problem?

my crested bitch is 12 months old and is having her first season. my problem is that she seems to have gone off her food. she is only eating one meal a day instead of two. (i still give her two but she always leaves it) she normally gets fed at about half eight in the morning and around half five/six at night time. shes being extremely fussy at the moment and only eating if she really has to. she has always been a bit funny about her food but not just blatantly ignoring that the bowl is there. is this because she is in season? the only other thing i can think of is that its because she isnt being fed with the other dogs? although if we ever go out for a few hours they get their dishes in their pens so she eats then. just some advice please.

Bitches can do alsorts of 'strange' things when they are in season and its not unusual for them to lose interest in food.

I guess being fed seperately could also have something to do with it as I think dogs tend to eat even when they're not hungry if they think another dog wants what they have!

Skye used to go off her food when she was in season.

yeah the other thing i suppose could be that shes not working up her appetite. shes used to going for walks before her food, should i give her anything different to what she normally has? to try and tempt her to eat or should i just leave her food down because she will eat it when she is hungry enough?

I would go on as you are, offering it and if she doesn't want it, taking it up. Only if you become really concerned about her weight/general health would I start to offer tasty alternatives (because if you start this, you may well end up having to continue).

Don't start tempting a dog with rich food. Most likely it is part of the flaky behavior from being in season. Give her her regular food, and take what isn't eaten in 15 minutes.

If she eats so little her ribs begin to show, there could be more than being in season going on and I would call the vet.

Just been through this with Rio. She went down to one meal a day and ate it with no enthusiasm. She lost a lot of weight too. Once the season finished she started eating again and I fed her up with lots od lamb and tripe. She finished about three or four weeks ago and is now back to her normal weight.

my auntie has a crested and when she had her first season she pretty much stopped eating, she would only pick at her food and was eating roughly half of what she did normally my auntie was really worried about her, but once her season finished she began eating normally again, she is just starting her second season and is going of her food again,