Dog starving itself?

Would a dog ever starve itself? A lady in my village has a young welsh springer spaniel which she has to hand feed to get her to eat! Apparently welshies are known for their reluctance to eat and handlers have been known to keep coats on them to prevent others seeing how skinny they are!

This dog will hide under the kitchen table to prevent anyone from making her eat - even roast chicken - and taking up the food until the next meal time doesn't work. Feeding her with her other two cockers did help but she started to become possessive over her food so the owner stopped.

Never having had such a problem (mine are all greedy collies), I would be at a loss to know what to do!

I have seen this in both dogs and children due to over anxious owners/parents.

(I used to be a nanny)

Because the owner is so stressed the dog mirrors the owners.

Attitudes are contagious.

Competition is ideal for this and she can deal with the resource guarding separately and concurrently.

Dogs do not starve themselves deliberately but may become so stressed by the owner that they are not in a position to eat.

As an aside, anyone breeding from neurotic dogs needs a serious talk.

It may be that the owner would benefit from a 1:1 session with a behaviourist who can provide a behavioural modification for both HER and the dog!

Usually it is the owner that has the problem in these cases, not the dog.

There are many medical conditions that can cause anorexia which is why I'd be reluctant to continue the 'they'll eat when hungry' for too long with any dog.

However, as this dog got better when other dogs were around, I think I'd be looking at feeding at the same time as the other dogs (provided it doesn't become too serious or that it involves humans as well as the other dogs)and in fairly close proximity but with barriers to keep the other dogs safe. Once a regular eating pattern has been established, moving on to work on the guarding issue

Thanks SB. Yes, I can imagine the owner is probably making the situation worse. This is the dog that injured my Jack at four months resulting in him having surgery for a chipped bone! I think this dog is much higher drive than her cockers so she's struggling to cope. It was weeks before she dared let her off the lead and she still seems to keep her on the lead more than necessary. The cockers didn't take to the puppy at first so she had to keep them apart all the time for the first six months, even walking them separately, so the poor thing is probably very confused!

I will suggest persevering with feeding them together as she is almost definitely making a huge rod for her own back!

Thanks Brierley. I would agree.

Tassle's Zeff has eating issues and lives with many other dogs. Don't know if he'd stave hinself but she does have to make allowances and change fods etc.

If she sees this thread she might explain better!

rune

My old boy Hal had eating issues in that he was totally disinterested really in food, although things improved when we put him onto BARF. But apart from chicken wings and RMB's, he really was not interested. And this was the case right from the start when we got him as a wee pup.

IMO the worst thing you can do is to fuss around the dog and get anxious, as this will be picked up on by the dog and in turn he will get anxious. It is worrying though when young dogs won't eat. I hope things improve soon.

Speaking generally, along the lines of Brierley's post, sometimes dogs can be given food which disagrees with them and it can make them feel unwell or even give them a painful stomach whilst eating.

Dogs can then be conflicted as to whether to eat or not, for obvious reasons. It can sometimes be resolved with a change of diet but may require veterinary aid.

Also adolescentsin some breeds can go off their food - this is not uncommon but if the owner is anxious too, it can start off a problematic spiral ...

Lindsay
x

I had a rescue dog ( Ben ) who came to me at age 6, he had what the vet described as anorexia. He'd been like that his whole life, was free fed with another dog, and his owners were quite content for him to please himself as to when and how often he ate.
When he came to me however, free feeding wasn't an option as one of my others would have scoffed everything til he burst.
When Ben became 7 K under his ideal weight and after many many months of waiting it out, I had him castrated, problem solved, he became a very enthusiastic eater.
So hormones can also presumably play a part.

Well said SB. A friend of mine was hand feeding her yorkie, she believed the dog would not eat and was starving itself and so each meal would sit on the chair, and feed it piece by piece.

Funnily enough, she went away for a couple of nights and the little monster scoffed his food right down then looked at me for seconds. - Not an anorexic dog if you ask me!