[goldengirl09]

Harvey is now 7 months old and down to two meals a day. I want him to eat when I feed him so if he doesn't have his breakfast, I take it back up and give it to him for dinner. He has skipped a few breakfast meals but I think the family has been sneaking him snacks They are out of town so I'm really trying to get him back on track. I don't really have a set time for his meals- just around when my family and/or I eat b'fast and dinner.

He is in good health and eating quality food so I'm not worried- just looking for advice. What times do you feed your dogs? Are you consistent? When your dog does not eat, how long do you leave it down? 30 minutes or do you take it up right away?

Do you add things to get him to eat it or would that spoil the dog and make them expect it all the time?

Thanks in advance for all the advice!!

 

[LibertyME]

I put down the morning meal between 5 and 7am...
Their pm meal is put down between 4:30 and 7pm...
Personally I think it is wise not to have a specific set 'schedule' to feed.

All of them eat very fast and I have yet to have to leave down a dish to wait for them to finish. But when my Mother In Laws Greyhound comes to visit she is given about 10 minutes.

IMO yes, add-ins are a sure way to make a less-than-enthusiastic-eater very picky.

Perhaps your dog is simply self-regulating his intake...?

 

[Florabora22]

I usually feed Flora between 7-8am and 5:30-6pm. And... I have never had to worry about her not finishing her meals. She literally dances for her food when I'm getting it ready, and snarfs it down in about 30 seconds.

 

[tjoliver]

I don't have a set schedule for JP. He usually eats in the am between 7-8 and between 5-6 in the pm. If he doesn't eat all of his food in about 30 min then I take it away. For a couple days he wasn't eating all of his breakfast, but I still took the food away. He quickly caught on that he needed to eat it all before I took it away or he wouldn't get it until dinner. I think if you stick to that Harvey will catch on and everything will work out. Just do what you feel is right everyone is different. Hope this is helpful
Good Luck!! :0)

 

[timberwolf]

Timber is still getting 3 meals a day - we come home for lunch and he enjoys eating with us
He has his breakfast between 7 -8, his lunch around 1:30 and then dinner between
6 - 7.
I don't have to worry about picking up anything not eaten - I had to buy a slow feeding bowl just to get this guy to slow down
A definite Chow Hound!!!

 

[Willow52]

Hank is still on 3 meals/day. Breakfast around 7:30-8am, lunch anywhere from 1-3pm, then dinner sometime between 7-8pm. Right after I started the thread about letting them eat at their leisure Hank started scarfing down his food in about 2minutes at each meal. Same food...who knows why the change! My Maggie was a slow eater and liked to nosh throughout the day. I put her food in the bowl in the morning and she ate whenever. It seemed like Hank was going to follow in her footsteps but no more. BTW, if he didn't finish, I'd leave it down.

 

[Laurie]

Our puppies eat between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. and around 5:30 p.m......OMG...I thought it was only my Austin who actually dances for his food.....he is hilarious to watch when I mention breakfast or supper. Never have to worry about food being left!!!!

 

[MillysMom]

Milly eats breakfast between 8-9am (8 on weekdays, closer to 9 on weekends) - she doesn't seem as enthusiastic about breakfast, but then eats again between 5-6pm when she is ecstatic for her dinner! I put food down for 10 minutes and if she hasn't eaten in that amount of time I take it away, obviously, if she isn't done eating, but is actively eating she gets to finish her meal. I've always been this way, and my animals always eat their meals at the time I want/need them to. I did the same when I had horses.

 

[mdoats]

Rookie gets his breakfast whenever I eat mine. Could be anywhere between 7 and 9 am. He gets his dinner at around 6:00, but it's not exact. He always eats his entire meal enthusiastically. When he was a puppy, he would occasionally leave some of his breakfast in the bowl. I never left the bowl down for more than 20 minutes. These days, he only leaves food in his bowl if he's not feeling well.

I'll buy a can of dog food and mix a couple of spoonfuls into his meals two or three times a month. Other than that, he just gets his kibble.

 

[pt83]

I still feed my puppy 3 meals a day.. breakfast around 8-9am Lunch around 1-2 pm and dinner around 7-8pm.

IMO, You're on the right track by picking up his bowl when he skipped meal. He might learn that skipping his breakfast would get him snacks which probably tastier than his food, so maybe you want to tell your family members not to give him any snacks unless they are food training him or as a reward for doing something good. I know its VERY hard not the let them do that, at least its very hard to not let my family spoil the dog by giving treats without any good reason! I always tell them to make the dog do something first before giving any treats.. but sometimes they would give treats anyway behind my back :uhoh: (I don't know who i should train here, them or the dog..lol)

If he still doesn't finish his food (and you're sure that you're not overfeeding him or your family has stopped giving him snacks) you can probably try to reward him something tasty when he licks his bowl clean. So if he doesn't finish after your set time (whether its 15 or 30 mins, your call) or skip, pick up his bowl and no reward. When he finished his food, praise and reward him. I'm a novice in dog training area, so please do correct me if i'm wrong on this

I usually feed Flora between 7-8am and 5:30-6pm. And... I have never had to worry about her not finishing her meals. She literally dances for her food when I'm getting it ready, and snarfs it down in about 30 seconds.

LOL my puppy does the same! Whenever I take out his bowl, he becomes very active, dancing and bouncing around.. and when i'm ready, he's already in his crate before you know it! He eats very fast too, I think I have to buy a slow eating bowl as nothing would slow him down as he would ignore everything while eating. (and yes I fed him enough food each meal).
Iris always danced around during meal time too, but she did it more gently and she took her time eating her food too.

 

[Hurley'sMommy]

We have set times for Hurley (6months). He gets fed at 7am & 6pm each day. However, I think he swallows the food whole because it gone in less than a minute! We did find that when we had him on Iams, he didn't eat it as quickly & sometimes he wouldn't eat it. We were told to only let him have his food for 30 minutes at a time & then pick it up. Even then, he still wouldn't eat it! Since he was a puppy, we HAD to make sure he was getting the proper nutrition so we started adding some canned food to it & he scarfed it down. Eventually we changed brands & haven't had any problems. Maybe he's a picky eater?

 

[EvilNessCroft]

Molly is not really enthusiastic with her food but I found that she likes it better when I pour a little water on her kibble. When I do that she eats her whole bowl everytime!

 

[Florabora22]

Aw, these stories of dancing dogs are making me smile. Flora is absolutely ridiculous sometimes. I wish I could film it, but it's unpredictable which days she'll really give me a good dance. :

 

[goldengirl09]

That's so cute that some of your dogs dance. If I can get Harvey eating breakfast, I might be the one dancing He went through a picky stage like this before- I changed foods (Solid Gold Wolf Cub to Wellness, which he had done well on before) but I think it's just him and I don't want to change again.

Thanks for all the advice. I think he'll learn fast if I'm strict about it and I'll just have a talk with the fam about snacks when they get home I might give him a small treat after finishing his meal too. The water might help too. Thanks again!

 

[LibbysMom]

Our 2 get fed at 6am and 5pm. They both are chow hounds so I don't have to worry about them not eating.

 

[NapaValleyGolden]

Cody gets breakfast around 6:30-7am and dinner 5-6pm during the week and a little later on weekends. He is also a chow hound who has never left so much as a crumb in his bowl. I use a slow-feeding bowl now which has slowed him down a bit

He gets so excited before his meals, runs to the pantry door and bounces around until the dish is ready, then sits (or tries to...) until I put it down.