food??

thought id ask a question b4 i have no internet for a while!

Indie barely eats half her daily ration of food, which isnt much! Well, shes quite thin, and i was wondering if its anything to worry about? i cant 'see' her ribs, but i can feel them very easily when i stroke her!

shes never been a particuarly food orientated dog, but as shes very active is it ok for her not to eat much

I suppose this comes down to metabolism, exercise, breeding etc Jen
You should be able to feel her ribs without seeing them so she seems ok in that respect.

How much are you feeding her? Maybe you are giving a large bowl and if she only eats half it may mean shes getting the right amount anyway- hope that makes sense

How much exercise is she getting- the more exercise the more energy levels she'll need
Also how many meals is she on a day and when are they given?

Sometimes its just like people- they may not eat much compared to someone else but are still eating *enough*.

Mine would eat for England if I let them ?

shes on nature diet at the moment, which recommends 1 and a half pouches a day, so i do 3/4 in a morning meal and 3/4 in the evening. She only ever eats one of these meals, and sometimes doesnt finish it.

As shes in season, shes been getting 20 min lead walks and lots of frisby chasing in the garden, but usually she gets about 45 mins to an hr of offlead walk a day and still doesnt eat!

A healthy dog will not starve itself. If she is active, has plenty of energy, is alert, drinking normally, & her bodily functions, and behaviour, are normal, then I would not worry too much. Keep an eye on her weight and, if she starts to lose a lot over a short period, then you should consult your vet. If you can actually see her ribs, backbone, and hip-bones, then she is definitely underweight. A slightly lean dog is a much healthier proposition that one that is overweight.

HI, my two used to be like this, but I used to leave the food out for them. If they didn't eat it in one attempt I used to think they would eat it eventually. But I thought I'd take thier bowls away from them If they didn't eat it all and found they will eat normal rations when given because they haven't been able to pick through the day. Works for them

An important point Saz. Give your dog only a certain amount of time (10 mins max.) to eat her food. Then remove the bowl and give absolutely nothing else until the next scheduled mealtime.

ive started doing that quite recently, so maybe that is also a reason for her not eating much.

Hi Jenny

See todays top tips. Its on picky eaters

Stan

they get 15 mins and then its gone, my boy is a slow eater lol

I was going to say a similar thing in respect to SBs first sentence. I guess a bit like people all dogs are different and have different requirements. You should know your dog well enough to know when she is healthy and when she is too thin. I dont have a problem with a bit of rib showing but not too extreme, when I bring Cassy's weight right down some ribs show and even when she is at her winter weight you can see them all when she has her lungs filled with air. I suppose a lot of it is down to common sense, if the dog is healthy with lots of energy and maintains a stable weight then you shouldnt worry too much.